Email and political campaigning: the experience of MPs in Westminster

Traditionally individual politicians communicated directly with their constituents, but the arrival of the mass media, especially television, eroded the role of direct communication. The development of new Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is now re-opening the use of direct communication as part of post-modern campaigning (Norris 2000), with the Internet providing an alternative to media relations. The World Wide Web has attracted great interest from political commentators, but so far email has been largely ignored. Yet the Web is a pull technique, whereas the push nature of email opens up new campaigning possibilities. Downes and Mui (2000) suggest that email represents potentially a 'killer app' which might revolutionize the way MPs approach re-election. A survey of Members of Parliament (MPs) Assembly Members (AMs) of the Welsh Assembly and Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) examines whether they have grasped the opportunities email represents. The research suggests that the outbound use of email for campaigning purposes is limited to a small number of pioneers. Resources, parliamentary culture and party affiliation all shape the use of email campaigning.