Are British Political Parties in Decline?

Abstract

This article seeks to examine evidence that British political parties may be in decline. A two-dimensional framework for analysis is utilized, which suggests that the overall picture is far from unambiguous. At most, a prima facie case can be made that the popular legitimacy of parties may be dwindling; similarly, party organizations only appear weaker than they were a generation ago at the local level - and even this may be a somewhat simplistic account of the real strengths and weaknesses of British parties given the emergence of the `electoral-professional' model. If we turn to a deeper level of analysis, we must concede that the capacity of parties to fulfil functions on behalf of the wider political system may not be what it once was in some respects; nevertheless, they remain central to the tasks of demand aggregation and political recruitment. In short, political parties in the UK may have their problems, but they remain much more than vestigial phenomena of a bygone age. To a significant extent this is because of their undoubted capacity to adapt to changing environments.