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2004 Information Polity
This article presents the research questions, research methodology, and some of the major results of a comparative, survey-based study of the use of ICT by members of parliament in seven European countries. The overall research question is whether ICT is an active driver in changing the role of MPs by strengthening either their delegate or trustee role, or whether we see the contours of a totally new role for MPs in the "information society". Even though the data does not permit a full answer to this question, they allow us to see at least the contours of a new role for the MP in which attention to information flows and the media comes more to the fore, and where ability to influence the political agenda through digital means is crucial. Three other results from the surveys stand out clearly: a) there is a rather clear North-South divide in Europe concerning both what types of ICT are used by MPs, and the extent to which they are used. For MPs from the Northern European countries included in the study ICT has become an indispensable daily tool, while this is less so in the more southern countries, b) in explaining differences and similarities in MPs use of ICT across countries, institutional factors like the organization of work in parliament, and the MPs parliamentary position seem to be the most important, c) MPs ICT competence and ICT experience are more important factors in explaining their attitudes towards the democratic potentials of ICT than more traditional background variables such as gender, age and party affiliation and size.
Peter Filzmaier ; Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle ; Ignace Snellen
2004 Information Polity
The intensity and quality of political dialogue by representatives and voters is influenced above all by the way in which representatives use the Internet. The article analyses and compares the information management of MPs of the Austrian Nationalrat, the Danish Folketing, and the Dutch Staten Generaal referring to modes of utilization (frequency, main purposes, content of mails etc.) of the Internet as well as to its importance for political communication. From the information collected the following conclusions can be drawn: - Internet use by MPs has been limited to date because of a relative lack of knowledge of the technology and the potential of the new media. - The flow of information between representatives as political elites and the public will not necessarily be improved and/or personalized through the Internet. - A permanent contact between MPs and their constituency as a form of political participation for the electorate and/or for party members depends especially on the Internet strategies of parties in parliament. Only if parties choose a "bottom-up" or grass root strategy will new technologies be used as more than just tools for internal communication within the party network.
Gustavo Cardoso ; Carlos Cunha ; Susana Nascimento
2004 Information Polity
The analysis in this article focuses on the vertical and horizontal communication patterns of MPs, drawing on examples from a comparative survey done in seven European countries. The results show that the MPs in these countries can still be said to be in an initial phase of exploiting the full range of these new technologies to support their parliamentary and partisan activity, and that traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers are still the favoured means for political communication. In so far as ICT is used, MPs primarily use these means for internal communication within the party or within parliament, and not very much for external communication with constituents, journalists, lobbyists, etc. Analysing the use of homepages and political campaign via ICT, both of these means are seen to be largely dependent on the political party of the MP, and the party's electoral strategies, limiting individual initiatives by MPs. Also, a certain disinterest in a more extensive use, of ICT on the part of the MPs was found. There seem to be a number of reasons for this disinterest, among these the argument that there is still a considerable digital divide especially in the Southern European countries. However, as computer and Internet diffusion continues to increase rapidly, this argument becomes increasingly invalid.
2004 Information Polity
This article tries to determine the levels of experience and competence with the Internet among MPs in seven European countries, and to provide explanations for the differences found. The main objective of the article is to see whether the kinds of experience and skills that the MPs possess serve as a basis for important structural changes in the European democracies. Unsurprisingly, the survey shows that MPs in Northern Europe tend to use the Internet more than their colleagues in the South. The MPs also mostly use the Internet as replacement for other technologies, such as telephones and fax-machines, but a more innovative pattern of use may be found among Scottish and Danish MPs. The MPs are generally self-taught when it comes to Internet skills, and their competence is therefore linked to personal interest and previous careers rather than to such factors as political allegiance. Most of them see their competence as being satisfactory, although not outstanding. The article also discusses possible implications of electronic competence or lack thereof for the future of representative democracies.
2004 Information Polity
This article looks at the attitudes of European MPs towards the importance of ICT for the future of their democracies. The article draws on data from a comparative survey on MPs' use of ICT carried out in seven European countries in 2001/2002. Four countries are chosen for a comparison on the basis of the diffusion of ICT in the respective countries, as it is imagined that experience with use of ICT is of major importance in explaining attitudes. The countries chosen are Denmark, Norway, Austria and Portugal; countries which are located at different ends of the scale concerning the diffusion and use of both PCs and Internet both among MPs and the populations at large; Denmark and Norway being in the European top 5, Austria in the middle and Portugal at the bottom. The statistical analyses carried out have two main conclusions. Firstly, there is - generally speaking - a very big and homogenous belief in the positive democratic potentials of ICT across the countries. Only on one point; namely concerning the question about whether ICT will enlarge the 'digital divide' do MPs express a certain degree of worry. Secondly, looking at differences within the individual countries it is shown that the degree of involvement with ICT is of greater importance for the evaluation of the democratic potentials of ICT, than other more traditional background factors such as age, gender and party affiliation.
Colin F. Smith ; C. William R. Webster
2004 Information Polity
The creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 presented a unique opportunity to integrate new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into a new democratic body. The design of the parliament and democratic practice was informed by the capabilities offered by these new technologies and, consequently, it is of interest to explore the response of parliamentarians to this new setting. This article presents research undertaken into the use of ICTs by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), based on findings from a survey of all MSPs conducted in Spring 2002. Findings are explored to investigate whether members of the new parliament indicate more extensive use of ICTs, and express more positive opinions on the democratic potential of technology, than their counterparts in more established representative bodies. Further, the Scottish Parliament incorporates a new electoral system, electing MSPs both directly through constituencies and via regional party lists. Of interest here is the extent to which there are differences between these two types of MSPs in terms of their use of and attitude towards ICTs. In particular, do list MSPs make more use of ICTs and are they more likely to emphasise their democratic potential, in order to assert their representative legitimacy in the absence of a traditional representative relationship with constituents?
Hans J. Kleinsteuber ; Meike Fries
2004 Information Polity
This article represents the German part of the European COST A 14 study. As the results clearly differ in some respect from the European mainstream, a short introduction is given into the special situation of the national parliament. We found that there were problems integrating the German experience into the European framework: the results sometimes fit the general tendencies; in other respects they offer a quite unique picture. Questions of compatibility arise that go back to the general methodology of the study (see the introductory chapter in this issue). To utilize the data from Germany, it is probably best to take them as an example of a large Western European parliament that is only partially compatible to the smaller parliaments that stand in the centre of the approach used in the COST A 14 studies.
2004 Information Polity
As with the rest of Swiss society, the use of e-mail and the Internet by members of the Swiss Parliament dates back to the mid 1990s. This paper studies the appropriation of these two new information and communication technologies by Swiss MPs a few years later, at the beginning of the 21st century when most Swiss MPs published their e-mail addresses on the parliament website. The study is based on an Internet questionnaire that surveyed both the MPs' use and opinions of the Internet and e-mail in their political and "civilian" lives. Further to the analysis of raw data, differences in appropriation are displayed in relation to socio-cultural and demographic variables. These findings could be of interest to larger countries than Switzerland which share one of its languages and cultures.
2004 Information Polity
The US Congress with its almost forty years of utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) serves as an appropriate vehicle for studying the degree to which information ICT has a revolutionary, minimalist or only potential impact on the politics and procedures of a significant political institution. As the "core technology" of political institutions, information processing stands out as a likely change facilitator. The inherent characteristics of new technologies tend to represent processes which are inconsistent with Congress' historical behavior patterns. Using historical, impressionistic and empirical data, the following analysis attempts to raise the key questions for assessing impact and determining the degree to which the inherent characteristics of the technology and patterns of usage bear out the various predictions. The generic nature of key aspects of Congress, and of the technologies in question, increase the possibility that findings from this realm will have wider applicability to other political and social institutions.
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