Politics in the Cyber Age
Details
| Department: | Political Science |
| Number: | PSC 361 |
| Title: | Politics in the Cyber Age |
| Web page: | Available here |
Description
This course is designed to provide an understanding of the impact of the information technology revolution such as Internet and bloggings upon the social and political structure. The Industrial Age has served as the backdrop for the current political, economic and cultural structures of what we have known for more than a century. As the miraculous paces of the development of Information Technology are ushering us into a new age, there is a rising expectation that many facets of human affairs would experience revolutionary transformation. Two main driving forces are informatization and globalizations. Many important questions are at stake. What is the impacts of the New Networked Information Technology (NNIs) such as Internet, bloggings, cellular phone, instant messaging system, upon social capital and election? Does NNIs increase the level of political participation? Will NNIs influence apolitical young generation? Are we witnessing the contribution of NNIs to democracy or not? What about individual and national identities as world becomes more homogeneous due to the rapid pace of globalization?
In order to answer those questions, this course will first offer a brief historical understanding of communications technology and social systems in the industrial age and compare it with those of information age. The second part will focus on the concept of social capital as the most important element in democracy and on the impact of NNIs upon social capital and political structure. The last part of this class will look into the impacts of NNIs upon politics, elections, and culture.