ECPR Standing Group on Forms of Participation

Conference calls

Networking Democracy? New media innovations in participatory politics

A three day Symposium to be held at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania 25-27 June 2010.

Website: http://www.brisc.info/NetDem/index.php?page=networking-democracy

Democratic politics worldwide are increasingly being conducted and re-configured through the domain of digital communications networks. The socio-technical developments, such as Web 2.0, facilitating these media-saturated public spheres are in little doubt. What is highly contested however is the interpretation of what these profound changes offer for democratic governance in the twenty-first century. At its heart is the recognition that these new media networks are themselves the crucial site for a historical confrontation between opposing political and/or business interests and discourses intent upon forging new forms of social relations.

We will address questions such as:

• What new forms and relations of power are produced in the digital network society?

• Who are th