Political parties, popular legitimacy and public privilege

The challenge facing the established party democracies and the apparent growth in popular disenchantment with parties is not a function of party decline as such. Rather, it can be associated with a contradictory development in which parties at one and the same time become less relevant as representative agencies (in terms of both their purposive role and their position on the ground) while achieving more status and privileges in their role as public‐office holders.