Party membership figures are in decline. However, parties are still recruiting party members. Are
there any differences in the social and political characteristics of old and new party members? If
there is a difference, are new party members more or less representative for party voters than old
members? The substantive point of the paper is to assess whether the representativeness of party
membership changes over time. The methodological point of the paper is to show whether party
member surveys are of added value when compared to citizen surveys when assessing the character
of party membership and changes thereof.