2009 European Parliamentary Elections on the web: A mediatization perspective

This paper evaluates the mediatizing potential of the internet on the politics of European integration and the process of enhancing the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU), i.e. the ways in which online media participate or interfere with the democratization of the EU by either advancing or constraining the development of a legitimate political order respectively. Using three ‘mediatization potential’ indicators (publicity, inclusion and degrees of contestation), we focus our analysis on the online debates during the 2009 EU elections (May-June 2009) in twelve member-states and at trans-European level. Our findings highlight the multiple, conflicting dynamics of mediatization present in the EU political e-sphere.