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The Shift in the Stances of German Political Parties on Digital Policy Issues

Media Technology and Society Media Technology and Society Media Technology and Society

Digitalisation, as a multifaceted topic, has entered mainstream politics. But what are the German political parties’ positions on this issue, and how have these changed?

Master's thesis by Josephine Franz
3rd semester, 2021
Supervisor: Prof. Dr Lars Rademacher

Problem and initial situation

Digitalisation has brought about many different changes in recent years, particularly at the societal and economic levels. In light of this far-reaching structural change, the question arises as to how political actors intend to shape digitalisation and its effects. Consequently, using German political parties as a case study, this master’s thesis examined how they address digitalisation in the context of political competition and which digitalisation-related issues they include in their election manifestos. The aim was to determine the extent to which the positions and priorities of the parties examined on digital policy issues have changed over the last five years.

Research questions and hypotheses

The specific research question addressed in the Master’s thesis was:

To what extent have the positions and priorities of the German parties on digital political issues changed over the last five years?

To define the research focus more precisely, additional sub-questions and hypotheses were developed:

Sub-questions:

  • According to the current state of the literature, what aspects and issues arising from advancing digitalisation require political action? (Guiding question for literature analysis)
  • What different issues do the various political parties in Germany consider in relation to digitalisation, and where do they set their priorities?
  • In which areas, if any, have the parties’ positions changed over the last five years?

Hypotheses:

  • H1: The election manifestos under consideration address more digital policy issues and topics in 2021 than in 2016.
  • H2: The parties have different priorities in their election manifestos regarding digital policy issues, depending on their underlying ideology, and address digitalisation as a topic with varying degrees of emphasis.
  • H3: Digital political issues were increasingly addressed in the 2021 election manifestos, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

In the initial classification of the theoretical findings on the subject, the study first clarified why digitalisation and the accompanying change give rise to a need for political action and policy-making. Here, the thesis focused primarily on the societal and economic consequences of digitalisation, which entail both positive and negative effects.

The central part of the paper deals with the analysis of the sections on digitalisation in the election manifestos of the six largest German parties (AfD, CDU, FDP, Greens, Left Party and SPD). For this purpose, their election manifestos from the most recent elections were used: the state elections in March 2021 in Baden-Württemberg (BW) and Rhineland-Palatinate (RP). In addition, the election manifestos of the same parties from the previous elections, i.e. 2016, were considered for comparison.

The 24 election manifestos were analysed using qualitative content analysis, in accordance with Mayring (2015). The categories were developed inductively from the material, and a coding guide was drawn up, which formed the basis for coding all the remaining material. Following the qualitative content analysis, a quantitative evaluation of the categories was carried out. This made it possible to map the results for each party in both federal states using spider diagrams and to visually represent the shift in the parties’ priorities. In addition, individual results were presented in bar charts, particularly where the parties were to be compared directly.

Results

The results show that the emphasis on digitalisation in election manifestos has increased across all parties from 2016 to 2021 and that all parties are focusing on a broader range of topics. However, digitalisation plays a role of varying importance for the parties.

Figure 1: Emphasis on digital political issues in the BW and RP election manifestos: 2016 vs. 2021

All in all, the thematic complexity of digitalisation is reflected in the 21 categories identified. Digitalisation is understood as a multi-layered issue across party lines, and various policy areas are addressed in this context.

However, in terms of the emphasis placed on individual content, four of the 21 categories identified are the focus of most parties: expansion of infrastructure, economic growth, digital education and e-government. However, from 2016 to 2021, there has been a general shift in emphasis from economic growth and infrastructure expansion (2016) towards the category of digital education.

This category gained enormous importance across all parties in 2021. E-government also comes more into focus for all parties in 2021, particularly in BW. In addition, some other topics are growing in significance, whilst others are losing ground, with the six parties examined showing partly different trends. In some cases, individual parties in the two federal states prioritise particular issues inconsistently.

Figure 2: Emphasis on digital policy issues in the 2016 and 2021 election manifestos for BW and RP

Conclusion and Outlook

Overall, the parties’ positions on digital policy issues can be aligned with their basic ideological stances in both years, even though a decline or an increase in the emphasis on individual categories can be observed for some parties. The broader range of themes in 2021 suggests that the parties have widely recognised the complexity of digitalisation. At the same time, election manifestos often place a greater economic emphasis on digitalisation. The parties do not address the societal consequences and how these should be addressed politically to the same extent.

At the same time, the topic of digitalisation is hardly controversial. It offers little scope for parties to distinguish themselves in the electoral contest, and the results show an overall homogenisation of the parties’ demands. The focus in both years is on similar topics (in 2016, mainly economic growth and infrastructure expansion; and in 2021, primarily digital education and e-government), and the shift in priorities is similar across party lines. Furthermore, the frequent references to the COVID-19 pandemic within the headings examined in 2021 suggest that the global crisis has exposed shortcomings in the current state of digitalisation in Germany and that the topic of digital education was consequently taken up more frequently by the parties in 2021.

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