An article titled “Digital Political Parties as a New Type of Political Party” co-authored by Asst. Prof. Dr. Sezen Kama IŞIK, member of the Constitutional Law Department of Law Faculty at our university, was published in the 2021’s second issue of Istanbul University Faculty of Law Journal.
The study focuses on the transformation of political parties due to technology and the internet and discusses the distinctive features of the new ‘electronic political party’ concept, its definition, and examples from the world together with relevant legislation.
In the study, the authors attributed the emergence of political parties to the social and economic transformation in the 19th century when there was an expansion of the right to vote and increased desire of people to have a say in the administration and evaluated the survival of the concept of political party as one of the achievements of representative democracy. They also noted that the development of technology and the internet have created changes in the understanding of democracy and led to the digitalization of political parties, while traditional political parties have not been fully digitalized but are using technology and the internet effectively. In addition, as a new type, they introduced the political parties that were established and continue their operation entirely on the internet. They concluded that these parties are a positive factor in people’s political participation and reduce socio-economic inequalities in the context of political rights and contribute to democratization of the decision-making processes. They also provided examples to point out that electronic political parties are more politically inclusive.
As a result of the research, given the impact of the pandemic and increased internet use, the authors concluded that electronic parties will become indispensable elements of representative democracy in the future and may turn into instruments of direct democracy over time. As for Turkey, they stated that E-Party, which is an electronic party initiative, was not approved formally as a political party because it could not meet the organization criteria of the political parties legislation, but legal arrangements should be made about electronic parties in order to keep up with the current technological transformation.
Please click here to read the article.
Kama Işık, S. & Işık, A. (2021). Yeni Bir Siyasi Parti Türü Olarak Elektronik Siyasi Partiler . İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası , 79 (2) , 673-698 . DOI: 10.26650/mecmua.2021.79.2.0008