This page will be updated the next time the course is taught.

 

THE POLITICS OF THE INTERNET

Professor Susan E. Gallagher

Political Science Department 

UMASS Lowell

 

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Click on underlined hyperlinks to access readings and resources.

Be sure to bring all texts marked "print' to class.

This course examines how the evolution of the Internet has transformed American political culture.  Topics include government surveillance of electronic communications, government regulation of electronic commerce, the rise of e-journalism, the consolidation of corporate control over political information, the proliferation of government web sites, experiments in electronic voting, the role of the World Wide Web in international politics, and the politics of privacy in the information age. 

Introduction

Bring all readings marked "print" with you to class.

The Evolution of the Internet

  1. A Brief History of the Internet (print)

  2. Communications Technology Timeline 

  3. PBS: Life on the Internet - Timeline

  4. The Living Internet

  5. A Nation Online (print Executive Summary)

   Across the Great Divide: Some Limitations of the Digital Revolution

  1. Digital Divide Network Staff, Benton Foundation, Digital Divide Basics Fact Sheet (print)

  2. Wen Stephenson, DigitalDivide.com

  3. Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion (browse links)

  4. Bridging the Digital Divide

  5. Caring About Connections: Gender and the Digital Divide (print)

  6. Special Issue: The Effect of Computers on the Gender Gap in Education

  7. The Future of Creative Control in the Digital Age (print)

  8. With Liberty and Justice for Me (print)

Movie: Fahrenheit 451 (maybe)

Assignment: Bring in a newspaper, magazine or journal article on a problematic aspect of Internet culture or Internet-based activities. Be prepared to summarize your findings for the rest of the class.

Privacy in a Wired World

An Overview

  1. Privacy Law in the United States, Ronald Standler (print)

  2. Internet Privacy Law (print Introduction - follow links)

  3. The Right to Privacy in the Age of Telecommunications (print)

  4. Olmstead v. United States (1928) (print)

  5. Privacy: A Multimedia History, Introduction, Susan E. Gallagher

  6. Gender and Electronic Privacy

  7. Fading Privacy

Film: Privacy & Security on the Eve of the Millennium

Assignment: Bring in a newspaper, magazine or journal article on electronic privacy.  Be prepared to summarize your findings for the rest of the class.

The Politics of the Internet:

Representative Cases

  1. Don't Ask; Don't Tell; Don't Use AOL: The Case of Timothy R. McVeigh

  2. Timothy McVeigh's Home Page

  3. Who Owns Personal Information? Junk Mail and Privacy (The Avrahami Case)

  4. Web Site Privacy (The Robert Konop Case)

  5. ACLU Files Brief in Second Supreme Court Battle Over Internet Censorship

  6. ACLU Challenges Library Internet Censorship Laws (print)

  7. The Jake Baker Case

  8. Bill Aims to Halt Internet Stalking (print)

  9. Pedophiles Online (print)

  10. Intel Inside - Your Personal Information

  11. Updates on cyberprivacy from the Electronic Privacy Information Center

Assignment: Bring in a newspaper, magazine or journal article on cybercrime. Be prepared to summarize your findings for the rest of the class.

The Commercialization of Cyberspace

Midterm Workshop

Note: From this point forward, you must submit short summaries of all readings marked "print."  Summaries must be typed and free of grammatical and spelling errors.  Since summaries will be used to record attendance, students who fail to submit summaries when they are due will be marked absent.  Keep in mind that students who are marked absent for more than two classes without providing a valid explanation will receive an "F" in this course.

  1. Scott Stossel, Soul of the New Economy (print)

  2. E-Commerce, Professor Radin, Stanford Law School - Read sections on "E-tailing" and The Dotcom Shakeout

  3. Mark S. Dichter and Michael S. Burkhardt, Electronic Interaction in the Workplace: Monitoring, Retrieving and Storing Employee Communications in the Internet Age

  4. CONSUMER PRIVACY ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB," Federal Trade Commission, Statement Before the House of Representatives (1998)

  5. What is Data-Mining?

  6. Wayne Madsen, Homeland Security; Homeland Profits

  7. Interview with Harry Hochhieser, Computer Professionals for Social Responsiblity, Microsoft and Internet Development

  8. Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan, "Technology and the Economy,"
    Before the Economic Club of New York, New York, New York
    January 13, 2000

  9. Joseph Stiglitz, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, The World Bank Group, "Public Policy for a Knowledge Economy,' Remarks at the Department for Trade and Industry and Center for Economic Policy Research, January 27, 1999

Click here to View Midterm Exam

Assignment: Bring in a newspaper, magazine or journal article that illustrates how the Internet has changed the American economy. Be prepared to summarize your findings for the rest of the class.

Who Owns the Airwaves?

News Reporting  & the Internet

 

  1. James Ledbetter, "Some Pitfalls in Portals," Columbia Journalism Review (November/December, 1999) (print)

  2. Andrew Kohut,"Internet Users Are On the Rise; But Public Affairs Interest Isn't," Columbia Journalism Review (January/February 2000) 

  3.  Neil Hickey, Coping With Media Mergers, Columbia Journalism Review (March/April 2000) (print)

  4. Who Owns What? An Internet Guide to Media Conglomerates (CJR)

  5. Robert W. McChesney, The Global Media Giants, Extra!, November/December 1997 (print)

  6. The AOL Effect

  7. Wendy S. Williams, "The Online Threat to Independent Journalism: Where Does News End and Ads Begin?,"  Extra! (November/December, 1996) (print)

  8. The Media Education Foundation - provides alternative perspectives on current issues in American politics and culture

Assignment: Bring in a newspaper, magazine or journal article that illustrates how the Internet has changed news coverage and/or delivery. Be prepared to summarize your findings for the rest of the class.

 

CyberDemocracy? Education and the Web

  1. PEW Internet & American Life, The Rise of the E-Citizen: How People Use Government Agencies' Web Sites (4/3/2002)

  2. Stephen Downes, Democracy Online

  3. Holly Bailey, Cyberdemocracy: Campaign 2000, and the Computer Industry (print)

  4. Robert Wright, "Hyperdemocracy," Time Magazine, Archives 1995) (print)

  5. Parties look online to find contributions as new limits on fund raising take effect (print)

  6. Pierre Levy, A Virtual Journey into the Future (No date)

  7. T.L. Orr, "Cybervoting Virtually Here," Government Computer News, April 2, 2001

  8. James Evans, "Cybervoting for the People," Government Technology, February, 1998

  9. Jordan Mejias, Technopoly or Is There Any Room in Cyberspace for Democracy?

  10. "California, Washington Ponder Internet Voting," CNN, March 25, 1999

Before you submit any written work, be sure to consult Citation Style Guides and use the Term Paper Checklist to correct common mistakes.

  • Final project description due via email before 11/27

Please include at least two sources in your message.  Remember that one of these sources must be approved for inclusion on the final take-home exam.

 

  • Due on the day of your presentation: a one-page summary of what you learned from your research.

  • Final take-home exam distributed and discussed on 12/4

  • Final take-home exam due on 12/18.  No corrections will be permitted.

  • Exam = Two-page summaries of three readings.  These readings will be supplied by your fellow students.

Click here to go to final exam.

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