Online Political Advertising and Microtargeting: The Latest Legal, Ethical, Political and Technological Evolutions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Political Advertising ◽  
Event Report ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
People’S Perception ◽  
Online Campaigning

Electoral campaigns are central to influencing how people vote and can also affect people’s perception of the legitimacy of a country’s elections and democracy in general. Today, political parties and other stakeholders are increasingly use new online techniques in electoral campaigns. Many countries struggle with applying regulatory frameworks on elections to the online sphere, especially as regards online political advertising and microtargeting. This Event Report provides an overview of the issues at stake and recommendations from two roundtables on online political advertising and microtargeting that were organized by International IDEA in June 2020, in collaboration with the European Commission and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. It covers topics such as what sets online campaigning apart from traditional campaigning, the rights and freedoms potentially affected by the use of digital microtargeting and online campaigning, gaps in current regulations, and division and coordination of oversight roles both domestically and internationally.

Regulating Online Campaign Finance: Chasing the Gost

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushbu Agrawal ◽  
Yukihiko Hamada ◽  
Alberto Fernández Gibaja
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Political Finance ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Online Campaigning ◽  
Targeted Messages

As the number of Internet and social media users increases, political parties and candidates are spending significant amounts of money on online campaigning. It not only helps them to reach out to more voters with comparatively lower costs, but also allows them to communicate more targeted messages to voters when compared with other traditional campaign tools. Despite the growing use of online campaigns, appropriate regulation of online expenditures is almost non-existent around the world. In fact, online expenditure is one of the key weaknesses of political finance systems and regulatory frameworks. Appropriate regulation of online expenditures will not only protect the integrity of the political process, but also thwart negative effects, such as disinformation and polarization and, more generally, prevent inauthentic activities that usually characterize online campaigns. As online expenditure is a relatively new phenomenon, its regulation is not straightforward and there is no conclusive evidence on what works. This report outlines some of the challenges that policymakers, legislators and oversight agencies face when drafting and implementing laws to include online expenditure within the scope of regulated political finance. It also provides recommendations for policymakers, social media platforms, political parties, candidates and campaigners, as well as civil society actors, on the steps that they can take towards closing the regulatory gap.

Divergent Paths of Inequality in Turkey and Spain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekrem Karakoç
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Party System ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Unemployment Benefits ◽  
Social Security Systems ◽  
Security Systems ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Key Sectors

Using most similar design and process-tracing methodology, this chapter investigates the divergent outcomes in income inequality in Turkey and Spain. Even though social-security systems in both countries have been hierarchical, benefiting civil servants, the security apparatus, and workers in key sectors and others in formal sectors at the expense of the rest, they have adopted different social policies over time. This chapter discusses how Turkish governments, with a focus on 1983 to the present time, have designed contributory and noncontributory pensions, healthcare, and other social programs that have affected household income differently. In democratic Spain, however, pension-related policies and unemployment benefits have been dominant forms of social policy, but the Spanish party system has not created major incentives for political parties to utilize these policies in electoral campaigns until recently. This chapter ends with a discussion of how social policies in Turkey and Spain have affected inequality since the two nations transitioned to democracy.

USING SOCIAL MEDIA DATA FOR PROBABLE CALCULATIONS USING SCENARIOUS MODELING METHODS: RESULTS OF ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
A. A. Azarov ◽  
◽  
A. V. Suvorova ◽  
E. V. Brodovskaya ◽  
O. V. Vasileva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Random Variable ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Scenario Modeling ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Modeling Methods ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
Media Data

The article presents the application of scenario modeling methods to assess the potential for scaling electoral support for political parties through digital communications (communities in social networks) based on data obtained from social networks. An analysis of communities in several social networks was carried out, various indicators were downloaded, reflecting the activity of both communities and users of such communities. Based on these data, various aggregates were calculated. Then a software package was developed that implements scenario modeling based on various identified indicators. The scenarios provide for the development of groups in social networks, depending on the activity of these groups. In this case, the activity is given by a random variable with a normal distribution. To test the developed algorithms, indicators of political communities in social networks were used.

scholarly journals USE OF CYBER HATE IN THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS BY THE MAINSTREAM POLITICAL PARTIES OF PAKISTAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-332
Author(s):  
Ayesha Siddiqua
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The Political ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Cyber Ethics

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. The issue of poll rigging in Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 is examined through discourse analysis of the related tweets. The study also aims at comprehending the extent to which cyber ethics were violated during the digital electoral campaigns. Methodology: Discourse Analysis of the tweets generated from the official Twitter handles of PTI and PMLN leaders was conducted to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. Violation of cyber ethics was explored through the qualitative interviews of 8 purposively selected social media managers of PMLN, PPP, and PTI. Main Findings: The findings indicated that party leadership/politicians used the elements of cyber hate which included abusive language, provocation, and character assassination against their opponents during the digital electoral campaign in general and regarding the poll rigging issue of Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 in specific. Resultantly the tweets using strong adjectives and metaphors on the political opponents were more frequently re-tweeted and attracted more favorites. Applications of this study: The study can be helpful in various cross-disciplinary areas that focus on the examination of the usage and impact of social media and cyberspace as a medium for hate speech dissemination. The study can significantly contribute to areas related to cyber ethics, digital electoral campaigning, freedom of expression, and political opinion building. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study’s originality lies in its attempt to unfold the foundations of digital electoral campaigning in Pakistan and how cyberhate was used as a pivotal tool for advancing the political narratives in a fragile democratic society.

Campaign Songs and Political Advertising in Ghana

2019 ◽  
pp. 108-130
Author(s):  
Margaret Ivy Amoakohene ◽  
Gilbert K. M. Tietaah ◽  
Favour Esinam Normeshie ◽  
Fidelis Yayra Sesenu
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Advertising ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Election Cycles

As persuasive tools for political campaigns, songs and music are integral features of electioneering in Africa. Since Ghana's return to multiparty democracy in 1992, election cycles in the country have been heralded and accentuated by campaign songs which extol the virtues of their sponsors and/or denigrate the achievements and their suitability for political office. This chapter examines the use of repetitions, testimonials, and biblical imagery in campaign songs of two major political parties in Ghana—the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC)—during the 2012 and 2016 elections. Eight campaign songs were analyzed. The findings show that the songs sought to communicate messages/themes of submissiveness/humility, divine choice/prophecy, achievers/achievement, and opponents as failures/deceivers about the political parties and their candidates.

The Visibility of Political Websites during Electoral Campaigns

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
J. Paulo Serra
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Need For Information ◽  
The Way

This paper discusses how political parties and candidates try to enhance the public visibility of their websites during electoral campaigns, through a process that the author proposes calling the “meta-campaign.” This process significantly depends on the actions of journalists and the way in which they cover electoral campaigns. The discussion is based on an exploratory and qualitative study of the Portuguese campaign for the 2009 European Parliament election. The main reason the authors chose this election was that European themes, being less familiar to Portuguese citizens than national ones, would highlight the need for information about the salient issues as well as the tools for attaining this information, with the websites of political parties and candidates clearly being one of the latter.

Campaigning Outside the Campaign: Political Parties and Referendums in Bulgaria

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoycho P. Stoychev ◽  
Gergana Tomova
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
National Level ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Potential Reason

This article is part of the special cluster titled Political Parties and Direct Democracy in Eastern Europe, guest-edited by Sergiu Gherghina. The instrumental use of referendums by political parties has already been acknowledged in earlier studies showing how parties in government used direct democracy tools to promote their policies and to gain legitimacy, while parties in opposition sought to augment their image in the eyes of the public. However, opposition parties may have another potential reason to promote referendums on top of their quest for a better public image: The topic of the referendum could be a legacy of their own government. This article reveals how this mechanism works by focusing on the first referendum at the national level in post-communist Bulgaria in 2013. It shows how the Bulgarian Socialist Party, in opposition at the time of the referendum, pursued a policy initiated when it was in office. We use primary data to investigate the extent to which the rhetoric of the party during the referendum campaign served as the basis for subsequent electoral campaigns.

Gendered Incentives, Party Support, and Viable Female Presidential Candidates in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-355
Author(s):  
Catherine Reyes-Housholder ◽  
Gwynn Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Signal Change ◽  
Negative Case ◽  
Party Support ◽  
New Framework

Women hold less than 10 percent of chief executive positions worldwide. Understanding how women democratically access these posts requires theorizing how they gain resources from established parties to mount viable electoral campaigns. We argue that in stable regimes marked by representational malaise parties respond to gendered incentives and nominate female candidates. Drawing on Latin American cases, we show how diverse parties nominated women in order to signal change or novelty, to credibly commit to "feminine" leadership and issues, and to mobilize female voters. A negative case depicts how a lack of representational critiques can fail to incentivize parties to back women instead of men. Our focus on gendered incentives provides a new framework that places political parties at the center of questions about women's electoral opportunities.

scholarly journals Electoral Campaign Financing and Criminal Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Brunela Kullolli
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Criminal Policy ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Campaign Financing

In a democratic state, power is exercised by elected bodies through free and fair elections. The choice of the political class that will exercise political, economic, etc. power by the sovereign (the people) is one of the most important moments in the way how a state works.The sovereign and the expression of his will by voting for those to be elected to the governing or governing bodies. The first part will address and analyze the election campaign, the day of voting until the moment of the results, is the period when the sovereign exercises his power directly by voting which political class will lead the state.Political classes seeking to govern and govern governing bodies disclose their programs, their policies during the election campaign.Election campaigns in modern and capitalist society require funding as they are associated with costs, expenses. Election campaigns cannot be done without capital, without money. The second part will analyze the power of money in election campaigns is related to the expenses political parties or candidates make to their program, to disseminate their political and governing ideas, so money power is used to influence the sovereign to be informed on election day. who to vote for and who to choose in the governing bodies. The use of money in election campaigns forces a democratic state to set rules on how to finance, spend, etc., so setting rules such as how the power of money will affect election campaigns and their control by the responsible bodies.In a country with a fragile and transitional democracy such as the Albanian state, the control of money power during election campaigns is extremely difficult, however the manner of controlling election campaign financing is clearly defined in legislation. In this paper I will contribute by analyzing the impact of money on the Albanian state policy, first in terms of electoral financing, financing of political parties and individuals in electoral campaigns In this paper I will address and analyze how money affects constitutional principles during election campaigns, how it affects the principles of free and fair elections. The third part will address and analyze how entities participating in electoral campaigns are financed.The use of illegal money during campaigns affects the violation of constitutional principles for free and fair elections.I will address and analyze the criminal policies in the field of illegal financing of electoral campaigns. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania in relation to free and fair elections. llegal financing of election campaigns is a current phenomenon of the Albanian society, bringing about the incrimination of Albanian politics.Illegal financing of entities participating in electoral campaigns comes from organized crime or suspects in criminal activities, and this brings about the establishment of those persons who protect the latter's interests and not the interests of the constituents or democratic interests of a state .Intensify the fight against illicit financing of electoral campaigns by creating not only a complete legal framework for preventing illicit financing but also creating practical mechanisms for not only law enforcement but also the practical prevention of uncontrolled funding of electoral subjects.Setting criminal penalties for illegal financing of electoral campaigns and revising the Criminal Code in incriminating all illegal financing actions that violate free and fair elections may be the most important step in the fight against illegal financing of electoral campaigns. Illegal financing of electoral campaigns in Albania calls for free and fair elections and questions the basic principles of the representation of political entities in governing institutions and therefore the interference in law and penal policy is current and immediate.

scholarly journals The use of emotions in 2019 European Elections campaign materials

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-69
Author(s):  
Giselle García Hípola ◽  
Javier Antón Merino ◽  
Sergio Pérez Castaños
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Phase Analysis ◽  
General Context ◽  
Analytical Strategy ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Political Propaganda ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Communicative Activity

This research analyses three fundamental questions to determine how, when and by whom emotions are used in campaign materials (political propaganda). Focusing on the 2019 European elections we carry out a three-phase analysis. Firstly, we check the use of rational content against content that appeals to voters’ emotions. Secondly, we observe which of these emo tions are channelled towards the use of negative strategies and, therefore, identifying who is the object of this attack. And lastly, we determine which party families make the most use of humorous content since this resource is believed to be part of an appeal to voter’s feelings and, therefore, it is essential to know if there are differences between political groups. Considering this analytical strategy, the structure of the work begins with the contextualisation of the 2019 European elections to focus, later, on highlighting the importance of electoral campaigns as a given time when communicative activity intensifies. Once the importance of electoral campaigns has been defined the article analyses how campaign materials, in a general context of political propaganda, are one of the most powerful tools. In this sense, the analytical strategy of political parties’ campaign materials can be said to focus on the use of emotions. Data from the European Elections Monitoring Center (EEMC) has been used not only for theoretical contextualization, but throughout the whole paper.

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