Master
2024/2025
Digital Politics: Eurasia in the Global Context
Type:
Elective course (Comparative Politics of Eurasia)
Area of studies:
Political Science
When:
1 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
Course 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 Participation
- Surveillance, Dataveillance and Algorithmic Governance
- Digital Transformation of Public Administration: E-Government
- Democratic Innovations. E-Participation
- Global Internet Governance
Assessment Elements
- Class ActivitiesThe lecturer evaluates students' participation in seminar discussions and other activities, their preparation for the seminars.
- Team PresentationDuring the final seminars students will discuss particular cases of the Internet Politics development. For the assignment, students need to form a group of 3-4 students, choose a country of interest and a topic. The presentation should be 15 minutes maximum. Students may choose a topic from the list or suggest their own topic (upon prior consultation with the lecturer).
- ExamThe exam is conducted during the session. The duration of the exam is 60 minutes. The test consists of two parts: A - 10 multiple choice questions (10 points in total), 2 open questions (6 points in total).
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- 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