An Interdisciplinary Conference on New Media and Internet Studies

Congressional Candidate Use of the Internet

James N. Druckman (druckman@polisci.umn.edu)
Associate Professor of Political Science

 Martin J. Kifer (mkifer@polisci.umn.edu)
Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science

 
Increasing political candidate use of the world wide web has accompanied the internet's expansion.  But little systematic research has investigated the manner in which candidates are using this new medium.  This project seeks to place one type of political internet communication in the context of previous political science research. Using a unique database of 2002 and 2004 congressional races that includes information about technical as well as political content of the websites, the authors will compare current literature on traditional media in congressional campaign communications to evidence about candidate use of newer communication technology.  The 2004 data specifically includes an over sample of districts present in the 2002 data, allowing some potential to draw conclusions about changes in internet strategies between the two cycles (one of which is concurrent with a presidential election campaign). The project will draw inferences about the relationships between demographic details of the congressional districts in which the candidates run and the characteristics of the websites the candidates choose to promote and organize their campaigns.  The project will give special attention to aspects of candidate image, interaction between candidates, and negative campaigning.

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