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Activating without Transforming: The Use of Technology to Engage Activists in Political Campaigns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2025

Rafael Piñeiro-Rodríguez Open the ORCID record for Rafael Piñeiro-Rodríguez [Opens in a new window] ,
Fernando Rosenblatt Open the ORCID record for Fernando Rosenblatt [Opens in a new window]  and
Gabriel Vommaro Open the ORCID record for Gabriel Vommaro [Opens in a new window]
Rafael Piñeiro-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Uruguay
Fernando Rosenblatt*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, UK
Gabriel Vommaro
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de San Martín/CONICET, Argentina
*
Corresponding author: Fernando Rosenblatt; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

We analyze how new technologies can be used to foster individual engagement that limits deliberation and reduces people’s capacity for political action within parties. We present the results of an analysis of the case of the Argentinean Propuesta Republicana (PRO). Using data from in-depth interviews with key actors—party elites and political consultants—we show that new technologies helped to mobilize almost 1 million volunteers in presidential elections, without transforming them into party stakeholders. This incorporation, though successful for organization and mobilization, reinforced the existing distribution of power within the party, by activating new adherents without engaging them in a collective organizational structure.

Keywords

ArgentinaICTparty organizationcampaignsindividual engagement
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , First View , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Miami

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