Norwegian Parties and Web 2.0

ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on Norwegian political parties' adaption of Web 2.0 before and during the long campaign for the local elections in September 2007. By 2007, most parties had learned to use their Web sites as instruments for professional political marketing. In this process of streamlining, party presence on the Web acquired the characteristics of what is now conceptualized as Web 1.0. This article asks whether the emergence of Web 2.0, with its potential for grassroots participation and networking, as well as multilateral interactivity, was a catalyst of “e-ruptive” change towards greater pluralism or participation. The data indicate that in terms of party competition, Web 2.0 had at best a weak pluralizing effect, as party visibility in Web 2.0 environments roughly reflected party vote share. However, Web 2.0 enhanced participatory democracy by lowering the threshold for the involvement of the party grassroots and other sympathizers.