Chair in e-Government THE USE OF NEW MEDIA BY POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION HUGO GONG AND PROFESSOR MIRIAM LIPS Victoria University of Wellington November 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the sponsors of the VUW Chair in e-Government: Datacom Systems Limited, State Services Commission, Cisco New Zealand Limited and FX Networks Limited. The authors also would like to express their appreciation for research contributions from the National Party, the Labour Party, ACT New Zealand, the Maori Party and United Future, especially for their precious time and valuable participation in the research interviews. Copyright Notice All contents of this report are original and copyright © 2009 by the authors of this report – Hugo Gong and Professor Miriam Lips. Any works or material from other authors and sources in this report has been properly referenced. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the authors. THE USE OF NEW MEDIA BY POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION Page 2 of 122 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 7 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 9 2.1 CHARACTERISTICS, DEFINITIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS OF ‘E-CAMPAIGNING’ ........................... 9 2.2 SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVES ON INCENTIVES FOR E-CAMPAIGNING ........................................ 10 2.2.1 INTERACTIVITY ................................................................................................. 10 2.2.2 PERMANENCY .................................................................................................. 12 2.2.3 PLURALISM ..................................................................................................... 12 2.2.4 COST EFFECTIVENESS ......................................................................................... 13 2.3 MAJOR ACTIVITIES IN E-CAMPAIGNING ......................................................................... 14 2.3.1 INFORMATION PROVISION .................................................................................. 14 2.3.2 BLOGGING ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3.3 SUPPORT MOBILISATION .................................................................................... 16 2.3.4 CUSTOMISED CAMPAIGNS TO VOTERS ................................................................... 17 2.3.5 FUND RAISING ................................................................................................. 17 2.3.6 TARGETING CAMPAIGN TO OPPONENTS................................................................. 18 2.4 EXAMPLES OF E-CAMPAIGNING IN THE 2008 US ELECTION ............................................... 18 2.5 POTENTIAL IMPACT OF E-CAMPAIGNING........................................................................ 21 2.6 TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................. 22 2.6.1 STUDIES FEATURING WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS IN THE LITERATURE .............................. 22 2.6.2 THE WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK USED IN THIS STUDY ............................... 24 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 28 3.1 CASE STUDY RESEARCH.............................................................................................. 28 3.1.1. WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 28 3.1.2. SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS ................................................................................. 29 4 CASE STUDY DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 30 4.1 THE NEW ZEALAND ELECTORAL SYSTEM ........................................................................ 30 4.2 THE NATIONAL PARTY’S E-CAMPAIGN........................................................................... 31 4.2.1 BACKGROUND OF THE NATIONAL PARTY ................................................................ 31 4.2.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 31 4.2.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 34 4.3 THE LABOUR PARTY’S E-CAMPAIGN ............................................................................. 44 4.3.1 BACKGROUND OF THE LABOUR PARTY ................................................................... 44 4.3.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 44 4.3.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 48 4.4 THE GREEN PARTY’S E-CAMPAIGN ............................................................................... 56 4.4.1 BACKGROUND OF THE GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND ............................. 56 4.4.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 56 4.4.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 57 4.5 NEW ZEALAND FIRST’S E-CAMPAIGN ............................................................................ 65 4.5.1 BACKGROUND OF NEW ZEALAND FIRST ................................................................. 65 4.5.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 65 4.5.3 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 67 4.5.4 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 67 4.6 ACT NEW ZEALAND’S E-CAMPAIGN ............................................................................. 72 4.6.1 BACKGROUND OF ACT NEW ZEALAND ................................................................... 72 4.6.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 72 4.6.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 74 4.7 MAORI PARTY’S E-CAMPAIGN ..................................................................................... 80 4.7.1 BACKGROUND OF THE MAORI PARTY .................................................................... 80 THE USE OF NEW MEDIA BY POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION Page 3 of 122 4.7.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 80 4.7.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 82 4.8 PROGRESSIVE’S E-CAMPAIGN ...................................................................................... 87 4.8.1 BACKGROUND OF PROGRESSIVE ........................................................................... 87 4.8.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 87 4.8.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS ............................................................ 88 4.9 UNITED FUTURE’S E-CAMPAIGN .................................................................................. 93 4.9.1 BACKGROUND OF UNITED FUTURE ....................................................................... 93 4.9.2 GENERAL STRATEGY FOR THE 2008 E-CAMPAIGN .................................................... 93 4.9.3 WEB CONTENT DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS........................................................... 94 4.10 CROSS-PARTY ANALYSIS OF E-CAMPAIGNING DURING THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION ........... 100 4.10.1 THE ADOPTION AND PRESENCE OF E-CAMPAIGNING DURING THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION 100 4.10.2 E-CAMPAIGNING STRATEGIES DURING THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION ....................... 100 4.10.3 E-CAMPAIGNING ACTIVITIES DURING THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION ........................ 102 4.10.4 IMPACT OF E-CAMPAIGNING DURING THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION ........................ 105 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................ 107 5.1 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 107 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................. 108 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 110 APPENDIX A: SURVEY OF RECENT STUDIES OF E-CAMPAIGNING ....................................................... 113 APPENDIX B: COMBINED CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ALL PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES' OFFICIAL E-CAMPAIGNING WEBSITE .............................................................................................................................. 116 THE USE OF NEW MEDIA BY POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 2008 NATIONAL ELECTION Page 4 of 122 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: The changes in Obama's stance on war in Iraq spidered by McCain (Stirland, 2008) ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 2.2: Web content analysis framework in this study ................................................... 27 Figure 4.1: The home page of National's