Crowdsourcing Politics: Theorising the Measurement of New Forms of Political Participation

Following the success of online campaigning organizations that mobilize mass publics, such as MoveOn, GetUp, 38 Degrees and Avaaz; new online portals, such as Change.org, have emerged that enable citizens to start their own political campaigns. This paper argues that crowdsourced politics via online petitioning and micro-donations, pioneered by these organisations, has become normalized within citizen repertoires for engagement. In many advanced democracies signing an online petition is the second most likely act of individual participation after voting. Yet, are we collecting data in a way that thoroughly conceptualises and fully accounts for citizen experiences of these acts of everyday participation? We present a conceptual model for how we can best understand the emergence of citizen-led micro-political campaigns and the new organisations that facilitate these actions. We also speculate about future operationalisations for more accurate measurement of crowdsourced forms of political participation.