Digital Politics: Eurasia in the Global Context

Master 2022/2023

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: 2 year, 1, 2 module

Mode of studies: offline

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: 40

Full Syllabus

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.

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

Applies the theories of comparative authoritarianism to the analysis of the political and social processes on the Internet
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
Defines and applies the models of the Internet policy and governance
Applies the theories of Political Science to the analysis of the impact of the Internet on Politics

Course Contents

How to Think about Digital Politics: Key Concepts and Models
The Internet and Political Regimes: Optimists vs. Pessimists vs. Realists
The Internet and Political Participation
The Toolkit of the Internet Control
Big Data, Privacy and Surveillance: Global Dynamics
From E-Government to Algorithmic Governance
Consultative Authoritarianism Online
Open Government, Open Data: Transparency for Citizens, Journalists and Researchers
Internet Regulation: Policies and Global Governance

Assessment Elements

Class Activities
Essay
The essay is devoted to the analysis of a particular topic, covered in the course, applied to one of the countries of Eurasia. The essay should critically examine the state of the Internet politics in the selected country and area. The essay should be submitted two weeks before the session. The topic of the essay is to be approved by the lecturer no later than one month before the session.
Exam
The exam is conducted during the session. The duration of the exam is 60 minutes. The test consists of two parts: A - 12 multiple choice questions (12 points in total), 4 open questions (12 points in total).

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 2nd module
0.25 * Class Activities + 0.25 * Essay + 0.5 * Exam

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
Christian Katzenbach, & Lena Ulbricht. (2019). Algorithmic governance. Internet Policy Review, ume 8(Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.4.1424
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
John Danaher, Michael J Hogan, Chris Noone, Rónán Kennedy, Anthony Behan, Aisling De Paor, Heike Felzmann, Muki Haklay, Su-Ming Khoo, John Morison, Maria Helen Murphy, Niall O’Brolchain, Burkhard Schafer, & Kalpana Shankar. (2017). Algorithmic governance: Developing a research agenda through the power of collective intelligence. Big Data & Society, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951717726554
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
Sergei Guriev, & Daniel Treisman. (2019). Informational Autocrats. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4, 100. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.100
Shoshana Zuboff. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism : The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power: Vol. First edition. PublicAffairs.
The logic of connective action : Digital media and the personalization of contentious politics. (2012). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.EA6634C5
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

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Bartenberger, M., & Grubmüller-Régent, V. (2014). The Enabling Effects of Open Government Data on Collaborative Governance in Smart City Contexts. EJournal of EDemocracy & Open Government, 6(1), 36–48. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v6i1.289
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
Deibert, R. (2013). Black Code : Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet. Toronto: Signal. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=743006
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
Negotiating Internet Governance. (2019). Netherlands, Europe: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.A51197D9

Authors

KABANOV YURIY ANDREEVICH

Course Syllabus