Political parties and their digital eco-systems

Abstract

The rapid developments in the technological environment related to the diffusion of the new ICTs, are given rise to a fourth era of political communication (Römmele and von Schneidmesser 2016) that is "data-driven" (Römmele and Gibson 2020) and where political and social actors not only adapt to media logics, but internalize them allowing them to become an integral part of government processes (Strömbäck 2008). In this stage, there are particular changes in party models, both with regard to internal organization and external relations: on the one hand, the role of the inner circle of communication professionals (Norris 2002) seems to become increasingly important and more and more space is gained by the managers of algorithms and digital platforms; on the other hand, parties seem inclined, especially in the organization of election campaigns, to establish multiple but also unstable or "porous" relationships with a range of external actors for the performance of functions that require constantly and rapidly updated digital expertise. These multiple and flexible relationships give rise to what Dommett, Kefford and Power (2020) define as "party-centred digital ecosystem". Starting from this recent literature, the main objectives of this panel is to investigate the networks that parties, new and old, digital and traditional, state-wide and regional establish with internal and external actors able to provide digital expertise and digital tools (companies, consultants, party organizations themselves). The aim is to analyse functions that go beyond the organization of digital campaigns and communication purposes (some of the most investigated themes in the recent literature) such as, for example, the enlargement of membership, the involvement of members in decisions, the selection of leaders and candidates, coordination and management, as well as fundraising. In relation to this issue, an increasing literature is analysing the impact that the use of new web tools has in terms of widening participation and internal democracy or even disintermediation processes in digital parties. However, the demand or needs for digitization that parties - especially traditional ones - eventually express, as well as the type of relationships they establish with the providers of these tools and knowledge are less investigated. From this point of view and going beyond a functionalist perspective, the panel is interested in investigating how this type of relationships affects the internal organization of parties. In other words, how much do digital professionals and experts influence internal party decisions? Can they, in some cases, be considered an integral part of the dominant coalition? To whom are they accountable? In order to explore these topics, we will welcome papers proposing: a) empirical analyses concerning single case studies or comparisons between several parties, both digital and traditional; b) theoretical reflections on the transformation of the external relations of parties with regard to the provision of digital services and the change of the profile and the role of internal specialist and technical figures; c) analyses that are oriented to map external actors able to provide digital services to parties.

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