Cadre-based party
Also called: Cadre party · Topic: Political Parties, Party Systems and Anti-defection · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A cadre-based party is a party built around a small, tightly organised core of members. These members are carefully chosen, disciplined and trained in the party's ideology, meaning its set of political ideas. Party strength comes from how committed this core is, not from how many people join. The political scientist Maurice Duverger described this type in 1951.
Example
Communist parties are the usual example. They depend on a trained group of workers who follow the party line closely, rather than on millions of ordinary members.
Don't confuse with
- Mass-based party: it tries to enrol as many members as possible from all social groups. A cadre-based party keeps its membership small and selective.