II International Conference - Political Participation and Web 2.0
Despite 2.0 political communication potentialities, empirical evidence shows that neither the citizens nor the political parties have been taking full advantage of online qualities in regard to political participation. This is particularly evident in the case of political parties websites, which have been assuming two main functions: i) Disseminating information to citizens and also to the journalistic sphere about the history, structure, program and party activities; ii) Monitoring citizens opinions in regard to the different political questions and policies proposals that are under discussion.
In spite of website integration in political parties “permanent campaign” (Blumenthal), TV continues to be seen as the core medium in political communication and thus, one-way and top-down communication strategies still prevail. That is, “business as usual”. Some issues arise from this context, namely, which are the reasons for parties-citizens “participative” mismatch. Moreover, it is important to inquire whether the web 2.0 could help citizens’ political participation or should a new research stream be identified.
