(in Polish) Internet and democracy WS-PO-IandD

How does the Internet affect politics and democratic regimes? In the last years, text message campaigns, online social networks, and citizen media have played a major role in world events including a democratic revolution in the Ukraine, in North Africa (Arab Spring) but also in mobilizing young people across Western European countries. The course provides an analysis of how politics and democracy are being changed by the use of the Internet and investigates how political actors use the Internet to influence politics off-line. The Internet offers the potential for improving democracy in a number of ways. It can increase citizen levels of information, reduce the cost of acquiring information and provide an opportunity to engage in direct democracy through electronic technology. At the same time, the Internet has the potential to impact the political system negatively. We will examine both sides of this debate. This course explores how digital technology changes both the mode and the meaning of democracy and democratic participation.