Course Details in 2024/25 Session

Module Title	LI Digital Democracy
School	Government
Department	Political Sci & Intern'tl Stud
Module Code	08 40164
Module Lead	Verena Braendle
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-20 hours Seminar-10 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module introduces students to the subject of Digital Democracy and adjacent topics, including (but not limited to) political participation and civic engagement; mobilisation; social movements and digital activism; electoral campaigns; equality, diversity and inclusion online as well as hate speech and online violence, and different forms of political campaigning. We will contextualise the concepts of representation, legitimation, and accountability in the Internet age and empirically investigate their different manifestations today, looking at a range of political 'actors', e.g., governments, political parties, civil society actors as well as bots, trolls, and AI. We will work on specific, real events and cases, with suggestions from students. The module will follow an issue-based structure, i.e., each session focuses on specific cases, introducing students to both theoretical and empirical questions relevant to the respective topic.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: understand and critically apply theoretical approaches to digital era representation, legitimation, and accountability. describe and interpret the opportunities and risks of digital technologies for democratic processes. critically analyse current events and phenomena related to Digital Democracy as empirical case studies.
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 2500-word essay (75%) 5-minute oral presentation (25%) Reassessment: By failed component
Other
Reading List