PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED ~ PIPPA NORRIS DRAFT #1 [7656 WORDS] 10/9/2001 1 Preaching to the Converted? Pluralism, Participation, and Party Websites Pippa Norris Shorenstein Center John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 [email protected] www.pippanorris.com Synopsis: A growing body of American research based on analysis of campaign websites in US elections suggests three propositions. Firstly, party and candidate websites in America are more effective in strengthening representative democracy via pluralism rather than direct democracy via participation. In particular, there is evidence that the virtual world does provide a more competitive playing field for minor parties and candidates than traditional forms of campaign communications like paid TV ads and coverage in newspapers and television. Nevertheless, most campaign websites by mainstream parties and candidates have proved relatively conservative in design, acting more like electronic ‘top-down’ electronic pamphlets than as a radically new forum for interactive ‘bottom up’ participation. And lastly, among the electorate, campaign websites serve primarily to activate the active, rather than reaching the apathetic. Are similar patterns apparent in the European context? To consider these issues, Part I lays out the debate about the function of the Internet for pluralism and participation. Part II outlines the research design including content analysis of 134 websites, and survey data of users in the fifteen European Union member states from the Spring 2000 Eurobarometer. Part III examines the evidence for patterns of competition in European party websites while Part IV analyzes patterns of participation among European users. The conclusion summarizes the key results and considers the consequences for representative democracy and for public policy. Draft 1: For Party PoliticsPREACHING TO THE CONVERTED ~ PIPPA NORRIS DRAFT #1 [7656 WORDS] 10/9/2001 2 In modern societies, the availability of information is critical to the quality of decision making by citizens and policymakers. In economic markets, consumers need accurate and reliable information to compare and evaluate products and services. In the political market, electors need information to judge the record of government and to select among alternative candidates and parties. If citizens are poorly informed, if they lack practical knowledge, if they are unaware of some electoral choices, they may cast ballots that fail to reflect their real interests (Lupia and McCubbins 1998). Moreover policymakers need accurate information about citizens: to respond to public concerns, deliver effective services, and maximize electoral support. Information in the political marketplace comes from two primary sources. Personal interactions commonly include informal face-to-face political conversations with friends, family and colleagues, traditional campaign rallies, community forums, and grassroots meetings. These information resources remain important, especially in poorer democracies, but these channels have been supplemented in modern campaigns by the mass media, including the printed press (newspapers and magazines), electronic broadcasts (radio and television news), and also more recently the bundle of technologies associated with the Internet (including party and candidate websites). The rise of the Internet may be a particularly important development for channels of campaign information and communication. Potentially this bundle of technologies can function as a pluralistic civic forum by facilitating the voice of oppositional challengers and the visibility of smaller parties, so that citizens can learn about electoral choices, and as a channel for participation and expression by allowing interactive linkages between citizens and representatives (Norris 2001). A growing body of American research based on analysis of campaign websites in US elections suggests three propositions. Firstly, party and candidate websites in America are stronger in strengthening representative democracy via pluralism rather than direct democracy via participation. In particular, there is evidence that the virtual world does provide a more competitive playing field for minor parties and candidates than traditional forms of campaign communications like paid TV ads and coverage in newspapers and television. Nevertheless, most campaign websites by mainstream parties and candidates have proved relatively conservative in design, acting more like electronic ‘top-down’ electronic pamphlets than as a radically new forum for interactive ‘bottom up’ participation. And lastly, among the electorate, campaign websites serve primarily to activate the active, rather than reaching the apathetic. Considerable evidence supports these propositions in the context of US campaigns but, given established patterns of ‘American exceptionalism’, it remains unclear whether it is possible to generalize reliably from these findings to patterns of pluralist party competition and electoral participation elsewhere. In Western Europe, for example, if the technology adapts to the existing structure of the state, we might well expect to find that the Internet plays a different role in European countries characterized by multiparty systems, stronger grassroots mass-branch party organizations, and more inclusive levels of electoral turnout. To consider these issues, Part I lays out the debate about the function of the Internet for pluralism and participation. Part II outlines the research design including content analysis of 134 websites and survey data of users in the fifteen European Union member states from the Spring 2000 Eurobarometer. Part III examines the evidence for patterns of competition in European party websites while Part IV analyzes patterns of participation among European users. The conclusion summarizes the key results and considers the consequences for representative democracy and for public policy. I: Theoretical Framework Two perspectives are commonly heard in debates about the political impact of the Internet. The first, expressed by enthusiasts such as Nicholas Negroponte (1995) and Michael Dertouzos (1997), believed that virtual democracy promised new opportunities for empowerment in a digital world. Schwartz (1996) emphasized the potential for a virtual community. Rheingold (1993) argued