Parties for the Public Good

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Over the last 20-30 years political parties have lost members, voters and trust. Some celebrate parties decline. This report argues that parties continue to have a vital role to play in making democracy work – and that neither voluntary organisations nor the media can adequately fulfil these roles. It shows that the big parties took a wrong turn in the 1980s and 1990s by adopting a model that is more centralised, more centred on marketing and advertising, and more dependent on a small number of very wealthy donors. And it unveils a major new survey of public opinion which shows that the public continue to see parties as vital channels for shaping the future.

To reconnect parties and the public the report sets out a new deal that could help the parties grow once again – including changes to their legal status and their funding, as well as recommendations for how the parties could rebuild themselves as strong civic institutions, rooted in local communities.

The idea that political parties can be for the public good may seem strange in an antipolitical era. But a democracy based on robust competition – and occasional cooperation – between strong political parties remains the best guarantee that we get governments that serve us, rather than the other way around.