Required Reading
The books listed on the right, and the articles/chapters listed
below are required for the course (acronyms for books appear in
bold). The books are available at the University Bookstore or online.
All but one of the additional assigned readings are available in
a reading packet at Rams Copy Center (4144 University); that one
(Surman & Reilly) is available on the Web. A few additional
readings may be assigned for particular classes. All assigned texts
require close reading, unless noted as “browse”.
Books:
Andrew Chadwick, Internet Politics: States, Citizens, and New Communication
Technologies, (New York: Oxford Press, 2006) IP
Kirsten Foot & Steven Schneider, Web Campaigning (Cambridge:
MIT Press, 2006) WC
Philip Howard, New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2005) NMC
Steven E. Schier, By Invitation Only: The Rise of Exclusive Politics
in the United States (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press,
2000) BIO
Course Schedule
Part I: ICTs, Democracy & the Public Sphere
You will optimize your learning in this course by reading the
assigned texts prior to the class session for which they are assigned.
Class sessions will assist you in reviewing, illustrating, and synthesizing
key points from the readings, and applying them in interpreting
the use of ICTs in politics.
Week 1 Introduction to ICTs, Democracy & the Public Sphere
Readings for 1/7
- IP Ch. 1 Introduction
- Dahlberg, Lincoln, (2001). “Democracy via cyberspace –
mapping the rhetorics and practices of three prominent camps.”
New Media and Society 3(2): 157-177. Available in reading packet
and via UW E-Journals. Search http://lib.washington.edu/types/ejournals/N.html
for New Media and Society (if you are off-campus, click the link
at the top of the page for off-campus access). Then search for the
journal volume and issue number to find the article title, and a
pdf of the full text of the article.
Readings for 1/9
- Robert A. Dahl, Ch.1 “The First Transformation: To the Democratic
City-State,” & Ch. 2 “Toward the Second Transformation:
Republicanism, Representation and the Logic of Equality,”
Democracy and Its Critics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).
(In reading packet)
- IP Ch. 5 “Community, Deliberation, and Participation”
Week 2 Introduction to ICTs, Democracy & the Public Sphere,
(continued)
*January 14: Instructions for Assignment #1 & Essay #1 distributed.
Readings for 1/14:
- IP Ch. 2 “Internet Politics: Some Conceptual Tools,”
Ch. 3 “Network Logic: A Political Prehistory of the Internet,”
and Ch. 4 “Access, Inclusion, and the Digital Divide”
Readings for 1/16:
- NMC “Introduction: The Hypermedia Campaign” and Ch.
1 “Political Communication and Information Technology”
Part II Electoral Politics
Week 3 Web Practices of U.S. Electoral Campaigns
1/21: NO CLASS: MLK DAY
Readings for 1/23:
- IP Ch. 7 “Parties, Candidates, and Elections: E-campaigning”
- Jennifer Stromer-Galley, “Online Interaction and Why Candidates
Avoid It”, Journal of Communication, 50(4), 2000. (In reading
packet and available via UW E-Journals http://lib.washington.edu/types/ejournals/J.html)
- Michael Xenos & Kirsten Foot, “Not Your Father’s
Internet: The Generation Gap in Online Politics,” in Civic
Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, Lance
Bennett (Ed.), The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press,
2008, pp. 51-70 See screenshots at: http://not-your-fathers-internet.pbwiki.com;
password will be distributed on class email list.
Week 4 Web Practices of U.S. Electoral Campaigns (cont.)
Readings for 1/28:
- WC Ch. 1 “Web Campaigning: Introduction and Overview,”
Ch. 3 “Informing,” & Ch. 4 “Involving”.
See WC Digital Supplement at http://mitpress.mit.edu/webcampaigning
Readings for 1/30:
- WC Ch. 5 “Connecting,” Ch. 6 “Mobilizing”,
Ch. 7 “Explaining the Adoption of Web Campaigning Practices”
Week 5: Campaigning with a Twist
Readings for 2/4:
- Barbara Warnick, “Parody with a Purpose: Online Political
Parody in the 2000 Presidential Campaign,” in Critical Literacy
in a Digital Era: Rhetoric, Technology, and the Public Interest,
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002. (In reading packet)
- Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, “Under
the Radar and Over the Top: Online Political Videos in the 2004
Election,” October 20, 2004. In reading packet and at http://www.ipdi.org/UploadedFiles/web_videos.pdf
- After completing the readings, and before class, browse http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/election2008/2008_Presidential_Election_Jokes.htm
and email the class list the link of a ’08 presidential digital
cartoon or video that you think is a particularly good example of
one of Warnick’s concepts/arguments regarding political parody,
with a one-paragraph analysis/critique.
*2/6 Assignment #1 due via Collect It before class
Readings for 2/6:
- Each student will bring at least two news articles on hypermedia
campaigning & Super Tuesday results, and will report on these
and findings from assignment #1. More instructions will be provided
in class.
- Initial planning for final project.
Part III Interest Groups & Civic Engagement
Week 6 Mobilization vs. Activation
*February 11 Essay #1 due in class; Instructions for Assignment
#2 and Essay #2 distributed.
Readings for 2/11: Activation
- BIO “Introduction”, Ch. 1 “The Rise of Activation
Strategies” and Ch. 3 “Candidates, Parties, and Electoral
Activation”
Readings for 2/13:
- NMC Ch. 2 “Producing the Hypermedia Campaign” and
Ch. 3 “Learning Politics from the Hypermedia Campaign”
Guest lecturer on 2/13: Dr. Phil Howard
No discussion leaders assigned for today; instead, everyone is required
to turn in 3 questions you’d like to ask Professor Howard
about his book.
Week 7 Issue Groups’ Activation Strategies
2/18 NO CLASS: PRESIDENT’S DAY
*February 20: Proposals for final projects due before class via
email with all authors cc’ed.
Readings for 2/20:
- NMC Ch. 4 “Organizational Communication in the Hypermedia
Campaign”
- BIO Ch. 5 “Interest Organizations and Government: Lobbying
by Activation”
Week 8 Transnational Advocacy Online & E-Governance
*February 25: Assignment #2 due before class via Collect It.
Readings for 2/25:
- IP “Interest Groups and Social Movements: E-mobilization”
- Mark Surman and Katherine Reilly, “Appropriating the Internet
for Social Change: Towards the Strategic Use of Network Technologies
by Transnational Civil Society Organizations,” Report prepared
for the Social Science Research Council, 2003, available via link
from http://programs.ssrc.org/itic/civ_soc_report/.
Scan the Executive Summary and TOC, then open the full report. Read
carefully Sections 1, 2, 7, and 8, plus the introduction and one
case from each of Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6. Also read at least one
of the response papers posted here: http://programs.ssrc.org/itic/civ_soc_report/memos_civ_soc/.
Be prepared to discuss all four of the cases and the response paper(s)
you read.
Part IV Civic Engagement & E-Governance
*February 27: Essay #2 due in class. Instructions for Assignment
#3 will be distributed in class.
Readings for 2/27:
- IP Ch. 8 “Executives and Bureaucracies: E-government”
- Jane Fountain, “Prospects for Improving the Regulatory Process
Using E-Rulemaking,” Communications of the ACM, January, 2003,
pp. 43-44. (In reading packet)
- The U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal http://www.usa.gov;
UK Online: http://www.direct.gov.uk,
plus two other international government portals of your choice.
Be prepared to discuss all four in comparison with each other.
Week 9 Summing Up/Looking Ahead
Readings for 3/3:
- BIO Ch. 6 “From Activation to Inclusion”
- NMC Ch. 5 “Managed Citizenship and Information Technology”
*March 5: Assignment #3 due via Collect It before class.
.Readings for 3/5:
- WC Ch. 8 “Web Campaigning: Implications and Trajectory”
- IP Ch. 13 “The Future of Internet Politics”
Week 10 March 10 & March 12 PRESENTATIONS
Group presentations on final projects
*Friday, March 14: Final projects due by noon. Email URL or turn
into main office and request timestamp.
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