Proposal of a functional model for digital mediation initiatives in electoral campaigns

This paper proposes a functional model to support initiatives of digital mediation for direct public participation in electoral periods. In this context, a conceptual model is proposed and its proof of concept - a Web platform - is presented. The main issue being addressed is the communication gap between the key stakeholders in an election campaign, and the conversion of the citizen from a traditionally passive role into an agent with the possibility to intervene and produce electoral information. Based on five different initiatives using the Web platform during electoral campaigns in Portugal between 2009 and 2011, results supporting the proposed functional model are presented.