Abstract
The established structure and form of political parties in Western democracies is under threat. Whether it is through an increasing appetite for grass-roots influence over decision-making, as seen with the formation of Podemos in Spain, or through successful challenges from candidates on the fringe of the ‘big tent’, such as Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, the era of elite-driven, heavily centralized parties could be on the wane. Digital technologies provide the infrastructural foundations for this decentralization: In particular, the use of social media to inform, network and mobilize supporters. These are precisely the conditions that Jacobs and Spierings seek to explore in their book, Social Media, Parties, and Political Inequalities.
Drawing on a mixed-method research design – that combines expert interviews, social media data, election surveys and party documents – this study offers an extensive account of the role of social media in national, European and local election campaigns in the Netherlands. This case study is of great value to the field of political communication, as a substantial proportion of research in this area focuses on the majoritarian systems found in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. By analysing the use of social media in an electoral system that is highly proportional, the study tests the validity of existing conceptual frameworks in a political context where more parties compete for power.
Although the authors are right to warn of the dangers of applying the lessons from the innovative Obama campaigns to other political contexts (p. 189), their findings resonate with much of the empirical work conducted in the United States (Kreiss, 2012; Stromer-Galley, 2014). Namely, it is large political parties that now have the expertise, campaigning software and digital strategies to outmuscle potential challengers. Like their American counterparts, the interactive affordances provided by social media are not used for community building but for advertising party political information to wider publics (p. 71). Similarly, politicians are wary of engaging in the same self-expressive behaviours as their electorate. In this way, Jacobs and Spierings find that Facebook and Twitter are widely used by Dutch parties but not necessarily for the purpose for which platforms were designed for.
However, the book’s real value is in illustrating how this does not necessarily mean a return to the status quo; this is not an example of normalization. Rather, the successful adoption of these tools depends on how diffused social media platforms are within a political system. The authors offer the ‘motivation-resource-based diffusion model’, in which the parties that benefit from digital technologies vary over time (p. 29). Smaller, post-materialist parties, such as the Greens (Netherlands), have the initial impetus to innovate in order to be competitive, while larger parties wait until the tools are proven to be effective before they adapt. Jacobs and Spierings demonstrate how the debates over normalization versus equalization are become increasingly redundant when observed in this way, as these processes are not mutually exclusive (p. 99). In line with Chadwick’s (2013) call for more hybrid thinking in studies of power and political communication, this model is significant in moving us beyond binary propositions of whether digital technologies empower political elites or level the playing field. By focusing on the relationships and tensions that form within and between political parties, the book offers a robust theoretical framework for future empirical research.
This approach wields significant empirical observations. Chapter 5 offers an account of the transformative power of social media at the intraparty level. This analysis offers a refreshing depature from those studies that examine the use of social media between competing political parties or politicians. Jacobs and Spierings outline the opportunities that now exist internally for previously disadvantaged candidates. For those interested in how this impacts under-represented groups, female candidates in the Netherlands contribute more to civic discussion online and subsequently yield more – albeit small – electoral benefits (p. 188). However, the candidates that are most able to effectively harness these tools are often those with a pre-existing network of supporters (p. 17). The rich insights from interviews with politicians and campaign staff show that parties are increasingly aware of the potential challenges that this can cause for centralized party operations, with some developing strategies to deal with this. Evidently Donald Trump’s successful bid to become the presidential nominee for the Republican Party, achieved against the wishes of many prominent party officials, gives validity to this line of enquiry in a comparative perspective.
Where the book falls somewhat short is in its attempt to understand how social media has an impact on normal politics. In order to capture a sense of the role that emergent technologies play in everyday political life, it is necessary to expand the object of study to include the citizens, media organizations and campaigning groups that also seek to influence and shape the policy making process. Without this, the innovative use of social platforms by those actors that blur the boundaries between political party and social movement is overlooked (e.g. 38 Degrees, Avaaz, MoveOn).
Overall, Social Media, Parties, and Political Inequalities makes great strides in developing our understanding of how social media can influence the distribution of power within parties. Furthermore, it offers a fresh approach to the tired debates over the democratic value of new media tools, outlining how those parties that benefit most from digital technologies vary over time and across different political arenas. The book represents a vital resource for those interested in party politics, media and communications and citizenship studies.