Kodėl žmonės nestoja į partijas? Lietuvos gyventojų požiūrio į partinę narystę analizė
Why people do not join political parties? Analysing the attitudes of Lithuanians towards party membership

Summary/Abstract: Partisan activity has been the main and the most important mode of institutionalized political participation (in addition to electoral participation) in the modern democ¬racy. Even though mass party membership is a distinct feature of modern political system (although not necessarily democratic), since 1960-ies the decline of party membership is observed in many democratic countries. Lithuania is a typical example of post-communist region, where party membership is regarded as a specific elitist activity rather than an ordinary practice of political involvement. In the article, the attitudes of Lithuanians towards party membership are analyzed to answer the question if and why people are not keen to join political parties. Public attitudes are explored using the data of a representative public opinion survey carried out in 2005 and qualitative data of in-depth interviews with ordinary people collected in 2008. Using a mixed method research strategy, the article analyses the image of political parties in Lithuania, determines the potential of party membership and investigates the dominant reasons of avoiding partisan activity.

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