Parties in an era of change: membership in the (re-)making in post-revolutionary Tunisia

ABSTRACT

In the current era of rapid and radical evolution in the institutions of partisan politics, one of the best-documented and most discussed changes in established and more recent democracies has been the decline of membership enrolment, and yet its resilience. By contrast, comparative research on Maghrebi political parties, and on this aspect in particular, has for a long time been rather narrow or non-existent. With the newly democratised Tunisia at the centre stage of the analysis, this contribution aims at partly filling such a gap and explores the ways in which Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes discipline their memberships. In presenting what privileges the parties grant to their members, what they expect from those who join and the differences in what individuals need to do to enrol, this article focuses on findings from personal interviews and the examination of parties’ bylaws and statutes. Through the lens of inclusiveness as core dimension, it argues that the two parties vary widely in the extent of their efforts to cultivate membership structures and party-related activities, as well as for the significance they attach to them. Whereas Ennahda more heavily invests in creating and reinforcing strong bonds of identity, and gives its members more voice in internal decision-making, Nidaa is more prone to promote candidates or policies keeping the organisational membership at a minimum, not least in the attempt not to restrain leadership’s autonomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Membership
• party politics
• Ennahda
• Nidaa Tounes
• Tunisia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 A wave of legalisations started immediately after the ousting of the former president Ben Ali. Among the previously outlawed political parties, the more significant were Ennahda, the Congress for the Republic (CPR) and the Workers’ Communist Party in Tunisia (PCOT). In 2011, over 100 political parties represented in 1500 lists contested the elections for the National Constituent Assembly, with 18 among them (15 parties and 3 lists) obtaining seats. Currently, the registered number of political parties slightly exceeds 200. But if one considers those which are represented in the Parliament and really active on a daily basis, numbers dramatically drop.

2 Author’s interviews in Tunis with Ennahda MP (April 2017), Nidaa Tounes MP and Directorate (April 2017).

3 The bylaws and statute considered here are those prior to April 2019, when two parallel congresses were held with each rival factions electing a party leader.

4 ‘Law’ here refers to Legislative Decree no.2011-87 of 24September 2011 that is in force at the moment of writing, though a draft institutionallaw on the organisation of political parties and their funding to replace the former is currently under debate.

5 Author’s interview with Nidaa Tounes Directorate, Tunis, April 2017.

6 By law, parties have to establish every list in such a way to alternate between men and women (‘vertical zipper’), but no horizontal parity (i.e. the requirement to alternate genders at the heads of party lists) is demanded. Hence, the decision of a party about the heads of lists is far more indicative in terms of promotion of gender parity. Similarly, ‘when women candidates do not represent many heads of lists, the vertical party system tends to see women elected from the best-performing parties’ (NDI 2014, 61), which explains the higher percentages of elected women for Nidaa and Ennahda.

7 Author’s interview with Nidaa Tounes MP, Tunis, April 2017.