How deeply are parliaments engaging on social media?
Information Polity
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This article presents the research questions, research methodology, and some of the major results of a comparative, survey-based study of the use of ICT by members of parliament in seven European countries. The overall research question is whether ICT is an active driver in changing the role of MPs by strengthening either their delegate or trustee role, or whether we see the contours of a totally new role for MPs in the "information society". Even though the data does not permit a full answer to this question, they allow us to see at least the contours of a new role for the MP in which attention to information flows and the media comes more to the fore, and where ability to influence the political agenda through digital means is crucial. Three other results from the surveys stand out clearly: a) there is a rather clear North-South divide in Europe concerning both what types of ICT are used by MPs, and the extent to which they are used. For MPs from the Northern European countries included in the study ICT has become an indispensable daily tool, while this is less so in the more southern countries, b) in explaining differences and similarities in MPs use of ICT across countries, institutional factors like the organization of work in parliament, and the MPs parliamentary position seem to be the most important, c) MPs ICT competence and ICT experience are more important factors in explaining their attitudes towards the democratic potentials of ICT than more traditional background variables such as gender, age and party affiliation and size.