"Involvement in all political clubs is cyclical....The campaigns really get started near the end of next semester, and membership will definitely balloon then," Passante says.

When campaign season is off, however, the Democrats must struggle to attract and maintain members by performing other functions.

The Democrats maintain continuity through their summer internship program and community service activities, but in both respects the group has found itself overshadowed by larger organizations with more resources.

While the Democrats match students with internships with Democratic political officials in Washington, New York and California, they cannot provide stipends for these opportunities--unlike the IOP, which doles out more than $60,000 to about 30 students it selects who are pursuing governmental internships.

The Democrats' community service efforts have also been undermined by other groups. Alysson R. Ford '00, former director of the community service committee, resigned from the post several months ago, saying that the Democrats were not able to carve out a niche separate from Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA).

"I resigned from my position as chair of the community service committee because I was disappointed by the lack of interest College Democrats expressed in the one-time service opportunities I and the committee organized. I had hoped that we would be able to fulfill a role not served by [PBHA], namely providing opportunities for people to volunteer who couldn't make a weekly service commitment," she says.

Triumph of Conservatism?

In a year where campus politics has been marked by a movement away from the left, some students attribute the Democrats' difficulties attracting members to declining numbers of Democrats on campus.

"This year, with Beth Stewart's election [as president of the Undergraduate Council] and the grape vote, there's definitely a feeling that conservative or pragmatic forces are in ascendancy," Hopkins says.

But even though everyone from Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III on down has trumpeted liberalism's decline, campus activists feel the student body is still mostly liberal.

"We have a large segment of the student body that's sympathetic to Democratic causes," Passante says.

Furthermore, conservative political groups seem to have equal trouble attracting students.

"Even though there may be more conservatives on campus now," says D. Britt Bolen '00, the managing editor of the conservative Salient, "the Salient still has a small staff."

"The Republican clubs definitely have a harder time than we do," Passante says.

General political apathy, therefore, rather than Republicanism, may be the force taking its toll on Democratic involvement.