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Demos publications are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 England & Wales Licence . Users are welcome to download, save, perform or distribute this work electronically or in any other format, including in foreign language translation without written permission subject to the conditions set out in the Creative Commons licence. The digital revolution has disrupted politics, but it could enhance democracy. The speed and ease of online business can make political processes look frustratingly slow and inaccessible to many voters. The internet has transformed our social, personal, professional and economic lives, but the processes of politics and government remain remarkably similar to those of the last century. If voters disengage as a result, democracy will lose its life-blood. This short paper explores the implications of the growing chasm between how people live and how politics works, and how far digital technology can improve the experience of democracy for citizens. We present new, illustrative research on how MEPs and voters are using one social media platform, Twitter. We then explore the broader implications of digital technology for parties and political processes. New technology is creating opportunities for new types of democratic engagement, but we also set out some of the challenges and difficulties of realising these opportunities. In conclusion, we identify a number of promising new initiatives for improving the quality of political engagement and how they might be implemented by the European Parliament. This paper is not designed to be comprehensive, but rather as a provocation to stimulate further research and thinking on the subject. -- Introduction -- 1. New challenges for democracy in the digital age -- 2. New research on the practice of digital politics: how Parliamentarians use twitter -- 3. Ways forward: new initiatives in digital democracy -- 4. Pitfalls of technology -- Conclusion -- Notes

New social and political movements from radically different political positions are emerging across Europe using social media, posing a new challenge to existing political parties and structures. The Pirate Party in Germany and the Occupy movement are examples of movements that have employed social media to grow rapidly and create a significant political and social impact – all in the last three years.\ud \ud Beppe Grillo, the Italian comedian and blogger, is one of the first political figures to have embraced this change. He has used social media to communicate, recruit and organise, growing the Moviment 5 Stelle from practically nothing to a major political force in Italy in the space of three years, with it expected to play a crucial role in the 2013 Italian elections. His anti-establishment message has resonated with many against a backdrop of declining trust in political institutions, falling political party membership and ever-lower voter turnout.\ud \ud This report presents the results of a survey of 1,865 Facebook fans of Beppe Grillo and the Movimento 5 Stelle. It includes data on who they are, what they think, and what motivates them to shift from virtual to real-world activism. It also compares them with other similar parties in Western Europe and their attitudes to those of the Italian population. This report is the seventh in a series of country specific briefings about the online support of populist parties across Europe.

Of all populist movements in Europe, Italy’s Lega Nord can perhaps lay claim to the greatest political success. The party has been in government three times, including for eight of the last 11 years, and has held several key ministries in coalition govern¬ments led by Silvio Berlusconi. It is a party with a clear ideology, emphasising tough limits on immigration, greater northern autonomy, and characterising Muslims and Islam as representing a fundamental threat to the values and cul¬tural integrity of northern Italians. This report presents the results of a survey of Facebook fans of the Lega Nord. It includes data on who they are, what they think, and what motivates them to shift from virtual to real-world activism. It also compares them to supporters of similar parties in Western Europe, shedding light on their growing online support, and the relationship between online and offline activities. -- Acknowledgments -- A note on terminology -- Executive summary -- Background -- Who are the Lega Nord’s Facebook supporters? -- Social and political concerns -- Why do people support the Lega Nord online? -- Annex: methodology -- Notes -- References

This paper is the fifth in a series of country briefing papers released in 2012 about the online support of populist political parties and street-based groups in Europe. These papers are based on a dataset of approximately 10,667 Facebook supporters of these ‘nationalist populist’ parties in 11 European countries, which was published in the Demos report The New Face of Digital Populism, released in November 2011.1 Further papers will be released throughout 2012. Throughout this paper, we refer to two primary datasets by the following terminology: · CasaPound Facebook supporters: The primary data source used in this report is a survey of 423 Facebook supporters of CasaPound Italia, collected by Demos during July and August 2011. All references to CasaPound supporters refer to this group unless otherwise stated. CasaPound officially changed its name to ‘CasaPound Italia’ in 2008, but for the purposes of this report we will refer to the movement as ‘CasaPound’. · Populist parties and movements (PPAMs): In order to draw comparisons between CasaPound Facebook supporters and the Facebook supporters of nationalist populist parties elsewhere in Europe, throughout this paper we refer to the data set collected for The New Face of Digital Populism. This includes 10,667 Facebook supporters of nationalist populist parties and movements in 11 Western European countries. We refer to these as PPAMs throughout. -- Acknowledgments -- A note on terminology -- Executive summary -- Background -- Who are CasaPound Facebook supporters? -- Social and political concerns -- Why do people support CasaPound online? -- Annex: Methodology -- Notes -- References

Populist parties and movements are now a force to be reckoned with in many Western European countries. These groups are known for their opposition to immigration, their ‘anti-establishment’ views and their concern for protecting national culture. Their rise in popularity has gone hand-in-hand with the advent of social media, and they are adept at using new technology to amplify their message, recruit and organise.\ud \ud The online social media following for many of these parties dwarfs the formal membership, consisting of tens of thousands of sympathisers and supporters. This mélange of virtual and real political activity is the way millions of people — especially young people — relate to politics in the 21st century.\ud \ud This is the first quantitative investigation into these digital populists, based on over 10,000 survey responses from 12 countries. It includes data on who they are, what they think and what motivates them to shift from virtual to real-world activism. It also provides new insight into how populism — and politics and political engagement more generally — is changing as a result of social media.\ud \ud The New Face of Digital Populism calls on mainstream politicians to respond and address concerns over immigration and cultural identity without succumbing to xenophobic solutions. People must be encouraged to become actively involved in political and civic life, whatever their political persuasion — it is important to engage and debate forcefully with these parties and their supporters, not shut them out as beyond the pale.

The English Defence League (EDL) is the biggest populist street movement in a generation. Yet the make-up of the group and what its members believe remain a mystery because it has no formal joining procedures or membership list and much of its activity takes place online.\ud \ud While leaders of the EDL claim they are a pluralistic, liberal movement that is fighting Islamic extremism, chants heard at demonstrations and the vitriol frequently posted on the EDL’s chat forums suggest otherwise. It is in this context that we have undertaken the first ever large-scale empirical study of the EDL, which comprises responses from 1,295 sympathisers and supporters, and includes data on their demographics, involvement in EDL activity, political attitudes and social views. The results show that, although the EDL is usually understood as an anti-Islamic or anti-Islamist demonstrating group, the reality is more complex.\ud \ud Supporters are characterised by intense pessimism about the UK's future, worries about immigration and joblessness. This is often mixed with a proactive pride in Britain, British history and British values, which they see as being under attack from Islam. Although their demonstrations have often involved violence and racist chants, many members are democrats who are committed to peaceful protest and other forms of activism.\ud \ud The collection of large amounts of data from social media presents new opportunities for social research to understand the relationship between off- and online activity. As more movements combine – and blur – virtual and real protest, these questions will become increasingly urgent and important. These surveys, collected through Facebook using a new methodology, offer new ways forward in exploring this challenge.