Political Use of the Internet: Hope or Hype?

Internet: Hope or Hype? Jan Sládek, M.A.

Department of Sociology

Charles University in Prague

The Czech Republic

5 facts about czech current political life in CR

(1) Depolitization

(2) Fragmentarization

(3) Individual strategies preferred to collective

(4) Ngoisation

(5) Withou connection to idelogy, mainly on the local level

Data collected in May and June 2014 by a specialized agency

Method of data collection ◦ CAPI F2F interviews◦ Stratified random sampling combined with quota sampling ◦ Measures taken to include parts of the population with lower

probability of being interviewed

1316 respondents in the final sample Weighted sample representative for the population of the Czech Republic, age 15+

Internet Use in CR

Reliable iinformation

Internet and politics in general Voting activity

◦ Frequent elections (2010, 2012, 2013x2, 2014x2)◦ Declining participation, yet municipal rather high◦ No. 1 reson for non-voting: Disinterest in politics

(45% of nonvoters), no. 2: Not know who to vote (17%)

¼ states that an active politician is amongst their close relatives or friends, ½ discusses politics

Internet and local politics

1/3 never looked for local info, 1/3 does so rarely, 1/3 regurarly on weekly basis

87% never used the ICT to contact local politicians (x direct democracy)

15 Interviews in Prague 1

NGOs, locals, political parties

From 20 to 55+

- Internet seen as an easy way to communicate

- No online campaigning

- Not used for networking

- Rarely FB groups

- Online petitions

Internet and political life in CR: Hype

Low political use

Low trust in the power of the internet

Turning information into action

Internet is necessary yet not sufficient

No „dangerous“ barriers in political use of the Internet