Internet parties : the internet as party, policy, platform, and persuasive symbol

Fish, Adam (2015) Internet parties : the internet as party, policy, platform, and persuasive symbol. In: Civic media project :. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge, Mass..

Abstract

The Internet makes political organizing less expensive and labor intensive by enabling otherwise disparate constituencies to collect into networked public spheres (Kriess 2012). What is not as well understood is how the politicians use Internet to crowdsource policy (De Cindio and Stortone 2013). In addition, little is apprehended about how politicians discuss Internet as an object of policy regulation (MacKinnon 2012). Finally, how is the powerful symbolism of the Internet as an emblem of innovation used to gather positive attention on the campaign trail? Internet Parties provide an opportunity to examine the confluence of these little understood issues of Internet politics. Internet Parties are unique amongst political parties for their emphasis on the Internet as a policy issue, party organizing system, policy generating tool, and lastly, a political fetish. In this essay, these four points are illustrated by a discussion of the Five Star Movement (5SM) of Italy and the Pirate Party of the United Kingdom.