Communication Strategies of Local Government Organizations and Political Parties in the Digital Era

Abstract

This academic article aims to review and synthesize the body of knowledge concerning political communication strategies in the digital era, with a particular focus on comparing the characteristics of communication employed by local government organizations and political parties. The study was conducted through an integrative literature review of scholarly research produced over the past decade, combined with the analysis of empirical case studies, including the Chadchart phenomenon, Phuket City Municipality, and the Tonkla Nakhon Trang political group. The findings indicate that, within the context of a Hybrid Media System and the attention economy, political parties have increasingly adapted to hybrid campaigning, driven by big data, micro-targeting, and the emergence of political fandom culture. In contrast, local government organizations are undergoing a structural transformation toward digital empiricism, which emphasizes the construction of legitimacy through radical transparency and the enhancement of citizen participation toward collaborative governance, a model that transforms citizens from passive service recipients into co-producers of public services. This article synthesizes these dynamics and proposes the Neo-Local Political Communication Model, which consists of three structural components: (1) Algorithmic Legitimacy and Empiricism, (2) The Fusion of Service and Campaigning, and (3) The Transition from Petitioner to Co-creator. The key findings of the study demonstrate that, in the digital era, Political Communication and public administration are increasingly converged into a single integrated process. This convergence plays a crucial role in fostering public trust and constitutes a significant factor in ensuring the political sustainability of local government organizations in the 21^st century.