WhatsApp campaigning replicates existing political structures in Ghana and Nigeria, study shows

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Existing patrimonial political structures in Ghana and Nigeria are being replicated as campaigning moves to WhatsApp, analysis shows. The empowerment of new actors is being restricted in social media and it is not being used to challenge pre-existing power dynamics. Digital spaces have allowed new people to enter the political/campaigning arena, but they are often incorporated into existing structures of power rather than disrupting the whole system. The study shows WhatsApp campaigning in Nigeria is driven and shaped by individuals with loose direction from party officials, whereas in Ghana political parties have greater control. Researchers found more formal online structures in Ghana, with tighter control of messaging and strategy. In Nigeria there was less internal coherence, and campaign messaging focused more on the fortunes of individual candidates. The study, by Elena Gadjanova from the University of Exeter, Jonathan Fisher and Jamie Hitchen, both from the University of Birmingham, has been published in Party Politics. Researchers carried out 113 interviews and 15 focus group discussions with political candidates, their campaign teams and advisers, and party activists in both countries. The focus of this research was principally on the presidential races. They found that Ghana’s two main political
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