Members of the European Parliament on the Web

1 - Cover [Seite 1]
2 - 1. Introduction [Seite 20]
2.1 - 1.1 (Digital) communication and representation [Seite 20]
2.2 - 1.2 Research questions [Seite 21]
2.3 - 1.3 Aims of the study [Seite 22]
2.4 - 1.4 Relevance for politics and political science [Seite 23]
2.5 - 1.5 Parliamentary communication goes online [Seite 26]
2.6 - 1.6 Parliamentarians on the web [Seite 28]
2.7 - 1.7 MEPs as distinctive parliamentarians [Seite 29]
2.8 - 1.8 The dataset [Seite 31]
2.9 - 1.9 Structure of the study [Seite 32]
3 - 2. Theory and Context [Seite 36]
3.1 - 2.1 Overview [Seite 36]
3.2 - 2.2 Whom do MNPs represent? Struggles and challenges [Seite 38]
3.2.1 - 2.2.1 MNPs and representation [Seite 42]
3.2.2 - 2.2.2 The challenge of double-hatting [Seite 45]
3.3 - 2.3 Making balancing acts visible - (Digital) communication of MNPs [Seite 49]
3.3.1 - 2.3.1 Parliamentary communication - Relevance, aims and MNPbehaviour [Seite 49]
3.3.2 - 2.3.2 Aims and tools of political and parliamentary communication [Seite 51]
3.3.3 - 2.3.3 Obstacles to parliamentary communication [Seite 54]
3.3.4 - 2.3.4 Communication behaviour of individual MNPs [Seite 57]
3.4 - 2.4 Digital communication - Politics and parliaments on the internet [Seite 59]
3.4.1 - 2.4.1 What is new compared to the traditional media? [Seite 59]
3.4.2 - 2.4.2 Potential and pitfalls for politics [Seite 61]
3.4.3 - 2.4.3 Use in parliaments and by MNPs [Seite 67]
3.5 - 2.5 A special context for communication - The European Parliament [Seite 74]
3.5.1 - 2.5.1 Why the European Parliament is a special context forcommunication [Seite 74]
3.5.2 - 2.5.2 Double-hatting of MEPs - a balancing act across political levels [Seite 77]
3.5.3 - 2.5.3 (Digital) Parliamentary communication in the European Parliament [Seite 82]
3.5.4 - 2.5.4 MEPs and digital communication [Seite 86]
4 - 3. Framework of Analysis [Seite 89]
4.1 - 3.1 Research questions [Seite 90]
4.2 - 3.2 The potential of personal websites [Seite 91]
4.3 - 3.3 Types of parliamentarian communication [Seite 94]
4.3.1 - 3.3.1 Ensuring the feedback loop [Seite 94]
4.3.2 - 3.3.2 Informing [Seite 96]
4.3.3 - 3.3.3 Signalling territorial representation cues [Seite 98]
4.4 - 3.4 Hypotheses [Seite 104]
4.4.1 - 3.4.1 Political level differences [Seite 104]
4.4.2 - 3.4.2 Institutional differences on the national level [Seite 108]
4.4.3 - 3.4.3 Ideological differences [Seite 110]
5 - 4. Methodology [Seite 114]
5.1 - 4.1 Research design [Seite 114]
5.2 - 4.2 The internet as a tool for research [Seite 114]
5.3 - 4.3 Chosen nationalities & sample [Seite 115]
5.4 - 4.4 Instrumentation and measures [Seite 117]
5.5 - 4.5 Intercoder reliability [Seite 120]
5.6 - 4.6 Procedures [Seite 123]
5.7 - 4.7 Data processing and analysis [Seite 124]
6 - 5. Patterns of Variation [Seite 126]
6.1 - 5.1 Structural elements [Seite 126]
6.2 - 5.2 Ensuring the feedback loop [Seite 130]
6.3 - 5.3 The Transparency Index [Seite 139]
6.4 - 5.4 Informing [Seite 141]
6.4.1 - 5.4.1 The Information Index [Seite 146]
6.5 - 5.5 Signalling territorial representation [Seite 148]
6.5.1 - 5.5.1 The European Index [Seite 152]
6.6 - 5.6 Signalling territorial representation cues- National symbolism and content [Seite 154]
6.6.1 - 5.6.1 The National Index [Seite 160]
6.7 - 5.7 Conclusions [Seite 161]
7 - 6. Analysis [Seite 164]
7.1 - 6.1 Pre-political effects?The possible influence of demographic variables [Seite 164]
7.2 - 6.2 Political level differences [Seite 169]
7.3 - 6.3 Institutional differences on the national level [Seite 197]
7.4 - 6.4 Ideological differences [Seite 210]
8 - 7. Conclusions [Seite 227]
8.1 - 7.1 Results [Seite 228]
8.2 - 7.2 Digital representation through personal websites [Seite 230]
8.2.1 - 7.2.1 Ensuring the feedback loop [Seite 231]
8.2.2 - 7.2.2 Informing [Seite 233]
8.2.3 - 7.2.3 Signalling territorial representation cues [Seite 233]
8.3 - 7.3 Contributions of the study [Seite 235]
8.4 - 7.4 Practical implications [Seite 236]
8.5 - 7.5 Outlook and further research [Seite 239]
9 - Appendix: Codebook [Seite 241]
10 - References [Seite 249]