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a Social Democratic party can build organizational and political capacity to be a strong
democratic party with active members and inclusive structures and procedures. This
requires functioning and well-defined formal organizational structures and a free and
open climate for people to participate.
The manual focuses primarily on two party bodies: the branch – the party’s foundation and
the home of every party member – and the elected representatives in the local government.
Political parties elect representatives for government bodies at the different levels that
correspond to each country’s specific government structure – for example, parliament,
province, region, local municipality, etc. For this reason, you will find that there may be
differences in the party structures in your country. This manual presents models which are
common but if you do not recognize your party’s model then you must translate the levels
you have and explain why your party is organized the way it is.
A party’s strength to a large extent depends on how democratic it is and how well its
organization functions. A democratic party with self-confidence and strength encourages
debate, promotes members’ active participation, and encourages criticism and self-
criticism. All progressive parties should strive to develop internal democracy. Most do but
some are more successful than others.
We will start with an example that shows how a party can be structured from top to
bottom. Then we will look specifically at the local level, where the party works directly
with the people in the communities. Your party may have more or fewer levels and so
your pyramid may look different, but the main idea is to build democracy from the
bottom up and ensure that every level is built up from the levels below. You will find that
at every level the composition of committees and procedures looks very much the same.