Transparency in the Andalusian elections of 2022. Analysis and
evaluation of the websites of political parties in electoral campaigns
La transparencia en las elecciones andaluzas de 2022. Análisis y valoración de
las páginas web de los partidos políticos en campaña electoral
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nº 37, pp. 63-86
| 63
July-December of 2023
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Pérez-Escolar, M.; Alcaide-Pulido, P. and Tapia-Frade, A. (2023). Transparency in the Andalusian elections of 2022. Analysis and evaluation of
the websites of political parties in electoral campaigns.
Doxa Comunicación
, 37, pp. 63-86.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n37a1865
Marta Pérez Escolar.
Assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Murcia, where she teaches
subjects such as Journalistic Responsibility. Her main lines of research are informational disorders, citizen participation
and political communication. In 2018, she received the extraordinary award for
Citizen Participation, Transparency and
Good Governance
, awarded by the Region of Murcia, for her doctoral thesis. She has been a research professor at several
international universities, has completed a six-year research period and, recently, obtained a José Castillejo mobility
grant to carry out research, funded by the Ministry of Universities, at the University of Bournemouth (United Kingdom).
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-2575-7993
Puricación Alcaide-Pulido.
PhD and assistant professor at the Universidad Loyola Andalucía in Córdoba (Department
of Communication and Education) and member of the research groups “MarketingForSociety” and “PositiveCom”. Her
areas of research are, among others, the image of the university brand, communication on social networks and websites,
and the Public Relations sector. In addition, Alcaide-Pulido is copresident of the SIG of Marketing in Higher Education
at the Academy of Marketing for the organization of the International Colloquium. In addition, Alcaide-Pulido has been
a visiting professor at Beira Interior University (Portugal), Nottingham Trent University and Bournemouth University
(England), and Arnhem Business School (Netherlands), where she has started dierent research projects, on which she
continues to work.
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-4810-1295
Alejandro Tapia Frade.
Lecturer and researcher at the University of Cádiz. Accredited by ANECA as Head of University,
has completed a six-year period of research, with publications of more than sixty articles and book chapters. He has
completed a stay at the Universidade do Algarve and teaching exchanges at the Universities of Guarda and Leiria
(Portugal), HAN (Holland) and Konstanz (Germany). His preferred line of research links various communicative
manifestations across the internet and, especially, the web.
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-1071-4536
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License
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Transparency in the Andalusian elections of 2022. Analysis and evaluation of the websites of political parties in electoral...
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1. Introduction
Transparency is an essential factor in today’s democratic processes. However, despite the approval of transparency and good
governance laws, public opinion continues to reect a lack of commitment from institutions and political actors in matters
of transparency, honesty and integrity (Cabezuelo-Lorenzo and Manfredi Sánchez, 2016; Gutiérrez Brito et al., 2022; Pérez-
Escolar and Noguera-Vivo, 2022). is citizen impetus is especially evident on social networks (Justel-Vázquez et al., 2018;
Pérez-Gabaldó and Nicasio-Varea, 2022). Proles such as @JaimeObregon on Twitter, for example, demonstrate this. Taking
advantage of his programming knowledge, Jaime Obregón denounces the lack of transparency on the websites of autonomous
governments –his battle with the Cantabrian government website has been especially popular on the internet– creating
tutorials to explain how to download and use databases and raises proposals for improvement to make all administrative
processes on the internet more accessible and transparent.
Cases of political corruption (Gavara de Cara, 2022) do not contribute to a better image of leaders or political groups (Fernández,
2022a). In its latest study from June 2022, the Sociological Research Center (CIS) reveals that although the economic crisis
continues to be the main problem that worries Spaniards (45%), there are other issues that also alarm them, such as “the
problems with politicians in general” (20.2%), “the bad behaviour of politicians” (12.3%), “the government and specic
political parties” (11.9%) and “corruption and fraud” (6.6%).
Abstract:
e websites of political parties become a particularly active tool
during electoral campaigns. e main objective of this work is to
evaluate the transparency of the websites of the six main Andalusian
parties –PSOE, Partido Popular, Ciudadanos, Adelante Andalucía,
VOX and Unidas Podemos– during the 2022 electoral precampaign.
e methodology of this research was divided into two phases: (1)
descriptive analysis of the ocial websites using SimilarWeb; (2)
content analysis to determine these platforms’ transparency index. e
obtained results reveal that there is no relationship between the web
transparency of Andalusian political parties and the vote. e left-wing
parties are the most transparent on their web portals; however, during
the elections of 2022 and 2018, they decreased their representation in
the Andalusian Parliament. In addition, it is paradoxical that no party
has thus far adapted its website to people with disabilities even though
social inclusion –within the framework of the 2030 Agenda– remains
one of their electoral promises.
Keywords:
Electoral campaign; political communication; Andalusian elections;
political parties; transparency.
Resumen:
Las páginas web de los partidos políticos se convierten en una
herramienta especialmente activa en los comicios electorales. El objetivo
principal de este trabajo es evaluar la transparencia de las páginas web
de las seis principales formaciones andaluzas –PSOE, Partido Popular,
Ciudadanos, Adelante Andalucía, VOX y Unidas Podemos– en la
precampaña electoral de 2022. La metodología de esta investigación
se dividió en dos fases: un análisis descriptivo de las páginas web,
con SimilarWeb, y un análisis de contenido para evaluar el índice de
transparencia. Los resultados obtenidos revelan que no existe relación
entre la transparencia web de los partidos políticos andaluces y el voto.
Los partidos de izquierdas son los más transparentes en sus portales web;
pero en las elecciones de 2022 y de 2018, disminuyeron su representación
en el Parlamento Andaluz. Además, resulta paradójico que ningún
partido tenga adaptada su página web a personas con discapacidad, a
pesar de que la inclusión social –en el marco de la Agenda 2030– es una
de sus promesas electorales.
Palabras clave:
Campaña electoral; comunicación política; elecciones andaluzas;
partidos políticos; transparencia.
Received: 17/11/2022 - Accepted: 22/02/2023 - Early access: 23/03/2023 - Published: 01/07/2023
Recibido: 17/11/2022 - Aceptado: 22/02/2023 - En edición: 23/03/2023 - Publicado: 01/07/2023
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Figure 1. Results of the CIS barometer on the main problems that exist in Spain
What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? And the second one? And the third?
(SPONTANEOUS RESPONSE) (MULTIRESPONSE)
Principal problemSecond problemird problem
TOTAL
e economic crisis, economic problems
22,515,96,645,0
Unemployment16,612,96,235,8
Health care
2,59,49,120,9
Problems with politicians in general
11,35,23,720,2
e bad behaviour of politicians
6,73,22,412,3
e government and specic parties or politicians
8,82,11,011,9
Education1,42,74,99,0
Problems related to the quality of employment
2,73,72,58,9
Corruption and fraud
2,82,31,56,6
Social problems
0,82,42,35,5
Source: Sociological Research Center (2022)
ese citizen concerns take on special relevance in times of electoral campaigns (Herrero-Gutiérrez et al. 2017; Pérez-Curiel
et al., 2021). e Andalusian elections of 2018 have been the subject in numerous studies due to their predictive nature for
the political trends that may arise in the next national elections in Spain (Trujillo and Montabes-Pereira, 2019). An example
of this is the emergence of VOX on the electoral scene and the consequent political alliances created to articulate a coalition
government among the PP, Ciudadanos and VOX. is triangulation has been repeated, in fact, in other autonomous
communities.
Similarly, the Andalusian elections of 2018 already reected a signicant loss in hegemony of the PSOE: with Susana Díaz
at the head of the party in Andalusia, the Socialists won 33 seats –the worst result for them to that moment, as the party had
obtained 14 seats less than in previous elections– and, although theirs was the political party with the most seats, they did
not achieve the absolute majority needed to govern. For the rst time in 40 years, the Socialists were not at the head of the
Andalusian Government. In their place, a coalition government was forged among the right-wing parties including the PP and
Ciudadanos with the support of VOX. Although the same did not happen in the 2019 national elections, the recent Andalusian
elections of 2022 continued the trend established in the 2018 elections.
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Figure 2. Composition of the Andalusian Parliament from the 1982 elections to 2022
Fig
ure 2. Composition of the Andalusian Parliament from the 1982 elections to 2022
Source:
RTVE data
1
The PSOE Andalucía
party
—
with Juan Espadas as
candidate
—
has worsened its electoral
results
compared
to 2018
.
W
ith just 30 seats
—
losing
3 seats compared to the previous
elections
—
the Socialists obtain
ed
the worst results in the history of Andalusia. On the
other hand, for the first time, PP Andalucía
n
ot only obtained better results than PSOE
Andalucía
but also achieved an absolute majority with 58 seats. This has
positioned
, for
the second consecutive year, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla at the head of the autonomous
government of Andalusia.
On the other hand, the complete disappearance of the Andalusian Ciudadanos party is
especially striking. After it entered the Andalusian Parliament in 2015 with 9 seats, this
party
improved its results in 2018
—
it obtained 21 seats
—
but, as shown in the 2019
national elections, the Ciudadanos party has been losing strength
;
in the Andalusian case,
it currently has no parliamentary representation. This fact caused the immediate
resignation of Juan Marín, leader of the party at the regional level. Although in a less
dramatic way, but equally worrying, the Adelante Andalucía
party
—
with Teresa
Rodríguez as the leader at the regional level
—
also lost parliamentary representation in
the 2022 elections:
regarding
the 17 it had in 2018, it now has only 2 seats, that is, it has
lost a total of 15 seats.
On the other hand, the VOX Parlamento de Andalucía, which obtained, for the first time,
parliamentary representation in the 2018 elections
—
with a total of 12 seats
—
won 2 more
seats in the elections of 2022 and currently has a total of 14 seats. Finally, although the
Podemos
party
obtained 15 seats in the 2015 elections, it disappeared from the Andalusian
Parliament
following
the 2018 elections
;
now, under the new brand of United Podemos
for Andalusia, it has achieved a representation of 5 seats.
The present investigation is framed
by
this fluctuating political panorama.
Following
studies such as
Cabezuelo-
Lorenzo et al. (2016), Larrondo
-
Ureta (2016) and Díez
-
Garrido et al. (2019), the websites of political parties have become an especially active
tool
during
electoral campaigns. For this reason, the main objective of this work is to
evaluate the transparency of the
websites
of Andalusian parties at the time of
an
electoral
campaign.
These
results could serve as indicators of the level of trust that they provide to
public opinion, as well as the degree of information or misinformation they convey to
voters. In addition, although there is no causal relationship, this study also aims to show
1
https://cutt.ly/MLt2V5T
Source: RTVE data
1
e PSOE Andalucía party –with Juan Espadas as candidate– has worsened its electoral results compared to 2018. With just 30
seats –losing 3 seats compared to the previous elections– the Socialists obtained the worst results in the history of Andalusia.
On the other hand, for the rst time, PP Andalucía not only obtained better results than PSOE Andalucía but also achieved an
absolute majority with 58 seats. is has positioned, for the second consecutive year, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla at the head
of the autonomous government of Andalusia.
On the other hand, the complete disappearance of the Andalusian Ciudadanos party is especially striking. After it entered
the Andalusian Parliament in 2015 with 9 seats, this party improved its results in 2018 –it obtained 21 seats– but, as shown
in the 2019 national elections, the Ciudadanos party has been losing strength; in the Andalusian case, it currently has no
parliamentary representation. is fact caused the immediate resignation of Juan Marín, leader of the party at the regional
level. Although in a less dramatic way, but equally worrying, the Adelante Andalucía party –with Teresa Rodríguez as the leader
at the regional level– also lost parliamentary representation in the 2022 elections: regarding the 17 it had in 2018, it now has
only 2 seats, that is, it has lost a total of 15 seats.
On the other hand, the VOX Parlamento de Andalucía, which obtained, for the rst time, parliamentary representation in the
2018 elections –with a total of 12 seats– won 2 more seats in the elections of 2022 and currently has a total of 14 seats. Finally,
although the Podemos party obtained 15 seats in the 2015 elections, it disappeared from the Andalusian Parliament following
the 2018 elections; now, under the new brand of United Podemos for Andalusia, it has achieved a representation of 5 seats.
e present investigation is framed by this uctuating political panorama. Following studies such as Cabezuelo-Lorenzo et
al. (2016), Larrondo-Ureta (2016) and Díez-Garrido et al. (2019), the websites of political parties have become an especially
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ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
active tool during electoral campaigns. For this reason, the main objective of this work is to evaluate the transparency of the
websites of Andalusian parties at the time of an electoral campaign. ese results could serve as indicators of the level of trust
that they provide to public opinion, as well as the degree of information or misinformation they convey to voters. In addition,
although there is no causal relationship, this study also aims to show to what extent its results could be associated with the
electoral results of the 2022 elections.
2. Transparency and good governance on the websites of political parties
Transparency helps overcome the asymmetry of information that exists between the government and the population.
According to Matheus and Janssen (2020), in a generalized way, people who belong to political parties or work in government
processes tend to have more information about political activities than the general public. In the words of Etzioni (2018),
“transparency has traditionally been considered absolutely and indisputably a ‘good’ by public intellectuals and academics in
liberal democratic societies” (p. 180). In this sense, in a democratic system, where it is assumed that the government must be
accessible and open, transparency is considered essential for citizens to be continuously informed and thus favours democratic
participation (Matheus and Janssen, 2020; Díez-Garrido, 2020). However, transparency is also a subjective concept, and on
occasion, as Etzioni (2018) argues, it can collide with some individual rights, such as privacy, national security, or the internal
deliberations of citizens.
e international economic crisis of 2008 delegitimized governments and public administrations and introduced the need
to consolidate the channels or procedures for ensuring and guaranteeing transparency between government agencies and
citizens. Hence, a consequence of this was Spain’s adhesion to the Open Government Alliance –
Open Government
– and
the Alliance for the Council of Europe, Law 19/2013 on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Government
(LTBG). is law seeks to promote the discourse on good governance, democratic regeneration, the ght against administrative
corruption and for the accessibility of public information (Pérez-Curiel et al., 2021; Borge, Brugué and Dueñas-Cid, 2022) and
even the creation of civil organizations that ensure noncorruption through proposals and their own follow-up and monitoring
systems.
e constant renewal of information technologies improves the ow of communication between the government and its main
stakeholders, which, in this case, are citizens and companies. In this way, it is possible to favour good governance practices in
society, enabling more eective communication ows and better access, interactivity and exchange of information among the
dierent publics involved. Moreover, various democratic governments are already betting on the ability of the media and social
networks to increase transparency and citizen participation (King and Youngblood, 2016; Justel-Vázquez et al., 2018) because
in these spaces the population becomes a producer and transmitter of content or messages thanks to their conversations and
digital discussion forums (Castillo-Díaz and Castillo-Esparcia, 2021). Given their role in informed decision-making, social
media platforms are transformed into tools that help mitigate the loss of credibility in politics –mainly caused by corruption–
and restore trust in the government (Etzioni, 2018; Pérez-Curiel et al. al., 2021).
Consequently, it is essential to guarantee transparency on government or political party web portals because these platforms
serve as an information outlet for citizens. Akin to looking or leaning out a window –referring to the metaphor of window
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theory– citizens access the contents of these web portals to learn about dynamics and political processes. However, continuing
with the allegory of the window, citizens can only see a part of the reality that surrounds them: websites only show a part of
reality, in the same way that a window only allows a view of a miniscule portion of what happens in the outside world. In this
context, it is essential that political actors ensure that their parties’ web portals oer relevant and fully transparent information,
even if partially, to comply with the fundamental principles of good governance (Matheus and Janssen, 2020, p. 523).
erefore, authors such as King and Youngblood (2016) argue that to verify that the criteria of good governance and transparency
are eectively respected on a digital platform, it is essential to analyse the “usability” and “accessibility” thereof. Specically,
“usability” can be measured with three techniques: (1) attracting users to interact with a website; (2), looking for the presence
of specic types of content; and (3) using design heuristics. On the other hand, “accessibility” is a metric that evaluates the
facilities that a website oers to users with disabilities –e.g., cognitive, vision, hearing, speech or mobility problems. From an
integrated perspective, technological development should favour accessibility and usability, generate greater opportunities
for access and citizen participation in the political process, and provide more detailed, transparent and quality information
on democratic processes.
3. Methodology
3.1. Objectives and main research questions
e main objective of this research is to evaluate the transparency of the websites of the main political parties involved in
the elections to the Parlamento de Andalucía on June 19, 2022. As previous research has shown (Cabezuelo-Lorenzo and
Manfredi Sánchez, 2016; Cabezuelo-Lorenzo et al., 2016; Larrondo-Ureta, 2016; Díez-Garrido et al., 2019), the websites of
political parties have become an especially active tool during electoral campaigns. For this reason, it is useful to examine the
transparency of the websites of the Andalusian parties during the above electoral campaign because these results could serve
as indicators of the level of trust that they provide to public opinion as well as the degree of information or misinformation
(Martínez-Martínez, 2019) that they transmit to the voters.
To full the main objective of this study, this work is articulated according to the following research questions:
PI1. Which Andalusian political party shows the best levels of activity and engagement on its website?
PI2. What Andalusian political party oers the best channels for contact with public opinion on its website?
PI3. Which Andalusian political party best shows corporate and organizational information on its website?
PI4. Which Andalusian political party best presents information on the electoral campaign on its website?
PI5. What Andalusian political party maintains the best dialogue with citizens through its website?
PI6. Which Andalusian political party best meets transparency requirements on its website?
PI7. What Andalusian political party obtains, in global terms, the worst results in terms of transparency on its website?
3.2. Sample
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e sample in this study is made up of a total of n = 6 web portals, which correspond to the following six Andalusian political
parties:
- PSOE Andalucía
2
.
- Partido Popular andaluz
3
.
- Ciudadanos Andalucía
4
.
- Adelante Andalucía
5
.
- VOX Parlamento de Andalucía
6
.
- Unidas Podemos por Andalucía
7
.
e adopted selection and inclusion criteria for determining the characteristics of the sample address two specic questions.
On the one hand, PSOE Andalucía, Partido Popular andaluz, Ciudadanos Andalucía, Adelante Andalucía and VOX Parlamento
de Andalucía are the only ve political parties that had obtained parliamentary representation –seats– in the previous elections
of 2018. On the other hand, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía was also selected because, as revealed by polls and vote estimation
barometers –as seen in Figure 3– this party had a chance of winning a seat in the regional elections in 2022.
2
https://www.psoeandalucia.com/
3
https://ppandalucia.es/
4
http://parlamento-andalucia.ciudadanos-cs.org/
5
https://adelanteandalucia.org/
6
https://cutt.ly/iH06bTJ
7
https://andalucia.podemos.info/
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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Figure 3. Vote estimate for the elections to the Junta de Andalucía
-
PSOE Andalucía
2
.
-
Partido Popular andaluz
3
.
-
Ciudadanos Andalucía
4
.
-
Adelante Andalucía
5
.
-
VOX Parlamento de Andalucía
6
.
-
Unidas Podemos por Andalucía
7
.
The adopted selection and inclusion criteria
for
determining
the characteristics of the
sample address two specific questions
.
O
n the one hand, PSOE Andalucía, Partido
Popular andaluz, Ciudadanos Andalucía, Adelante Andalucía and VOX Parlamento de
Andalucía
are the only five political parties that had obtained parliamentary
representation
—
seats
—
in the previous elections of 2018. On the other hand, Unidos
Podemos por Andalucía was also
selected
because, as revealed by polls and vote
estimation barometers
—
as seen in
Fig
ure 3
—
this party ha
d
a chance of winning a seat in
the regional elections in 2022.
Fig
ure 3
.
Vote estimate for the elections to the Junta de Andalucía
Source:
Epdata
8
3.3. Method
The research methodology consist
ed
of two phases: (1) descriptive analysis of the focal
websites
and (2) content analysis to determine the transparency index of these platforms.
The data collection was carried out on June 1, 2022, because this
coincided
with the
fiftee
n days of the electoral campaign in Andalusia.
In the first stage, the SimilarWeb tool was used
for
descriptive analysis of the selected
websites
. In line with previous studies
,
such as Codina (2019) or Hernández
-
Conde and
2
https://www.psoeandalucia.com/
3
https://ppandalucia.es/
4
http://parlamento-andalucia.ciudadanos-cs.org/
5
https://adelanteandalucia.org/
6
https://cutt.ly/iH06bTJ
7
https://andalucia.podemos.info/
8
https://cutt.ly/3HKNLtV
Source: Epdata
8
3.3. Method
e research methodology consisted of two phases: (1) descriptive analysis of the focal websites and (2) content analysis
to determine the transparency index of these platforms. e data collection was carried out on June 1, 2022, because this
coincided with the fteen days of the electoral campaign in Andalusia.
In the rst stage, the SimilarWeb tool was used for descriptive analysis of the selected websites. In line with previous studies,
such as Codina (2019) or Hernández-Conde and Fernández García (2019), the adopted metrics in SimilarWeb allowed, on the
one hand, analysis of the performance of the websites of the six parties of the Andalusian politicians who make up the study
sample and, on the other hand, monitoring the behaviour and trac of users on these pages.
In the second phase, we performed quantitative content analysis of the websites of the 6 Andalusian political parties selected
in the sample. For this, the tool proposed by Dader et al. (2011) and subsequently used in recent studies, such as those of Díez-
Garrido et al. (2019), was used to determine, with precision, the transparency index of the websites of these political parties.
is tool, which captures the dierent facets of transparency on the websites of the selected political parties, consists of a total
of 5 dimensions, evaluated via 49 specic items, namely:
-
Dimension 1: Basic organizational identication and contact channels
. is level assesses whether political parties publish
enough information about their contact channels for citizens to communicate with the party or politicians. In addition, it
evaluates whether basic data are displayed, such as the organization chart of the party, or essential elements are included,
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such as a search engine to help a user navigate the site more comfortably. erefore, this dimension is composed of the
following 10 items:
1.1. Existence of a general directory of electronic and telephone contacts of agencies and secretariats.
1.2. Mention of the postal and telephone data of the regional main physical headquarters.
1.3. Organizational chart of the positions in the executive or autonomous directorate and governing bodies with
competencies.
1.4. Electronic contact addresses of each member of the main regional executive group.
1.5. Electronic contact addresses of other senior ocials –party politicians with high responsibilities as campaign managers
or relevant sections.
1.6. General contact email address.
1.7. Address and telephone number of the communication oce.
1.8. Other contact email addresses for specialized sections of the website.
1.9. Presence of a hit counter.
1.10. Internal search engine for identifying the leaders in sections of the organization chart, their addresses or their
biographies.
-
Dimension 2: Organizational identication of responsibility and procedures
. is dimension assesses the quality, precision,
depth and level of detail of the information published on the websites of the political parties relevant to public opinion,
such as “the history of the party, the codes of good practices, the information on aliates” (Díez-Garrido et al., 2019, p. 95).
erefore, this dimension is composed of the following 19 items:
2.11. History of the party.
2.12. Synthetic declaration of ideological values of the party.
2.13. Party statutes.
2.14. Code of good practices, good governance and resolution of internal conicts.
2.15. History of internal conict resolution.
2.16. Number of members/members of the party.
2.17. Biographical-professional proles of the members of the autonomous executive group of the party, with photographs.
2.18. Identication of the main territorial leaders of the party –provincial and local delegations.
2.19. Specic managers in thematic areas on the website –second level below the organization chart of the general
directorate.
2.20. Names and proles of the elected national and regional deputies and senators.
2.21. Salaries of the members of the regional executive of the party.
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2.22. Assets declaration of the leaders of the group.
2.23. Declaration of interests and professional activities of the group leaders.
2.24. Financial balance of the previous year: report of expenses and income.
2.25. Management report for the last year.
2.26. Breakdown of current loans granted or forgiven.
2.27. Final report of the Court of Auditors on any audited accounts concerning general activity.
2.28. Synthesis of the main parliamentary activity of the previous legislature—a list of the proposals/bills put forwards by
the parliamentary group.
2.29. Identication of the web content management team.
-
Dimension 3: Transparency about campaign activity
. is dimension measures whether “the political parties have shared
with the users enough information related to the electoral campaign” (Díez-Garrido et al., 2019, p. 96), e.g., electoral lists,
the total budget of the campaign or the campaign agenda. erefore, this dimension is composed of the following 7 items:
3.30. Complete electoral lists, by constituency.
3.31. Biographical identication details of at least the heads of the electoral list, by constituency.
3.32. Campaign budget.
3.33. Collections obtained through campaign donations.
3.34. Identication of the members of the campaign management team.
3.35. Identication of the main agencies and external consultants hired for the campaign.
3.36. Latest report from the Court of Auditors on audited accounts for the previous campaign.
-
Dimension 4: Transparency of dialogue with citizens
. is dimension assesses whether there are facilities for citizens to
interact with either the website itself –when the option is oered, for example, to download the electoral program– or
the other users thereof –e.g., the possibility of posting on a board or engaging with a discussion forum. erefore, this
dimension is composed of the following 9 items:
4.37. Board of expression for questions or opinions of citizens.
4.38. Other section(s) for debate among citizens on the website itself –apart from associated blogs.
4.39. Downloadable general electoral program.
4.40. Number of downloads of the electoral program.
4.41. Synthetic electoral program –document of main proposals.
4.42. Electoral program accessible via hyperlinks and analytical entries.
4.43. Mention of the internal process of elaboration of the program.
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4.44. Mention and detail of the internal processes of other means of participation for supporters in the development of
slogans, campaign videos or other forms of prioritizing topics in discussions of the campaign.
-
Dimension 5: Openness of computer instruments
. is dimension determines the level of accessibility and usability of the
websites of the political parties, following King and Youngblood (2016). erefore, this dimension is composed of the
following 4 items:
5.45. Accessibility of documents through free/open-source software.
5.46. Downloadable les without the need for specic commercial plugins.
5.47. Statistical les presented in reusable formats.
5.48. Accessibility for people with disabilities.
5.49. Accessibility via mobile devices.
To carry out this measurement, a coding scale was designed with a range from 1 to 4 (Figure 4), inspired by the weighting in
Dader et al. (2011), to determine each of the items and dimensions with this tool.
Figure 4. Coding correction key
RANK
CORRECTION KEY
1
No appearance
2
Incomplete and insucient appearance
3
Incomplete but sucient appearance
4
Full, clear, sharp and deep appearance
Source: prepared by the authors
us, according to this coding process, the nal maximum transparency index that can be obtained is 196 points. Since the tool
consists of 49 items and the maximum score that each item can register is 4, simple calculation shows that the maximum value
of the transparency index is 196 points. Based on these data, the levels of transparency of the websites of the political parties
were categorized as follows:
Figure 5. e dierent levels of transparency
Figure
4.
Coding correction key
RANK
CORRECTION KEY
1
No appearance
2
Incomplete and insufficient appearance
3
Incomplete but sufficient appearance
4
Full, clear, sharp and deep appearance
Source:
o
wn
elaboration
Thus
, according to this coding
process,
the final maximum transparency index that can
be obtained is 196 points. Since the tool consists of 49 items and the maximum score that
each item can register is 4, simple calculation shows that the maximum value of the
transparency index is 196 points. Based on these data, the level
s
of transparency of the
websites
of the political parties were categorized as follows:
Figure
5.
The different levels of transparency
Source:
Inspired by Dader et al. (2011).
To check the reliability of the tool, three independent coders classified and evaluated the
focal dimensions and items. In th
e
first test, the
alpha
of Krippendorff (2018) was applied,
obtaining
100% reliability. As defined by Bardin (1991), for
such
analysis to be valid,
two different coders must arrive at the same results. In this case, three experts coded the
elements of analysis in the same way.
4.
Results
This section has been structured according to the results obtained in each of the phases
that comprise the methodology of this work. In addition, a
final
section has been added
,
which
provides
a holistic reflection on and final assessment
of
the
interprete
d
data.
4.
1. Results of the descriptive analysis of the
websites
of the Andalusian political parties
The obtained results,
via
analysis of the six focal websites of the Andalusian political
parties
using
the SimilarWeb application, are very different. In relation to the number of
visits, PSOE Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía are the portals that have
received
the most visits compared to PP Andalucía, Ciudadanos Andalucía and Adelante
Andalucía. In this case,
h
owever, the VOX España data cannot be considered valid
because the number of visits refers to the party's website at the national level.
Regarding the duration of visits, users have invested more time in the portals of, above
all, VOX España
—
1 minute and 48 seconds and PSOE Andalucía
—
44 seconds. On the
other hand, the web
site
of PP Andalucía is the one
with
the worst results, as the average
time of the users
on
this portal is 8 seconds. In the case of Adelante Andalucía, the average
residence time is 14 seconds, followed by Ciudadanos Andalucía, with 19 seconds.
Concerning
the number of page views per visit, Adelante Andalucía, VOX España and
PSOE Andalucía are the ones with the best results. On the other hand, PP Andalucía,
Ciudadanos Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía show the worst data, which
may
reflect
a low level of citizen
engagement.
Source: Inspired by Dader et al. (2011)
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To check the reliability of the tool, three independent coders classied and evaluated the focal dimensions and items. In
the rst test, the
alpha
of Krippendor (2018) was applied, obtaining 100% reliability. As dened by Bardin (1991), for such
analysis to be valid, two dierent coders must arrive at the same results. In this case, three experts coded the elements of
analysis in the same way.
4. Results
is section has been structured according to the results obtained in each of the phases that comprise the methodology of
this work. In addition, a nal section has been added, which provides a holistic reection on and nal assessment of the
interpreted data.
4.1. Results of the descriptive analysis of the websites of the Andalusian political parties
e obtained results, via analysis of the six focal websites of the Andalusian political parties using the SimilarWeb application,
are very dierent. In relation to the number of visits, PSOE Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía are the portals that
have received the most visits compared to PP Andalucía, Ciudadanos Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía. In this case, however,
the VOX España data cannot be considered valid because the number of visits refers to the party’s website at the national level.
Regarding the duration of visits, users have invested more time in the portals of, above all, VOX España –1 minute and 48
seconds and PSOE Andalucía– 44 seconds. On the other hand, the website of PP Andalucía is the one with the worst results,
as the average time of the users on this portal is 8 seconds. In the case of Adelante Andalucía, the average residence time is 14
seconds, followed by Ciudadanos Andalucía, with 19 seconds.
Concerning the number of page views per visit, Adelante Andalucía, VOX España and PSOE Andalucía are the ones with the
best results. On the other hand, PP Andalucía, Ciudadanos Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía show the worst
data, which may reect a low level of citizen engagement.
Bounce rate refers to users who leave a web portal without interacting with it. In this case, the highest drop-out rate is
represented by Adelante Andalucía –76.12%, followed by PSOE Andalucía –57.47% and VOX España–53.87%.
Finally, it is also important to note how users access the websites of these parties. In all cases except Unidos Podemos por
Andalucía, there a relatively high percentage of users access these parties’ web portal using a computer. Unidos Podemos
por Andalucía is the exception because 100% of its online users access its web portal through their mobile devices. Although
in smaller but still signicant numbers, 68.02% of users access VOX España’s website through their mobile phones –with
31.98% using a computer, followed by Adelante Andalucía– 55.7% of its online users access using a mobile phone and 44.23%
a computer and PSOE Andalucía –46.92% of such users access its website with their mobile phone and 53.08% with their
computer. Regarding PP Andalucía and Ciudadanos Andalucía, their users access their web portals exclusively through a
computer.
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Figure 6. Results for the monitoring of the behaviour and trac of the users on the websites of the political parties
POLITICAL PARTY
NO. MONTHLY
VISITS
DURATION
NUMBER OF PAGES
VIEWED EACH VISIT
% REBOUNDORIGIN OF VISIT
PSOE Andalucía
11.646
44 s.
2,3557,47%
Mobile: 46,92%
PC: 53,08%
PP Andalucía
<5000
8 s.
2
N/APC: 100%
Ciudadanos Andalucía
<5000
19 s.
2
N/APC: 100%
Adelante Andalucía
<5000
14 s.
3,0176,12%
Mobile: 55,7%
PC 44,23%
VOX España
9
241.883
1 min. 48 s.
2,3853,87%
Mobile: 68,02%
PC: 31,98%
Unidas Podemos por
Andalucía
7.313
N/A
1,25
N/AMobile: 100%
Source: prepared by the authors
Additional analysis via SimilarWeb also yielded data on the activity and performance of the websites of each Andalusian
political party. us, the number of searches is especially high on the websites of Unidos Podemos por Andalucía (8,450
searches in total), PSOE Andalucía (3,550 searches), Adelante Andalucía (6,350 searches in total) and VOX España (3,080
searches). e worst results are those of PP Andalucía –980 searches– and Ciudadanos Andalucía –50 searches.
Similarly, when analysing the number of clicks during searches, the best results are for Unidos Podemos por Andalucía –74,292
clicks, Adelante Andalucía– 25,165 click and, although somewhat less, that of PSOE Andalucía –7,921 clicks. In the cases of
VOX España and PP Andalucía, both have a search count of less than 5,000 clicks. For Ciudadanos Andalucía, no clicks were
collected.
Figure 7. Results for the website performance and activity of the political parties
POLITICAL PARTY
NUMBER OF
SEARCHES
NUMBER OF
CLICKS IN
SEARCHES
NUMBER OF
SEARCHES WITH 0
CLICKS
CPC ($) IN
GOOGLE
WEB CATEGORY
WHERE IT APPEARS
MOST
PSOE Andalucía
3.5507.92144
N/A Government
PP Andalucía
980<5.000810,31$
-
9
VOX Parlamento de Andalucía does not have a specic web portal for Andalusia; rather, this is integrated into the party’s website at the national level.
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Ciudadanos Andalucía
50
- - - -
Forwards Andalusia
6.35025.165230,02$
News & Media
VOX España
3.080
<5.000
510,05$
News & Media
Unidas Podemos por
Andalucía
8.45074.29212
N/A Social Networks
Source: prepared by the authors
ese data, therefore, in response to PI1, demonstrate that the websites of the parties that traditionally are labelled within the
ideological spectrum of the left have a greater claim among the users of their platform because they obtain better results than
the parties considered part of the right in relation to trac and the level of engagement –that is, by the number of searches
and the number of clicks during searches. Moreover, the data seem to indicate that the political parties with the best results
in terms of their activity on the internet are those that are located at the extremes of the ideological spectrum, on both the
conservative and progressive sides, that is, VOX España, Unidas Podemos por Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía. However,
the metrics clearly show that there is greater activity in the bloc of left-wing ideology parties.
4.2. Results of content analysis of the websites of the Andalusian political parties
To address PI2, which seeks to determine which Andalusian political party oers the best channels or most contacts with public
opinion on its website, dimension 1 of the Dader et al. tool has been adopted (2011). e obtained results reveal that Unidos
Podemos por Andalucía is the political party that publishes the most basic information, oers more channels for information
exchange and enables more channels or contacts with users. Specically, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía obtained a score
of 28 out of a maximum of 40. It is closely followed by Ciudadanos Andalucía (27 points) and PSOE Andalucía (25 points).
In these three cases, these political parties have a high level of transparency when presenting the organization chart of their
provincial and regional executive and oer dierent channels for contact beyond the institutional mail of the party through
Telegram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
e two parties that publish the least amount of basic information about their internal organization and oer the fewest
contact channels are Adelante Andalucía –12 points out of 40– and VOX Parlamento de Andalucía –15 points out of 40. In
both cases, the information they oer on their party’s organization chart is very limited, and they hardly provide any means of
contact other than institutional email.
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Figure 8. Basic organizational identication and contact channels of the Andalusian parties
Figure 8
.
Basic organizational identification and contact channels of the Andalusian
parties
Source:
o
wn
elaboration
In relation to the PI3, which aims to identify among the Andalusian political parties whose
corporate and organizational information is better displayed on
their
website,
d
imension
2 of the methodology tool has been
applied
. In this case, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía
stands out
again
—
with a score of 59 out of a maximum of 76
—
for the diversity and depth
—
that is, the greater detail and level of development of the content
—
in
t
he corporate and
organizational information it publishes on
its
portal. Unidos Podemos por Andalucía
shows extensive information and allows downloading documents on the party's history
and its ideological statement
s
in different areas
—
feminism, climate change, immigration,
etc.
I
t also has a code of good governance, as well as a registry of prior decision
-
making
and a declaration of various economic activities. In addition,
on
its portal, a user can find
detailed data on the biographical profiles of
its
par
ty members
in
Andalusia and different
territories.
PSOE Andalucía also stands out, although not
as
prominently
—
46 points
—
with
certain
qualifications
.
Here
, the information provided by th
is
socialist party on
various
politicians
is not as detailed
and
appears
in
less
depth
—
that is, it does not have such a level of detail
and the contents are not extensively developed: it
only
provides
a brief biography in the
profiles
of the most prominent politicians at the regional level, but little is
expressed
about
the territorial political representatives. However, the parties that clearly show the most
deficiencies
in
publishing corporate and organizational information are PP Andalucía and
VOX Parlamento de Andalucía
—
both with a total of 33 points. In these cases, only
basic
information is shown in a very concise, succinct, laconic and almost telegraphic way
about the main representatives at the regional level, and special mention is made of the
national leaders of
their
party. There is no more specific information in this regard.
Source: prepared by the authors
In relation to the PI3, which aims to identify among the Andalusian political parties whose corporate and organizational
information is better displayed on their website, dimension 2 of the methodology tool has been applied. In this case, Unidos
Podemos por Andalucía stands out again –with a score of 59 out of a maximum of 76– for the diversity and depth –that is,
the greater detail and level of development of the content– in the corporate and organizational information it publishes on
its portal. Unidos Podemos por Andalucía shows extensive information and allows downloading documents on the party’s
history and its ideological statements in dierent areas –feminism, climate change, immigration, etc. It also has a code of good
governance, as well as a registry of prior decision-making and a declaration of various economic activities. In addition, on its
portal, a user can nd detailed data on the biographical proles of its party members in Andalusia and dierent territories.
PSOE Andalucía also stands out, although not as prominently –46 points– with certain qualications. Here, the information
provided by this socialist party on various politicians is not as detailed and appears in less depth –that is, it does not have such
a level of detail and the contents are not extensively developed: it only provides a brief biography in the proles of the most
prominent politicians at the regional level, but little is expressed about the territorial political representatives. However, the
parties that clearly show the most deciencies in publishing corporate and organizational information are PP Andalucía and
VOX Parlamento de Andalucía –both with a total of 33 points. In these cases, only basic information is shown in a very concise,
succinct, laconic and almost telegraphic way about the main representatives at the regional level, and special mention is made
of the national leaders of their party. ere is no more specic information in this regard.
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Figure 9. Organizational identication of responsibilities and procedures of the Andalusian parties
Fig
ure 9
.
Organizational identification of responsibilit
ies
and procedures of the
Andalusian parties
Source:
o
wn elaboration
T
o address PI4, which aims to determine the level of transparency in electoral campaign
activity, the different items that make up dimension 3 of the adopted methodological tool
have been evaluated. The obtained results indicate that PSOE Andalucía is the party that
provides the most content on its electoral campaign
—
with a total of 23 points out of a
maximum of 28
.
Specifically, this political party provides accurate and complete
information on
its
electoral lists by constituenc
y
,
its
campaign budget and the collection
thereof
, as well as details on the biography of Juan Espadas
—
head of the electoral l
ist
—
and on the rest of the members of the campaign team.. The only aspects on which there
is no information in this regard, as with the rest of the parties, are those related to the
Court of Accounts, the donations it has received for the campaign and the external
consultants or agencies that have been hired.
Similarly, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía
—
with a total of 21 points
—
and Ciudadanos
Andalucía
—
18 points
—
have shown optimal levels of transparency in their campaign,
although the information they provide is not as detailed as that published by PSOE
Andalucía
on
its web page. In contrast, VOX Parlamento de Andalucía is the political
party that has shown the least transparency in its electoral campaign
—
9 points
—
followed
by Adelante Andalucía
—
12 points
—
and PP
Andalucía
—
14 points. In the case of VOX
Parlamento de Andalucía, special emphasis is placed on national leaders
—
with a
particular relevance
for
Santiago Abascal
—
and there is hardly any information on the
regional representatives.
Source: prepared by the authors
To address PI4, which aims to determine the level of transparency in electoral campaign activity, the dierent items that
make up dimension 3 of the adopted methodological tool have been evaluated. e obtained results indicate that PSOE
Andalucía is the party that provides the most content on its electoral campaign –with a total of 23 points out of a maximum
of 28. Specically, this political party provides accurate and complete information on its electoral lists by constituency, its
campaign budget and the collection thereof, as well as details on the biography of Juan Espadas –head of the electoral list– and
on the rest of the members of the campaign team.. e only aspects on which there is no information in this regard, as with the
rest of the parties, are those related to the Court of Accounts, the donations it has received for the campaign and the external
consultants or agencies that have been hired.
Similarly, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía –with a total of 21 points– and Ciudadanos Andalucía –18 points– have shown
optimal levels of transparency in their campaign, although the information they provide is not as detailed as that published
by PSOE Andalucía on its web page. In contrast, VOX Parlamento de Andalucía is the political party that has shown the least
transparency in its electoral campaign –9 points– followed by Adelante Andalucía –12 points– and PP Andalucía –14 points.
In the case of VOX Parlamento de Andalucía, special emphasis is placed on national leaders– with a particular relevance for
Santiago Abascal –and there is hardly any information on the regional representatives.
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Figure 10. Transparency on the campaign activity of the Andalusian parties
Fig
ure 10
.
Transparency on the campaign activity of the Andalusian parties
Source:
o
wn elaboration
Finally, to address PI5, which seeks to
determine
which political party maintains better
dialogue with citizens through its website, dimension 4 of the methodological tool has
been evaluated. The obtained results reveal that Ciudadanos Andalucía and Unidas
Podemos por Andalucía are the two political grou
ps
—
both with a score of 17 points out
of 32
—
that care most about dialogue with citizens. However, the practices of these
political groups and the level
s
of transparency
on
their
websites
, in this regard,
are
not at
all remarkable and do not differ much from those of PP Andalucía and Adelante
Andalucía
—
both with 16 points, nor from those of PSOE Andalucía or VOX Parlamento
de Andalucía
—
both with 15 points.
Although all the political parties offer a downloadable electoral program showing the
main proposals of
their
campaign, only Ciudadanos Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por
Andalucía have a board where the questions and opinions of citizens can be posted or
offer other means of participation for their supporters. In general, no web
site
offers
a
download counter for
its
electoral program,
an
electoral program
with
hyperlinks
or
diverse
ways
to
express questions. For this reason, this is perhaps the least effective
dimension and the
lowest
level of innovation and transparency presented
on
the
we
bsites
of the main Andalusian parties.
Source: prepared by the authors
Finally, to address PI5, which seeks to determine which political party maintains better dialogue with citizens through its
website, dimension 4 of the methodological tool has been evaluated. e obtained results reveal that Ciudadanos Andalucía
and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía are the two political groups –both with a score of 17 points out of 32– that care most about
dialogue with citizens. However, the practices of these political groups and the levels of transparency on their websites, in this
regard, are not at all remarkable and do not dier much from those of PP Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía –both with 16
points, nor from those of PSOE Andalucía or VOX Parlamento de Andalucía– both with 15 points.
Although all the political parties oer a downloadable electoral program showing the main proposals of their campaign, only
Ciudadanos Andalucía and Unidas Podemos por Andalucía have a board where the questions and opinions of citizens can
be posted or oer other means of participation for their supporters. In general, no website oers a download counter for its
electoral program, an electoral program with hyperlinks or diverse ways to express questions. For this reason, this is perhaps
the least eective dimension and the lowest level of innovation and transparency presented on the websites of the main
Andalusian parties.
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Figure 11. Transparency of dialogue with citizens by the Andalusian parties
Fig
ure 11
.
Transparency of dialogue with citizens
by
the Andalusian parties
Source:
o
wn
elaboration
Finally
, to correctly contextualize the results, dimension 5 of Dader et al. (2011) was
evaluated to
reveal
the different possibilities offered by each web
site
in regard to updat
ing
its
information, the simplicity of its navigation and whether it has integrated other IT tools
to facilitate user access. In general, all the parties have important shortcomin
gs
in this
dimension;
although all the political
parties
except VOX Parlamento de Andalucía offer
easily accessible documents, which can be downloaded without the need for specific
commercial programs, none of these files are presented in a reusable format.
A
nother
particularly striking aspect is that no political party has adapted its website for people
with disabilities, although all of them mention, to a lesser or greater extent in their
electoral programs, the need to help people with disabilities
integ
rate into society.
4.
3. Discussion of the final results
Rgarding
PI6 and PI7, which seek to identify how effectively each Andalusian political
party
meets
transparency requirements on its website in general, Unidos Podemos por
Andalucía
receives
the best evaluation, with 129 points
;
VOX Parlamento de Andalucía
receives the worst evaluation, with 75 points.
Source: prepared by the authors
Finally, to correctly contextualize the results, dimension 5 of Dader et al. (2011) was evaluated to reveal the dierent possibilities
oered by each website in regard to updating its information, the simplicity of its navigation and whether it has integrated
other IT tools to facilitate user access. In general, all the parties have important shortcomings in this dimension; although
all the political parties except VOX Parlamento de Andalucía oer easily accessible documents, which can be downloaded
without the need for specic commercial programs, none of these les are presented in a reusable format. Another particularly
striking aspect is that no political party has adapted its website for people with disabilities, although all of them mention, to a
lesser or greater extent in their electoral programs, the need to help people with disabilities integrate into society.
4.3. Discussion of the nal results
Rgarding PI6 and PI7, which seek to identify how eectively each Andalusian political party meets transparency requirements
on its website in general, Unidos Podemos por Andalucía receives the best evaluation, with 129 points; VOX Parlamento de
Andalucía receives the worst evaluation, with 75 points.
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Figure 12. Global assessment of the transparency of the Andalusian parties’ websites
Fig
ure 12
.
Global assessment of the transparency of the Andalusian parties' websites
Source:
o
wn
elaboration
Regarding
the global score of Unidos Podemos por Andalucía, following the
classification system proposed in
Fig
ure 12, the transparency index of its website is
classified at a "remarkable level".
Unidos Podemos por Andalucía’s
web portal has also
obtained outstanding results
for
its activity on the internet and in terms of its user
engagement
. In the same vein, it is one of the web platforms that offers the best channels
for
exchange or contact channels,
providing
more
depth and diversity of corporate and
organizational information, offer
ing
more opportunities to start conversations with the
e
lectorate and show
ing
more transparency
when
displaying data and information about
its
electoral campaign
—
only PSOE Andalucía surpasses it in this last point.
Second, also
possessing
a "remarkable level" of transparency on its web portal, PSOE
Andalucía is positioned as another notable political party in this analysis, with an overall
rating of 115 points. The website of this party has
effectively
identified the basic
organization and contact channels and has published detailed and quality information
about
its electoral campaign. However, th
is
web portal shows some deficiencies in terms
of the depth and diversity of corporate and organizational information it offers, as well as
with regard to dialogue and opportunities for dialogue with
its
electorate.
Thir
d, Ciudadanos Andalucía shows a "remarkable level" of transparency on its web
portal, although with a lower rating
—
103 points. Although this political party does not
stand out either for user traffic or the performance of its website
—
nevertheless
, it has
o
btained a total of 50 searches on the internet
—
it does stand out for offering various
means of exchange or communication channels to contact users, as well as
its
levels of
transparency in dialogue with citizens. In general, the web portal of Ciudadanos
An
dalucía provides detailed, deep and diverse corporate information and organization, as
well as data on its electoral campaign, but these are not the dimensions in which it
especially
stands out.
Fourth, the websites of PP Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía have very similar
results
.
In global terms, both web platforms are classified as portals with a "remarkable level" of
transparency,
with a rating of 86 points for PP Andalucía and 85 for Adelante Andalucía.
Along the same lines, both offer basic organizational information and contact channels;
publish correct, although shallow, detailed and diverse corporate information; and have
an acceptable level of transparency when reporting their campaign activity and
during
dialogue with the electorate. The only aspect
where
these two websites differ is
in
their
activity on the internet and level of
engagement
. In the case of PP Andalucía, the
se
data
Source: prepared by the authors
Regarding the global score of Unidos Podemos por Andalucía, following the classication system proposed in Figure 12, the
transparency index of its website is classied at a “remarkable level”. Unidos Podemos por Andalucía’s web portal has also
obtained outstanding results for its activity on the internet and in terms of its user engagement. In the same vein, it is one
of the web platforms that oers the best channels for exchange or contact channels, providing more depth and diversity of
corporate and organizational information, oering more opportunities to start conversations with the electorate and showing
more transparency when displaying data and information about its electoral campaign –only PSOE Andalucía surpasses it in
this last point.
Second, also possessing a “remarkable level” of transparency on its web portal, PSOE Andalucía is positioned as another
notable political party in this analysis, with an overall rating of 115 points. e website of this party has eectively identied
the basic organization and contact channels and has published detailed and quality information about its electoral campaign.
However, this web portal shows some deciencies in terms of the depth and diversity of corporate and organizational
information it oers, as well as with regard to dialogue and opportunities for dialogue with its electorate.
ird, Ciudadanos Andalucía shows a “remarkable level” of transparency on its web portal, although with a lower rating—103
points. Although this political party does not stand out either for user trac or the performance of its website –nevertheless, it
has obtained a total of 50 searches on the internet– it does stand out for oering various means of exchange or communication
channels to contact users, as well as its levels of transparency in dialogue with citizens. In general, the web portal of
Ciudadanos Andalucía provides detailed, deep and diverse corporate information and organization, as well as data on its
electoral campaign, but these are not the dimensions in which it especially stands out.
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Fourth, the websites of PP Andalucía and Adelante Andalucía have very similar results. In global terms, both web platforms
are classied as portals with a “remarkable level” of transparency, with a rating of 86 points for PP Andalucía and 85 for
Adelante Andalucía. Along the same lines, both oer basic organizational information and contact channels; publish correct,
although shallow, detailed and diverse corporate information; and have an acceptable level of transparency when reporting
their campaign activity and during dialogue with the electorate. e only aspect where these two websites dier is in their
activity on the internet and level of
engagement
. In the case of PP Andalucía, these data are somewhat worrying, since, for
example, its users remain, on average, for 8 seconds on its website. However, Andalucía Adelante’s web portal provides more
promising data on web activity and user trac.
Finally, VOX Parlamento de Andalucía is, as mentioned above, the political party that has obtained the worst levels of
transparency in general terms: with an evaluation of 75 points, the transparency on the website of this party represents a “
basic level”. On its web portal, it hardly provides basic organizational information at the regional level, although depth and
diversity are evident in the corporate information it publishes. Regarding any transparency about the activity in its electoral
campaign and dialogue with citizens, VOX Parlamento de Andalucía has provided some information –nothing remarkable, but
still useful– although it needs to develop the conversations with its constituency through its website. In addition, the fact that
the VOX Parlamento de Andalucía’s website is integrated, as an annexed page, into the party’s portal at the national level is one
more indication of VOX’s commitment to linking the image and policies of its territorial demarcations with the perspective of
the party at the national level.
5. Discussion and conclusions
Studies such as Fernández (2021) or those of Vaquero García and Cadaval Sampedro (2022) show that there is a general lack of
trust of citizens in the political elite. One of the issues that most fuels public opinion and scepticism is the lack of transparency
of institutions and political actors in government processes (Gavara De Cara, 2022; Fernández, 2022b). Despite the advances
in this eld, such as the approval of Law 19/2013 on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance, the
population is mobilized by the creation of groups of citizens that ght against political corruption and the lack of accessibility to
public information, among other problems. ese groups raise their voices, mainly on social networks, where citizens continue
to put impetus in their communications and express their discomfort with political parties (Castellanos Claramunt, 2022).
us, one of the rst conclusions in this study is to recommend to autonomous and provincial parties that they shape their
practices to integrate, within their advisory team, expert users not only of communication and digital political marketing but
also of transparency, because the internet is one of the most obvious means to express the real commitment and responsibility
of institutions and political groups to public opinion.
Second, comparing the transparency indices of the Andalusian political parties’ websites reveals a null relationship between
transparency and voting. e left-wing parties are outlined as the most transparent on their web portals; however, in the last
elections of 2022 and 2018, these parties decreased their representation in the Andalusian Parliament. Especially dramatic
is the loss of hegemony by PSOE Andalucía, which, after 40 years at the helm of the Andalusian government, obtained the
worst results in its history amid the centre-right government coalition in 2018 and the subsequent victory—with an absolute
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majority—of PP Andalucía in 2022. us, as a future line of research, analysis of the pre-electoral campaigns of the Andalusian
parties is proposed to understand how these political parties interact and communicate their good governance practices to
their electorate, how they exercise accountability and how they convey their commitment to transparency. In this way, a causal
relationship could be established between the vote and the eective communication of these political parties.
Concerning good governance, the obtained results also imply that Andalusian political parties should concentrate their eorts
on investing resources in two key aspects for transparency: the usability and accessibility of their website (King and Youngblood,
2016). Both factors oer opportunities for citizens’ participation in the political process because they facilitate users’ access to
quality political information (King and Youngblood, 2016; Rivas-de-Roca et al., 2021). Hence, after analysing the computerized
instrumental opening of the Andalusian parties’ websites, we have detected usability and accessibility diculties for people
with disabilities. ese practices do not correspond to the political discourses that the electoral candidates uttered during the
2022 precampaign, where they promised more sustainable and inclusive social policies in terms of equal opportunities.
erefore, it is paradoxical that such campaign promises focus on ensuring that all citizens have the same possibilities
for usability and accessibility but that these values are not reected on these websites, which are not accessible to people
with any disability. us, following the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, we can conclude that
administrations and government institutions should also focus eorts on promoting web accessibility, mainly in relation to
point 10.3 of SDG 10: Reduction of Inequalities, where it is postulated that it is necessary to “guarantee equal opportunities
and reduce inequalities of results, including eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting legislation,
policies and appropriate measures in this regard”, and point 16.10 of SDG 16: Just, peaceful and inclusive societies, which
states the importance of “guaranteeing public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms, in accordance
with national laws and international agreements”.
Finally, this study has demonstrated that to eectively focus their transparency practices, Andalusian parties should pay
attention, in the same way, to the supports used by their electorate to access their websites. Strikingly, the websites of the
most emergent parties such as Unidos Podemos por Andalucía –100%, VOX Parlamento de Andalucía –68.02% and Adelante
Andalucía –55.7%– receive user visits through mobile phones. is situation should be a clear indication of the need to
design a web interface more adapted to mobile devices. In addition, the fact that web visitors use mobile phones more than
computers could also show that their future voters belong, for the most part, to a younger generation (Fernández, 2022). On
the other hand, the web portals of PP Andalucía –100%, Ciudadanos Andalucía– 100% and PSOE Andalucía –53.08%– receive
their visits through a computer, which could also oer clues about the routines and habits of its possible voters –perhaps more
pigeonholed in an older generation. In any case, hopefully, these conclusions can be used in future research that seeks to
identify, for example, the most prominent characteristics of the voters in each party based on their consumption patterns of
political information.
6. Acknowledgements
is article has been translated by the academic translation service of AJE (American Journal Experts), whom we thank for
their work.
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7. Specic contributions from each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the workMarta Pérez-Escolar
Methodology
Alejandro Tapia-Frade and Puricación Alcaide-Pulido
Data collection and analysisAlejandro Tapia-Frade and Puricación Alcaide-Pulido
Discussion and conclusionsMarta Pérez-Escolar
Drafting, formatting, version review and approvalMarta Pérez-Escolar and Puricación Alcaide-Pulido
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