Do They Care About Us? How Parties Engage with Citizens Abroad.

Political parties are regarded as instrumental for the functioning of democracy and providing political representation. Whereas the classic types of political parties operate within national boundaries and are usually organised in branches or sections, decentralisation and migration offer opportunities for national parties to extend the democratic sphere. Studies show that there is no established model to reach and represent citizens living abroad but certain factors influence transnational party organisations. While previous research usually focused on larger parties, concluding that they are more likely to invest in formal physical transnational infrastructure, we know little about the influence of other meso-level factors such as the parties’ spatial orientation (regional or national) and institutionalisation (established or non-established). We are interested in learning how party-related aspects such as size, institutionalisation and ideology, combined with regulations at the country level, such as participation and donation laws, correspond with the party’s various outreach models to represent non-resident citizens across borders.