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Abstract New social network technology (Web 2.0) provides individuals and small groups with powerful resources for rapid political mobilization. This can create strategic surprises to policy-makers. Two cases of Web 2.0 driven micro-mobilization processes are considered. In both cases, new network technology helped the process of issue-expansion on which the emergence of these strategic surprises is dependent. Policy-makers were taken by surprise because their repertoires of action are focused primarily on official arrangements of consultation and on the news coverage by traditional media. Policy-makers' capacities and resources are not attuned to the political use of network technology by citizens.
Bekkers et al. (Fri,) studied this question.