ONLINE POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN PORTUGUESE SPEAKING AFRICA: A TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Alina  ANDREICA; Veronica  MANOLE

Authors

Alina ANDREICA Associate Professor PhD, Faculty of European Studies, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: alina.andreica@ubbcluj.ro.
Veronica MANOLE Assistant Lecturer PhD, Faculty of Letters, Babes-Bolyai University; manager of the Portuguese Language Centre of the Camões Institute, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: veronica.manole@mne.camoes.pt. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6878-7925

Keywords:

Portuguese Speaking Africa, online political communication

Abstract

Based on the research premise that the online communication environment is essential within the knowledge-based society for expressing organizational, political and societal characteristics, the paper focuses on the online political communication in African Lusophone countries, analysing the web sites of their legislative bodies. We briefly present the current political contexts in the five Portuguese speaking countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe. We further perform content and technical web site analyses, revealing technical aspects regarding site usability and efficiency. Although IT infrastructure is often less proficient in African countries, the study reveals the importance and global accessibility of the online environment and its advantages in political communication.

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