Reinventing Democracy: Innovation, Participation and Power

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Learn how to (re)design institutions to improve democratic governance
• Develop skills in communicating using information technology and contributing to online crowdsourcing of data.
• Analyse data on participation and effective government.
• Distinguish between different democratic traditions and offer theoretically-informed analysis of developments in democratic practice
• Demonstrate an appreciation of different approaches and frameworks to understanding democratic practices and the relationship between citizens and the state (and other public authorities).
• Develop skills in different types of written communication including writing case studies for general audiences.

• Democratic citizenship: Who governs in Modern Democracies?
• Barriers to Deep Democracy: The Voice of the Sceptics
• The Limits of Elections
• Reform and Innovation in Democratic Governance
• Participatory Budgeting and the Mass Assemblies
• Randomly Selected Mini-publics
• Direct Legislation and Plebiscitary Democracy
• Civic Technology, E-democracy and Algorithmic Governance
• Nudging, Paternalism and Mass Behaviour Change
• Citizens, Populists, Elites and Experts: Who are we sick of?
• What do Democrats do? From Volunteering to Representing
• Size, Democracy and Multi-level Governance
• Improving Deliberation, Political Knowledge and Communication
• Analysing Participatory Practices and Redesigning Institutions

2 hours of lectures per week. All will be recorded and posted on Blackboard. Lectures will be delivered either face to face or online only depending upon University and Public Health England Guidance at the time. Total of 24 hours of lectures (2 hours per week X 12 weeks) per module.

Weekly student participation in online discussion boards. 1 hour per week delivered asynchronously. (1 hour X 12 weeks)

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.