(De)Digitalisation and (de)democratisation in European political parties

Abstract

The Great Recession and the subsequent political turmoil led to the emergence of a new wave of protests in many European countries. In some countries, such transformations favoured the emergence of new challenger parties willing to (re)connect with these new social movements. Many such new parties promoted an intensive use of digital technologies to favour new forms of direct political participation. However, since the mid-2010s, the mood has started to change substantially in light of the (un)intended organisational consequences, including disintermediation and hyperleadership trends. At the same time, there have been some setbacks in the way political parties are using digital technologies to enhance inclusion and participation: parties are reluctant to implement candidate and leadership selection procedures, some parties have closed some of their digital deliberative spaces, etc. This Panel welcomes theoretical, case studies and comparative empirical papers exploring de-digitalization or democratic setbacks in Europe and beyond.

Title	Details
Intra-Party (digital) Deliberation: the case of Podemos and the UK Labour Party platforms	View Paper Details
Digital leaders: How the digital is changing political leadership	View Paper Details
Digitalization and dedigitalization: organisational equilibrium and transformation of political parties’ digital ecosistems	View Paper Details
Why parties introduce digital democratic innovations?	View Paper Details
Digital Disruptors No More? The De-Digitalisation of Digital Parties as Ideological Normalisation: The cases of Podemos and the 5 Stars Movement	View Paper Details