Affiliations: [a] Center for Media and Communication Studies, Central
European University, Nádor u. 9., H-1051 Budapest, Hungary. Tel.: +36 1
327 3000 2195; Fax: +36 1 235 6168; E-mail: [email protected] | [b] Center for Information Society and Network Research,
Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Pázmány
Péter sétány 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. E-mail:
[email protected]
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author
Abstract: The socio-political transformation induced in Central and Eastern
Europe by the political turmoil of 1989–1990 happened in concordance with
a communications revolution, characterized by the ubiquity of new media in many
realms of life. Consequently, the use of information and communication
technologies in political campaigns forced both institutions and citizens to
rethink their roles and strategies within the political system. Our analysis of
the electoral web sphere of the 2004 European Parliament election in Hungary,
based on Internet & Elections data and semi-structured interviews,
indicates that while strategic uses of the internet appear to reinforce
existing power-relations on the web, tactical uses of new media undermine the
'politics as usual' thesis.
Keywords: Internet, European Parliament, election, campaign, Hungary
