Connecting Movements and Parties: The Case of the Indignados and Podemos

Parties and movements are two critical linking mechanisms between citizens and the steering of political systems. Historically, they have often been intertwined as mass parties grew out of organized movements. The transformation from movement to party represents a shifting in both the settings of contestation and organizational structure which pose significant questions regarding whether parties that spring from movements maintain their popular content or whether they succumb to Michels “iron law of oligarchy?” This paper examines that question looking at the relationship between the Indignados in Spain and Podemos, a party with ties to the Indignados movement. The December 2015 election did not result in a government and elections were held again in June 2016. In between, Podemos forged an electoral alliance with Izquierda Unida , a traditional far left party, and in the process lost over 1 million votes. The paper investigates whether Podemos’s coalition with Izquierda Unida impacted the relationship between Podemos and the Indignados movement. Methodologically, it analyses the relationship between the party and movement with respect to Twitter communications from the party and several prominent accounts used by the Indignados movement to identify similarities and differences in the topics addressed; the framing of issues, democracy, and politics; and the extent to which Podemos empowered their supporters through their campaign communications during each of the electoral contests. As Twitter communications were prominent among both the movements themselves and are heavily used by Spain’s political parties, this medium provides a useful window into the party-movement relationship.