Organization and Structure of Political Parties

In democracies with competitive party systems, political parties pressure governments to respond to the needs and interests of the population. In more authoritarian governments, parties offer a structure for directing and conditioning the behavior of individual citizens. Political parties use different strategies for recruiting supporters. So-called externally mobilized parties develop around leaders who lack power within an existing government. These leaders compensate by gathering support from rebellious groups in society.

The social-democratic, Socialist, Communist, and Fascist parties in Europe were established through external mobilization. So-called internally mobilized parties develop under a defensive strategy of countermobilization by influential government insiders. Internally mobilized parties seek to neutralize the organizational efforts of another party or to gain that party's cooperation in the pursuit of goals that require a broad foundation of support.