02623nam 2200409z- 450 991082340550332120241122010739.01-78680-361-5(CKB)4100000007176889(MiAaPQ)EBC5602107(MiAaPQ)EBC5602106(VLeBooks)9781786803610(EXLCZ)99410000000717688920181209d2019 uy 0engThe Digital Party: Political Organisation and Online DemocracyPluto Press2018London:Pluto Press,2019.1 online resource (223 pages) illustrationsDigital Barricades0-7453-3579-9 The party strikes back The people of the web When the party mimics Facebook Participationism Death of the party cadre Coding democracy Plebiscitarianism 2.0The hyperleader The superbaseFrom the Pirate Parties in Northern Europe to Podemos in Spain and the 5-Star Movement in Italy, from the movements behind Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in UK, to Jean-Luc Melenchon's presidential bid in France, the last decade has witnessed the rise of a new blueprint for political organisation: the 'digital party'. These new political formations tap into the potential of social media, and use online participatory platforms to include the rank-and-file. Paolo Gerbaudo looks at the restructuring of political parties in the time of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and campaigning based on Big Data. Drawing on interviews with key political leaders and digital organisers, he argues that the digital party is very different from the class-based `mass party' of the industrial era. With new structures come worrying changes in political forms, such as the growth of power cliques and the need for centralised, charismatic leaders, the erosion of intermediary party layers and the loss of accountability. However, there is also a growth of strong unity at the centre and extreme flexibility at the margins, creating a promising template which could counter the social polarisation created by the Great Recession and the failures of liberal democracy.Communication in politicsInternet in political campaignsPolitical partiesSocial mediaCommunication in politicsInternet in political campaignsPolitical partiesSocial media324.2Gerbaudo Paolo781464BOOK9910823405503321Digital party1732790UNINA