Citizens’ Engagement in Local Government in a New Political Scenario: Emergent vs. Traditional Parties (original) (raw)

2018

Abstract

Municipal authorities often use social media to enhance communication with the population and to encourage participation in decision-making processes. In this chapter, we analyse the evolution of such engagement via Facebook, before and after the local elections held in Spain in 2015. Engagement was measured by obtaining metrics of popularity, commitment and virality for each Facebook profile, in a sample composed of large local governments. The results obtained reflect significant differences in the index of engagement before and after these elections, which was calculated in terms of Facebook “likes”, “shares” and “comments”. A significant decrease was observed in citizens’ engagement to their local government following the election, especially among governments where emergent parties with a left-wing ideology took power, in contrast to areas governed by right-wing parties, where levels of engagement increased.

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