Twitter as a mirror of political space(s): An analysis of multi-level party competition in Italy

IF 1.7 Q2 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Regional and Federal Studies Pub Date : 2021-07-27 DOI:10.1080/13597566.2021.1954913

S. Camatarri, M. Gallina, G. Anselmi, Henri M. A. Schadee, P. Segatti

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT The literature on the nationalization of party systems has found that decentralization of authority leads to increasing territorial heterogeneity of voting behaviour. In this article, we intend to further extant knowledge on this topic by exploring whether different levels of government imply distinct representations of party competition at the citizens’ level. We do so by analysing Twitter data collected during the 2015 regional elections in five Italian regions (Liguria, Veneto, Tuscany, Campania and Apulia) to estimate national and regional party configurations by means of multi-dimensional scaling. Analyses show that national party competition is generally perceived in the same way across regions, but representations of regional political spaces tend to stand out from it and also to differ from each other. These results suggest that, in line with the process of political decentralization of authority, voters perceive party competition in different ways according to the level of territorial governance at stake.

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推特作为政治空间的一面镜子:意大利多层次政党竞争分析

摘要政党制度国家化的研究发现，权力分散导致投票行为的地域异质性增加。在本文中，我们打算通过探索不同级别的政府是否意味着公民层面上政党竞争的不同代表来进一步了解这一主题。我们通过分析2015年意大利五个地区(利古里亚、威尼托、托斯卡纳、坎帕尼亚和普利亚)地区选举期间收集的推特数据，通过多维尺度来估计国家和地区的政党配置。分析表明，各地区对全国政党竞争的看法通常是相同的，但各地区政治空间的代表往往脱颖而出，而且彼此不同。这些结果表明，与政治权力下放的过程一致，选民对政党竞争的看法会根据所涉及的领土治理水平而有所不同。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Regional and Federal Studies POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

21.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The upsurge of academic and political interest in regional and federal questions since the 1980s has been stimulated by the salience of regions in EU policy-making and the Structural Funds but also by regionalization and federalization processes in many Western states. The most striking example is the devolution occurring in the UK, but the process is at work all over Europe and in other parts of the world. These developments have led to many important research programmes and projects. Regional and Federal Studies is a refereed social science journal which provides an academic forum for the publication of international research on these issues. It is essential reading for both academics and practitioners in politics, administration and the business world.