Digital innovation in electoral campaigns: the case of microcredit in Podemos
Digital innovation in electoral campaigns: the case of microcredit in Podemos
Crowdfunding and micro-donations for funding political campaigns have been extensively studied, especially in the US. However, digital participatory financing in Europe, with a different regulatory context and relevant public funding, has been investigated less. This article analyses the effects of an innovative and digital-native electoral campaign financing tool: the microcredit. Microcredits consist of small “civil loans” that a political party requests from sympathizers to finance the party's electoral campaign. Based on the case study of the Spanish party Podemos–the first one to implement it–for the period of 2015–2021, we use official data and party documents to explore the consequences of microcredit. We argue, first, that microcredits (and party financing) should be considered another way to differentiate challenger parties from traditional ones. Second, there is a link between the number and amount of microcredits and the political context, not limited to good electoral expectations but also to the polarized political context. Third, microcredits change the structure of campaign funding. Finally, we point out a regulation problem that may deter other parties from adopting this mechanism and present different legal problems (monitoring, data protection, or potential corruption), showing the regulatory issues for adapting to the digitalization of politics.
digitalization, electoral campaigns, innovation, Party financing, Podemos, regulation
Lupato, Fabio G.
bdd03427-910e-4d74-9bd7-9dc3080e25dc
Jerez, Ariel
128bbdf4-e83b-4f4a-bc6e-0ef38c2dd18f
Meloni, Marco
1c99ba03-fb1d-4e73-bab9-1ed7596f9795
25 April 2023
Lupato, Fabio G.
bdd03427-910e-4d74-9bd7-9dc3080e25dc
Jerez, Ariel
128bbdf4-e83b-4f4a-bc6e-0ef38c2dd18f
Meloni, Marco
1c99ba03-fb1d-4e73-bab9-1ed7596f9795
Lupato, Fabio G., Jerez, Ariel and Meloni, Marco
(2023)
Digital innovation in electoral campaigns: the case of microcredit in Podemos.
Policy Studies.
(doi:10.1080/01442872.2023.2203479).
Abstract
Crowdfunding and micro-donations for funding political campaigns have been extensively studied, especially in the US. However, digital participatory financing in Europe, with a different regulatory context and relevant public funding, has been investigated less. This article analyses the effects of an innovative and digital-native electoral campaign financing tool: the microcredit. Microcredits consist of small “civil loans” that a political party requests from sympathizers to finance the party's electoral campaign. Based on the case study of the Spanish party Podemos–the first one to implement it–for the period of 2015–2021, we use official data and party documents to explore the consequences of microcredit. We argue, first, that microcredits (and party financing) should be considered another way to differentiate challenger parties from traditional ones. Second, there is a link between the number and amount of microcredits and the political context, not limited to good electoral expectations but also to the polarized political context. Third, microcredits change the structure of campaign funding. Finally, we point out a regulation problem that may deter other parties from adopting this mechanism and present different legal problems (monitoring, data protection, or potential corruption), showing the regulatory issues for adapting to the digitalization of politics.
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Accepted_Manuscript-LupatoJerez__Meloni-Digital_Microcredit-Podemos
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 April 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 April 2023
Published date: 25 April 2023
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Fourthly, the logic behind microcredits is embedded in Spanish political culture, which lacks a tradition of private donations for funding campaigns and has specific legislation governing how parties and campaigns are funded. This raises the question of whether this new financial mechanism can be adopted by political parties in other countries, or if it is a context-specific initiative.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
digitalization, electoral campaigns, innovation, Party financing, Podemos, regulation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477791
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477791
ISSN: 0144-2872
PURE UUID: 0c2e1696-1be5-482b-8458-46ad27ae1577
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Date deposited: 14 Jun 2023 16:47
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:15
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Contributors
Author:
Fabio G. Lupato
Author:
Ariel Jerez
Author:
Marco Meloni
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