Ce cours apparaît dans les formations suivantes :
• ESPOL - Master 1 Digital Politics and Governance - S1 - 6 ECTS

Pré requis

None

Objectifs du cours

Learning Outcomes

In terms of overall knowledge of the topic:

• Democracy (in its different forms): democratic procedures, institutions, representation, participation, etc. and their transformations due to new technologies

• Digital dimension of political institutions related to democracy across the globe, including the decision-making process, interactions of the main political actors, etc.

• Digital government and policies

• Current / contemporary debates in digital politics, digital campaigning and elections.

In terms of acquired skills:

• Understand and synthesize scientific literature;

• Present and summarize (in a written form) a logical set of ideas.

• Present and critically assess a scientific text or piece of research

• Draft a short research paper

Contenu du cours

The digitalisation of politics, i.e. the adaptation of political systems and processes to be operated with the use of computers and the internet, transcends the political landscape and leads us to reconceptualise core democratic concepts such as participation, representation, and public service in a new light. This course introduces these transformations. It covers (1) digital elections, (2) the digitalisation of main interactions between citizens and political elites, (3) digital activism, and (4) digital government. Students are encouraged to think critically about the role and workings of government and political actors, conceptualize new ways in which the internet can deepen or challenge democracy, and understand the limitations of applying technology to government.

You have undoubtedly used the Internet or digital technology to participate in some form of civic engagement. Perhaps you have used a social network site to express support or disagreement for a political candidate, or maybe you have subscribed to receive updates and news from a non-profit organization’s listserv or website. From your experience using the Internet, as well as your knowledge of current events, you are likely to be well aware that politicians and political groups in Europe and throughout the globe leverage the Internet as a critical tool for informing, engaging, and activating audiences.

This course will explore how the internet, new media and new forms of technology have changed the ways in which we participate in our political systems and, even more importantly, how democracy work. The impact of digital technologies on democracy covers all types of democracy, meaning they affect the functioning of representative democracy (eg. elections), of deliberative democracy (eg. consultations, participatory decision-making) and direct democracy (eg. referenda). Digital technologies are also increasingly used to conduct public service delivery and develop public policies (eg. cyber diplomacy, data-driven campaigns, AI-driven policy-making). We will discuss the negative and positive externalities of such digital transformations. On the one hand, digital technologies support the vitality and expansion of open and decentralized networks that provide increased opportunities for humans to engage in new and creative forms of civic activities. On the other hand, they raise new challenges to democratic quality of contemporary democracies in terms, among other things, of transparency, security, ethics and privacy issues.

Course Schedule (All Dates Could Be Subject to Change)

1. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS DIGITAL DEMOCRACY? 07/09

Compulsory reading: NONE

Facultative readings:

Coleman, Stephen, et Deen Freelon. 2016. « Introduction: Conceptualizing Digital Politics ». In Handbook of Digital Politics, Stephen Coleman & Deen Freelon. Cheltenham, UK

Ford, B. (2021). Technologizing democracy or democratizing technology? A Layered-Architecture perspective on potentials and challenges. Digital technology and democratic theory, 274-321.

2. ELECTRONIC VOTING 12/09

Compulsory reading 1: Germann, M., & Serdült, U. (2017). Internet voting and turnout: Evidence from Switzerland. Electoral Studies, 47, 1-12.

Facultative readings:

Krimmer, R., Duenas-Cid, D., & Krivonosova, I. (2021). Debate: safeguarding democracy during pandemics. Social distancing, postal, or internet voting—the good, the bad or the ugly?. Public Money & Management, 41(1), 8-10.

von Nostitz, F., & Sa

Modalités d'enseignement

Organisation du cours

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Teaching and Course Format

The course is taught through frontal lectures. Lectures take place once a week, and altogether there are 12 lectures of 2 hours each. At the end of 10 of the 12 classes, 30 minutes will be devoted to the collective discussion of the set reading for the day. Students are encouraged to participate and ask questions. Lectures are designed to outline the topic in general, highlight illustrative examples and discuss some salient points. They are meant to introduce to the topic at hand, to build the basis of informed discussion and exam answers. Students are expected to attend all the lectures and to read and prepare the readings.

Please note that all the course materials and readings, plus the lectures PPTs presentations, will be available on I-Campus (Moodle).

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Course Assessment

The course grade will be based on course participation and individual assignments:

1) Research paper (counts for 60% of the final grade): You are expected to produce an essay (introduction + argumentation + conclusion + bibliography +ChatGPT use explanation) on a topic related to the course content. Choose a topic relating to digital democracy or an event that occurred in the past three years that serves as a good example of digital democracy. You may choose any event or topic we have learned about this semester, or pick a new topic of your choosing. Send me an email by October 17, 2023 informing me of your chosen topic for approval. Once you have my approval, write the final paper describing how the digital aspects of this event facilitated and/or impeded democracy or how the digital democracy aspects you chose impacts state, political representation and/or society. As always, your ideas should be heavily supported with research from our course readings, and/or other evidence and sources. Please limit your essay to 2500 words (excluding bibliography). Submit the essay in either word (.doc) or pdf format. The essay should be complemented by a final section of at least 500 words in which you detail how you used any AI content generator platform such as ChatGPT in preparing and drafting your essay. Students should submit their work to the course convenor by email (Giulia.sandri@univ-catholille.fr) by December 21, 2023 at 23:59.

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2) Oral presentation (counts for 30 % of the final grade): In this individual exercise, students will briefly present to the class and the convenor the draft ideas for the final paper. The oral presentation will last 10 minutes per each student and will take place during the last session of the course on November 28, 2023 from 11am to 1pm.

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3) Participation in class (counts for 10% of the final grade): Students are always expected to actively participate to the debate at the end of or during each lecture, especially when we are discussing the 10 compulsory readings, by asking questions and by trying to answer to, and comment on, the points raised during the lecture. Whenever possible, you are invited to refer to other literature and readings of the course, and to the news and ongoing events that the students may know or consider relevant to discuss the topic. Your participation is, in fact, is worth 10% of your final grade. I will be keeping track of student participation.

Méthodes pédagogiques

Évaluation

Contrôle continu : coeff. 100