Cyber-Parties: Offline-Online Hybridisation Patterns and Consequences

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICTs) impacts on political parties is a growing research avenue. So far, most of the academic attention has been focused on party competition and campaigning, while the intra-organizational dimensions have been somewhat under-researched ( Margetts, 2006; Ward and Gibson, 2009; Hartleb, 2013; Bennett, Segerberg and Knüpfer, 2018). Moreover, most of the research on virtual or cyber parties and party digitalization has so far concentrated with mainstream parties’ transition to the digital age, while the literature on new or emerging parties and ICTs has somewhat been attracted less attention (della Porta et al., 2017; Morlino and Raniolo, 2017; Gerbaudo, 2018). This panel focuses therefore on the displacement of traditional party organization through digital technology, and more specifically on the growing use of digital modes of decision-making and communication (mainly through the instrument of e-platforms) in both mainstream parties and new parties. The main purpose of this panel is to analyse how mainstream and new parties are building their e-platforms and transitioning from traditional (offline) organizations into the digital world. To this purpose, three main sets of research questions will be discussed in this panel. First, the panel will explore how the e-platforms are regulated and who is actually in charge of the platform. The potential answers to this question will consider the main faces of the party organization, the role played by the multi-level structure of the party, the relevance of the party leadership, etc. The second set of questions refers to which are the main affordances allowed by the e-platform to the party members and how these e-platforms are actually used or perceived as an effective instrument of political participation. A key issue here is the articulation of internal e-voting with other traditional membership rights and obligations, but also the way the e-platforms engage with the members and promote internal participation, and, finally, the way the e-platforms allow for external communication and campaigning activities. The third set of questions is related to the main consequences of these hybridization processes, both for party organizational models and electoral campaign potential. Potential papers could cover single empirical in-depth case studies that might focus on how ICTs are shaping parties’ main intra-organizational dimensions (communication, deliberation, decision making, membership, etc.), but also papers focusing on comparative case studies and more theoretically oriented papers linking political communication studies with political parties’ formation and institutionalization theories, and intra-party democracy debates.