Mass Parties and Types of Modern Societies

Abstract

The examination of the relationship between mass parties and modern industrial societies raises three types of problems. First, we must examine if, and if so, why, modern industrial societies are likely to have political systems in which political organisations are of the mass party type. Second, we must consider under what circumstances modern industrial societies can have political systems which do not have mass parties. Third, we must consider the types of parties which exist in other societies and the conditions under which mass parties may develop in those societies as well. Only after the examination of the evidence in these three types of cases will it be possible to draw general conclusions about the relationship between mass parties and modern industrial societies. One must, however, note at the outset that dichotomies will be used in order to simplify the exposition. Both mass parties and parties of committees are somewhat idealised poles; there are gradations between the two poles and a more sophisticated analysis should be based on quantitative indices. Similarly, modern industrial societies and ‘other’ or developing types of societies are extremes, and countries should in fact be placed along a continuum.