Party Organization, Finance and Support

Abstract

The history of right-wing parties is one of attempting to reconcile the often conflicting imperatives of maintaining internal cohesion while pursuing external growth. A right-wing party’s evolution is tied to the way in which its leadership mediates these tensions in search of an electoral majority. To understand a party’s strategy, ideology and electoral effectiveness we must examine not only its social base, but its internal institutions, and how these have adapted to the new political reality. The right’s traditional success in defending its established interests has meant that it has not needed to develop complex party structures, traditionally relying on the state as the supreme ‘organizer’ of its political domination. However, this is no longer the case. Such an approach is all but impossible in an age of mass politics. Once the structural diversification of the economy has been produced, the political and economic elites need an improved and more sophisticated political machine capable of winning elections to ensure the compatibility of their diverse interests.¹ The process of disintegration brought about by the neo-liberal revolution led to the fragmentation of the class structure, the rupture of traditional patterns of social integration and the rise of new and distinct class groupings. The right may not succeed electorally unless it successfully captures these new constituencies. The nature of its political organization is likely to determine how successful it is in winning over these groups.