Political parties have come under immense pressure. On the one hand, their previously intimate connections with society have loosened considerably. On the other hand, parties remain the central vehicles through which politicians are recruited, parliamentary activity is structured, and executive power is organized. What is the role that political parties can, do, and should play in contemporary democracy? In the workshop, we aimed to bring together scholars from Israel and Germany that work on (1) party organization and parliamentary politics, (2) party competition and political behavior, (3) journalism and communication to discuss research speaking to this question.