Digital Politics ― Mobilization, Engagement and Participation

This book discusses the implications of recent innovations in information and communication technology for civic and political engagement. The international mix of contributions offers insights across a broad spectrum of studies into the form of engagement: explaining the reasons, incentives and motivations for engaging, and the different forms and levels of engagement; contrasting traditional and non-traditional forms of engagement and how they interlink; and asking why people utilize or avoid certain forms of engagement.

It is a must-read for any scholar interested in the impact of social media on citizens’ propensity to get involved in political actions. It depicts the role that parties, organizations and peers play in mobilizing or demobilizing others and how online behaviour can act as a springboard into what might be called real-world politics. The book gathers together prominent scholars, who offer their understanding of social and political phenomena and give theoretical and empirical insights into the highly complex questions around political participation in the digital age. ?

This book was originally published as a special issue of Political Communication.

Karolina Koc-Michalska is Associate Professor at the Audencia Business School, Nantes, France and Associated Researcher at CEVIPOF – Sciences-Po, Paris, France. Her research focuses on the strategies of political actors in the online environment and citizens’ political engagement, especially the role of motivations and encouragement in both the online and the offline environment.

Darren G. Lilleker is Associate Professor of Political Communication and Head of the Corporate and Marketing Communication Academic Department in the Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK. His research focuses on the professionalization and marketization of politics and its impact on citizen psychology and engagement.