Social Media, Political Institutions and the Principal–Agent Dilemma

Abstract

Chapter 1 presents the theoretical framework of the book. It starts to discuss the transformation from the Web 1.0 to the Web 2.0 and 3.0, to investigate whether this can produce a revolution or, alternatively, politics will continue as usual. After reviewing the existing literature, this chapter proposes two different frameworks, based on the principal--agent dilemma. One focuses on the idea that social media represent a new additional `principal' for politicians. The other considers them as a tool available to traditional principals. These two frameworks will be tested through the book.