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Course Syllabus

Master 2021/2022

Internet in Non-competitive Politics

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type: Elective course (Comparative Politics of Eurasia)
Area of studies: Political Science
Delivered by: Department of Political Science and International Affairs
Where: Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences
When: 1 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies: distance learning
Online hours: 7
Open to: students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors: Yury Kabanov
Master’s programme: Comparative Politics of Eurasia
Language: English
ECTS credits: 6
Contact hours: 36

Course Syllabus

Full SyllabusAsk Question

Abstract

The Internet and politics have a complex interrelationship. The former changes social communication, empowers or reinforces political actors, while political regime and power relations frequently shape the dynamics of the cyberspace. It is especially clear in case of modern non-competitive regimes, as many of them try to utilize Internet to gain legitimacy, competitiveness, and eventually, regime consolidation. The means of the Internet control in non-democracies now go far beyond its blocking and censorship. The course is arranged to provide a wide comparative perspective of the Internet politics and give students hints to explore this area in their research. The course uses the MOOC Course "International Cyber Conflicts", developed by The State University of New York (https://www.coursera.org/learn/cyber-conflicts/home/welcome)
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • To overview the Internet as the political space, globally and in particular regions of interest
  • To familiarize students with the contemporary research on the Internet Studies in relation to politics and governance
  • To overview the current methods, tools and policies of the Internet regulation and control in terms of comparative authoritarianism theories
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Applies the theories of comparative authoritarianism to the analysis of the political and social processes on the Internet
  • Defines the major models of the Internet policy and governance
  • Describes the peculiarities of the Internet development and governance in the regions of specialization
  • Enumerates and describes the major tools of the Internet regulation in non-democracies
  • Explains the impact of the political regime on the patterns of the Internet policy and governance
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Non-Competitive Regimes: An Overview
  • The Internet and Democratization
  • The Internet Censorship in Non-Democracies
  • Propaganda and Trolling on the Internet
  • Surveillance in Autocracies and Beyond
  • Consultative Authoritarianism Online
  • Regulation: Internet Policy of Authoritarian Regimes
  • Global Internet Governance: NonDemocracies’ Stance
  • Case-Studies on Internet, Politics and Policy
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking MOOC Quizzes
    The screenshots with the scores received should be submitted no later than one week before the final seminar
  • non-blocking In-class participation
  • non-blocking Essay
  • non-blocking Group Presentation
  • non-blocking Exam
    The final exam is held online in Zoom and Microsoft.Forms. The student must have access to the Microsoft.Forms using his (her) own student email, and have a camera and a microphone. The students should log in to Zoom 5 minutes before the start of the exam, switch on the camera and mircrophone. Then the students receive a link to the test they must complete within 1 hour. The students should keep their cameras on during the entire examination. The short-term disconnection is 3 minutes, the long-term disconnection is 4 minutes and more. In case of long-term the student may not continue the examination.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2021/2022 2nd module
    0.25 * Essay + 0.15 * MOOC Quizzes + 0.15 * Group Presentation + 0.2 * Exam + 0.25 * In-class participation
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Baogang He, & Mark E. Warren. (n.d.). Authoritarian Deliberation: The Deliberative Turn in Chinese Political Development. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.AE4A1F66
  • Empowering Activists or Autocrats? : The Internet in Authoritarian Regimes. (2015). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.AFDC66B7
  • Gerschewski, J. (2013). The three pillars of stability: legitimation, repression, and co-optation in autocratic regimes. EconStor Open Access Articles, 13. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.zbw.espost.200982
  • Gerschewski, J., & Dukalskis, A. (2018). How the Internet Can Reinforce Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of North Korea. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 19, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1353/gia.2018.0002
  • Guriev, S., & Treisman, D. (2019). Informational Autocrats†. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(4), 100–127. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.100
  • Hintz, A., & Milan, S. (2018). “Through a glass, darkly”: Everyday acts of authoritarianism in the liberal West. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.4D09A86B
  • Kerr, J. A. (2018). Authoritarian Practices in the Digital Age| Information, Security, and Authoritarian Stability: Internet Policy Diffusion and Coordination in the Former Soviet Region. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.89583E07
  • Nathalie Maréchal. (2017). Networked Authoritarianism and the Geopolitics of Information: Understanding Russian Internet Policy. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.72437879
  • NOCETTI, J. (2015). Contest and conquest: Russia and global internet governance. International Affairs, 91(1), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12189
  • Peter Lorentzen. (2014). China’s Strategic Censorship. American Journal of Political Science, (2), 402. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12065
  • Ruijgrok, K. V. (DE-588)1141603462, (DE-576)494428678, aut. (2017). From the web to the streets : internet and protests under authoritarian regimes / Kris Ruijgrok. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.494428848

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions: A New Data Set. (2014). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.5EE19EF9
  • Best, M. L., & Wade, K. W. (2009). The Internet and Democracy: Global Catalyst or Democratic Dud? BULLETIN OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY, (4), 255. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbl&AN=RN254955796
  • Can the internet promote democracy? A cross-country study based on dynamic panel data models. (2017). Information Technology for Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2017.1289889
  • Drezner, D. (2004). The Global Governance of the Internet: Bringing the State Back In. Political Science Quarterly (Academy of Political Science), 119(3), 477–498. https://doi.org/10.2307/20202392
  • Dukalskis, A., & Gerschewski, J. (2017). What autocracies say (and what citizens hear): proposing four mechanisms of autocratic legitimation. Contemporary Politics, 23(3), 251–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2017.1304320
  • Groshek, J. (2010). A Time-Series, Multinational Analysis of Democratic Forecasts and Internet Diffusion. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.56D71173
  • Hellmeier, S. (2016). The Dictator’s Digital Toolkit: Explaining Variation in Internet Filtering in Authoritarian Regimes. Politics & Policy, 44(6), 1158–1191. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12189
  • Holden, K., & Van Klyton, A. (2016). Exploring the tensions and incongruities of Internet governance in Africa. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.DE9061E0
  • James, M. J. (2014). Internet use, welfare and well-being:Evidence from Africa. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.2E72FCA4
  • King, G., Pan, J. J., & Roberts, M. E. (2013). How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055413000014
  • Tsai, W.-H. (2016). How ‘Networked Authoritarianism’ was Operationalized in China: methods and procedures of public opinion control. Journal of Contemporary China, 25(101), 731–744. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2016.1160506
  • VANDERHILL, R. (2015). Limits on the Democratizing Influence of the Internet: Lessons from Post-Soviet States. Demokratizatsiya, 23(1), 31–56. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=asn&AN=100699704
  • Venkataswamy, S. (2013). William H. Dutton (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.4DDAED5B
  • Yan, W. (2018). Where is the Deliberative Turn Going? A Survey Study of the Impacts of Public Consultation and Deliberation in China. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.332E2A31

Authors

  • KABANOV YURIY ANDREEVICH