Postgraduate Course: Digital Democratic Innovations (Online) (EFIE11483)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | *Programme Core Course: Future Governance (MSc)*
Please Note:
This course is only available to students enrolled on the Future Governance (MSc) degree programme.
Digital democratic innovations are reshaping the relationship between publics and institutions. This course helps to understand and develop innovations that can improve the governance of the future. |
| Course description |
Digital democratic innovations are processes or institutions developed to re-imagine and deepen the role of citizens in democratic governance by increasing opportunities for participation, deliberation and influence. These innovations are proliferating across the world; e.g. data-driven policy forums; crowdsourcing of laws and constitutions; local, national and global citizens' assemblies; platforms for public service design and co-production; participatory budgeting processes; collaborative governance networks, and so on.
Digital participation can help to develop the next form of democracy: a system of collective intelligence, substantial public deliberation, participatory problem-solving, and effective co-production. Digital democratic innovations can now be found in public institutions such as governments, parliaments and local authorities, but also in civil society networks, community-led initiatives, social movements and new commons. These innovations have a great deal to teach us about how to build the institutions and governance systems of the future.
This course will provide participants with the foundations to understand, scrutinise and engage in the practice of democratic innovation. The sessions will be interactive and hands-on, focused on developing:
a) Analytical skills i.e. critically assessing and learning from digital democratic innovations developed around the world.
b) Practical skills i.e. strategic thinking, process design, facilitation techniques and collaborative leadership.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - Online Hybrid Course Delivery Information:
The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities. Students should note that their interactions may be recorded and live-streamed (see the Lecture Recording and Virtual Classroom policies for more details). There will, however, be options to control whether or not your video and audio are enabled.
You will need access to a personal computing device for this course. Most activities will take place in a web browser, unless otherwise stated. We recommend using a device with a screen, physical keyboard, and internet access
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 12,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed by means of the following components:
The course will be assessed by means of the following components:
1) Digital Engagement Plan (2,500 Words) (100%)
Each student will prepare an individual Digital Engagement Plan for an organisation of their choice (e.g. government; NGO, institution, agency, governance body, etc.) The Plan must include key dimensions and relevant platforms and tools explored during the course (i.e. purpose and outcomes, publics/stakeholders mapping, digital process design, communication channels, timelines/sequencing, online forum formats, ICT-enabled facilitation approaches).
The Plan must clearly and creatively link the students' analysis of their chosen governance context with the practical engagement strategies and design deployed to involve relevant publics and/or stakeholders in their digital democratic innovation. Samples and a full spec will be provided for guidance, as well as the opportunity to present drafts for formative and peer feedback. The point of this assignment is to design a plan for practical application. It should be written as if it were to be presented for implementation at the chosen organisation. |
| Feedback |
Feedback on any formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The Course Organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment(s) will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Draw on research insights from political science, public policy and participation studies to develop a critical understanding of digital democratic innovation in local, national and global governance.
- Demonstrate applied knowledge for the design of digital democratic innovations in a variety of policy arenas and governance processes.
- Develop analytical skills to understand behaviours and interactions in digital platforms and forums, as a basis for process design and online facilitation.
- Facilitate processes and forums by using facilitation tools, participatory techniques and deliberative formats that enable participants to identify common ground and deal with difference and conflict in productive and creative ways.
- Develop the mindset and skills needed for reflective practice, with special attention to understanding and addressing emerging ethical dilemmas in democratic innovation.
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Reading List
Below is an indicative reading list: The updated list for this year will be available via the University of Edinburgh's Library Resource List curated for this course and accessible via the course site in Learn. It will also include audiovisual resources.
Essential Reading:
Elstub, S. & Escobar, O. (eds.) 2019. Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance, Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.
Glen Weyl, E., A. Tang and Community 2024. Plurality: The future of collaborative technology and democracy, Community.
Henderson, J. and O. Escobar 2024. Reviving the commons: A scoping review of urban and digital commoning, Edinburgh: Data Civics Observatory - Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Mellon, J., T. C. Peixoto and F. M. Sjoberg 2022. The Haves and the Have Nots - Civic Technologies and the Pathways to Government Responsiveness, World Bank Group.
Mikhaylovskaya, A. and É. Rouméas 2025. 'Nurturing Virtues with Digital Democratic Innovations', Philosophy & Technology, 38 (2), 78.
Mikhaylovskaya, A. and É. Rouméas 2024. 'Building trust with digital democratic innovations', Ethics and information technology, 26 (1), 1.
Mikhaylovskaya, A. 2024. 'Enhancing Deliberation with Digital Democratic Innovations', Philosophy & Technology, 37 (1), 3.
Noveck, B. S. (2015), Smart citizens, smarter state: The technologies of expertise and the future of governing, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Russon Gilman, H. & Carneiro Peixoto, T. 2019. Digital participation. In: Elstub, S. & Escobar, O. (eds.) Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.
Simon, J., Bass, T., Boelman, V. & Mulgan, G. 2017. Digital Democracy: The tools transforming political engagement. London: Nesta.
Whittington, O. 2022. Democratic Innovation and Digital Participation, London: Nesta.
Recommended Reading:
Barandiaran, X. E., A. Calleja-Lopez, A. Monterde and C. Romero 2024. Decidim, a technopolitical network for participatory democracy: Philosophy, practice and autonomy of a collective platform in the age of digital intelligence, Springer.
Castells, M. (2012) Networks of outrage and hope, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Chambers, S. & Gastil, J. 2020. Deliberation, Democracy, and the Digital Landscape. Political Studies, Online first.
Davies, J. 2023. Democratic Innovations and Digital Tools: A cross-regional, mixed-method study of participatory budgeting in Scotland, PhD, Warwick Institute for the Science of Cities, University of Warwick.
Dean, R. 2023. Civic Participation in the Datafied Society| Participatory Governance in the Digital Age: From Input to Oversight,
Escobar, O. (2019) Facilitators: The micropolitics of public participation and deliberation. In: Elstub, S. & Escobar, O. (eds.) The Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.
Forestal, J., S. Bickford, N. Curato, C. Hayward, V. Bruzzone, J. Gastil and J. Muldoon 2025. 'Thinking democracy in a digital age', Contemporary Political Theory,
Friess, D. & Eilders, C. 2015. A Systematic Review of Online Deliberation Research. Policy and internet, 7, 319-339.
Habermas, J. 2023. A new structural transformation of the public sphere and deliberative politics, Cambridge: Polity.
Lightbody, R. (2017) 'Hard to reach' or 'easy to ignore'' Promoting equality in community engagement. Edinburgh: What Works Scotland. http://whatworksscotland.ac.uk/publications/hard-to-reach-or-easy-to-ignore-promoting-equality-in-community-engagement-evidence-review/
Nabben, K. (2020) Hacking the pandemic: how Taiwan's digital democracy holds COVID-19 at bay, The Conversation.
Peixoto, T., & Sifry, M. L. (eds.) (2017), Civic Tech in the Global South: Assessing technology for the public good, Washington DC and New York: The World Bank and Personal Democracy Press
Poiran, A. Syah Amin, Burhanuddin and R. Sasmita 2023. 'Digital Transformation and Its Role in Improving Democracy: A Systematic Literature Review', Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences, 6 (3), 1004-1009.
Smith, G. (2009) Democratic innovations: Designing institutions for citizen participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Strandberg, K. & Grönlund, K. (2018) Online Deliberation. In: Bächtiger, A., Dryzek, J. S., Mansbridge, J. & Warren, M. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stromer-Galley, J., Webb, N., & Muhlberger, P. (2012). Deliberative E-Rulemaking Project: Challenges to Enacting Real World Deliberation, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 9(1), 82-96.
Further Reading:
Black, L. (2011) The promise and problems of online deliberation, The Kettering Foundation.
Bruno, E. (2015) Co-deciding with citizens: towards digital democracy at EU level, European Citizen Action Service.
Castells, M. (2011) A Network Theory of Power, Journal of Communication, 5, 773-787.
Charalabidis Y, Koussouris S. (2012) Empowering open and collaborative governance: Technologies and methods for online citizen engagement in public policy making. Berlin; New York: Springer.
Coleman, S. and Blumler, J. (2009) The internet and democratic citizenship: theory, practice and policy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Coleman, S., & Shane, P. M. (Eds.) (2011) Connecting democracy, The MIT Press.
Epstein, D., Newhart, M., & Vernon, R. (2014) Not by technology alone: The "analog" aspects of online public engagement in policymaking, Government Information Quarterly, 31(2), 337-344.
Kennedy, R., Sokhey, A. E., Abernathy, C., Esterling, K. M., Lazer, D. M., Lee, A., Minozzi, W. & Neblo, M. A. (2020). Demographics and (Equal?) Voice: Assessing Participation in Online Deliberative Sessions. Political Studies.
Hindman, M. (2009) The myth of digital democracy, Princeton, N.J.; Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Moss, G. and S. Coleman (2014) Deliberative manoeuvres in the digital darkness: e-democracy policy in the UK. British journal of politics and international relations, 16(3), 410-427.
Sampaio, R.C. and Peixoto, T. (2014) Electronic Participatory Budgeting: false dilemmas and true complexities, in Dias, N. (ed.) Hope for Democracy - 25 years of participatory budgeting worldwide, São Brás De Alportel, Portugal: IL Association, pp.413-426.
Schneider, N. 2024. Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy (2015) Open Up! Report of the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy, London: DDC, (Chapters 5-9) http://www.digitaldemocracy.parliament.uk
Wright, S. (2012) Politics as usual: Revolution, normalization and a new agenda for online deliberation. New Media & Society, 14, 244-261.
Practical Toolkits Library:
Acland, A. (2012). Dialogue by design. A handbook of public and stakeholder engagement. Surrey: Dialogue by Design. Available online: http://www.mspguide.org/resource/dialogue-design-handbook-public-and-stakeholder-engagement
Butteriss, C., Connors, N. & Hussey, S. (2020) Making deliberative dialogue work online. Bangthetable. https://go.bangthetable.com/ebook/deliberative-dialogue
Escobar, O. (2011) Public dialogue and deliberation: A communication perspective for public engagement practitioners, Edinburgh: Edinburgh Beltane -UK Beacons for Public Engagement. Available: https://oliversdialogue.wordpress.com/public-dialogue-and-deliberation/
Faulkner, W. (2011) Dialogue in public engagement: A handbook, Edinburgh: Edinburgh Beltane (UK Beacons for Public Engagement). Available: http://edinburghbeltane.net/content/dialoguehandbook
Faulkner, W. and Bynner, C. (2020) How to design and plan public engagement processes, What Works Scotland. Available: https://policyscotland.gla.ac.uk/public-engagement-processes-handbook/
Hunjan, Raji & Pettit, Jethro (2011) Power: A practical guide for facilitating social change, Carnegie UK Trust. Available: http://carnegieuktrust.org.uk/publications/2010/power---a-practical-guide-for-facilitating-social-
Involve (2020) How do I plan a participatory process? https://www.involve.org.uk/resources/knowledge-base/how-do-i-plan-participatory-process
Newdemocracy (2019) Enabling national initiatives to take democracy beyond elections, UN Democracy Fund and newDemocracy Foundation. https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/2018/10/17/united-nations-democracy-fund-democracy-beyond-elections/
Parsons, A. 2019. Digital tools for citizens' assemblies, my Society.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Future,Digital,Democracy,Innovation,Public,Institutions,Governance |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Oliver Escobar
Tel:
Email: Oliver.Escobar@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Matt Bryant
Tel:
Email: Matt.Bryant@ed.ac.uk |
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