Contemporary political participation : exploring the relationship between technology and politics in late modernity

Abstract

This thesis by publication analyses emerging forms of civic engagement, focusing particularly on conceptualising technology’s relationship with politics. It explores three central issues within current debates on alternative forms of political participation. First, it critiques the dualism between arena and process definitions of politics, and suggests how it can be overcome (Halupka 2015; Halupka forthcoming). Second, it examines the division between collective and connective action movements in both theory and practice (Halupka 2015; Halupka 2015). Third, it focuses upon the impact that new technology, specifically the internet, has had on political participation (Halupka 2014). Taken together, this thesis addresses a number of significant conceptual and theoretical issues that the literature had largely ignored. Consequently, each paper, looks to extend current theoretical and empirical debates, and, in this way, to move the literature in new directions.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Supervisor	David Marsh (Supervisor) & Mark Evans (Supervisor)