New rights, new members? The consequences of intra-party primaries for membership

In response to declining membership, European parties have often moved to offering direct participation of members and/or non-members in leadership and candidate primaries. However, the consequences for party members remains unclear. This paper aims to address this issue by suggesting a new conceptual framework exploring the combined effect of the degree of inclusiveness of the two key formal dimensions of “who can run” and “who can vote” in intra-party primaries and their joint positive or negative effect on party membership size, attitude toward the leadership and turnout during the primary. Based on secondary and new pre- and post-primary party membership surveys data and in-depth membership interviews, the paper qualitatively and comparatively studies primaries within the UK Conservatives, the German Greens and the French Parti Socialiste. It finds that mainly primaries limited to members combined with permissive candidate requirements have potentially positive consequences for parties, attracting citizens back to parties, leading to higher participation and membership satisfaction. Thus, the paper contributes to the understanding of the consequences of party reforms for parties and party members.