GV243-5-AU-CO:
The Internet and Politics
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Government
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
31 March 2021
Requisites for this module
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How does the internet influence democratic politics? Does it facilitate collective action and even undermine authoritarian regimes? Which means and strategies do governments use to control and regulate the internet and its use by citizens? This class introduces academic debates about these and other questions. It discusses the internet's role in democratic politics, the online information environment, political engagement, democratization, government efforts to control internet use, and data protection.
1) To encourage an analytical perspective on debates and claims that we encounter in academic circles and everyday public debate.
2) To encourage creative thinking about how we can formulate theories and generate evidence about the effects of the internet on political outcomes of interest.
3) To counter exaggerated or naïve beliefs about the transformative impact of the internet, on one hand, or its alleged irrelevance to politics, on the other.
1) To develop a detailed knowledge of the key claims about how the internet influences politics as well as alternative theoretical perspectives on these claims.
2) To distinguish theoretically consistent claims about the effect of the internet on political outcomes from exaggerated claims about its transformative effect.
3) To formulate theoretical mechanisms and expectations about how the internet affects political outcomes.
4) To critically evaluate research designs and their underlying assumptions in the study of the internet and politics.
5) To be able to break down academic and public debates about the internet into tangible questions and arguments, and to formulate critical opinions on these.
6) To express yourself clearly and succinctly in discussions and written work on the relationship between the internet and politics.
No additional information available.
This module will be delivered with (i) a weekly pre-recorded lecture and (ii) a weekly interactive lecture. The pre-recorded lecture will consist of one or more items of prepared content that students canaccess electronically and must study before the interactive lecture. The interactive lecture will consist of one 50-minute lecture in which students can ask questions about, and discuss various aspects of, the prepared content with the module supervisor.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
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Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Thomas Winzen, email: thomas.winzen@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Thomas Winzen
Module Supervisor: Dr Thomas Winzen - thomas.winzen@essex.ac.uk / Module Administrator: Lewis Olley - govquery@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
Dr Katharine Dommett
The University of Sheffield
Senior Lecturer
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 18 (90%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Government
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