Admission requirements
Bachelor Public Administration students (BBO + EBM), Erasmus Exchange Students (Public Administration) and participants in the Minor 'Public Administration - Multi-level Governance' and 'Bestuurskunde: Openbaar Bestuur, Beleid en Management'.
Description
Digital technology is vital for government today as all important tasks and decisions depend on it. If technology doesn’t work well then government doesn’t function. In the course Governance and Digitalisation, we address what citizens and public employees need to be aware of when everything the government does depends on digital technology. The course gives students the tools to navigate and make sense of the key topics and challenges of digital technology.
The course is built around the study of six core government technology domains (governance of artificial intelligence, social media, machine learning, data science, e-governance and autonomous weapons). By matching these domains with case studies, knowledge videos and scientific articles and chapters, the course introduces students to the major discussion points, including whether bad technology performance contributes to public dissatisfaction and distrust, how artificial intelligence can make public services better, and whether governments need to become more or less transparent.
The course is lecture based in structure with some group work built into the lectures. Lectures will also be interactional to the extent possible with opportunities for discussion. The lectures are designed to open the floor to students to present and discuss their take on the material.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. Explain what the key public sector digital technologies are, how they work and why their impacts are so critical.
2. Use insights from a selection of academic literature to describe the main questions and points of debate in empirical research.
3. Use analytical skills to connect academic debates to real world policy contexts such as parliamentary reports on technologies, criminal cases or diplomatic incidents involving technology.
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 instruction will take the form of lectures, guest lectures and case study discussions. Typically, one half of the session is lecture and the other half involves applying the lecture material to a case study or media story.
In the lectures the instructor covers the main points in the required readings and sets them in the context of broader scholarly debates. Discussion and participation from students is also encouraged in lectures. Attendance to all classes is strongly advisable as lectures will not be livestreamed or recorded. If students miss a class, they can borrow notes from a fellow student and review the lecture slides on Brightspace.
Course load
Lectures = 6x2=12 hours
Assessment (midterm, final exam and viewing) = 5 hours
Midterm=2 hours
Midterm review (optional)=30 mins
Final=3 hours
Final review (optional)=30 mins
Self-study = 122 hours
Assessment method
Mid-term exam = 40%
Final exam = 60%
In order to pass the course, the weighted average of all the assessment areas must be at least 5.5. Compensation for a low score in one area with a high score in another area is allowed. For example, a student could score a 5.0 in the midterm and a 6.0 in the final exam and pass the course with a final grade of 5.5 (rounded down from 5.6)
Students who score below 5.5 will have the opportunity to resit either of the assessment areas. Partial grades will not remain valid in the next academic year.
Reading list
Learning materials will be made available in the course syllabus on Brightspace.
Registration
Register for every course and workgroup via MyStudyMap or uSis from t.b.a.. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results.
Students can enrol either as part of the Bestuurskunde bachelor track or as a minor from another programme after registration for the entire minor. You will receive the same course but make sure you enrol for the correct track so that your grades are registered properly.
Minor students will be enrolled for a workgroup by the programme, but need to register for lectures and exams. Registration is possible from TBA
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in uSis you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Please note: guest-/contract-/exchange students do not register via MyStudymap but via uSis.
Contact
Alex Ingrams: a.r.ingrams@fgga.leidenuniv.nl