Party activists are important for building party–voterlinks. This study focuses on the motivations ofthese activists and the hypothesis that economicfactors are associated with more programmatic andpolicy-driven platforms. I examine a novelcomparative survey data set of party activistscollected in multiple districts in South Korea andMongolia to determine whether national economicdevelopment, the local economy, or individual incomeshapes activist motivations. The results challengethe economic account and, instead, shed light on theimportance of party characteristics, such as size,ideology, and whether a party has its roots inauthoritarianism.
