Admission requirements
This course is only open to Bachelor students of Public Administration (DBM).
Description
This course looks at how digital technologies are changing the role of the state. The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (and more recently, emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence) have dramatically altered what the state governs as well as how it governs. The classic conceptualisation of a monolithic top-down Nation State is no longer sufficient to justify legitimacy and survival, and public administrations are now forced to make reforms and share power with many other actors. Technology also displaces some functions of the state by making them increasingly automated.
The course traces recent historical developments up to the present. It introduces students to several conceptualisations of the State derived from digital government theory, such as the Network State, the Virtual State, and the Surveillance State. Drawing from a diversity of key digital technologies, innovations and geographic regions, students will learn how those technologies have contributed to the development of the contemporary state, how scholars have interpreted and learnt from those developments, and how they feed into current debates about digital technology policy and the future of the state.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the historical evolution of the digital state.
2. Explain public sector reforms and paradigms (e.g. the network state and the digital state) related to digitalization.
3. Discuss the benefits, challenges and limitations of technology for the public sector, linking them to some of the key concepts of political and administrative science (such as power, legitimacy, biases…).
4. Critically discuss the main policy implications of the evolution of the digital state, such as ecological sustainability, the digital divide and surveillance.
Timetable
On the right side of the programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of Instruction
The course follows a mixed-methods approach, with the instructor using parts of the class for lectures and at other times leading students in group discussions and activities. During the meetings, the instructor covers the required reading.
The study load is 140 hours, divided as follows:
Lectures (7 lectures of 2 hours each) = 14 hours
Assessment (1 written final exam, 3 hours + review + three small assignments) = 21 hours
Self-study (reading, preparation for the lessons and final exam) = 105 hours
Assessment method
The course consists of a written final exam (70%) and three individual assignments (30%). Students who score lower than 5.5 on the written exam must retake the exam. The three smaller assignments can score lower than 5.5 and still be compensated by a higher score on the written exam to pass the course. All components can be retaken.
Partial grades are only valid in the current academic year; partial grades do not remain valid after the exam and the retake of the course.
Reading list
A bibliography of required reading will made available on Brightspace. Students are not required to purchase any literature for the course.
Registration
First year students will be enrolled in this course by the administration. You can view your personal schedule in MyTimetable after logging in.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
After registration for an exam you still need to confirm your attendance via MyStudymap. If you do not confirm, you will ultimately be de-registered and you will not be allowed to take the exam.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Contact
Alex Ingrams: a.r.ingrams@fgga.leidenuniv.nl