Citizen Participation and Political Communication in a Digital World [Hardcover]

The arrival of the participatory web 2.0 has been hailed by many as a media revolution, bringing with it new tools and possibilities for direct political action. Through specialised online platforms, mainstream social media or blogs, citizens in many countries are increasingly seeking to have their voices heard online, whether it is to lobby, to support or to complain about their elected representatives. Politicians, too, are adopting new media in specific ways, though they are often criticised for failing to seize the full potential of online tools to enter into dialogue with their electorates. Bringing together perspectives from around the world, this volume examines emerging forms of citizen participation in the face of the evolving logics of political communication, and provides a unique and original focus on the gap which exists between political uses of digital media by the politicians and by the people they represent.

Foreword Simeon Yates Introduction. Alex Frame and Gilles BrachottePart 1: Participation and Political Communication: The Perspective of Politicians and Parties 1. Talking to Themselves: A Classification of Facebook's Political Usages and Representatives' Roles among Israeli Members of Knesset. Sharon Haleva-Amir2. Two Step Flow Twitter Communication in 2013 Italian Political Election. A Missed Opportunity for Citizen Participation. Guido Di Fraia and Maria Carlotta Missaglia3. Ad Hoc Mini-publics on Twitter: Citizen Participation or Political Communication? Examples from the German National Election 2013 Jessica Einsp?nner-Pflock, Mario Anastasiadis, and Caja Thimm4. Is Twitter Invigorating Spanish Democracy? A Study of Political Interaction through the Accounts of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Main Opposition Party. Elena Cebri?n Guinovart, Tamara V?zquez Barrio and David Sarias Rodr?guez