Formation/Cours

Students will explore the latest developments in the debate about digital political communication, encompassing both voter perspectives and the roles of parties and media. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in oral presentations, written communication, and the execution of small-scale research projects.

This master-level course introduces students to an examination of the relationship between politics and digital media, and its evolution over the years. The course will start with an introduction about the transformation of political communication in the digital age, mentioning the theories of “mediatization” and analysing empirical types of digital media systems. Three sessions will be dedicated to understanding the interplay between political parties, media and voters, exploring research about media effects, investigating the psychological dimensions of partisan selective exposure and understanding the dynamics of media learning in both a low-choice and high-choice information environment. The subsequent four sessions will cover more in particular the language and strategies of political parties in a digitalised age, analysing how electoral campaigning has evolved through different phases, the use of populism as a communication style and its interconnection with digital media, and how negative campaigning is used to attract attention of the public and of the media. The course will then explore the spread of conspiracy theories in a digitalized world and their risks for democracy. It will conclude by envisioning the future of political communication, considering changing parties, evolving issue priorities, and the influence of Artificial Intelligence. Overall, this course is meant to equip students with a deep understanding of the dynamics shaping contemporary political discourse in the digital era.