ICTlogy

Abstract:

This thesis contributes to a better understanding of current political parties, critically engaging with their merits through the lens of the Network Society. It draws on five case studies in order to flesh out the nuances of the network party type. I review the genealogy of party types, advancing the existing literature on a broad range of party types, from the mass party to the catch-all party, as well as filling in the gaps related to network party type. Firstly, I argue that the crucial novelties brought on by network parties are explicit in the following characteristics: A vision of expert-citizen democracy and "strong" participation, a desideratum of openness and transparency, an alignment to "disintermediation" and the revision of the concept of representation, and an organizational vision of permeable intra-party democracy. Drawing on the five case studies, I then identify sub-types of network parties: the procedural, the plebiscitary and the municipalist.