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 Volume 14 Numbers
3 and 4, 2004
WHO VISITS POLITICAL WEB SITES AND WHY? RESULTS FROM AN ONLINE SURVEY OF SITE VISITORS DURING THE 2002 DUTCH GENERAL
ELECTION Marcel Boogers Gerrit Voerman Abstract. This article assesses the role of political
Web sites in the campaign for the 2002 Dutch parliamentary election. Results
are presented based on an online survey held under 18,000 visitors to political
Web sites. The article examines the extent to which political Web sites engage
people in politics and, in particular, the extent to which party Web sites
reach floating voters. The results suggest that political Web sites only to a limited extent contribute to engaging people in politics who
have thus far remained uninvolved. Yet, political Web sites are successful
in reaching young people, a group usually less politically active, but which
uses the Internet more intensively. Use of political Web sites does not lead
to a more active engagement in politics. The results of this survey show that,
for most people, the primary reason for visiting political Web sites is to
find information on the positions of political parties, on party organizations
and on the election campaign. Not only party supporters, but also floating
and undecided voters seem interested in this information. Introduction The campaign for the Dutch
parliamentary election of 15 May 2002 did not only include traditional media
(newspapers, television), but also made use of new media such as the Internet. In
their search for information on political parties, election programs and
candidates, the public could choose from a large number of political Web sites. People
could participate in political discussions or directly contact politicians. For
all political parties a general Web site
was available and a number of the leading candidates also had personal Web
sites. Furthermore, a number of independent political Web sites provided information and hosted
discussions about the election. The increasing use of the Internet has
amplified the significance of these Web sites and the interest of academics in
this medium. However, academic and professional debates on the impact of
political Web sites on election campaigns tend to focus on the design and
contents of these Web sites. Reliable and extensive survey data on the use of
political Web sites are sparse (in part because of the relatively small number
of people that visit political Web sites), and studies of the political use of
the Internet have mainly focused on the supply side (Norris,
2001). In this article we will analyze political Web sites
from the demand side. To assess the importance of the Internet for election
campaigns, Methodology In order to obtain information on visitors of
political Web sites, we asked webmasters of these sites to place a direct link
to our online survey questionnaire. With the exception of GroenLinks (Green
Party), all the political parties co-operated with the study and added a link
to their homepages in the weeks prior to the general election held on May 15,
2002. The link was also added to a number of independent political Web sites, including the StemWijzer
(Voting Indicator). [2] This
enabled us to reach people visiting a wide range of political Web sites. Data collection for the online survey “Politics and
the Internet” started on 25 April and ended on 29 May 2002. Inasmuch as our
focus was on the election campaign, we confined the study to the period up to
Election Day on May 15th. During this period, 18,097 visitors to one
of the co-operating Web sites completed the survey; see Table
1. Table 1: Parties, Web sites and Completed Surveys, April 25 - May 15, 2002
*Leading candidates’ Web sites All types of surveys are subject to scrutiny regarding
the representativeness of their results. Traditional survey techniques use
probability sampling, which assumes that random selection of members leads to a
representative sample. Another assumption concerns the total sample that will
respond to the survey. It is assumed that non-response is equally distributed
between all relevant segments of the population. As most sample surveys show,
the above assumptions are not realistic (e.g., Groves &
Couper, 1998). This online survey is based on a self-selection of
respondents instead of a random selection. The assumption made in this study is
that respondents have the same characteristics as the entire population (except
for their willingness to respond to the online survey, of course). A comparison
between respondents to the online survey with those to the Dutch Election
Survey ( Table
2:
Respondents to Online Survey and Dutch Election Survey
N 18,097 1,574 Source: Dutch Election Survey (DES, 2002) The Election Campaign The campaign for the Dutch 2002 parliamentary election
was strongly dominated by the participation of Pim Fortuyn. As the leading
candidate of a new political party, Leefbaar
Nederland (A Livable Netherlands),
and later of his own eponymous political party Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF, List Pim Fortuyn), he managed to attract many discontented voters. The rather
populist manner in which he mobilized social discontent regarding government
policy gave the campaign an intensity and directness unusual in the The extraordinary course of the election campaign was
partly connected to various political activities on the Internet, including
visiting political Web sites. Since the new political parties Leefbaar Nederland and LPF did not have
an extensive party and campaign organization, a significant part of the
contacts between these parties and their sympathizers seemed to transpire on
Web sites. The number of visitors to the LPF Web site was extraordinary high.
The last two weeks before the elections, the site was visited nearly 600,000
times. The intensity of the election campaign and its termination after the
murder of Fortuyn is thought to have greatly stimulated the need for political
information and discussion, and surely stimulated people to visit political Web
sites. All sites for which visitor data are available, show a peak in the
number of visitors on May 7th, the day after the murder of Fortuyn;
this was also the case for Election Day, May 15th. Who Visits Political Web sites? Political parties expect much
good from the Internet, especially in a time when they are faced with fewer
party members and declining turnouts at election time (Dalton
& Wattenberg, 2000; Neuman, 2001; Selnow, 1998). They consider the Internet to be an important
instrument to establish new relationships with their supporters. In 2001, the
Dutch government significantly increased subsidies to political parties to
enable them to invest in the development and maintenance of Web sites. The
reasoning behind this step was the idea that the Internet might encourage a
deeper and broader political involvement. According to many scholars in the
field of politics and new media, the Internet offers new opportunities for
political participation and could activate groups of people who are currently
not involved in politics (Gibson & Ward, 2000; Jordan, 1999; Norris, 2000; Margolis & Resnick, 2000; Margetts,
2001; Zittel, 2002). It is uncertain whether this
expectation is justified. Can political Web sites reach a new audience that is
currently aloof from politics? In order to answer this question, the visitors
to political Web sites were asked to indicate their interest in politics.
Furthermore, they were asked whether they signed a petition, contacted a
politician or tried to influence political decisions in other ways. This
information allowed for construction of indexes for interest in politics and
political participation. Reaching New
Audiences? The online survey data show that
young Web site visitors, persons with lower education, and women are less
interested in politics and participate less in political activities. These
results are similar to findings from the 2002 Dutch Election Survey ( Table
3:
Political Interest and Participation of Visitors to Political Web Sites
Are political Web sites
successful in attracting persons who are normally less involved in politics? As
the results of the online survey suggest, political Web sites only partly
succeeded in involving new groups in this political event. As with other
political activities, people with a higher education form the most active
group. Approximately two out of every five visitors to political Web sites had
completed an educational program beyond secondary school. At the same time,
political Web sites are rather successful in reaching young people. This group,
which is generally less involved in politics, is very well represented among
visitors of political Web sites. Almost 50 percent of the visitors are younger
than 35, more than a quarter is younger than 25. The political Web site
visitors form a rather representative segment of Dutch Internet users in
general (CBS, 2002). In this latter group, young and highly
educated people are also overrepresented. The fact that political Web sites
attract many young people may, therefore, be explained by the “Internet
effect”. Our survey shows that the visitors to political Web sites are
generally rather active on the Internet. Nearly three-quarters of this group
‘surfs’ two hours or more per week. Political Web sites and the Election Campaign The increasing use of the
Internet makes Web sites an attractive campaign instrument for political
parties. One of the indicators for this increase is the growing number of
visitors to the Web sites of political parties. In the last five weeks before
the parliamentary elections of 1998, the Web sites of the political parties in
the parliament were visited approximately 100,000 times (Voerman,
2000). The number of visitors in the election campaign of 2002 was much
higher; the sites of the parties represented in parliament and those of the LPF
and Leefbaar Nederland were visited
more than a million times in the period from 6 May (the day Fortuyn was
murdered) up to and including 15 May (Election Day). According to the Dutch
Election Survey of 2002, 31 percent of the Dutch voters used the Internet
during the election campaign to secure political information. It is, however,
unclear what functions Web sites of political parties serve during election
campaigns. Does the Web site of a political party only attract supporters and
sympathizers of the party or also floating voters? Do visitors to political Web
sites restrict themselves to one site or do they continue to search for more
political information and discussions on other sites? Preaching to
the Converted? In contrast to American
experiences (King, 2002; Kamarck, 2002),
Dutch party Web sites not only attract people who intend to vote for the party
concerned. On average, more than a third of the visitors to sites were
considering voting for another party or had not yet decided; see Table 4. Party sites, in other words, do not only “preach to
the converted”; to some extent, floating or undecided voters also find their
way to these sites. In this sense, the party Web site seems to be a relatively
effective instrument to reach new voters. People visit many Web sites in their
search for political information: More than half indicated they visited two or
more political Web sites during the election campaign (see Table
4). This puts into perspective the expectation that the political use of
the Internet may lead to isolated “cybercascades”, extremism and a rising
fragmentation of the public sphere (Sunstein, 2001; Bennet & Manheim, 2001). In contrast, visitors to
political Web sites seem to compare various political views in the course of
their electoral deliberations. Table
4:
Intended Voting Behavior of Visitors to Party Web Sites
Political Web sites add a new
element to election campaigns (Selnow, 1999). However,
the relation between the online election campaign and other campaign activities
on radio, TV and in the newspapers is not clear. Do political sites replace
traditional media as sources of political information or do the sites function
as a supplement? Can a political site reach people that cannot be reached by
radio, TV or by the newspapers? Table 5: Visitors to Political
Web Sites and Use of Traditional Media
Results of the survey show that
visitors to political Web sites do not consider these sites to be a replacement
for traditional media; see Table 5. The survey data indicate that political
sites are mainly regarded as a supplement to political news in newspapers and
on radio and television. More than two-thirds of the visitors to political
sites follow the daily political news in these traditional media. The group
that hardly ever sees or reads political news (and can, therefore, only be
reached through political Web sites) is rather small (6 percent). Women and
young people more often indicate that they do not keep themselves informed of
political developments by reading newspapers or listening to radio or watching
TV. For this group, political Web sites are the only source of information on
politics in general and on the election campaign in particular. Reasons for Visiting Political Web sites Political Web sites generally offer varied information
on political parties, election programs and politicians. They also moderate
discussions on political topics and offer opportunity to contact political
parties and politicians. Each Web site stresses different elements. A tour of
various Web sites leads to the conclusion that the majority of the Web sites
focuses on the function of providing information. There is hardly opportunity
to participate in online discussions. Comparable to the campaigns for the
parliamentary elections of 1998 (Tops, Voerman, & Boogers,
2000), political parties in the 2002 election campaign mainly used their
Web sites as a source of information. This emphasis on information provision
seems to be a common characteristic of party Web sites in other countries (Norris, 2001; Stromer-Galley, 2000).
The question is, of course, whether the content of the political Web sites
matches the wishes of visitors to those sites. Do they mainly look for
information or are they more interested in online discussions and contact via
e-mail? The online survey data demonstrate that the opportunities
for discussions and e-mail, if present, are not the main reason for visiting
political Web sites; see Table 6. Visitors to political Web sites appear to be
looking for information about the positions of political parties and about the
parties themselves. Participation in political discussions and contact via
e-mail are mentioned far less as reasons for visiting political Web sites.
Among visitors to three types of political Web sites, substantial differences
can be distinguished as to their motives. Visitors of political party Web sites
relatively often look for information regarding the organization of a party.
Party sites are also more often used as an instrument to contact a political
party or politicians. Visitors of independent political Web sites are, on
average, more interested in information on candidates and in participation in
political discussions. As expected, people who used the site Stemwijzer (Voting Indicator) were primarily looking for information
on the positions of political parties. Table 6:
Reasons
for Visiting Different Types of Political Web Sites
N = 18,097 Different Audiences Examining the reasons for visiting
a political Web site provide insight into the way in which political Web sites
reach various groups of voters. Do young people use a political Web site
primarily to obtain information on the positions of political parties or do
they wish to debate political issues? Do people with a higher education have
other reasons for visiting a political site than people with a lower education?
The results of the survey show that there are no significant differences in the
level of education as far as motives to visit a political Web site are
concerned. People with a higher education more often look for information on
the positions of political parties. Furthermore, they result to use the Web
site to find contact information of the particular party. People with a lower
education regard a political Web site more often as a source for information on
political parties and their candidates. Young voters (younger than 25) use a
political Web site relatively more to obtain information on political parties.
Generally, older people are slightly more active: They are more interested in
participating in political discussions or in contacting the party or a
candidate. Women use the Web sites to find more information on the positions of
political parties. Men are more interested in information on the election
campaign and in participating in political discussions. The Political Web site as a Campaign Instrument Reaching
Floating Voters The usage pattern of visitors
illustrates the role the sites play in the election campaign. As indicated
above, the Web sites of political parties also manage to reach some floating
and undecided voters. Visitors to the Web sites of political parties are,
therefore, not restricted to the supporters of the political party in question.
However, it is unclear to what end the floating and undecided voters use these
Web sites. Do they have different reasons for visiting a party Web site? This
survey suggests that supporters of a party often look for information on a
party’s organization and on the election campaign. Supporters also use the site
to contact the party by e-mail. People who are considering casting their votes
for a certain party, use the site of the party concerned to maintain or to
strengthen their relationship with that party. People visiting the Web site of
a certain political party, but intending to vote for a different party, are
relatively more interested in information on individual candidates and in
contacting politicians by e-mail. This could mean that some members of this group
visit the site to react on an issue. The events during the last election
campaign certainly contributed to this: After the murder of Fortuyn, the
percentage of people visiting a Web site of a political party in order to
e-mail a politician, doubled. The fact that politicians (especially left-wing
politicians) received a large number of e-mails – including hate mail – from
angry and distressed voters, seems to confirm this survey data. People
uncertain for which party to vote made more use of party sites to obtain
information on political positions. Party sites seemed to fulfill the
information requirements of these people. As mentioned above, political
Web sites supplement the political news provided by radio, TV and newspapers.
As already stated, for a small group, consisting mainly of women and young
people, the political Web site is the only source of political news on the
election campaign. The question is whether this has any influence on the way in
which people use the political Web sites. Are people who follow the daily
campaign news in traditional media using political Web sites for different
purposes than people who depend on the Internet for political news? The survey
data indicate that people who follow the political news on an almost daily
basis through radio, TV or newspapers use political Web sites more often to
obtain supplementary information on the election campaign and candidates as
well as to participate in political discussions. Thus, the Internet complements
traditional media with regard to speed (up-to-the-minute information on
candidates and the campaign) and interactivity (participation in discussions).
The rather small group that depends on political Web sites for political news
uses the political Web site primarily for additional information about
political parties. Political Web sites are used far less for discussions or
contact via e-mail. Those persons that use the sites for these purposes do not
appear to be well informed on political matters. Furthermore, these people
regard the political Web site as a fast source of information. People who visit
a political Web site regularly are, on average, more interested in information
on the party and the election campaign. Participation is one of the more important
reasons for visiting Web sites. This is especially true for the party sites,
which may indicate that frequent visitors seek ways to express their loyalty to
these parties. Summary
and Conclusions The online survey conducted
during the election campaign in the The survey findings show that
surfing behavior during the election campaign is extensive. Voters surf along
many Web sites in their search for political information. As a consequence,
party Web sites do not only “preach to the converted”. A relatively large
number of visitors intend to vote for a different party or have not yet
decided. This does not mean that party Web sites always play a part in
convincing other voters. People who intend to vote for a different party might
appear to use the Web sites to react to something or someone by, for instance,
sending an e-mail to a politician they dislike. The supporters of a party
supposedly use the Web site of that party primarily to express their commitment
to the party. This is also indicated by their search for information on the
site and their e-mail contacts with the party. As the findings indicate,
construction and use of political Web sites supersedes campaign activities on
radio, TV and in the newspapers. The potentially added value of political Web
sites is their speed and interactivity: Voters searching for instant access to
current information on the election campaign or people who would like to
participate directly in political discussions, cannot turn to radio, TV or
newspapers. It is the task of further research, however, to determine the
functions party Web sites may perform between elections, especially in
strengthening the relationship between parties and their members. It appears
that parties are increasingly trying to use Web sites to organize internal
discussions on policies in order to get the rank and file more involved and to
understand what is going on at the grass root level (Ward,
Lusoli & Gibson, 2002). In the future it is anticipated that they will
also organize digital ballots for tasks such as the appointment of party
leaders. A new survey among party members may shed more light on the impact of
these digital relations and the identification of these members with their
political parties. Endnotes [1] The Dutch Scientific Council (NWO) provided funding
for this research, Project Number 014-43-608. [2] The “Voting Indicator” (StemWijzer) is a Web-based application
developed by the non-governmental organization Dutch Centre for Political Participation
(IPP) that tests the political preference by reference to propositions and
statements taken from party manifestos. The visitors to the Voting Indicator
Web site can give their views on these propositions by clicking “agree”,
“disagree”, “neutral” or “don’t know”. After answering all the propositions,
the users can indicate which subjects they consider particularly important. The
program will then calculate a voting recommendation and show the political
preference for other parties in descending order. After the voting
recommendation the visitors can check to see to what extent their opinion
corresponds with the positions of the political parties. [3] See the archive of Web sites of political
parties and their candidates maintained by the Documentation Centre for Dutch
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Paper, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Copyright 2004 Communication Institute for Online Scholarship, Inc. This file may not be publicly distributed or reproduced without written permission of the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship, P.O. Box 57, Rotterdam Jct., NY 12150 USA (phone: 518-887-2443). |
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