Mobilizing Effects of Online Campaigning

Elections are a culminating point of political parties’ communicative endeavors. Election campaigns afford considerable efforts and in light of restricted financial and personal resources should be carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible. This especially holds true for Swiss cantonal parties that largely carry out their campaigns on a voluntary basis. Based on a larger research project, this paper explores the relevance of online as opposed to more traditional campaigning with regard to the content and activity-oriented mobilization of the party base. The analysis is based on interviews with campaign managers, a survey among the party base and on a content analysis of party web sites. Contrary to many studies in the field, the discussion is not confined to an analysis of how parties engage in online campaigning, but also examines how particular communication channels, such as party web sites and social media are assessed and used by their members and supporters. On the supply-side of ecampaigning, results suggest that the sophistication of party web sites partly relates to the size and available resources of a given party, while the adoption of specific features rather relates to the type of party unit (youth vs. cantonal, local parties). On the demand side, research shows that the communicative preferences and behavior of younger members and supporters clearly differ from those of older age groups in that they are more open to online communication and campaigning. Members and supporters in fact use ICT (social networks, party web sites) to get involved as volunteer campaigners. Within the range of voluntary campaign activities, e-campaigning by now plays a subordinate role however. Still, results suggest that there is potential for parties to further mobilize their supporter base by providing adequate instruments such as online campaigning material.