New Zealand Parties in Cyberspace

Abstract

This article contributes to an increased understanding of how parties apply the new information and communication technology by presenting an analysis of the character of party websites at the New Zealand general election in 2005. The hypothesis is that the application of the new information and communication technology varies among the major and minor parties represented in Parliament as it does in relation to othe R, traditional media, whereas parties not represented in Parliament have a slight advantage when compared to the represented parties, thus testing a combination of the two competing hypotheses within the field, the ‘normalisation’ and ‘levelling of the playing field’ hypotheses, respectively.Analysis of the participation encouragement, information provision and resource mobilisation on New Zealand party websites provides some support for the combination of the two hypotheses. Both in regard to participation encouragement and information provision, the major parties are on average scoring higher than the minor parties who are, in turn, scoring higher than parties not represented in Parliament. However, the latter parties are not as far behind as might be expected if assessed by electoral support or resources. In regard to resource generation, the difference between parties seems to pertain more to parliamentary representation than to size. Nevertheless, the averages conceal variation within the three groups of parties. Both major parties and minor parties not represented in Parliament are among the high scorers on each dimension. This could point more towards support for the hypothesis of ‘levelling the playing field’ – or at least for providing new positions for the parties within the playing field.