The Digital Election: Bubbling but not boiling says Hansard Society - April 14, 2010

As previous research from the Hansard Society has shown, UK elections are far less candidate-driven, and attract far fewer donations than in the United States. Whilst the parties have evidently invested in online front-end tools during this campaign, there has been little evidence that they have created any meaningful increases in participation during the campaign. What will prove to be important will be the internal use of the internet within the party and campaign offices in order to organise their efforts on the ground.

Digital media serves to inform the press about developments during the campaign, and these will then trickle down to the mainstream.

So far, it does not appear that a direct link has been created online between citizen and candidate/party in this election.

Read more about the digital election at the Hansard Society's Digital Democracy blog

Editors' Notes

• The Hansard Society is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity.
• The Hansard Society  Digital Democracy Programme's thought-leading research has been a formative part of an emergent digital Britain from the internet's impact on Parliament, to better government engagement with citizens and the potential for civil society to harness digital media. The Digital Democracy Programme undertakes research and produces publications and commentaries with a focus on online political communication and citizen engagement, exploring the many faces of digital inclusion, citizen engagement, political campaigning and parliamentary process.