Factors for the Digitalisation of Political Parties in Portugal and Spain: A Comparative Perspective


Abstract


This investigation stems from the need to better comprehend the digitalisation of the Iberian parties and, especially, to understand the lack of scientific knowledge surrounding the digitalisation of political actors in Portugal. The principal objective of this investigation is the betterment of knowledge of the factors that intervene in the digitalisation of political parties. Taking various theoretical premises into account, we will analyse the relation between the age of the parties, the ideology and the stability of the party system, and the adoption of digital instruments for the purposes of contact, participation, deliberation, and mobilisation of financial resources between political parties with parliamentary representation in Portugal and Spain. To answer these questions the investigation used a data matrix taken from six qualitative variables applied to each of the analysed political parties. The results show a tendency towards a greater level of digitalisation in political parties located on the left of the ideological spectrum that were founded after the year 2008. Furthermore, the stability of the party system and a lower competitive capacity could partially explain the lower level of digitalisation in political parties in Portugal.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i20356609v15i2p330

Keywords: Digitalisation; participation; political parties; Portugal; Spain

References


Accornero, G., P. Ramos Pinto (2015), “‘Mild mannered’? Protest and mobilisation in Portugal under austerity, 2010–2013”, West European Politics, 38(3): 491-515.

Alcántara, M. (2008), “La escala de la izquierda. La ubicación ideológica de presidentes y partidos de izquierda en América Latina”, Nueva Sociedad, 217 (2): 72-85.

Ardanuy, M., E. Labuske (2015), “El músculo deliberativo del algoritmo democrático: Podemos y la participación ciudadana”, Teknokultura, 12(1): 93-109.

Arroyo, M. (2020). “Las causas del apoyo electoral a VOX en España”, Política y sociedad, 57(3): 693.

Barberà, O. (2019), “Decidir de otra manera: la transformación de los modelos de partido ante las nuevas tecnologías”, en J. Barrat y M. Pérez-Moneo (eds.), La Digitalización de los Partidos Políticos y el uso del voto electrónico, Pamplona: Thomson Reuters-Aranzadi.

Barrat, J. (2019), “Partidos políticos y voto electrónico”, en J. Barrat y M. Pérez-Moneo (eds.), La Digitalización de los Partidos Políticos y el uso del voto electrónico, Pamplona: Thomson Reuters-Aranzadi.

Bennett, W. L., Segerberg, A., & Knüpfer, C. B. (2018). “The democratic interface: Technology, political organization, and diverging patterns of electoral representation”, Information, Communication & Society, 21(11), 1655-1680.

Blasio, E., L. Viviani (2020), “Platform party between digital activism and hyper-leadership: The reshaping of the public sphere”, Media and Communication, 8(4): 16-27.

Chadwick, A., J. Stromer-Galley (2016), “Digital media, power, and democracy in parties and election campaigns: Party decline or party renewal?”, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 21(3): 283-293.

Chironi, D., R. Fittipaldi (2017), “Social movements and new forms of political organization: Podemos as a hybrid party”, Partecipazione e conflitto, 10(1): 275-305.

De Giorgi, E., J. Santana-Pereira (2020), “The Exceptional Case of Post-Bailout Portugal: A Comparative Outlook”, South European Society and Politics, 25(2): 127-150.

de Nadal, L. (2021), “Populism and plebiscitarianism 2.0: How Podemos used digital platforms for organization and decision-making”, New Media & Society, 14614448211038763.

Deseriis, M. (2020), “Two variants of the digital party: The platform party and the networked party”, Partecipazione e Conflitto, 13(1): 896-917.

Dommett, K., Kefford, G., & Power, S. (2021). “The digital ecosystem: The new politics of party organization in parliamentary democracies”, Party Politics, 27(5), 847-857.

Fernandes, T. (2017). “Late neoliberalism and its discontents: The case of Portugal”, in D. Della Porta, M. Andretta, T. Fernandes, F. O’Connor, E. Romanos and M. Vogiatzoglou (eds.), Late neoliberalism and its discontent: Comparing crises and movements in the European periphery, London: Palgrave-Macmillan, pp. 169-200.

Ferreira, C. (2019), “Vox como representante de la derecha radical en España: un estudio sobre su ideología”, Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 51, 73-98.

Fishman, R. (2021), Práctica democrática e inclusión. Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata.

Freire, A. (2021). “Left-wing governmental alliance in Portugal, 2015-2019: A way of renewing and rejuvenating social democracy?”, Brazilian Political Science Review, 15(2).

Gerbaudo, P. (2018), “Social media and populism: an elective affinity?”, Media, Culture & Society, 40(5): 745-753.

Gerbaudo, P. (2021), “Are digital parties more democratic than traditional parties? Evaluating Podemos and Movimento 5 Stelle’s online decision-making platforms”, Party Politics, 27(4): 730-742.

Gibson, R., S. Ward (2009), “Parties in the digital age—a review article”, Representation, 45(1): 87-100.

González, L., R. Queirolo (2013), “Izquierda y derecha: formas de definirlas, el caso latinoamericano y sus implicaciones”, América Latina Hoy, 65: 79-105.

González-Cacheda, B. (2018), “Marcos y estructuras de movilización digitales para la financiación y la democratización de los actores políticos: del 15M a Podemos”, Espacios Públicos. 53: 36-54.

González-Cacheda, B., J. Vázquez-Refojos (2020), “Del 15M a Podemos. Rupturas y continuidades en un proceso de incipiente cartelización”, Inguruak. Revista vasca de Sociología y Ciencia Política, 68: 21-49.

Grusell, M., L. Nord (2016), “Setting the trend or changing the game? Professionalization and digitalization of election campaigns in Sweden”, Journal of Political Marketing, 19(3): 258-278.

Heyne, L., L. Manucci (2021), “A new Iberian exceptionalism? Comparing the populist radical right electorate in Portugal and Spain”, Political Research Exchange, 3(1): e1989985.

Jovanović, T. (2019), “Crowdfunding: what do we know so far?”, International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 16(01): 1950009.

Kreiss, D. (2009), “Developing the “good citizen”: Digital artifacts, peer networks, and formal organization during the 2003–2004 Howard Dean campaign”, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 6 (3-4): 281-297.

Martínez-Dalmau, R. (2019), “Participación electrónica, primarias, selección de dirigentes y consultas en Podemos”, en J. Barrat y M. Pérez-Moneo (eds.), La Digitalización de los Partidos Políticos y el uso del voto electrónico, Pamplona: Thomson Reuters-Aranzadi.

Mosca, L., M. Quaranta (2017), “Voting for movement parties in Southern Europe: The role of protest and digital information”, South European Society and Politics, 22(4): 427-446.

Moury, C., E. De Giorgi, P. Pita (2020), “How to Combine Public Spending with Fiscal Rigour?‘Austerity by Stealth’in Post-Bailout Portugal (2015-2019)”, South European Society and Politics, 25(2): 151-178.

Mudde, C., C. Rovira (2019), Populismo: una breve introducción. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Norris, P. (2001), “Digital Parties. Civic Engagement and Online Democracy”, paper prepared for the ECPR Joint Sessions, Grenoble, 6-11 April 2001.

Norris, P. (2020), “Measuring populism worldwide”, Party politics, 26(6): 697-717.

Lioy, A., M. Del Valle, J. Gottlieb (2019), “Platform politics: Party organisation in the digital age”, Information Polity, 24(1): 41-58.

Lisi, M., E. Borghetto (2018), “Populism, blame shifting and the crisis: discourse strategies in Portuguese political parties”, South European Society and Politics, 23(4): 405-427.

Lisi, M., E. Tsatsanis (2020), “Southern Europe and the Eurozone Crisis: Political Representation, Party System Characteristics and the Impact of Austerity”, in A. Freire, M. Barragán, X. Coller, M. Lisi, and E. Tsatsanis (eds.), Political Representation in Southern Europe and Latin America: Before and After the Great Recession and the Commodity Crisis, London: Routledge, pp. 17–33.

Orriols, L., G. Cordero (2016), “The Breakdown of the Spanish Two-Party System: The Upsurge of Podemos and Ciudadanos in the 2015 General Election”, South European Society and Politics, 21(4): 469–492.

Pérez-Moneo, M. (2019), “Nuevas tecnologías, democracia interna y partidos políticos”, en J. Barrat y M. Pérez-Moneo (eds.), La Digitalización de los Partidos Políticos y el uso del voto electrónico, Pamplona: Thomson Reuters-Aranzadi.

Pértega, S., Pita (2004), “Asociación de variables cualitativas: test de Chi-cuadrado”, Metodología de la Investigación, 5: 1-5.

Quintas, R. (2018), “A Portuguese exception to right-wing populism”, Palgrave Communications, 4(1): 1-5.

Raniolo, F., V. Tarditi (2020), “Digital revolution and party innovations: An analysis of the Spanish case”, Italian Political Science Review, 50(2): 235-253.

Rendón-Macías, M., M. Villasís-Keeve, M. Miranda-Novales (2016). “Estadística descriptiva”, Revista Alergia México, 63(4): 397-407.

Romanos, E., I. Sádaba (2015), “La evolución de los marcos (tecno) discursivos del movimiento 15M y sus consecuencias”, Empiria: Revista de metodología de ciencias sociales, (32): 15-36.

Serra-Silva, S., M. Rã, D. Ferreira, D., L. Carvalho (2019), “As eleições europeias de 2019 em Portugal: Um teste à «Geringonça»?”, Relações Internacionais, (64): 15-32.

Tranter, B., M. Western (2009), “The influence of Green parties on postmaterialist values”, The British journal of sociology, 60(1): 145-167.

Vidal, G. (2018), “Challenging business as usual? The rise of new parties in Spain in times of crisis”, West European Politics, 41(2): 261-286.

Ward, S., R. Gibson (2009), “European political organizations and the internet: mobilization, participation, and change”, in A. Chadwick e P. Howard (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. New York: Routledge, pp. 41-55.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.