Digital strategies of Tunisian political parties

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the digital strategies of political parties in Tunisia during the first municipal elections in the democratic era that took place on May 6, 2018. A lack of work is noted in the scientific literature on digital campaigns of political parties in contexts other than established Western democracies and on local rather than national elections. Moreover, despite the succession of electoral deadlines since the change of regime in Tunisia and the importance of digital technology in political life since the 2011 revolution, very few studies have focused on digital campaigns by political parties in electoral competitions. This chapter attempts to fill these gaps by analyzing the objectives that digital campaigns had in municipal elections. Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with the communication teams of the six main Tunisian political parties; two governing parties: Ennahdha and Nidaa Tounes, and four opposition parties: Courant Democrate, Mouvement Tunisie Volonté, Afek Tounes and Front Populaire.