ABSTRACT
The present chapter continues the discussion of parties in the middle Volga by moving from the party organizations to one of the basic building blocks of party organizations: members and activists.
The first section of the chapter will examine the context of party membership in Russia. Clearly the Russian concept of party membership differs somewhat from that in the West, and even between parties. This section compares the rights and obligations of members in each party and tries to determine the importance of members to each party.
