5. The Role of Party Members in the Slovak Republic

This chapter examines the role of party members in the Slovak Republic. Surveys and interviews were used to gather information about the roles of party members in SMER—Social Democracy and the (now defunct) Social and Democratic Christian Union—Democratic Party. Using this data, the sub-hypotheses developed in Chap. 2 are tested. It is found that Slovakia’s high magnitude proportional electoral system encourages parties to communicate with voters primarily through mass, social and digital media. Grassroots campaigning is more likely to occur in advance of municipal elections; however, parties from the fragmented centre-right struggled to establish a significant presence outside the major cities. The success of ‘micro-parties’ prompted elites from existing parties to consider whether members were necessary for modern campaigning.