Watching the digital grassroots grow: assessing party members’ social media campaigning during the 2021 German Bundestag election

Abstract

Party member mobilization is part of a modern election campaign, just like social media are. This article enhances prior research on the strategic inclusion of grassroots campaigning from a top down perspective by adding insights from the individual perspective of the rank-and-file party members. Evidence is built from a party member panel survey conducted among four German parties: CDU, SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Die Linke. Based on quantitative data analyses, first, the article scrutinizes the share of online campaigners among members and the importance of digital campaigning for the toolbox of electioneering. Social media are essential campaign tools even if only about half of campaigners actively participates in such activities. Still, only a small group of campaigners categorically rules out engaging via social platforms. Secondly, the article analyzes which groups of members are more likely to participate in social media campaigning, showing that higher age, being male and holding a university degree is associated with a lower probability to participate in such activities. Additionally, these newer forms of campaigning are rather used by highly engaged members who are familiar with party routines. Hence, social media campaigning requires skills and resources, despite its flexibility and accessibility.

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