Members of political parties form the basic tier of many party organizations in modern democracies . Of course , it is possible to have parties without members , but these cannot claim to be democratic . The participation of party members in internal elections serves to grant an aura of democracy and legitimacy to the party in the eyes of the media and the public . Indeed , in many cases , the members constitute an important link between the party’s voters and its elected representatives . For many years , beginning with the founding of the state , the major parties in Israel were based on a large body of members . Since the 1980 s , however , party membership has declined while the rights of those individuals who do decide to remain members have broadened . A striking example of this expansion is the adoption of the primaries system for selecting party leaders and Knesset candidates , under which it is the party members who are the selectorate . Intra-party democratization , which has...
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