George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management
Class hours: Tuesdays, 6:10-8:45 PM, Media and Public Affairs Building, Room 309
Office Hours: Tuesdays, by appointment
Description
Use of new media in the communications between politicians and citizens, effects on political rhetoric, and quality of communications in contemporary politics. The class will be interactive and require participants to develop, test, and analyze their own strategies for using new media.
Objectives
- Become familiar with current best practices for using new media in campaigns and advocacy.
- Develop the ability to effectively utilize new technology as it emerges — not merely in practical terms, but also in strategic terms. That requires an awareness of the social, political, and economic context of technological change. In other words, we all need to be able to think on our feet and respond intelligently to each new wave of technological and social change.
- Acquire a basic framework for evaluating the performance and work products of technical specialists. This requires no technical skills or knowledge; instead, it is a matter of learning how to collaborate with and guide technical specialists. (Comparable to the way a conductor leads an orchestra or a movie director directs cast and crew).
Requirements
This class will have no written exams or papers, but you will be expected to contribute to class discussion on the readings, and you will be individually responsible for several hands-on New Media projects:
- Producing a detailed strategic plan for an Internet campaign
- Producing and maintaining your own blog (and posting to it daily)
- Each day, posting at least one comment in a classmate's blog
- At least once a week, posting a comment on a public discussion blog
Be sure to keep a backup copy of everything you produce for this course!
Grading
Class participation in discussion of assigned readings |
25% |
Detailed strategic plan for an Internet campaign |
30% |
Daily entries (lead articles) posted on your own blog |
20% |
Daily comments posted on your classmates' blogs |
15% |
Comments posted on public discussion blogs |
10% |
Books: Required and Recommended
The books below are all on order at the GWU Bookstore. The articles and excerpts you will read for this course are available online; see the reading schedule for links.)
Required Books
Bimber, Bruce A., and Richard Davis, Campaigning Online: The Internet in U.S. Elections.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. (paper: ISBN 0-19-515156-9)
Fogg, B. J., Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do.
Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies. Boston: Morgan Kaufmann, 2003.
(paper: ISBN 1-55860-643-2)
Ireland, Emilienne, and Philip T. Nash. Winning Campaigns Online: Strategies for Candidates and Causes. Second Edition. Bethesda, MD: Science Writers Press, 2001. (NOTE: This text will be provided free on the first day of class.)
Johnson, Dennis W., Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Their Representatives.
New York: Routledge, 2004. (paper: ISBN: 0415946859)
Recommended Books
Anderson, David M., et al., The Civic Web: Online Politics and Democratic Values.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002. (paper: ISBN: 0742501949)
MacPherson, Kim, Permission Based E-mail Marketing That Works.
Chicago: Dearborn Trade, 2001. (paper: ISBN: 0-7931-4295-4)
Mindich, David T. Z., Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don’t Follow the News.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. (paper: ISBN 0-19-516141-6)
Norris, Pippa, Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. (paper: ISBN 0-521-00223-0)
Shane, Peter M., ed., Democracy Online: The Prospects for Political Renewal Through the Internet.
New York: Routledge, 2004. (paper: ISBN 0-415-94865-7)
Shapiro, Andrew L., The Control Revolution: How the Internet is Putting Individuals in Charge
and Changing the World We Know. New York: Public Affairs, 1999. (paper: ISBN 1-891620-86-X)
Vaidhyanathan, Siva, The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System. New York: Basic Books, 2004. (hardcover: ISBN 0-465-08984-4. NOTE: the paperback version is due to be released in May, 2005: ISBN: 0465089852)
