Marta Cantijoch’s research while affiliated with University of Manchester and other places

En esta nota de investigación se presentan los primeros datos en España sobre los usos políticos de Internet, que incluyen consumo de información política, recepción de estímulos movilizadores a través de Internet y participación política online. Se exploran los datos describiendo los diferentes indicadores y se comprueba en qué medida la esfera online reproduce o no los mismos modos de participación que tradicionalmente se han distinguido. Los resultados apuntan a que la participación online se distingue como un modo independiente, mientras que al mismo tiempo puede complementar algunos modos de participación offline como el contacto.

As membership levels decline, parties are developing new forms of linkage with supporters, many of which rely on Internet technologies. To date, the discussion of these new modes of affiliation has been largely theoretical in nature, with little, if any, systematic empirical analysis undertaken on their appeal and impact on formal membership. This article seeks to fill this gap by examining the presence of three new types of digital affiliation—audience, friends, and digital activists—among the French electorate using original survey data from the 2012 Presidential election. Our findings are important in showing that while the new methods of affiliation are increasing parties’ reach into society, they are not necessarily widening parties’ socioeconomic support base. Furthermore, digital activism is mostly a supplementary channel for members’ input although there are a smaller group of people engaging in these activities that avoid formal membership ties. Such results suggest that digital methods of affiliation might offer an important new resource to parties during campaigns.

This article examines whether the Web and particularly a new breed of civic action sites operated by non-governmental actors provide a new pathway into wider community engagement. Using an innovative mixed methodology, we conduct a qualitative and quantitative over-time analysis of the users of four civic action sites developed by mySociety, an online UK non-profit organisation. The key question posed is whether the highly targeted or ‘particularised’ actions that these sites promote, such as contacting a local councillor, have a spill-over effect in terms of increasing feelings of empowerment in the local community. Alternatively are they attracting and reinforcing the resource bias of the most active citizens? The results are mixed in that they confirm that users of these sites are typically more aware and engaged than average. However, it is also clear that they have integrated these tools into their existing repertoire of engagement and this reinforces their feeling that they can have an impact on their wider communities. Overall, the study suggests that involvement in collective rather than individual approaches to resolve problems is most likely to further increase individuals’ levels community engagement.

This paper compares the spread and impact of new digital modes of voter mobilization with more traditional methods (phone, mail and in person canvassing) in recent national elections in the US and UK. We develop hypotheses regarding the relative effects of online contacting and test them using election study data. Our findings show that while online contact is generally less frequent than the offline form in both countries, this gap is particularly pronounced in the UK. US campaigns also reach a much wider audience than their UK counterparts. In terms of impact, while offline forms remain most effective in mobilizing turnout, online messages are important for campaign participation, particularly among younger citizens when they are mediated through social networks.

This article: Confirms that e-participation is multi-dimensional with prior modes of participation emerging online. Shows that these online activities have mobilising effects and that this relationship appears to work largely in a step-wise or ‘spill-over’ manner. Demonstrates that accessing online news and information acts as a ‘gateway’ or first step into participation. Argues that the more active modes of online participation do not appear to exert any mobilising effects on other types of post-election engagement. Shows that the dynamics of Internet participation are more complex than the ‘one size fits all’ approach that dominates the current literature. In this study we test whether a range of online political activities undertaken during the campaign affect the propensity to engage in non-electoral types of online and offline political engagement subsequently. We develop three hypotheses accounting for this linkage based on a ‘spill-over’ logic about (1) the effort required for the action; (2) the type of activity undertaken (formal versus informal); and (3) the medium on which the action occurs (online or offline). We test our hypotheses with a pre/post-election panel dataset from the UK 2010 General Election. The results show that after controlling for prior political engagement, online information seeking during the campaign has a significant and positive effect on further engagement in ‘softer’ discussion modes of participation. The findings are seen to confirm that Internet-based political mobilisation works in a ‘step-wise’ manner whereby lower intensity activities spill-over to move individuals a little further up the participation ladder.

In light of the growing importance of web-based data in the social and behavioral sciences, WEBDATANET was established in 2011 as a COST Action (IS 1004) to create a multidisciplinary network of web-based data collection experts: (web) survey methodologists, psychologists, sociologists, linguists, economists, Internet scientists, media and public opinion researchers. The aim was to accumulate and synthesize knowledge regarding methodological issues of web-based data collection (surveys, experiments, tests, non-reactive data, and mobile Internet research), and foster its scientific usage in a broader community. In the last three years WEBDATANET has grown into a multidisciplinary European network, which brings together more than 190 leading web-based data collection experts, from 30 countries of the European Union and abroad. Through its activities (conferences, workshops, training schools and short-term scientific missions) it has established a unique research forum, which contributes to the theoretical and empirical foundations of web-based data collection and enhances the integrity and legitimacy of these new forms of data collection. WEBDATANET has fostered the development of innovative research agendas and the drafting of cross-national research proposals. The network has also actively promoted the use of web-based data by supplying web-based teaching and discussion platforms and research exchanges.

Parties have made increasing use of the new digital communication technology to interact with their voters and also their members and supporters. While the former external relationship has received extensive attention, internal organizational uses are less well documented. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining the impact of the internet and particularly newer social media technologies on the nature of membership and affiliation among French parties. Using the conceptual framework of Scarrow (2014) we examine and expand on the two main categories of membership she identifies as emerging in the digital age - followers and cyber-members. Our core purpose is three-fold. First we aim to try to develop measures of these new categories of affiliation and provide a sense of how widely practiced they are? Second we want to know who these individuals are in terms of their socio-demographic and activist profile. Finally we want to explore their implications for party organizations and whether they are ultimately weakening or strengthening them? Perhaps these new forms widen party support in the electorate by drawing in those that might otherwise not have become involved? In addition they may also help to deepen levels of involvement in the party among activists? Alternatively they may simply create a new layer of 'thin' ties and an easier but less committed source of support. We examine these questions using a range of data sources. Specifically we use two surveys - the 2012 French National Election Study and an online survey (webinpolitics.com) conducted by the author during the 2012 election of online party activists. Through the combination of these sources we build a picture of how French parties are integrating internet tools into their organizational dynamics, and draw more general conclusions about the future of party membership in the digital age.