Parties, Candidates and Citizens On-Line - Åbo Akademi

egards to giving the outsiders an affordable outlet for their ideas and better prospects in
comunicating their message to the public (Davis 1999; Gibson & Ward 1998). This is
perceived to level the electoral playing field, both on- and off-line. Scholars often use the
term equalization of on-line electoral competition when referring to these visions
concerning inter-party competition and the internet (e.g. Cunha et al. 2003: 72-4; Ward et
al. 2003: 22).
The political reality online might, however, eventually be something quite different
from the scenario predicted by the equalization theory. In the perspective often referred
to as the normalization of cyberspace, a status quo scenario concerning the internet’s
effect on the political uses of the web is envisioned (Margolis & Resnick 2000: 53-76). As
internet campaigning comes of age, politics on-line will come to resemble its offline
counterpart, hence producing nothing more than politics as usual (ibid.: 15-9; Ward et al.
2003: 23). The major parties’ off-line advantages will provide them with advantages in online
campaigning. One of the most important aspects of on-line campaigning is arguably
making your website known to voters. In this regard major parties have a much greater
chance of making their sites known. This is due to the fact that they gain more media
exposure, and that they have more money to spend on traditional campaigning; two
factors which can potentially assist in raising voters’ interest in their website (Margolis et
al. 2003: 58). Furthermore, over time, sophisticated campaign websites will not come
cheap. Full-time web designers and managers could very well be an essential element of
the on-line campaigns’ success (Gibson et al. 2003: 50). As Margolis and Resnick (2000,
16) state: “If we ask which political parties and candidates are likely to provide
sophisticated Web sites, the answer is clear: those who command the resources to hire the
talent to produce them”. All in all, these trends might only serve to further marginalize
the marginalized and fail to upset established patterns of electoral competition.
A less clear-cut position concerning the internet’s effects on politics is also stated
in scholarly literature (e.g. Foot & Schneider 2002: Norris 2001b: 233-9; 2003). According
to this so-called ‘cyber-sceptic’ view, the internet will neither cause major changes, nor
will it cause no changes at all, concerning political life. The effects might rather be
something in between the rigid scenarios envisioned by the equalization and
normalization theories. Even though the web has little chance of causing major overhauls
of traditional politics, it could still play a significant part if adapted by transnational
advocacy networks and other non-traditional social movements (Norris 2001b: 238-9).
The internet’s real potential might subsist in new forms of on-line political engagement
(cf. Foot & Schneider 2002). Hence, political websites could be viewed as part of larger
online environments. If so, even if the party websites and other areas of traditional
politics on-line, resemble ‘politics as usual’, the on-line arena could, nonetheless, include
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