This book investigates how political parties from 12 European countries used Facebook to inform, interact with and mobilise voters at the 2019 European Parliament election. Following a joint theoretical framework and method, the results of a content analysis of more than 14,000 Facebook posts are presented. Country specific chapters are followed by analyses of European parties Facebook campaigning, the spread of populism and the use of Facebook ads by the parties. The final chapter compares all countries showing that campaigns are more strongly shaped by the national than by the European political context. Facebook is used for campaigning as usual; parties inform and persuade but neglect the platforms mobilisation and particularly interactive affordances.

Jörg Haßler is Head of the junior research group Digital Democratic Mobilization in Hybrid Media Systems at LMU Munich, Germany.
Melanie Magin is Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
Uta Russmann is Professor at the FHWien der WKW University of Applied Sciences of Management& Communication, Austria.
Vicente Fenoll is Associate Professor at the University of Valencia, Spain.

Part I Framework.- 1. Campaigning for Strasbourg on Facebook: Introduction to a 12-Country Comparison on Parties Facebook Campaigns in the 2019 European Parliament Election.- 2. Social Media as a Campaigning Tool in Elections: Theoretical Considerations and State of Research.- 3. Analysing European Parliament Election Campaigns Across 12 Countries: A Computer-Enhanced Content Analysis Approach.- Part II The European Election Campaign 2019 in 12 European Countries: Country Analyses.- 4. With Greetings from Ibiza: The 2019 EP Election in Austria.- 5. A Day Off During the 2019 Folketing Election Campaign: Political Parties Use of Facebook in the EP Election in Denmark.- 6. France: Parties Communication Strategies After the 2017 Earthquake.- 7. European Issues, but National Campaigning of German Parties.- 8. Same Strategy, but Different Content. Hungarian Parties Facebook Campaign During the 2019 EP Election.- 9. When Nothing Happened But Much Changed: How Political Parties inIreland Used Facebook in the 2019 EP Election Campaign.- 10. The 2019 EP Election in Italy: A Titanic Victory for Salvinis League.- 11. It is Only a Drill: the 2019 EP Election Campaign on Facebook in Poland as a Testing Ground Before the Autumn Parliamentary Elections.- 12. Romania: Internal Affairs Set the Agenda of the 2019 EP Election Campaign.- 13. Spain and Facebook in the 2019 EP Election Campaign.- 14. Sceptical Sweden: Right-wingers Dominate, Traditional Campaigning Permeates During the 2019 EP Election.- 15. The UK: The Post-Brexit, Ghost Election.- Part III The European Election Campaign 2019 in 12 European Countries: Focused Analyses.- 16. European Party Groups: Transnational Continuation or Complement of European National Parties?.- 17. Populism on Facebook.- 18. Political Advertising on Facebook.- Part IV Conclusion.- 19. Information Greater than Mobilisation Greater than Interaction: Contours of a Pan-European Style of Social Media Campaigning.