Ever since the nineteenth century, political parties and free media have been considered crucial for the functioning of liberal democracy. They constituted what this paper calls the critical infrastructure of democracy, an infrastructure which enabled citizens to use their basic communicative democratic rights effectively; they helped them to reach each other (and be reached). Both intermediary institutions are undergoing major structural transformations today (or might possibly disappear altogether if processes of “disintermediation” continue). It has proven difficult to judge these changes, partly because we lack a proper account of the distinctive normative roles of intermediary institutions. The paper argues that intermediary powers re-main indispensable in staging political conflict, in providing external and internal pluralism, and in providing a proper rhythm for liberal democracy. It finally also suggests a number of criteria for judging the state of intermediary powers.