People can join political parties for a variety of reasons: # It makes people feel involved in their country's government. In some parties, members play a more direct role in deciding party policy. In short, the factors that clearly distinguish members from supporters, and may go furthest in explaining why they bother to join up, are being male, better educated and coming from higher up the social hierarchy (i.e. having more resources), being socially liberal and ideologically more radical (for parties on the left), having a strong sense of personal and collective political efficacy, strong …