Internet e partecipazione politica nelle elezioni italiane e francesi

Contemporary Western parties are often said to be facing a legitimacy crisis, which most scholars attribute to a weakening of “party on the ground” structures and activities. However, the development of various internet-based participatory tools and applications could incrementally help parties repair this damage and in the process partially restore their democratic legitimacy. This article explores these issues through a comparative quantitative analysis of Italian and French parties’ websites in the 2006 and 2007 elections. Results highlight a noticeable difference in the use of participatory tools, which is more common in French than in Italian websites, especially with respect to online resource mobilization. Moreover, significant disparities emerge in both countries among parties of different ideological orientations, as progressive parties’ websites are significantly more participation-oriented than those of communist, centrist, conservative, and radical-right ones.