Copycats? Do right-wing groups emulate left-wing digital advocacy organizations?

Abstract

In 1998 MoveOn pioneered a new and powerful form of digitally enabled, multi-issue, member-driven, rapid response, advocacy organization. This model quickly spread around the world as progressive activists emulated it in twenty other countries. These digital advocacy organizations share progressive values and have been influential actors in their national contexts. What is surprising is that right-wing actors have replicated this new organization model. We examine four right-wing digital advocacy organizations: Grassfire (United States), Advance (Australia), Patriot Petition (Germany), and CitizenGo (transnational). We find that all four ‘copycat’ organizations are rapid-response, multi-issue, on-line campaigning organizations, like their left-wing counterparts. However, none appear to be fully-member driven in their funding and decision-making, rather the right has a tendency towards “astroturfing”. We also find that these right-wing organizations explicitly sought to emulate the organizational model of their left-wing counterparts, and there was no evidence of transnational diffusion on the right. This article enriches our understanding of right-wing digital advocacy organizations, and how learning and emulation occur across partisan divides.

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