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| Semester | fall semester 2018 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Tomas Turner-Zwinkels (tomas.turner-zwinkels@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Elections are a core pillar of democracy. Understanding how citizens decide (not) to vote and whom to vote for is therefore crucial if we want to understand how democracies work and how they can be improved. This course introduces students to the academic study of electoral behaviour. It reviews recent work in this field and specifically focuses on the potential impact and risks of social media. The course consists out of two parts. In the first part, we read key chapters of the excellent introduction textbook 'voting and voters' and recently published scientific articles that have studied how politicians use social media. The second half of the course is a mini think-tank. You will read some more applied literature and will become part of small project-team and develop a 'social media handbook' for Swiss politicians. For this, you will use the insight that you gained from the scientific literature studied in the first half of the course. In this part, you will also learn about the rich information available in electoral surveys. |
| Learning objectives | At the end of course, students will.. .. understand how political sociologist study voting behavior .. know how often and with what aims politicians use social media .. have a critical understanding of social media its role in modern democracies .. know how electoral surveys are designed and can be used to answer basic empirical questions |
| Bibliography | - selected chapters from Jocelyn A.J. Evans. (2004). Voters and Voting: an Introduction. SAGE. Chicago - selected chapters from Gary Vaynerchuk, (2014) Jab,Jab,Jab Right Hook. New York: Harper Business - 'Selects' 2015 Swiss Election survey documentation - Several empirical articles included in the course guide |
| Comments | Course language is English |
| Course application | durch Belegen in MOnA |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Vertiefung Politikwissenschaft B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | - group assignment (50%) - active participation (50%) - Pass / Fail |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Politikwissenschaft |