Online supporter and registered sympathiser as alternatives to a regular party member

Abstract

New nearly member-less entrepreneurial parties formed in a top-down fashion are often electorally successful, which is possible within a wider environment, where members are not necessary for their existence and success. We analyse such parties’ membership strategies in detail in the two cases Czech VV and ANO, aiming to explain the mechanisms and logic behind their and other parties’ similar membership strategies. Our primary data indicate that full party members are not important for the studied parties electorally or financially. Secondly, the data demonstrate these parties’ preference for alternative party members–registered sympathisers and online supporters over full members, whose recruitment is highly restricted. We argue that such an organisational strategy is intentionally used to limit the impact of members on the internal functioning of parties.