Can Quakers Be Members of Political Parties?

I have been thinking lately about Quakerism and political parties. Some religions explicitly forbid members to affiliate themselves with political parties. Does the Quaker faith? Not explicitly.

In contrast, Baha'is are expressly prohibited from engaging in partisan politics and are not allowed to join political parties or campaign for candidates. Importantly, Baha'is are still allowed to be involved in the hot-button issues of the day such as "eliminating racism and promoting the equality of men and women, economic justice, moral education and peace among nations" and are encouraged to exercise their civic duty to vote. They just aren't allowed to self-identify as "Democrats" or "Republicans."

Sometimes a person's faith can implicitly require her to reject politcal parties. For example, as a Catholic growing up, I always believed that I could not truly belong to either the Democratic or the Republican party. The Democrats are "pro-choice" (or as some Catholics would say, "pro-abortion") and the Republicans are "pro-death penalty." Both stances go against the Catholic Church's explicit teachings.

Are Quakers implicitly called to reject partisan politics?

I think the concern for Quakers is slightly different than the concern for Catholics. Political parties have set views on various issues -- from abortion, to government spending, to healthcare, to war. As Quakers, we are called to listen to -- and follow -- the Light of God within. Does adopting a pre-set list of "views" on various issues mean that we are surrendering our duty to listen to God, or does it at least make it a bit more difficult? Further, does it, as the Baha'is believe, lead us to divisiveness instead of unity?

UPDATE: I just learned that on Wikipedia it says: "At first Quakers were barred by law and their own convictions from being involved in the arena of law and politics." I hadn't heard it, though I don't doubt it's true.