COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICAL POWER

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 212	D	4	2	2	0	3	5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	Dr. Mirela Alhasani malhasani@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Mirela Alhasani malhasani@epoka.edu.al
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:
Course Description:	This is the first semester of a year-long graduate seminar on the major contributions of the field of science and technology studies (STS) to understanding the relationships of science, technology, and political power in democratic societies. The fall semester is devoted to reading, analyzing, and critically integrating works by scholars in STS and related fields who have addressed such topics as the nature of scientific authority, science’s relations with the state, science and democracy, scientific and technical controversies, and the politics of technology. The spring semester is designed as an advanced research seminar in which students will read further current works in STS and also complete and present a major piece of research and writing. In the fall semester, we explore how the modern state’s capacity to produce and use scientific knowledge influences, and is influenced by, the production and maintenance of political order. Beginning with standard models of science and politics, such as the “republic of science,” the syllabus develops an alternate framework that sees these two spheres of action not as cognitively and culturally distinct but as engaged in a constant process of exchange and mutual stabilization. For this purpose, the course combines theoretical ideas and empirical examples from STS, both historical and contemporary, with approaches from social and political theory. Particular attention is paid to the cultural resources used in the simultaneous production of scientific and political authority. These include technologies of visual representation, quantitative analysis, standardization, material stabilization, persuasion, and dispute resolution, as well as associated ideas of objectivity, rationality, credibility, legality, accountability, and reliability. Seeing power as immanent, the course takes special notice of the techniques and discourses through which actors in modern polities frame and manage their perceptions of the world, in the process of framing new issues for political action.
Course Objectives:	We will explore and evaluate the significance of information, technology and their interaction with politics and society and discuss their influence on institutional changes at national and local levels. To explore this, we will look at some components of democracy such as participation, particularly in elections, accountability, trust and freedom of speech. As recent developments indicate we will also look at Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT and human robot relationships within the context of political power and democracy. At the end of this course, students will be able to: - Demonstrate understanding of how social and technological developments are interrelated in digital societies; - Define and describe key terms relevant to studying digital society, such as digitalization, digital society and datafication; - Demonstrate and apply knowledge on reading and processing academic literature from a variety of (interdisciplinary) perspectives on technology, information and global politics.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	The interdependence between key concepts of political power and technological power/capability
2	Exposure and deep understanding of the different theoretical perspectives in the study of socio-technical relations
3	Understanding of technology in social transformation: as an autonomous force, as a mere expression of human intent, or as co-constituted in social realities
4	concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions into the scientific debate
5	Student -centered knowledge construction via conventional and recent audio-visual input of informiton and politics in the era of technology
6	Critical evaluation of the link between information, society, domestic and international relations in 21 centuries sui generis case studies
7	7:

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction – Information, Philosophy of Technology, and Political Power - Cozza, Michela (2020). Key concepts in Science and Technology Studies. Lund: Studentlitteratur.  Castells, M. (2011). A Network Theory of Power. International Journal of Communication. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1136  Hintz, A., Dencik, L., & Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2019). Digital Citizenship and Surveillance Society. Open Access Book. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22986  Pfaffenberger, Bryan. 1992. Social Anthropology of Technology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21, 491–516.  TEDTALKS: https://youtu.be/QhOGWy9kvj8  Information Technology: the first 2,500 years | Chris Blackwell | TEDxFurmanU Mar 10, 2017 https://youtu.be/V1qHNrQQHZI?si=wngqJBWP9udOoE43  Why we need to understand the inherent in technology | Evan Barba | TEDxTysonsSalon Jul 17, 2018 https://youtu.be/QhOGWy9kvj8?si=XuP2s31Diot0MOzX  The Social and Political Implications of Technology | Donald Temple | TEDxHowardUniversity https://youtu.be/HkaPhCPi0Jw?si=o9-WxVWnpY05WitJ  Professor Nicholas Evans, The Political Philosophy of Technology UMass Boston Feb 2025 https://youtu.be/H_vpkOXgpsw?si=0z422DaeplsftD3q
2	Theories of Power, State Regulations, and Technology - Theories of Power, State Regulations, and Technology  Graham, Stephen, and Simon Marvin. 2001. Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities, and the Urban Condition. New York: Routledge. (Chapters 3 & 5). (Available as e-book in GU Library)  Winner, L. (1980). Do Artifacts Have Politics? https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~beki/cs4001/Winner.pdf  Foucault, M. (1977). Panopticism (Excerpt from Discipline and Punish). https://monoskop.org/images/4/43/Foucault_Michel_Discipline_and_Punish.pdf  Online audio-visual What is Power? | Michel Foucaul The Living Philosophy Jun 6, 2022  What is REGTECH | Regulatory Technology | RegTech in Fintech | Future Tech! [UPDATED 2022] https://youtu.be/B1TWqSeYcTc?si=l1J4m4MaWb_95Cok  AI Regulation: Balancing Risk and Opportunity YouTube OECD Jan 23, 2023 https://youtu.be/-CXkHs3cxa4
3	Technology and Democracy – online Guest speaker, Zagreb, Croatia  David Edgerton. 2007. The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1990. Oxford University Press (chp. 5). https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/EAC6A8583028ADC5BA7451EF6D5DEB5A  Retooling Politics: How Digital Media Are Shaping Democracy pp. 212 – 235 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108297820.008 Publisher: Cambridge University Press  Roberta Fischli & James Muldon, “Perspectives on Politics”, Volume 22, Issue 3: Special Section: Partisanship and Political Division, September 2024 , pp. 819 - 835 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592724000409  Asimakopoulos, G., Antonopoulou, H., Giotopoulos, K., & Halkiopoulos, C. (2025). Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Democratic Processes and Citizen Participation. Societies, 15(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15020040
4	Elections, campaigns Activism and the Internet - Elections, campaigns Activism and the Internet  Moritz Hoferer, Lucas Böttcher, HansJ. Herrmann, Hans Gersbach, “The impact of technologies in political campaigns,” Vol 538, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2019.122795 https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/physica-a-statistical- mechanics-and-its-applications  Daniela V. Dimitrova and Jörg . 2018. “Social Media in Political Campaigning Around the World: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges” Volume 95, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018770437 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077699018770437  Gabriel Borz & Fabrizio De Francesco, “Digital political campaigning: Contemporary challenges and regulation” in POLICY STUDIES 2024, VOL. 45, NO. 5, 677–691 https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2024.2384145  How Technology Shapes Elections, Privacy, and Democracy | Harvard Magazine
5	Technology and Domestic Politics/International Relations - The New Frontier in Global Power by Giampiero Giacomello &Francesco Niccolò Moro and Marco Valigi Collections: Political Science and Public Policy 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788976077.00005  How AI is influencing International Relations in 2025. https://youtu.be/MqJL0fWSIFk?si=XGB-EiwolhsG8HQH  How AI could impact geopolitics https://youtu.be/l0WKJX_nkeE?si=3SEKKDHzltyScZ_e  "Godfather of AI" Geoffrey Hinton: The 60 Minutes Interview https://youtu.be/qrvK_KuIeJk?si=nIp3KDoRe6YhwBYV
6	Digital Diplomacy, Digital Authoritarianism, and Political Censorship- The Impact of AI in Politics and the Future of Digital Governance https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/ai-in-politics-and-digital-governance/  Digital Campaigning in Europe: A Series of Articles - The Commons  Roberts, T., & Oosterom, M. (2024). Digital authoritarianism: A systematic literature review. Information Technology for Development, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2024.2425352  Burkhardt, F., & Dollbaum, J. M. (2025). Digital ballots, partisan bias: digital authoritarianism and support for internet voting in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Democratization, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2464149  Armen Myrzoyan, “DIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM AS A MODERN THREAT TO DEMOCRATIC STABILITY: RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM OR NETWORK POLITICIZATION”, Journal of Political Science: Bulletin of Yerevan University 2023, VOL. 2, NO. 3 (6), December, 62-75 https://doi.org/10.46991/JOPS/2023.2.6.062
7	Big Data, AI, and Political Decision-Making - O’Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality. https://faculty.washington.edu/garbey/wmd.pdf  Pasquale, F. (2015). The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information. https://www.pasquale.info/publications  Duan , John S. Edwards , Yogesh K Dwivedi, “Artificial intelligence for decision making in the era of Big Data – evolution, challenges and research agenda”,in International Journal of Information Management Volume 48, October 2019, Pages 63-71 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.01.021  Ridwan Islam Sifat , ‘Commentary—AI and Public Policy: Navigating the Possibilities and Limitations” Published 24 February 2025 https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.70019  Commentary—AI and Public Policy: Navigating the Possibilities and Limitations - Sifat - 2025 - Politics & Policy - Wiley Online Library  https://politicalmarketer.com/the-role-of-ai-and-machine-learning-in-political-decision making/#:~:text=AI%20and%20machine%20learning%20make%20it%20possible%20to,impact%20the%20success%20or%20failure%20of%20policy%20decisions.
8	Cybersecurity, Hacking, and Political Warfare - Online guest Lecturer from Kharkiv University, Ukraine Rid, T. (2020). What Is Cyber War? Journal of Strategic Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2020.1712394  Buchanan, B. (2020). The Hacker and the State: Cyber Attacks in Geopolitics. Open access preprint. https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Buchanan_Cyber_Power.pdf  How AI Could Hack Democracy | Lawrence Lessig | TED 3 months ago: https://youtu.be/OjuYFNR1aWo
9	Midterm Exam Week
10	Misinformation/Fake News and Political Manipulation - Online Guest Speaker from Lisbon University  Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework. Council of Europe Report. https://rm.coe.int/information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-researc/168076277c  Floridi, Luciano, Josh Cowls, Monica Beltrametti, Raja Chatila, Patrice Chazerand, P., Virgina Dignum, and others (2018). AI4People—An ethical framework for a good AI society: Opportunities, risks, principles, and recommendations. Minds and Machines, 28(4), 689-707  Pinch, Trevor J., and Wiebe E. Bijker (1984). The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other. Social Studies of Science 14 (3): 399–441.  -Sumpter David (2018) Impossibly Unbiased. In: Outnumbered: From Facebook and Google to Fake News and Filter-Bubbles – the Algorithms That Control Our Lives. London: Bloomsbury Sigma, pp. 59–79.
11	The Role of Algorithms in Shaping Political Power  Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Preprint. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326645351_Algorithms_of_Oppression  How Algorithms Shape the Distribution of Political Advertising: Case Studies of Facebook, Google, and TikTok , Contributed Paper AIES ’22, August 1–3, 2022, Oxford, United Kingdom https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3514094.3534166  ROBYN CAPLAN and DANAH BOYD “Who Controls the Public Sphere in an Era of Algorithms? Mediation, Automation, Power” 05.13.2016 in Contemporary Issues and Concerns Primer https://datasociety.net/pubs/ap/MediationAutomationPower_2016.pdf  Unveiling Power and Ideologies in the Age of Algorithms: Exploring the Intersection of Critical Discourse Analysis and Artificial Intelligence by Zahra Sadat Roozafza, 2024 file:///C:/Users/Epoka/Downloads/Unveiling_Power_and_Ideologies_in_the_Age_of_Algor.pdf
12	Cyber Terrorism, Counterterrorism – E-Governance and Surveillance - Zuboff, S. (2015). Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization. Journal of Information Technology. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2015.5  Lyon, D. (2001). Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life. Excerpt. https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Surveillance-Society-D.-Lyon.pdf  Too Close for Comfort: Cyber Terrorism and Information Security across National Policies and International Diplomacy https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1928887  Techno-Prevention in Counterterrorism: Between Countering Crime and Human Rights Protection, Journal of Human Rights, Culture and Legal System ISSN 2807-2812 Vol. 3, No. 3, November 2023, pp. 625-655 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b655/72df3e578dbd4e4ca1fa33728677100f7332.pdf
13	AI and Human robot relations: A threat or Opportunity Online Guest Speaker – Alicante University Spain  Book open access by Joachim von Braun • Margaret S. Archer, Gregory M. Reichberg &Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo  Robotics, AI, and Humanity: Science, Ethics, and Policy, Springer 2021 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-54173-6_1  AUDIO Visual AI Summit and political leadership UNSECO/ EU FINAL REPORT  How AI Immersive Learning Reshapes Education and Work | Patrick Lynch | TEDxHult Boston https://youtu.be/Cj7DUKX8P3I?si=L6VDtoQ3MNAJU1B-
14	Presentation of Students’ Final Research Paper – Peer Assessment and Teacher’s feedback

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	Lindgren, S. (2021). Digital Media and Society 2nd edition. Sage. Jacques Ellul, “On the Aims of a Philosophy of Technology” Hans Jonas, “Toward a Philosophy of Technology” David Edgerton. 2007. The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1990. Oxford University Press Sandra Braman. 2006. Change of State: Information, Policy, and Power. MIT Press.
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Analyze the role of technology in societal transformation, considering its autonomy, human intent, and co-constitution within social realities.
2	Evaluate the key contested issues surrounding technological development in political domains, including participation, authority, and freedom.
3	Critically assess the implications of algorithmic governance on democratic processes and civil liberties.
4	Apply interdisciplinary perspectives to examine the complex interactions between technology, society, and politics.
5	Synthesize theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence to understand the reciprocal relationship between technology and political systems.
6	Engage in informed discussions and debates on ethical dilemmas arising from the intersection of technology and politics
7	Formulate informed arguments regarding the role of technology in shaping power dynamics, governance structures, and social movements.
8	Explore the role of international institutions and regulatory frameworks in shaping the ethical and legal dimensions of technology's impact on global politics.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	5
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	5
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	3
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	5
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	3
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	2
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	2
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	1
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	2
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	2
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Homework	5	6
Presentation	1	15
Term Paper	1	55
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	4	64
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	16	2.5	40
Mid-terms	1	6	6
Assignments	1	5	5
Final examination	1	10	10
Other			0
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER