This paper explores the concept of party innovation, particularly focusing on digital democratic innovations (DDIs), and examines the role these innovations play in political parties’ adaptation to contemporary challenges. While innovation is often linked to democratic processes as a potential solution to the crisis of representative democracy, political parties have historically been slow to embrace innovation. As noted by Gauja (2020), innovation is not typically associated with party politics, especially since many parties are seen as failing to meet their core functions and responding inadequately to crises.
The existing body of research on political parties generally frames their transformation in terms of change, reform, or the evolution of party models (Kirchheimer, 1966; Panebianco, 1982). Although some scholars have examined party innovations in terms of policy change, representation, and new discourses, internal party processes like decision-making, participation, and deliberation have rarely been studied specifically under the lens of innovation. The rise of new party models, such as movement parties (Kitschelt, 2006) and digital or platform-based parties (Gerbaudo, 2019; Lioy, 2019), has shifted this focus to consider technological advancements in shaping party innovation.
The technological revolution, driven by ICTs, social media, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), has dramatically altered the political landscape, creating new opportunities for party innovation. This transformation is particularly evident in the way new parties and established ones are leveraging digital technologies to foster internal party democracy (IPD). Innovations like primaries, crowdfunding, online participatory platforms (OPPs), and gamification are reshaping internal democratic processes within parties. However, not all innovations within parties are democratic, nor are all democratic innovations necessarily digital, highlighting the need for clearer definitions and categories of party innovation.
This paper proposes a framework for understanding party innovation, aiming to define the concept, identify distinct types, and categorise their features. By focusing on digital democratic innovations, it aims to delineate specific subtypes of DDIs, explore their dimensions, and offer a methodology for studying their impact. The central research questions are: What is party innovation? What types of party innovation exist? How can they be categorised? The analysis of DDIs will provide insights into their potential for enhancing internal party democracy and improving political engagement in the digital age.
