2023/07/30 by Cecilia Biancalana, Davide Vittori
Social Sciences · #Digital Games and Media #Social Media and Politics
paper · doi:10.1080/01972243.2023.2241470
openalex publication_date 2023/07/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
This article was motivated by the question whether gamification represents a substantial innovation in internal party democracy, by contributing to change the dynamics of power within parties. To answer this question, we examine the only known case of gamification in the field of internal party voting, launched by the Italian Movimento 5 Stelle. We expected that gamified internal votes would reduce the incumbent advantage and promote party activists. Our data, however, suggest that these decision-making processes follow the same logic as the traditional ones. We thus conclude that digital innovations often end up working as “business as usual”.