New Technology in Ageing Parties

Abstract

The primary organizational innovation in political parties during the 1990s was the employment of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). The article explores the use of ICTs in party membership organizations and the impact these have on intra-party communication and participation: first, the extent to which party members participate in activities facilitated by these new technologies, and second, the ‘digital divide’ separating organizational strata. Data from Danish and Norwegian party member and party congress delegate surveys conducted in 2000/01 indicate that ICTs have become fully integrated parts of party work among top-level and middle-level elites, and that the extent to which rank-and-file party members participate in these activities remains limited. Even though some members who did not engage in traditional party activities were attracted by these new activities, the impact was limited during the early 2000s.