Serra-Silva, SofiaDias Carvalho, DianaFazendeiro, Julio2018-12-102018-12-102018Serra-Silva, S., Carvalho, D. D., Fazendeiro, J. (2018). Party-citizen online challenges: Portuguese parties’ Facebook usage and audience engagement. In Lobo, M. C., Silva, F. C. da, Zúquete, J. P. (Eds.), Changing societies: legacies and challenges. Vol. 2. Citizenship in crisis, pp. 185-214. Lisboa: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais978-972-671-504-7http://hdl.handle.net/10451/35735Despite the formal and theoretical importance of political parties and their roles in representative democracies, several opinion polls have been revealing signs of political apathy, disaffection and discontent among European citizens regarding political institutions; and parties are not immune to this trend (Norris 1999; Dalton and Wattenberg 2000; Dalton 2004; Pharr, Putnam and Dalton 2000; Torcal and Montero 2006; Inglehart 2016). This has led institutions to re-evaluate their current practices and seek new approaches to connect with citizens, by developing strategies to increase political participation, including ways to take advantage of new technologies and the internet to reach the “digital natives” (Furlong 2009). Accordingly, many political actors and institutions across the world have undergone considerable reforms over the last two decades, more recently by using internet channels and tools, to support a deepening of public engagement (ipu 2009; Hansard Society 2011; Leston-Bandeira 2009).engSocial mediaParties communication strategiesFacebookbook part10.31447/ics9789726715047.08