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Instructors: Dr. Markus Patberg
Event type:
Interactive class
Displayed in timetable as:
PEP 9
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 45
Comments/contents:
The digital constellation brings with it many new opportunities, but also dangers for democracy, from new forms of participation to new threats to political freedom and equality. In this seminar, we will engage with current debates in political theory on the role of new technologies in democratic societies. Our focus will be on, first, the changing conditions of political self-determination and, second, the democratic regulation of the internet, which as a (fragmented) global space often eludes national political authority. Central questions are: To what extent do classical concepts of democratic theory, such as the public sphere or representation, need to be reformulated in the light of digitalization? How should democracies deal with artificial intelligence? Could digital innovations enable new forms of political activism and institutionalized self-government – up to and including transnational democracy? How viable are new models for regulating the digital realm, such as digital sovereignty, digital constitutionalism, and data-owning democracy?
Learning objectives:
- Knowledge of current democratic theory, esp. in relation to digitalization
- Understanding of key normative problems of digital democracy
- Skills in reconstructing, analyzing, and evaluating arguments in political theory
- Development of arguments and production of texts in political theory
Didactic concept:
This is a discussion-based seminar. It is expected that students carefully prepare the assigned readings and actively participate in class discussion.
The seminar follows the principles of research-based learning. It implements a conference format where two to three students prepare position papers (5-6 pages), often providing opposing positions, that respond to the readings assigned for that week. Papers are supposed to develop a cogent argument with respect to one issue raised by the text(s).
These papers will be uploaded before the sessions at the platform OpenOLAT and serve as basis for brief presentations. The authors will be expected to take a leading role in our discussion for that week.
A few sessions will be based on group work where short statements for discussion are prepared in class.
Literature:
A detailed list of readings will be made available at the beginning of the semester (STiNE) and distributed in the first session. For a first orientation on the topic of digital democracy, see:
Berg, Sebastian/Hofmann, Jeanette (2021): Digital Democracy. Internet Policy Review 10 (4). Available at: https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/digital-democracy.
Additional examination information:
To be approved for the final exam, students are required to complete the following coursework:
- weekly preparation of texts
- participation in seminar discussion
- position paper
- presentation and defense of position paper in class
The final exam is a term paper (4000-5500 words) due on March 31, 2023. The mark for the position paper will not upgrade the mark for the term paper, but will be pass/fail and can be repeated in case of fail.
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