Description
Book SynopsisThis Elgar Research Agenda showcases insights from leading researchers on the charged issues and questions that lie ahead in the multidisciplinary field of digital politics. Covering the political implications of the Internet, social media, datafication and computational analytics, it looks to the future of how research might address the political challenges of the digital age and maps the key emerging trends in this field.
Contributors outline and engage with major questions related to the transformation of campaigns, elections and political partisanship through digital media, and identify the methodological pathways and problems that impact the field. Exploring the implications of digitisation for governance, democracy, privacy, surveillance, advocacy, activism, and political talk, this book highlights the emergent ethical issues that will shape the future of this burgeoning focus of research.
Featuring crucial insights into an increasingly pertinent subject, this Research Agenda will be key reading for researchers and graduate students of Internet studies, new media studies and political science. Policy makers, political consultants and anyone with a serious interest in research into digital politics will also benefit from this book's forward-looking approach.
Contributors include: N. Anstead, J.G. Blumler, A. Chadwick, S. Coleman, A. Drew, E. Dubois, W.H. Dutton, L. Fernandez, H. Ford, M.I. Franklin, P. Gerbaudo, D. Karpf, L. Lievrouw, W.-Y. Lin, F. Martin-Bariteau, D. McDowell-Naylor, G. Moss, B. O'Loughlin, P. Rossini, V. Schneider, L. Sorenson, S. Wright, X. Zhang
Trade Review'This rich Research Agenda brings leading international scholars together to rethink the agenda of communication research in the digital age. These perspectives on studying democratic public spheres as they are being reshaped by digital and social media makes this book essential reading.' --W. Lance Bennett, Center for Communication & Civic Engagement, US
'The aptly titled A Research Agenda for Digital Politics, edited by William Dutton, addresses the core scholarly, normative, and applied questions raised by the 21st century information environment. Organized around the interrelated themes of ''transformations and continuities'', ''campaigns and elections'', ''Institutional transformation'', ''informational, symbolic, and communicative actions'', and ''reshaping democratic processes and discourses'', the chapters in this volume, written by an interdisciplinary mix of established and emerging scholars, collectively reject simplistic notions of technological determinism, and dystopian or utopian perspectives. In their place are thoughtfully-framed questions amenable to reliable and valid empirical research. As such it is a timely and much-needed blueprint for the emerging field of digital politics.'
--Michael X. Delli Carpini, University of Pennsylvania, US
'A forward-looking guide for understanding the collision between digital and political worlds and what this entanglement means for society.'
--Laura DeNardis, American University, US
Table of ContentsContents: Preface xii Introduction to A Research Agenda for Digital Politics xvii William H. Dutton PART I TRANSFORMATIONS AND CONTINUITIES 1 Four challenges for the future of digital politics research 2 Andrew Chadwick 2 The future of political communication research 13 Nick Anstead 3 As it was in analogue days: the relevance of legacy research 25 Jay G. Blumler PART II CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS 4 Political parties in the digital era 37 Paolo Gerbaudo 5 Researching the next wave of campaigns: empirical and methodological developments 48 Declan McDowell-Naylor 6 Digital advertising in political campaigns and elections 60 Laleah Fernandez 7 The role of digital media in China: participation in an unlikely place 72 Wan-Ying Lin and Xinzhi Zhang PART III INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS 8 The politics of digital age governance 84 Volker Schneider 9 How accountable are digital platforms? 97 Giles Moss and Heather Ford 10 Human rights futures and the digital: a radical research agenda 110 M.I. Franklin PART IV INFORMATIONAL, SYMBOLIC AND COMMUNICATIVE ACTIONS 11 After clicktivism 123 Dave Karpf 12 Symbolic politics meets digital media: research on political meaning-making 133 Lone Sorensen 13 Sending a message: the primacy of action as communication in cyber-security 146 Ben O’Loughlin and Alexi Drew PART V RESHAPING DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES AND DISCOURSE 14 Beyond toxicity in the online public sphere: understanding incivility in online political talk 160 Patrícia Rossini 15 Facebook as a third space? The challenge of building global community 171 Scott Wright 16 Citizenship and the data subject 186 Leah A. Lievrouw 17 Citizens and their political institutions in a digital context 202 Elizabeth Dubois and Florian Martin-Bariteau 18 Re-imagining the democratic public 213 Stephen Coleman Index 223
