Resumen de Representation style and digital communication: the case of the online presence of French MPs elected in 2017

Marie Neihouser

• The two chambers of the French parliament are known to be among theweakest in Europe since the Constitution of the Fifth Republic restricts theirrole. This weakness is an incentive for MPs to go local and adopt theconstituency representation model. However, the magnitude ofparliamentary renewal (416 newly elected members) following the 2017elections combined with the entry into force of the law of 14 February 2014prohibiting the combination of a deputy’s mandate with a local executivefunction disrupt, at least circumstancially, the rules of the game. Have thesechanges contributed (or not) to transform the style of representation ofcurrent deputies, especially online? In this article, we identify two opposingstyles of representation used online by the deputies elected in 2017: theconstituency model and the trustee model (coupled with the representationof self-model). These results are discussed according to the French context