In this second part of the article, we focus on the categories of individuals who choose to join political parties and attempt to identify their motives. The central question of this second part revolves around: Why do people join political parties?
We are dealing with a question whose answers I don’t believe concern the leaders of political parties as much as they should. Why? Because if in the past people joined parties because they were supporters of the various ideologies promoted by the parties, these days the reasons for their affiliation with parties have diversified. Among the common reasons for joining, we can identify the need for interaction, breaking out of the daily routine, having one’s voice heard, the desire to be part of an elitist circle, and proposing impactful changes, among others.
Starting from the optimistic premise that political organizations understand the reasons why individuals join parties, they can, through their leadership bodies, identify and distinguish the career paths of new members. As practice has shown, those who join parties primarily to be part of a group are often encouraged to participate only in planned activities undertaken by the party, such as street outreach for interacting with citizens, internal events where organizing leaders need an audience to address, participation in election campaigns by distributing campaign materials, engagement in online activities (liking, sharing, for and against comments), and other activities through which, in my opinion, this category of members assumes a more auxiliary role, in contrast to the role occupied by the second category I am about to discuss.
The second category I will talk about consists of individuals whose motivation is primarily driven by the desire to attain power and exercise it. These individuals often understand how the system works and adapt themselves to ensure that their political plans are successfully carried out. From the perspective of meeting the needs of this second category, we can realize that achieving their objectives often requires actions and endeavors that are often complex and are also dependent on having people from the first category we mentioned earlier by their side.
Considering that political parties are primarily composed of these two categories of individuals, it may be useful for their internal management to try to find potential even where it may not seem apparent, especially now in the context where citizens have lost trust in the people who make up the parties.
As I mentioned in the first part of the article, I believe there is a need to allocate more attention to the construction of a political career plan that represents, both for the organization and the new member, a mutually agreed-upon document through which their activities will be predictable and foreseeable, in line with the needs of both sides.
Regarding the political career plan, I believe it should address points such as goals and objectives, education and training, how the individual will actively contribute to the party, the plan for developing an extensive network of political contacts, how the individual will communicate with constituents and manage their public image, identifying political opportunities and how to attain them, evaluation and adjustment, mentorship and counseling, ethics, integrity, values, and principles, etc. This programmatic document is not intended to hinder the party members’ activities; instead, it creates the opportunity for party leaders to establish an effective organizational management system.
The better political parties can implement such internal policies in an organized manner, the more likely society is to have the chance, in the future, to have people at the helm of parties whom voters can believe in once again and follow.
