Key Arguments

• Weber writes that where 'the leadership is appointed by a (formally) free vote, and statutes created by ballot, they are primarily organisations intended to gain votes and influence the direction of legal parties by ballot', framing modern legal parties as vote‑seeking organisations.
• He grounds parties in interest pursuit: 'Since support for a party is in principle given freely and voluntarily, the basis for a legal party is in practice that the pursuit (Betrieb) of politics is always the pursuit of interests.'
• He explicitly brackets economic interests: 'Here the question of “economic” interests is entirely secondary: we are dealing here with political interests, which means interests oriented ideologically, or to power as such.'
• He analyses internal stratification: 'This all means that the pursuit of politics a) lies in the hands of party leaders and members of the party’s staff;', thereby concentrating real political activity in a narrow stratum.
• He reduces the role of activists: 'b) implies that the role of active party members is for the most part limited to acclamation. They may under some circumstances play some supervisory function, participate in discussion and remonstration, or even initiate internal revolutions;', minimising their usual influence.
• He characterises the masses: 'c) implies that the inactive but sympathetic masses of electors or voters are mere fodder (Werbeobjekt) during elections or referenda (passive “collaborators”), whose votes are only taken into account as a way of orienting the party staff’s electoral strategy (Werbearbeit) when engaged in an ongoing power struggle.'
• He notes the opacity of funders: 'While not always the case, what remains concealed are d) the contributors to party funds.', indicating a typical hidden dimension of party power.

Source Quotes

Conceptually, parties are only a possibility within organisations, whose leadership parties seek to influence or conquer; it is possible to form party cartels across organisations, however, and this is not a rare occurrence. Parties can employ all means to achieve power. This is because wherever the leadership is appointed by a (formally) free vote, and statutes created by ballot, they are primarily organisations intended to gain votes and influence the direction of legal parties by ballot. Since support for a party is in principle given freely and voluntarily, the basis for a legal party is in practice that the pursuit (Betrieb) of politics is always the pursuit of interests.

This is because wherever the leadership is appointed by a (formally) free vote, and statutes created by ballot, they are primarily organisations intended to gain votes and influence the direction of legal parties by ballot. Since support for a party is in principle given freely and voluntarily, the basis for a legal party is in practice that the pursuit (Betrieb) of politics is always the pursuit of interests. Here the question of “economic” interests is entirely secondary: we are dealing here with political interests, which means interests oriented ideologically, or to power as such.

Since support for a party is in principle given freely and voluntarily, the basis for a legal party is in practice that the pursuit (Betrieb) of politics is always the pursuit of interests. Here the question of “economic” interests is entirely secondary: we are dealing here with political interests, which means interests oriented ideologically, or to power as such. This all means that the pursuit of politics a) lies in the hands of party leaders and members of the party’s staff; b) implies that the role of active party members is for the most part limited to acclamation.

Here the question of “economic” interests is entirely secondary: we are dealing here with political interests, which means interests oriented ideologically, or to power as such. This all means that the pursuit of politics a) lies in the hands of party leaders and members of the party’s staff; b) implies that the role of active party members is for the most part limited to acclamation. They may under some circumstances play some supervisory function, participate in discussion and remonstration, or even initiate internal revolutions; c) implies that the inactive but sympathetic masses of electors or voters are mere fodder (Werbeobjekt) during elections or referenda (passive “collaborators”), whose votes are only taken into account as a way of orienting the party staff’s electoral strategy (Werbearbeit) when engaged in an ongoing power struggle.

This all means that the pursuit of politics a) lies in the hands of party leaders and members of the party’s staff; b) implies that the role of active party members is for the most part limited to acclamation. They may under some circumstances play some supervisory function, participate in discussion and remonstration, or even initiate internal revolutions; c) implies that the inactive but sympathetic masses of electors or voters are mere fodder (Werbeobjekt) during elections or referenda (passive “collaborators”), whose votes are only taken into account as a way of orienting the party staff’s electoral strategy (Werbearbeit) when engaged in an ongoing power struggle. While not always the case, what remains concealed are d) the contributors to party funds.

They may under some circumstances play some supervisory function, participate in discussion and remonstration, or even initiate internal revolutions; c) implies that the inactive but sympathetic masses of electors or voters are mere fodder (Werbeobjekt) during elections or referenda (passive “collaborators”), whose votes are only taken into account as a way of orienting the party staff’s electoral strategy (Werbearbeit) when engaged in an ongoing power struggle. While not always the case, what remains concealed are d) the contributors to party funds. Other parties with a formally legal organisation can be primarily a) charismatic parties, where there is disagreement over the charismatic qualities of its leader: of the charismatically “right” man (this takes the form of schism); b) traditional parties: where there is agreement over the way traditional power is exercised according to the leader’s inclinations and grace (this takes the form of open revolts against “renewal”). c) parties based on belief—usually, but not inevitably, identical to a): disagreement over the substance of worldview or belief (this takes the form of heresy, which can also occur in rational parties, such as socialist parties); d) parties based purely on appropriation: here there is disagreement with the ruler and his administrative staff over the way appointments are made to this staff, very often identical to b), but not necessarily.

Key Concepts

• Parties can employ all means to achieve power. This is because wherever the leadership is appointed by a (formally) free vote, and statutes created by ballot, they are primarily organisations intended to gain votes and influence the direction of legal parties by ballot.
• Since support for a party is in principle given freely and voluntarily, the basis for a legal party is in practice that the pursuit (Betrieb) of politics is always the pursuit of interests.
• Here the question of “economic” interests is entirely secondary: we are dealing here with political interests, which means interests oriented ideologically, or to power as such.
• This all means that the pursuit of politics a) lies in the hands of party leaders and members of the party’s staff;
• b) implies that the role of active party members is for the most part limited to acclamation.
• c) implies that the inactive but sympathetic masses of electors or voters are mere fodder (Werbeobjekt) during elections or referenda (passive “collaborators”), whose votes are only taken into account as a way of orienting the party staff’s electoral strategy (Werbearbeit) when engaged in an ongoing power struggle.
• While not always the case, what remains concealed are d) the contributors to party funds.

Context

Second paragraph of §18, where Weber shifts from the general definition of parties to the specific structure and interest‑orientation of legal parties under formal democracy, highlighting the distribution of roles and the centrality of political (not economic) interests.