The Postgraduate Networking Project

Wainer Lusoli Department of Media and Communication, London School of Economics (LSE) Nationality: Italian Funded Part-Time (Full-Time for few time) Registration: 1999 Transfer to PhD: 2004 Completion: 2005 Director of Studies: Prof.Sonia Livingstone Second Supervisor: Dr Margaret Scammell The aim of the PhD Assess the import of the Internet in the construction of 'voice' and 'equality' in contemporary Britain. Experience in stages towards the PhD Research design changed after one year form the start to a study of the public sphere online, and reverted back to the original idea of participation 18 months from the inception. Literature search was tough at the beginning as there was not much published in the area of 'electronic democracy', overwhelming in recent times as more stuff is coming out by the day. Fieldwork was based on quantitative survey, collected in the framework of an ESRC project was working on at the University of Salford [as Research Officer], in addition to case studies with two UK NGOs; overall a lot of work to get through, I should have possibly collected less evidence, which was then time-consuming to fit in the framework. Transfer to PhD was relatively straightforward, only the literature review was way too long, as it also was in the final dissertation; the thesis committee gave truly insightful and helpful comments and critique, it was a challenging a rewarding process [comprising a viva]. Writing was difficult at the beginning, just needed to get used to it, at the end it was way more 'free flowing'. Support University was neutral, I had little to do with them. Except for the Library ant IT services, they were terrific, in terms of support and resources. Staff in the department were always very, very helpful. One of the best places to do a PhD I should say. Without naming names, my supervisor, the head of Department, the director of PhD studies, the departmental secretaries and most other staff were at all times supportive. I received funding from the EU, which was vital for survival in London for three years, and later form the ESRC, which got me going on the academic ladder. What you would suggest to a new PhD student... 1. Say it once and say it right. 2. Write as frequenlty and as much as you can [though respecting 1]. 3. Have as many people as possible read your material, and provide written feedback. 4. Be frank with your supervisor, and expect the same. 5. Enjoy: this is possibly the only time in your life you have 3 years to read and write! [at least I was told...)] Abstract of the Thesis: Voice and e-quality: the state of electronic democracy in Britain This dissertation is broadly concerned with the issue of electronic democracy, i.e. whether, under which conditions and how does the Internet strengthen democracy in advanced industrial polities. Specifically, this work applies the theory of participation to recent British data on online political engagement in order to understand: 1. whether and how the Internet modifies the existing structure of political (in)equality. 2. whether and how the Internet alters the context and co-ordinates of traditional political action. 3. whether and how the Internet supports specific models of democracy. 4. whether the Internet holds, per se, a democratising potential, and what the nature of this potential is. Data collected and analysed include a survey of British citizens' online political behaviour, and three smaller, in-depth surveys of citizens' online political activities within limited settings: a national online consultation forum, routine politics by young party activists and charity work by an elderly activist network. More generally, the dissertation contributes towards clarifying the ongoing debate on electronic democracy, by examining the discourse surrounding the evolution of the issue. It reviews a large portion of the existing literature on online political engagement, organised in three main approaches. It presents and analyses seminal data on British online political engagement to assess the state of electronic democracy in Britain. Importantly, it advances a theoretical framework for the understanding of the 'real' digital divide, drawing on the theory of participation. The theory is an ideal explanatory base from which to depart in order to find the factors shaping the structure of online political opportunities and the way in which preferences are voiced, and heard, through the Internet. This dissertation speaks directly to the electronic democracy debate by setting the agenda, once again, on the notion of democratic equality and by focusing on the structure of voice in the information polity. Publications and Papers Papers [peer-reviewed] and book chapters Lusoli, W., Ward, S., & Gibson, R. K. (2006). (Re)connecting Politics? Parliament, the Public and the Internet. Parliamentary Affairs, 59(1), pp. forthcoming. Gibson, R. K., Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. (2005). Online Participation in the UK: Testing a 'contextualised' model of Internet effects. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 7 (4), pp. 561-583. Lusoli, W. (2005). A second-order medium? The Internet as a source of electoral information in 25 European countries. Information Polity, 10 (3/4), pp. forthcoming. Lusoli, W., & Jankowski, N. W. (Eds.). (2005). The World Wide Web and the 2004 European Parliament Election. Special issue: Information Polity, 10 (3/4). Lusoli, W. (2005). The Internet and the European Parliament Elections: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Investigations and Proposals for Research. Information Polity, 10(3/4), pp. forthcoming. Lusoli, W. & J. Ward (2005). 'Politics makes strange bedfellows': the Internet in the 2004 European Parliament election. Harvard International Journal of Press / Politics, 10(4), pp. 71-97. Lusoli, W. & Ward, S. (2005) Logging On or Switching Off? The Public and the Internet at the 2005 General Election, in S. Coleman (Ed.) Spinning the Web: Online Campaigning during the 2005 General Election, London: Hansard Society. Ward, S., & Lusoli, W. (2005). 'From Weird to Wired': MPs, the Internet and Representative Politics in the UK. Journal of Legislative Studies, 11(1), pp. 57-81. Lusoli, W. & Ward, S. (2005). Hunting Protestors: Mobilisation, Participation, and Protest Online in the Countryside Alliance, in S. Oates, D. Owen  &  R. K. Gibson (Eds.), Civil Society, Democracy and the Internet: A Comparative Perspective, (pp. 120-155), London: Routledge. Lusoli, W. & Ward, S. (2004). Digital Rank-and-File: Party Activists' Perceptions and Use of the Internet. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 6(4), 453-470. Gibson, R. K., Lusoli, W., Römmele, A., & Ward, S. J. (2004). Representative democracy and the Internet. In R. K. Gibson & A. Römmele & S. J. Ward (Eds.), Electronic Democracy: Mobilisation, Organisation and Participation via new ICTs (pp. 1-16). London: Routledge. Ward, S. J., Gibson, R. K., & Lusoli, W. (2003). Online Participation and Mobilisation in the UK: Hype, Hope and Reality. Parliamentary Affairs, 56 (4), 652-668. Ward, S. J., Lusoli, W., & Gibson, R. K. (2003). Virtually Participating: A Survey of Online Party Members. Information Polity, 7(4), 199-215. Ward, S. J., & Lusoli, W. (2003). Dinosaurs in cyberspace? British Trade Unions and the Internet. European Journal of Communication, 18(2), 147-179. Gibson, R. K., Ward, S. J., & Lusoli, W. (2003). The Internet and Political Campaigning: the new medium comes of age? Representation, 39(3), 166-180. Lusoli, W., Ward, S. J., & Gibson, R. K. (2002). Political organisations and online mobilisation: different media - same outcomes? New Review of Information Networking, 8, 89-108. Papers Lusoli, W., Ward, S., & Gibson, R. K. (2005). Parliaments, publics and virtual representation: a comparative look at Britain and Australia. Paper presented at the 3rd ECPR Annual Conference, Budapest, 8 - 11 September 2005. Ward, S., Gibson, R. K., & Lusoli, W. (2005). Parties and the Virtual Campaign: The 2005 Election Online. Paper presented at the EPOP Conference, University of Essex, 9-11 September 2005. Gibson, R. K., Ward, S., & Lusoli, W. (2005). Old Politics, New Media: Parliament, the Public and the Internet. Paper presented at the Political Studies Association Conference, University of Leeds, 5-7 April 2005. Ward, S., Gibson, R. K., & Lusoli, W. (2005). The promise and perils of 'virtual representation': The public view. Salford: ESRC e-Society Programme and Salford University. Lusoli, W. (2004) 'Politics makes strange bedfellows': the Internet in the 2004 European Parliament election Paper presented at the AoIR 5.0 Conference: Ubiquity, University of Sussex, England, 19-22 September 2004. Gibson, R., Lusoli, W. & S. Ward (2004) Phile or Phobe? Australian and British MPs and the New Communications Technology. Paper presented at the 100th Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, 31 August – 4 September 2004. Lusoli, W. & Ward, J. (2004). Country report for the Internet and Election project, 2004 European Parliament election - UK component. 31 August 2004, I&E Project, Salford and Amsterdam. Ward, S. & Lusoli, W. (2004). "From Weird to Wired": MPs, the Internet and representative politics in the UK. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association, 5-8 April 2004, University of Lincoln. [under review] Lusoli, W. (2004). Electronic democracy: the making of a revolution. Unpublished manuscript. [under review] Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. (2003). Digital Rank-and-File: Party Activists' Perceptions and Use of the Internet. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the the American Political Science Association, 28-31 August 2003, Philadelphia, PA. Lusoli, W., Ward, S., & Gibson, R. K. (2003). Labour Party: Membership Internet Communication Survey (Unpublished report to the Labour Party). Salford: ESRI. Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. J. (2003). Hunting Protestors: Mobilisation, Participation, and Protest Online in the Countryside Alliance. Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions, Edinburgh, 28 March - 2 April. Lusoli, W., Ward, S., & Gibson, R. K. (2003, November). Directory of representatives' websites: UK and Australia [Web Document]. Salford: ESRI. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/assemblies.php Lusoli, W., Gibson, R. K., & Ward, S. J. (2002). Digital engagements: online participation in the UK and US. Paper presented at the EURICOM Colloquium, 9-12 October 2002, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Gibson, R. K., Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. J. (2002). Online Campaigning in the UK: The Public Respond? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the APSA, August 31 - 2 September 2002, Boston. Lusoli, W. (2001). E-Lections: an Insider's view. Paper presented at the PSA/BSA Media Groups' Conference, 10-11 September 2001, University of Loughborough. Lusoli, W. (2001). Instances of Cyberwar: the Arab-Israeli online conflict. Paper presented at the British Film Institute Biannual Conference, 26-28 July 2001, Institute of Education, London.  Lusoli, W. (2001). Digital pegs for analogue holes: Internet and Electoral Law in Britain. Paper presented at the SLSA Annual Conference, 4-6 April 2001, University of Bristol. Lusoli, W. (2001). Electronic interstices: between participation and democracy in cyberspace. Paper presented at the LSe-Lab Seminar Series, 17 march 2001, London School of Economics, London. Current Job Lecturer in social and communication studies at the University of Chester; I am module leader on a number of options at the interface of media and politics. Contact details Wainer Lusoli Social and Communication Studies University of Chester E-mail: w.lusoli@chester.ac.uk http://www.lusoli.info