Affiliations: [a] Åbo Akademi University, Vasa, Finland
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Department of Social Sciences, Åbo
Akademi University, Åbo Akademi, PB 311, FIN-65101 Vasa, Finland. Tel.:
+358 6 3247113; Fax: +358 6 3247457; E-mail: tcarlson@abo.fi
Abstract: This article explores the internet's role in the Finnish 2004
European election. The first aim is to explore how different actors employed
the web during the campaign. The second aim is to analyze the impact of the
actors' web strategies on voters. Two circumstances make Finland interesting.
First, the basic prerequisite for web campaigning is fulfilled since the
northern countries, including Finland, are the most 'wired' area in Europe.
Second, the electoral system is based on voters' direct choice of candidates,
which encourages candidate-driven campaigning. The findings show that the main
actors of Finnish campaigns, candidates and parties, dominated the on-line
environment. Major party candidates, especially, campaigned on-line. Overall,
the websites of all actors provided few information and engagement features.
However, major party candidates made better use of the web than other
candidates. Additionally, the news media's 'candidate selectors' made good use
of web-specific features, and attracted relatively large voter interest.
Concerning voter impact, few voters visited election-related websites.
Moreover, few indicated that they obtained very/quite much information to
support their voting decision from the web. Interestingly, young voters were an
important exception.
Keywords: Campaigning, Internet, European elections, parties, candidates
