2008/11/26 Geoffrey Plourde geo.plrd@yahoo.com:
Democracy is still the enemy of autocracy. Also if a chapter gets really bad, people will vote with their dues and chapter will soon find itself in the red.
That depends on the chapter - I think different chapters rely on membership fees to different extents. If a chapter gets its funding primarily from donations (and perhaps grants) from non-members it would be theoretically able to function effectively without a large membership (although a lack of manpower may harm the quality of its outreach programs, etc.).