Modelling the Decision to Donate by Individual Party Members. The Case of British Parties’, Party Politics 5

Models of political participation frequently treat financial donations in the same way as other forms of political activity. This article argues that they should be examined in a different way since they may be regarded for some as the antithesis of conventional participation. Using data from the studies of Labour and Conservative party members, it tests the hypothesis that donations are a means of contracting out of other forms of participation. The model works well in the case of Labour party members and partially in the case of the Conservatives. KEY W 0 R D S _ donations _ party activism _ party finance _ party members _ political parties Party activism is a multi-faceted phenomenon. It ranges from simple membership, through campaigning, to holding elected office. It is not a dichotomous variable whereby some members are active and some are not; it is a continuum of political activities. Thus we say that one member is more active than another but do not say that one member is active whilst the other is not (Seyd and Whiteley, 1992: 86; Whiteley et al. 1994a: 101). However, all modes of party activism are not equal. Each has different costs associ-ated with it; doorstep canvassing is likely to involve higher costs to the par-ticipant than displaying an election poster. As a result, studies of party activism and political participation in general have shown that as the costs of participation rise, so the number participating decreases (Parry et aI., 1992: 42-7; Seyd and Whiteley, 1992: 94-5; Whiteley et aI., 1994a: 73-5). However, whilst acknowledging that different modes of participation incur different levels of cost, the overall measures of activism in the British part