ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s there has been much speculation about the role and health of political parties from both journalists and academics. The importance of parties as the primary link between citizens and the state and as a vehicle of representation and participation in the political arena has increasingly come under question. Almost at the same time, the emergence of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) and their potential impact on politics has furthered heightened this interest in the future of political parties. The Internet, in particular, has come to be seen as both saviour and executioner of political parties. The goal of this book, therefore, is to provide an assessment of how political parties are adapting to the rise of new ICTs, and what the consequences of that adaptation are for their future performance.1 In particular, it concentrates on the role that the Internet, email and the World Wide Web (WWW) are playing in parties’ relationships with voters and members and their use in electoral campaigning and internal party affairs. This brief introduction sets the general context for emergence of ICTs in the party arena and provides an overview of main themes and chapters contained in this collection.
