New parties, new media: Italian party politics and the internet

UK and US-based studies have revealed certain patterns in the way parties use the World Wide Web. These patterns may or may not be repeated elsewhere. This article explores the extent to which Italian parties are exploiting the Web; the impact of the specificities of the Italian institutional context on parties' use of the new medium; the impact which the medium can be expected to have on party competition in Italy. Analysis of their websites reveals that parties use the sites more for information provision and networking than for resource generation or participation; such uses do reflect the peculiarities of the institutional setting. Larger parties' dominance of the traditional media is not unambiguously replicated in cyberspace. Therefore, although unlikely to revolutionize party competition, the Web may have a significant impact on the style of politics in Italy.