Tag - Call for Papers - RC 10 - Electronic Democracy

Tag - Call for Papers

18Mar

Call For Panels & Papers: IPSA/AISP 2017 International Conference, "Political Science in the Digital Age", Hannover, Germany, 4-6 December 2017

08:37 - By Norbert Kersting - Events

Call for Panels and Papers for an IPSA/AISP International Conference
Political Science in the Digital Age: Mapping Opportunities, Perils and Uncertainties

CALL FOR PROPOSALS. IPSA/AISP Internation Conference - Political Science in the Digital Age: Mapping Opportunities, Perils and Uncertainties (PDF)

The Research Committee 10 Electronic Democracy encourages panel and paper proposals for this IPSA sponsored international conference "Political Science in the Digital Age." The conference theme of digitalization and the intersection with political science and democracy is highly relevant to the RC10 as the conference aims to examine the challenges of digitalizaion for the discipline of political science. Proposals for panels or papers are due April 15, 2017.

Panel proposals are submitted by the RC, so please contact Karen.Mossberger@asu.edu as soon as possible if you are considering submitting a panel proposal. Paper proposals can be submitted individually.

Date: 4th-6th December 2017
Location: Hannover, Germany
Program Chairs: Marianne Kneuer, University of Hildesheim, First Vice President of IPSA; and Helen Milner, Princeton University, former President of Ipsa (2012-2014)

IPSA is sponsoring an international conference from 4-6 December this year 2017, organized by Marianne Kneuer and Helen Milner. The conference, entitled “Political Science in the Digital Age: Mapping Opportunities, Perils and Uncertainties,“ provides the opportunity for a reflection on the discipline and one of its most relevant challenges, namely digitalization. At the same time, the conference aims to bring together national Political Science Associations, other IPSA members, and the IPSA Research Committees in order to further develop networks and cooperation among these groups. The conference also will be a platform for addressing problems as well as designing ideas for future research within IPSA.

Critical questions to be addressed will be:

How did our discipline react in the last years to the challenges of the digital era and how can it respond in the future? What new demands or tasks emerge for the discipline?
Do we need new theories and concepts? How should studies be tailored to capture the empirical implications of digitalization in the various subdisciplines? Where is interdisciplinary cooperation required? Which methodological tools are necessary or adequate for research?
Are there new subjects political science has to address? How does the reconfiguration that digitalization induced in polity, politics and policies change the research on domestic or international politics?
Which new opportunities provides digitalization for teaching (see e.g. MOOCs)? Who can benefit from e-learning and how? How can citizenship education benefit from digital modes of knowledge and value building?
What implications does digitalization have for authors and publishers?
What new challenges come up for political consulting? With which challenges are political foundations, think tanks etc. confronted through digitalization?

For more information, see the website at
https://hannover2017.ipsa.org

17Jan

Call For Papers: Doctoral And Postdoctoral Symposium, "New Participatory Spaces: Insights From State And Social Movement Practices", London, UK, 4-6 May 2017

03:22 - By Norbert Kersting - Events

Call For Papers For A Postgraduate And Postdoctoral Symposium
New Participatory Spaces
Insights From State And Social Movement Practices

CALL FOR PAPERS. Doctoral and postdoctoral symposium - New participatory spaces: Insights from state and social movement practices (PDF)

Host: Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster, London, UK
Date: 4th – 6th May 2017
Keynote speaker: Donatella della Porta, Cosmos, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy
Other speakers: Graham Smith, University of Westminster; Dorothée de Nève, University of Giessen, Germany; Tina Olteanu, University of Giessen, Germany

We are witnessing the rise of new forms of citizen participation within and beyond state institutions resulting in a vivid sphere of political activity. This phenomenon is reflected in current academic research. On the one hand, the study of democratic innovations is rich in empirical findings on novel participatory formats all around the world, such as mini-publics and participatory budgeting, sponsored typically by state agencies. On the other hand, research on new social movements, citizens’ initiatives, and unconventional forms of participation such as flash mobs, online protest, and hacktivism, examines practices of collective action in open assemblies, online discussions, smart mobs etc.

However advanced the research in both fields, academic conceptualisations rarely consider both forms of participation in comparison. The notion of participatory spaces is an exception to this rule (Busse 2016, Cornwall 2004, Gaventa 2007). Here state and civil initiatives are conceptualised as invited spaces enabled by governments and claimed spaces generated by citizens. While differentiations are drawn, nevertheless these two broad forms of participation have family resemblances conceptually and practically and there are opportunities for meaningful comparative analysis.

The interdisciplinary symposium invites doctoral and postdoctoral researchers working on participatory spaces to come together to generate new and deeper understandings of these novel forms of organisation. Papers may focus on participatory spaces within and/or beyond state institutions and/or interrelations between these spaces. Theoretical and empirical, qualitative and quantitative contributions from all disciplines addressing, but not necessarily limited to, the following questions, are welcome.

Decision making

Which methods and modes of voice and decision making are employed in invited and claimed spaces? What are the implications of these different methods and modes?
How are communication and decision-making process organized? Facilitation, mediation, different phases, input from external experts?

Hierarchies

How do invited and claimed spaces deal with social hierarchies and facilitate inclusion of marginalized groups like women, sexual and ethnic minorities, young, old, people with disabilities?
How do invited and claimed spaces address internal hierarchies between followers and leaders, experts and laypersons, moderators and participants?

Technologies

Which tools and techniques do invited and claimed spaces employ to enable communication and decision making? In which spaces does communication take place?
How are online technologies employed? How do online and offline modes of communication interrelate?

Representation

Which modes of selection, representation and identity construction do invited and claimed spaces employ?
How are identities constructed in both physical and virtual space?

Please send an extended abstract of around one page in length no later than 17 February 2017 to H.Asenbaum@westminster.ac.uk and address any questions to this email.

For more information, see the website at
https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/2017/call-for-papers-doctoral-and-postdoctoral-symposium-new-participatory-spaces-insights-from-state-and-social-movement-practices

10Jan

Call for Papers RC22, RC10 "Political Communication in Uncertain Times: Digital Technologies, Citizen Participation and Open Governance", Pamplona, Spain, 7-8 September 2017

23:12 - By Norbert Kersting - Events (supported)

Political Communication in Uncertain Times:
Digital Technologies, Citizen Participation and Open Governance

7th and 8th September 2017

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the forthcoming International Conference of Political Communication organised jointly by the Research Committees for Political Communication (RC22) and Electronic Democracy (RC10) of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) with the CICOM 33rd, International Communication Conference, a yearly event organized by the School of Communication of the University of Navarra (Spain), under the title of “Political Communication in Uncertain Times: Digital Technologies, Citizen Participation and Open Governance”. The conference will be hosted by the University of Navarra in the city of Pamplona, Spain.

The unexpected British exit from the European Union, the migration crisis, the rise of Isis, conflicts in countries as Syria, the emergence of populism and unpredicted citizens’ reactions (such us the rejection of Colombia Peace Plan or the election of President Trump) are only some of the events that are taking place nowadays; they all have in common the uncertainty that brings with them and that characterize the current era.

The purpose of this conference is to consider the state of media and communications research in a political period marked by a variety of events that take place within an uncertain context. The conference theme focuses on the intersection between the role of political communication and digital technologies, both understood as potential pillars that may enhance democracy in a communication context characterised by continuous crises and their transnational consequences.

Papers should make a contribution to the development of theoretical or empirical studies regarding digital political communication conducted by diverse actors that range from governments, political parties, media organisations, to non-governmental actors, citizens and social movements. Scholars, researchers and professionals are encouraged to submit paper proposals that either broadly or specifically deal with the aforementioned issues, be it by addressing national or comparative studies, theoretical or empirical ones.

We welcome submissions that cover one or more of the following questions:

New challenges for journalism and communication in a digital society: What changes have journalists and the media in general gone through? Do digital technologies change traditional concepts of media power? Do media and communication technologies support the formation of community?
Media coverage and journalist behaviour during moments of political turmoil: What role can media play at times of crisis? Which frames appeared repeatedly while media reported about an event? Is there any danger regarding the empowerment of certain voices while others are ignored?
Digital technology in election campaigns: How have election campaigns changed in styles, strategies, tools and with what impacts on voter engagement? What factors are shaping election outcomes in the digital age, and to what extent?
Relationship between representatives and citizens: How do governments and institutions deal with the opportunity and challenges introduced by digital technologies? Do they help to promote a real conversation between both sides? To what extent do they reduce the gap between them?
New parties in the political scene: Are new technologies promoting the emergence of populist parties? To what extent communication from a new party is different to those from traditional parties? Is there any visible pattern shared by new political actors?
Political actors and new technologies: To what extent are new technologies shaping political parties? Can we distinguish different practices and uses depending on the countries? Are those different practices somehow driven by any ideological perspective?
Digital Technology in public diplomacy: How digital media are shaping international political communication? How should international political actors adapt communication to the new digital audiences? Do digital media allow dialogue and interaction with international publics?
New voices, a multiplicity of agents in the public sphere: Can digital technologies transform the characteristics of the traditional public sphere? Is it possible to have an online public sphere? Will an online public sphere enhance democracy? Do media technologies constitute a new public sphere?
Mobilization and participation: Are digital technologies really able to empower citizens' political participation? Do they empower specific voices in detriment of others? To what extent social media play a relevant role on social movements? Can we talk about social media echo chambers in some results of recent political events?

For more information, see the website at
http://www.unav.edu/en/web/facultad-de-comunicacion/cicom33

RC 10 - Electronic Democracy