Social Media, Parties, and Political Inequalities

by Jacobs, Kristof; Spierings, Niels

• ISBN13: 9781137533890
• ISBN10: 1137533897
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-01-06
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book examines how social media have transformed politics in established democracies. Specifically, the authors examine the influence of the unique qualities of social media on the power balance between and within parties. They present a general theory as well as an in-depth case study of the Netherlands and compare it to the US and European democracies. The authors show how and why social media's introduction leads to equalization for some and normalization for others. Additional to national politics, Jacobs and Spierings investigate often-overlooked topics such as local and European politics and the impact on women and ethnic minorities.

Author Biography

Kristof Jacobs is Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at Radboud University, Netherlands. Previously, he worked in the political science department at University of Antwerp, Belgim. His research focuses on elections, technological innovations, political parties and democracy. He has published about these topics in Electoral Studies, West European Politics and Political Behavior.

Niels Spierings is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Radboud University, Netherlands and has held appointments at the London School of Economics and the University of Essex, UK, before. His specializations are in political and gender sociology and research methodology. He publishes on social media, political participation, populism, gender equality, Islam, and migration.

Table of Contents

PART I: BACKGROUND
1. Introduction
2. Theorizing Social Media, Parties and Political Inequalities
3. Social Media in Politics: The Netherlands from a Comparative Perspective
PART II: CHANGES IN THE POWER BALANCE
4. Inter-Party Relations: David versus Goliath
5. Intra-Party Politics: David versus Nabal and Abigail
6. Social Media go Glocal: The Local and European Arenas
PART III: THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
7. The Electoral Impact of Social Media
8. Conclusion