Today 218,771 card-carrying members of the French Socialist Party (PS) will vote

I assume this is the number that may vote, because unless PS uses Diebold you can not really know in advance the number that will vote.

And launched, at the same time, a vast membership campaign the success of which [70,000 new members -- afew] upset the internal applecart.

These numbers strikes me as a rather small socialist party in a country as large as France. In Sweden all political parties has shrunk the last 15 years (maybe longer, but swedish wikipedia has a good table  of the last 15), and Socialdemokraterna still has 124 789 members. And this in a considerable smaller country. Is the right wing also as small when it comes to membership? Does this has some connection with the french elite system?

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