Not all European parties are losing members, but those that are tend to be older and more institutionalised

Party membership is often cited as being uniformly in decline across European democracies. Based on results from a study of 47 parties in six European countries between 1960 and 2010 (Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), Ann-Kristin Kölln writes that while this is true for some parties, it is by no means true for all. She notes that almost a quarter of the parties contained in her study did not lose members over the observed period, with newer parties more likely to experience membership growth than older, more consolidated parties.

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