AI and the party: The three faces of party organization and artificial intelligence

Abstract

This Research Note explores the emerging intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and party politics by applying Katz and Mair’s “three faces” framework to analyze the role of AI in reshaping party organization. While AI is not yet uniformly transforming parties, its growing use in campaigning, policymaking, membership engagement, and internal management introduces new dynamics of centralisation, personalisation, and automation. The note highlights both the opportunities AI offers for efficiency and responsiveness, and the risks it poses to transparency, accountability, and democratic representation. It argues that the incorporation of AI into party life is uneven, contested, and mediated by broader political and institutional configurations, and require closer empirical and conceptual scrutiny. In doing so, the paper outlines a new research agenda for understanding how technological change intersects with party transformation in contemporary democracies.