Ideological misfits

Abstract

In this article, we identify a distinctive type of party member; namely, those who identify themselves as ideologically at odds with their party. Using survey evidence from nine parties in Belgium and Canada, we measure the prevalence of these ‘ideological misfits' and explore the characteristics that define them. While there appears to be no systematic cross-party pattern, it is striking that mass parties of the left have disproportionately large numbers of such members. To the extent that those parties pride themselves on intra-party democracy, this raises questions about their capacity to respond to Downsian drives towards the centre and suggests that May’s law may be one of left-wing disparity.