ABSTRACT
Before a political party can persist, it must exist. The institutionalisation of a party starts from the foundation meeting and proceeds through years of elections in which candidates mobilise support in their fight for seats in parliament. This is true whether the party is postmaterialist, populist, ethnic, a splinter or action group supplementing an established party. However, one factor which does have obvious implications for the formation of a party is the enfranchisement of new voters at the time of the party’s inception. With a limited electorate it is easy for parties to direct elections; an enlarged electorate, however, demands the establishment of some form of extra-parliamentary party organisation. Thus, as the electorate expands in successive waves, parliamentarians face a trade-off between the task of organising popular support for themselves among the newly enfranchised voters and the derived consequences in terms of their room for manoeuvre. This trade-off is highlighted by the fear of parliamentarians at the emergence of new extra-parliamentary party organisations which may bring pressure to modify their economic and social stances and force them to sacrifice their judgement to that of their constituents.
