Political Parties Online and Offline: Opportunities and Challenges

The last two years have marked a rapid development in the use of online tools by political parties to organize, communicate with members and voters, conduct campaigns and engage citizens in different forms of participation. While some parties were digitalized and used technology on a regular basis prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many other parties were pushed by health policies (i.e. lockdown or social distancing) to switch to online activities. This move gives rise to a series of opportunities and challenges for political parties ranging from issues related to intra-party decision-making process to the organization of effective campaigns during elections. To date, we know relatively little about how the use of online tools and digital technology had an impact on political parties, and how they are perceived by party members or voters. Also, we have limited knowledge about why many other parties stick to traditional ways of organizing and conducting activities. This section, which is endorsed by the ECPR Standing Group on Political Parties, aims to address this gap in the literature and welcomes papers and panels that focus on the contemporary opportunities and challenges of online and offline ways of party organization and performing their functions. The section is also interested in papers related to how party elites, members and voters perceive and influence the functioning of parties during or outside the ongoing process of digitalization. The section invites paper and panel submissions that speak to any of the following themes and general questions: 1. Political parties and the opportunities provided by the use of technology: How did party organization change over time? How is technology used to reach new segments of electorate? How are campaigns conducted with or without digital technologies? What is the potential of digitalization to increase member or voter participation? What are the features of digital parties during the pandemic? How and why political parties engage with the electorate? How do political parties address policy problems? 2. Party organization and functioning online and offline: What are the recent developments of intra-party democracy? How do parties stimulate members’ involvement? How are party resources affected by organizational digitalization? How are electoral campaigns financed? How do parties take advantage of alternative digital sources of income? 3. Political parties and the challenges of digitalization: What are the challenges faced by political parties? How do online activities and messages alter the functioning of political parties? What are the consequences of digitalization for the functions and organization of political parties? What are the consequences of the digital divide in the political arena? How do party systems change as a result of digitalization? 4. Political parties and traditional ways of doing politics: Why do parties maintain traditional ways of organizing, communicating or campaigning despite change? How can we relate theories of representation with the way political parties function in practice online, offline or both? To what extent is the traditional way of doing politics reflected in electoral support (also compared with digitalized parties)? Our section will feature contributions that aim at unpacking the complex dynamic of political parties in contemporary times. We welcome analyses at micro, meso and macro levels across a wide spectrum of political regimes ranging from autocratic regimes to consolidated democracies. We welcome different theoretical perspectives and methodologies, including conceptual analyses, comparative and case studies that employ qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method approaches.