This book analyzes the impact of social media on democracy and politics at the sub-national level in developed and developing countries. Over the last decade or so, social media has transformed politics. Offering political actors opportunities to organize, mobilize, and connect with constituents, voters, and supporters, social media has become an important tool in global politics as well as a force for democracy. Most of the available research literature focuses on the impact of social media at the national level; this book fills that gap by analyzing the political uses of social media at the sub-national level.

The book is divided into two parts. Part One, Social Media for Democracy includes chapters that analyze potential contributions of social media tools to the realizing of basic values of democracy, such as public engagement, transparency, accountability, participation and collaboration at the sub-national level. Part Two, Social Media in Politics focuses on the use of social media tools by political actors in political processes and activities (online campaigns, protests etc.) at the local, regional and state government levels during election and non-election periods. Combining theoretical and empirical analysis, each chapter provides evaluations of overarching issues, questions, and problems as well as real-world experiences with social media, politics, and democracy in a diverse sample of municipalities. This volume will be of use to graduate students, academicians, and researchers, in several disciplines and fields, such as public administration, political science, ICT, sociology, communication studies and public policy as well as politicians and practitioners.

Evaluates the use of social media tools for democracy and politics at the sub-national level from theoretical and practical perspectives Presents comparative, global case studies from countries with different political traditions, administrative structures, and socioeconomic levels Fills a void in the study of social media in politics by focusing on its implementation in small, local government rather than on a national scale

Inhalt
Introduction.- Part I: Social Media for Democracy.- 1. Twitter Communication Styles of Mayors in Greece: Their Effect on Citizens' Engagement.- 2. The Effect of Post Type and Post Category on Citizen Interaction Level on Facebook: The Case of Municipalities in Turkey.- 3. Political Situation and Community Engagement Policy via Facebook: An Empirical Study of Municipalities in Spain.- 4. Social Media Use in Participatory Budgeting: The Case of Twitter in the U.S. Cities.- Part II: Social Media in Politics.- 5. Perceptions, Uses, Appearances, and Consequences of Social Media Campaigning: Lessons from the Municipal Facebook Campaigning, Israel 2013.- 6. Small Is the New Big At Least on Twitter: A Diachronic Study of Twitter Use During Two Regional Norwegian Elections.- 7. The Curation and Analysis of Twitter Lists in Sub-national Political Bodies: The State of Maine Case, USA.- 8. Elections and Digital Media in Multilevel Party Systems: The Case of Ecuador.- 9. Exploring the Role of Social Media in Protests: Hashtag Activism in South Africa.- 10. Challenges of Digital Politics at the Subnational Level: Struggling Municipalities in Rural Areas in Sweden.