It will not investigate party matters such as paying for memberships or collecting ballot papers. Political parties are associations of private individuals, but they play a very public role. Democracy would be the poorer without them. Public confidence in political parties and politicians has been declining across the advanced democracies since the 1960's. The Karen Ehrmann's are the ugly side of a deeper issue.
Citizens are more confident and more assertive.
This is especially true of previously silent groups, women, greens, gays and so on. With this confidence and concentration on identity come new forms of political organisation and activism. Non-government organisations are competing with political parties for influence and members, and the NGOs are winning. Parties as vehicles for activism are not fashionable. Citizens are also better informed than was once the case, the media have played a critical role here.