Abstract
The transformations of political party systems challenge democratic representation given that parties maintain a predominant role connecting citizen’s preferences to policy making through the election of authorities. Representation is also challenged by the spread of digital social networks, which modify the way in which both political actors and the public communicate about politics. However, it is unclear in how far platforms like Twitter overcome traditional ways of political communication. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the political uses of digital media in a multilevel party system during an electoral period. The main question it deals with refers to the extent politician’s tweets do connect territorial agendas. The study focuses on the 2014 subnational elections in Ecuador, an incongruent multilevel party system dominated by non-traditional parties, despite traditional parties still play a relevant role. With an exploratory aim the study focuses on a selection of politicians from the provinces of Guayas and Pichincha and the municipalities of Guayaquil and Quito.
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- 1.
Despite these discouraging findings, the picture is far from being clear given the speed at which internet has growing not only in terms of number of users but also in terms of digital architectures of communication. Accordingly, a criticism leveled against previous studies is that they operate with datasets that predate important ICT innovations such as Web 2.0 features and social media platforms, nowadays intensively used for political and civic activism (Anduiza et al. 2012; Breuer and Welp 2014).
- 2.
Shortly after the transition to democracy in 1978, traditional parties such as the PCE, the PLRE, the Social Christian Party (Partido Social Cristiano, PSC), the Democratic Left (Izquierda Democrática, ID) or the Ecuadorian Roldosista Party (Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano, PRE) did lose centrality.
- 3.
But the personalization of politics is not the same as the populist appeal (even if to somehow could be related). Several scholars have noted a trend of increasing personalization in democratic politics. Studies show a mutual process of growing centrality of the individual together with a decrease in the power of political groupings such as political parties, parliaments and cabinets (Balmas et al. 2014).
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Welp, Y., Capra, P., Freidenberg, F. (2018). Politics and Digital Media: An Exploratory Study of the 2014 Subnational Elections in Ecuador. In: Sobacı, M., Hatipoğlu, İ. (eds) Sub-National Democracy and Politics Through Social Media. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 29. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73386-9_11
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