Leadership challenges: Creating identity among members

Leadership challenges: Creating identity among members

Between campaign periods, political organizations have much less to rely on: there is no election in sight, which leads to much less excitement around whatever your party is trying to do, which leads to less people interested in your cause. So while actual campaigns can attract activists and other kinds of volunteers, in normal times, the party is ‘stuck’ with those who make it up: party members.

Party members are the heart of a party. But if the identity that binds them is not strong enough, a large membership can do more harm than good, spending time with infighting and thus distracting their political leaders from focusing on what they should focus on: voters.

Of course, there are the usual tactics to strengthen identity: having regular get-togethers; camps for party members; a charismatic party leader; and a clear political adversary on which regular frustrations of party members can be projected.