Community Politics? Grassroots Liberal Democrats and the 2003 Scottish Parliament Elections
Abstract
The Liberal Democrats have become synonymous with the idea of ‘community politics’. This means being active in communities between elections in order to build a profile from which the party benefits at subsequent elections. This article examines the constituency organisation of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in order to ask how deserved the reputation for ‘community politics’ is in the Scottish context. It assesses how extensive the party organisation is, and how active that organisation is both between and during election campaigns. The first section of the article assesses the importance of local parties. The second section examines the extent of Scottish Liberal Democrat membership and societal penetration. The third and fourth sections address levels of activity between and during elections. The article concludes with a short assessment of the implications for the party.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
Bibliography
Bartolini S. (1983) ‘The membership of mass parties: The social democratic experience, 1889–1978’, in Daalder H., Mair P. (eds), Western European Party Systems: Continuity and Change (London: Sage), 177–220.
Bennie L. (2004) Understanding Political Participation: Green Party Membership in Scotland (Aldershot: Ashgate).
Bennie L., Curtice J., Rudig W. (1996) ‘Party members’, in MacIver D. N. (ed.), The Liberal Democrats (Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf), 135–153.
Billordo L. (2003) ‘Party membership in France: Measures and data-collection’, French Politics, 1:1, 137–151.
Carty R. K. (1991) Canadian Political Parties in the Constituencies (Toronto: Dundurn Press).
Clark A. (2005) ‘Between Iraq and a hard place? The 2003 Scottish local government elections’, Representation, 41:1, 42–51.
Copus C. (2004) Party Politics and Local Government (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Denver D. (2003) ‘A “Wake up!” call to the parties? The results of the Scottish Parliament elections 2003’, Scottish Affairs, 44, 31–53.
Denver D., Hands G. (1997) Modern Constituency Electioneering: Local Campaigning in the 1992 General Election (London: Cass).
Denver D., Hands G. (1998) ‘Constituency campaigning in the 1997 general election: Party effort and electoral effect’, in Crewe I., Gosschalk B., Bartie J. (eds), Political Communications: Why Labour Won the General Election of 1997 (London: Cass), 75–92.
Denver D., MacAllister I. (2003) ‘Constituency campaigning in Scotland at the 2001 general election’, Scottish Affairs, 42, 127–143.
Denver D., Hands G., MacAllister I. (2004) ‘The electoral impact of constituency campaigning in Britain, 1992–2001’, Political Studies, 52:2, 289–306.
Denver D. T., Hands G. (1996) Constituency Campaigning in the 1992 General Election (computer file). Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive (distributor), SN: 3587.
Denver D. T., Hands G. (1999) Constituency Campaigning in the 1997 General Election (computer file). Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive (distributor), SN: 3922.
Denver D. T., Hands G., Fisher J. (2002) Constituency Campaigning in the 2001 General Election (computer file). Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive (distributor), SN: 4508.
Electoral Commission (2004) The Scottish Parliament Election 2003: Campaign Spending (Edinburgh/London: Electoral Commission).
Geser H. (1999) ‘The local party as an object of interdisciplinary comparative study: Some steps toward theoretical integration’, in Saiz M., Geser H. (eds), Local Parties in Political and Organizational Perspective (Oxford: Westview Press), 3–43.
Gibson J. L., Cotter C. P., Bibby J. F., Huckshorn R. J. (1985) ‘Whither the local parties? A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the strength of party organisations’, American Journal of Political Science, 29:1, 139–160.
Granik S. (2005) ‘A reconceptualisation of the antecedents of party activism: A multidisciplinary approach’, Political Studies, 53:3, 598–620.
Hassan G., Lynch P. (2001) The Almanac of Scottish Politics (London: Politico's).
Ingle S. (1996) ‘Party organisation’, in MacIver D. N. (ed.), The Liberal Democrats (Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf), 113–133.
Katz D., Eldersveld S. J. (1961) ‘The impact of local party activity upon the electorate’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 25:1, 1–24.
Katz R. S., Mair P., Bardi L., Bille L., Deschouwer K., Farrell D., Koole R., Morlino L., Muller W., Pierre J., Poguntke T., Sundberg J., Svasand L., van de Velde H., Webb P., Widfeldt A. (1992) ‘The membership of political parties in European democracies, 1960–1990’, European Journal of Political Research, 22:3, 329–345.
Kavanagh D. A. (1970) Constituency Electioneering in Britain (London: Longmans).
LaPalombara J., Weiner M. (1966) ‘The origin and development of political parties’, in LaPalombara J., Weiner M. (eds), Political Parties and Political Development (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press), 3–42.
Lynch P. (1998) ‘Third party politics in a four-party system: The Liberal Democrats in Scotland’, Scottish Affairs, 22, 16–32.
Lynch P. (2002) ‘Partnership, pluralism and party identity: The Liberal Democrats after devolution’, in Hassan G., Warhurst C. (eds), Tomorrow's Scotland (London: Lawrence and Wishart), 83–97.
Mair P., van Biezen I. (2001) ‘Party membership in twenty European democracies, 1980–2000’, Party Politics, 7:1, 5–21.
Marnoch G. (2003) ‘Scottish devolution: Identity and impact and the case of community care for the elderly’, Public Administration, 81:2, 253–273.
Mitchell J. (2005) ‘The election in Scotland’, in Geddes A., Tonge J. (eds), Britain Decides: The UK General Election 2005 (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan), 98–112.
Pattie C. J., Johnston R. J. (2003) ‘Hanging on the telephone? Doorstep and telephone canvassing at the British general election of 1997’, British Journal of Political Science, 33:2, 303–322.
Roddin E. (2004) ‘Has the Labour party or the Liberal Democrats proved more successful in the partnership for Scotland coalition? An initial assessment’, Scottish Affairs, 48, 24–49.
Russell A., Fieldhouse E. (2005) Neither Left nor Right? The Liberal Democrats and the Electorate (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Sartori G. (2005) ‘Party types, organisation and functions’, West European Politics, 28:1, 5–32.
Scarrow S. E. (1996) Parties and Their Members: Organizing for Victory in Britain and Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Scarrow S. E. (2000) ‘Parties without members?: Party organization in a changing electoral environment’, in Dalton R. J., Wattenberg M. P. (eds), Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 79–101.
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2002) Scottish Liberal Democrats: Audited Accounts Year Ended 31st December 2002 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats).
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2003a) Scottish Liberal Democrats: Financial Statements Year Ended 31st December 2003 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats).
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2003b) Autumn Conference Agenda 2003 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats).
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2004a) Annual Report Year Ended 31st December 2004 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats).
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2004b) Spring Conference 2004 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats). Available online at: http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/conf/dundee04.htm (accessed 28 February 2004).
Scottish Liberal Democrats (2005) Annual Report Year Ended 31st December 2005 (Edinburgh: Scottish Liberal Democrats).
Seyd P., Whiteley P. (1992) Labour's Grassroots: The Politics of Party Membership (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Waller R., Criddle B. (1996) The Almanac of British Politics (5th edn) (London: Routledge).
Waller R., Criddle B. (2002) The Almanac of British Politics (7th edn) (London: Routledge).
Webb P. D. (1995) ‘Are British political parties in decline?’, Party Politics, 1:3, 299–322.
Whiteley P., Seyd P. (2003) ‘How to win a landslide by really trying: The effects of local campaigning on voting at the 1997 British general election’, Electoral Studies, 22:2, 301–324.
Whiteley P., Seyd P., Richardson J. (1994) True Blues: The Politics of Conservative Party Membership (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Widfeldt A. (1999) Linking Parties with People: Party Membership in Sweden 1960–1997 (Aldershot: Ashgate).
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published: November 2007
Issue published: November 2007
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in The British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 111
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Altmetric
See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 0
Crossref: 8
-
The electoral impact of grassroots activity in the 2012 local election...
-
The Importance of Local Parties and Incumbency to the Electoral Prospe...
-
SECOND TIME LUCKY? THE CONTINUING ADAPTATION OF VOTERS AND PARTIES TO ...
-
Spending and Campaigning at the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election
-
Party organization and concurrent multi-level local campaigning...
-
STRATEGIC ACTORS OR MUDDLING THROUGH? POLITICAL PARTIES, LOCAL CAMPAIG...
-
Electoral Reform and Party Adaptation: The Introduction of the Single ...
-
Mass, Cadre or Franchise Parties? Assessing Scotland’s Local Party Org...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
PSA members can access this journal content using society membership credentials.
PSA Member Access
Political Studies Association members have access to this journal as part of their membership. Sign in here using your membership username and password.
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
