@techreport{CingolaniMcBrideHammerschmid, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and McBride, Keegan and Hammerschmid, Gerhard}, title = {Human Centric Smart Cities. Redefining the smart city.}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-44106}, pages = {19}, abstract = {Smart cities have traditionally been studied from a technocentric perspective. However,such technological conceptualizations of smart cities are no longer adequate in today's society. This policy brief discusses another alternative, human centric smart cities. Human centric smart cities are cities that practice smart governance, are collaborative, focused on user needs, supportive of innovation, and are ultimately oriented towards the development of wellbeing and the creation of public valuefor its citizens. In human centric smart cities, the use, implementation, and development of technology is guided by these foundations. The policy brief draws on insightgenerated from an international symposium organized for the City of Berlin on the future of smart cities. The brief itself is structured around four core aspects: human centricity, inter-sectoral collaboration, data governance, and administrative capacity. The brief ends by providing initial recommendations on how to start thinking about and implementing new human centric smart city strategies. Key Points: • In human centric smart cities, adopting a public valueor happiness orientedapproach to development will be critical. • The notion of innovation and service development inside human centric smartcities is changing, driven primarily by a shift in the structure of smart city ecosystems. • New human centric smart city data governance strategies must be in line withthe creation of public value, data sovereignty, and the maintenance offundamental rights and freedoms such as those related to privacy andfreedom of expression. • The change towards more collaborative, open, and human centric smart citieswill require new governance strategies and new administrative capacities.}, language = {en} } @article{Bryson, author = {Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Europe Is in Danger of Using the Wrong Definition of AI}, series = {Wired}, journal = {Wired}, abstract = {Some intelligent systems are at risk of being excluded from oversight in the EU's proposed legislation. This is bad for both businesses and citizens.}, language = {en} } @incollection{DempseyMcBrideHaatajaetal., author = {Dempsey, Mark and McBride, Keegan and Haataja, Meeri and Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Transnational Digital Governance and Its Impact on Artificial Intelligence}, series = {The Oxford Handbook of AI Governance}, booktitle = {The Oxford Handbook of AI Governance}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, isbn = {9780197579329}, doi = {10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197579329.013.16}, publisher = {Hertie School}, abstract = {The rapid pace of technological advancement and innovation has put existing governance and regulatory mechanisms to the test. There is a clear need for new and innovative regulatory mechanisms that enable governments to successfully manage the integration of digital technologies into our societies, and to ensure that such integration occurs in a sustainable, beneficial, and just manner. Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as one of the most debated of such innovations. What exactly is it, how should it be built and deployed, how can it be used, and how should it be regulated? Yet across the period of this debate, AI is becoming widely used and addressed within existing, evolving, and bespoke regulatory contexts. The present chapter explores the extant governance of AI and, in particular, what is arguably the most successful AI regulatory approach to date, that of the European Union. The chapter explores core definitional concepts, shared understandings, values, and approaches currently in play. It argues that not only are the Union's regulations locally effective, but, due to the so-called "Brussels effect," regulatory initiatives within the European Union also have a much broader global impact. As such, they warrant close consideration.}, language = {en} } @article{Stockmann, author = {Stockmann, Daniela}, title = {Tech companies and the public interest: the role of the state in governing social media platforms}, series = {Information, Communication \& Society}, volume = {26}, journal = {Information, Communication \& Society}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1080/1369118X.2022.2032796}, pages = {1 -- 15}, abstract = {In the early days of the internet, it was hoped that digital technology would bring about democracy and positive outcomes for society. Recently, the debate has shifted towards tech lash with many critics pointing towards technology companies undermining democracy, stability, and sustainability. As a result, a new consensus seems to be emerging among policymakers, companies, and civil societal actors that self-regulation has to move towards co-regulation. This Special Issue of Information, Communication and Society draws together cutting-edge contributions on three core themes in scholarly and policy discourse on platform regulation: First, the papers in this special issue enhance empirical understandings of the role of the state in governing social media platforms developing in the United States, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, they provide a holistic framework to understand policy problems that need to be addressed, which helps to develop and evaluate new policy initiatives. Finally, papers point towards three approaches in governing social media platforms and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of content moderation, process-based co-regulation, as well as competition regulation and alternative business models.}, language = {en} } @article{Bryson, author = {Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Robot, all too human}, series = {XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students}, volume = {25}, journal = {XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1145/3313131}, pages = {56 -- 59}, abstract = {Advanced robotics and artificial intelligence systems present a new challenge to human identity.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannGartenLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Garten, Felix and Luo, Ting}, title = {Who is a PRC user? Comparing Chinese social media user agreements}, series = {First Monday}, volume = {25}, journal = {First Monday}, number = {8}, issn = {1396-0466}, doi = {10.5210/fm.v25i8.10319}, abstract = {Social media companies rely on user agreements as one means to manage content produced by users. While much has been written on user agreements and community standards of U.S.-based social media, surprisingly little is known about Chinese user agreements and their implications. We compare terms of services as well as privacy policies of WeChat and Weibo between 2014 and 2019 using their U.S. counterparts WhatsApp and Twitter as a benchmark. We find that Chinese user agreements reveal a territorial-based understanding of content management differentiating between PRC and non-PRC users based on language, IP address and country of citizenship. Second, Chinese social media companies are surprisingly transparent about what content can be published, which has implications for self-censorship among users. Third, changes in PRC user agreements reflect Xi Jinping's tightening control of the Internet. Finally, U.S.-based platforms have moved towards content management that differs by region, thus becoming more similar to the Chinese approach over time.}, language = {en} } @article{StephanyNeuhaeuserStoehretal., author = {Stephany, Fabian and Neuh{\"a}user, Leonie and Stoehr, Niklas and Darius, Philipp and Teutloff, Ole and Braesemann, Fabian}, title = {The CoRisk-Index: A Data-Mining Approach to Identify Industry-Specific Risk Perceptions Related to Covid-19}, series = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, volume = {9}, journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1057/s41599-022-01039-1}, abstract = {The global spread of Covid-19 has caused major economic disruptions. Governments around the world provide considerable financial support to mitigate the economic downturn. However, effective policy responses require reliable data on the economic consequences of the corona pandemic. We propose the CoRisk-Index: a real-time economic indicator of corporate risk perceptions related to Covid-19. Using data mining, we analyse all reports from US companies filed since January 2020, representing more than a third of the US workforce. We construct two measures—the number of 'corona' words in each report and the average text negativity of the sentences mentioning corona in each industry—that are aggregated in the CoRisk-Index. The index correlates with U.S. unemployment rates across industries and with an established market volatility measure, and it preempts stock market losses of February 2020. Moreover, thanks to topic modelling and natural language processing techniques, the CoRisk data provides highly granular data on different dimensions of the crisis and the concerns of individual industries. The index presented here helps researchers and decision makers to measure risk perceptions of industries with regard to Covid-19, bridging the quantification gap between highly volatile stock market dynamics and long-term macroeconomic figures. For immediate access to the data, we provide all findings and raw data on an interactive online dashboard.}, language = {en} } @incollection{KupiMcBride, author = {Kupi, Maximilian and McBride, Keegan}, title = {Agile Development for Digital Government Services: Challenges and Success Factors}, series = {Electronic Participation ePart 2021, Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {12849}, booktitle = {Electronic Participation ePart 2021, Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, editor = {Edelmann, ‪Noella}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {139 -- 150}, abstract = {Many governments have problems with developing digital government services in an effective and efficient manner. One proposed solution to improve governmental digital service development is for governments to utilize agile development methods. However, there is currently a lack of understanding on two important and related topics. First, whether or not agile development might help to overcome common failure reasons of digital government projects. Second, what the challenges and success factors of agile digital government service development are. This paper addresses both of these gaps. By gathering insights from six cases where agile methods were used in the development of new digital services, it identifies five core categories of challenges and success factors encountered when utilizing agile development methods for governmental digital service development: organizational, methodological, end-user-related, technological, and regulatory. Furthermore, based on these findings, it makes initial recommendations on when and how to best use agile methods for digital government service development.}, language = {en} } @incollection{BrysonBogani, author = {Bryson, Joanna and Bogani, Ronny}, title = {Robot Nannies Will Not Love}, series = {The Love Makers}, booktitle = {The Love Makers}, editor = {Campbell, Aifric}, publisher = {Goldsmiths Press}, address = {London}, isbn = {97819126858442}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {249 -- 258}, abstract = {How artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming the future of love and desire: a philosophical thriller and essays.A chance encounter between two women and a road trip into the future: It's Christmas Eve, and Scarlett, banker-turned-technologist, is leaving a secret underground lab to catch the last flight that will get her home in time to open presents with her three-year-old son. She offers a lift to a young woman in distress, who shares her intimate life story as they drive to the airport. These revelations will have devastating consequences for both of them. The Love Makers is a philosophical thriller about female friendship, class, motherhood, women, and work--and how artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming the future of love and desire. Aifric Campbell combines her novel with essays from leading scientists and commentators who examine what's at stake in our human-machine relationships. What is our future as friends, parents, lovers? Will advances in intelligent machines reverse decades of progress for women? From robot nannies to generative art and our ancient dreams of intelligent machines, The Love Makers blends storytelling with science communication to investigate the challenges and opportunities of emergent technologies and how we want to live. ContributorsRonny Bogani, Joanna J. Bryson, Julie Carpenter, Stephen Cave, Anita Chandran, Peter R. N. Childs, Kate Devlin, Kanta Dihal, Mary Flanagan, Margaret Rhee, Amanda Sharkey, Roberto Trotta, E. R. Truitt, and Richard Watson}, language = {en} } @article{NikiforovaMcBride, author = {Nikiforova, Anastasija and McBride, Keegan}, title = {Open government data portal usability: A user-centred usability analysis of 41 open government data portals}, series = {Telematics and Informatics}, volume = {58}, journal = {Telematics and Informatics}, number = {May 2021, 101539}, doi = {10.1016/j.tele.2020.101539}, abstract = {Open government data, as a phenomena, may be considered an important and influential innovation that has the potential to drive the creation of public value via enabling the prevention of corruption, increase in accountability and transparency, and driving the co-creation of new and innovative services. However, in order for open government data to be fully taken advantage of, it must be found, understood, and used. Though many countries maintain open government data portals, the usability of said portals can vary greatly; this is important to understand as the usability of a portal likely impacts the eventual reuse of the data made available there. Acknowledging the importance of portal usability to the data reuse process, this paper helps to elucidate some initial insights by asking two questions: "How can the usability of open government data portals be evaluated and compared across contexts?" and "What are the most commonly missing usability aspects from open government data portals?". In order to answer these research questions, a subset of 41 national open government data portals were selected for an in-depth usability analysis drawing on the feedback from 40 individual users. As a result of this analysis, the paper is able to make three primary contributions: (1) the validation of a framework for open government data portal usability analysis, (2) develops an initial comparative international ranking of open government data portal usability, and (3) identifies commonly occurring portal usability strengths and weaknesses across contexts.}, language = {en} } @techreport{McBridevanNoordtMisuracaetal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {McBride, Keegan and van Noordt, Colin and Misuraca, Gianluca and Hammerschmid, Gerhard}, title = {Towards a Systematic Understanding on the Challenges of Procuring Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector}, series = {SocArXiv Papers}, journal = {SocArXiv Papers}, doi = {10.31235/osf.io/un649}, abstract = {There is an increased interest amongst governments and public sector organisations about how to best integrate artificial intelligence into their day-to-day business processes. Yet, a large majority of technical know how is concentrated within the private sector, requiring most public sector organisations to rely on public procurement for AI systems. While many governments may have experience with traditional forms of public technological procurement, this paper argues that the public procurement of AI is different and new insight is needed to understand this differentiation and procure AI better. This paper offers an initial contribution to the public administration and management literature by describing this difference, and identifying the challenges associated with the public procurement of AI. In order to achieve this contribution, the research studied guidelines in four European countries (Estonia, Netherlands, Serbia, and the United Kingdom) to generate insight into the challenges faced, and potential solutions to these challenges, during the public procurement of AI process.}, language = {en} } @article{Darius, author = {Darius, Philipp}, title = {Who polarizes Twitter? Ideological polarization, partisan groups and strategic networked campaigning on Twitter during the 2017 and 2021 German Federal elections 'Bundestagswahlen'}, series = {Social Network Analysis and Mining}, volume = {12}, journal = {Social Network Analysis and Mining}, doi = {10.1007/s13278-022-00958-w}, abstract = {Political campaign activities are increasingly digital. A crucial part of digital campaigning is communication efforts on social media platforms. As a forum for political discourse and political communication, parties and candidates on Twitter share public messages and aim to attract media attention and persuade voters. Party or prominent candidate hashtags are a central element of the campaign communication strategy since journalists and citizens search for these hashtags to follow the current debate concerning the hashed party or political candidate. Political elites and partisans use social media strategically, e.g., to link their messages to a broader debate, increase the visibility of messages, criticize other parties, or take over their hashtags (hashjacking). This study investigates the cases of the most recent 2017 and 2021 German federal elections called 'Bundestagswahlen'. The investigation (1) identifies communities of partisans in retweet networks in order to analyze the polarization of the most prominent hashtags of parties, 2) assesses the political behavior by partisan groups that amplify messages by political elites in these party networks, and 3) examines the polarization and strategic behavior of the identified partisan groups in the broader election hashtag debates using \#BTW17 and \#BTW21 as the prominent hashtags of the 2017 and 2021 elections. While in 2017, the far-right party 'Alternative f{\"u}r Deutschland' (AfD) and its partisans are in an isolated community, in 2021, they are part of the same community as the official party accounts of established conservative and liberal parties. This broader polarization may indicate changes in the political ideology of these actors. While the overall activity of political elites and partisans increased between 2017 and 2021, AfD politicians and partisans are more likely to use other party hashtags, which resulted in the polarization of the observed parts of the German political twitter sphere. While in 2017, the AfD polarized German Twitter, 2021 shows a broader division along the classical left-right divide.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kleinaltenkamp, author = {Kleinaltenkamp, Moritz J.}, title = {The Future Is Now: Non-Linear Temporality in Blockchain Organizing}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-4498}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-44986}, school = {Hertie School}, pages = {126}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation advances management scholarship by studying the novel phenomenon of Blockchain organizing. Blockchain is an emerging technology that facilitates the maintenance of data across networks of computers, as opposed to more traditional central servers. These distributed data maintenance capabilities may have wide-ranging consequences. Ever since Blockchain's inception in 2008, a discourse identifying this technology as an enabler of radically new and decentralized modes of collective and societal coordination has gained traction. "Blockchain organizing" refers to practices in which such Blockchain technology artefacts are being developed, implemented, and/or utilized by organizations. Studying these practices presents a unique opportunity to further management scholarship; particularly subjective time research following the neo-institutional tradition. Blockchain is not only an emerging technology associated with significant future expectations, but further a meta-organizational technology whose very raison d'{\^e}tre is the transformation of entrenched organizational structures. When organizational actors develop, implement, and/or utilize Blockchain technology, bureaucratic ways of organizing that have been established in the past and continue to be legitimized in the present may become reevaluated in light of bold visions for an organizational and societal future that looks radically different. The dissertation at hand utilizes this Blockchain context as an exemplary case to develop theory on how transformative future visions and expectations associated with emerging technologies may become instantiated within the present, and conceptualizes this phenomenon as "present-future convergence". Developed based on a field-level pilot study that led to an 18-month ethnographic engagement with one Blockchain start-up, the three papers gathered in the dissertation utilize an interpretivist approach to explain how present-future convergence is rooted in conjoined processes of intra- and inter-subjective temporal experience. Furthermore, the papers highlight the counterintuitive consequences that present-future convergence may have for processes of technological, organizational, and societal change. In doing so, the dissertation opens promising research avenues at the intersection of temporality, performativity, and sociomateriality, and contributes to scholarly understanding of Blockchain organizing. Practically speaking, the dissertation helps answer the question of how actors may "pull" the future into the present to realize transformative future visions like those associated with emerging technologies.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kleinaltenkamp, author = {Kleinaltenkamp, Moritz J.}, title = {The Future Is Now: Non-Linear Temporality in Blockchain Organizing}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5487}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-54871}, school = {Hertie School}, pages = {101}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation advances management scholarship by studying the novel phenomenon of Blockchain organizing. Blockchain is an emerging technology that facilitates the maintenance of data across networks of computers, as opposed to more traditional central servers. These distributed data maintenance capabilities may have wide-ranging consequences. Ever since Blockchain's inception in 2008, a discourse identifying this technology as an enabler of radically new and decentralized modes of collective and societal coordination has gained traction. "Blockchain organizing" refers to practices in which such Blockchain technology artefacts are being developed, implemented, and/or utilized by organizations. Studying these practices presents a unique opportunity to further management scholarship; particularly subjective time research following the neo-institutional tradition. Blockchain is not only an emerging technology associated with significant future expectations, but further a meta-organizational technology whose very raison d'{\^e}tre is the transformation of entrenched organizational structures. When organizational actors develop, implement, and/or utilize Blockchain technology, bureaucratic ways of organizing that have been established in the past and continue to be legitimized in the present may become reevaluated in light of bold visions for an organizational and societal future that looks radically different. The dissertation at hand utilizes this Blockchain context as an exemplary case to develop theory on how transformative future visions and expectations associated with emerging technologies may become instantiated within the present, and conceptualizes this phenomenon as "present-future convergence". Developed based on a field-level pilot study that led to an 18-month ethnographic engagement with one Blockchain start-up, the three papers gathered in the dissertation utilize an interpretivist approach to explain how present-future convergence is rooted in conjoined processes of intra- and inter-subjective temporal experience. Furthermore, the papers highlight the counterintuitive consequences that present-future convergence may have for processes of technological, organizational, and societal change. In doing so, the dissertation opens promising research avenues at the intersection of temporality, performativity, and sociomateriality, and contributes to scholarly understanding of Blockchain organizing. Practically speaking, the dissertation helps answer the question of how actors may "pull" the future into the present to realize transformative future visions like those associated with emerging technologies.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Luo, Ting}, title = {Surveying Internet Users in China: Comparing Representative Survey Data with Official Statistics}, series = {The China Quarterly}, journal = {The China Quarterly}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press (CUP)}, doi = {10.1017/S0305741025000177}, pages = {1 -- 17}, abstract = {China is well known for providing official data, but how to treat these data is a longstanding debate among China scholars. This paper advances understandings of how to interpret Chinese official statistics about the internet. Using standards for evaluating surveys in the social sciences, we systematically compare official data from the China Network Information Center (CNNIC), which is under the supervision of China's main regulator of internet policy, with the China Internet Survey 2018 (CIS), which is, to our knowledge, the first nationally representative survey on internet use in China. Using three examples, we illustrate how methodological differences in sampling design and measurement can lead to vastly different conclusions about key indicators of internet use in mainland China, including the percentage of internet users, their regional and urban-rural digital divide, and the percentage of specific social media platforms. We discuss the challenges of survey work on internet use in China and offer recommendations on how to interpret official statistics, especially in light of the limitations researchers face when conducting face-to-face surveys in China.}, language = {en} } @misc{UcarerReddyPollexetal., author = {U{\c{c}}arer, İlke Zeynep and Reddy, Kartikeya and Pollex, Oliver and Ianina, Polina}, title = {Micro-Targeting Without Consent: How Party Apps Influence Electoral Campaigns in India. Towards Accountable Use of Voter Data in Political Campaigning}, publisher = {Hertie School}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5843}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-58436}, pages = {16}, abstract = {Political party apps in India increasingly harvest sensitive voter data without explicit consent, enabling highly personalized micro-targeting that undermines voter autonomy, privacy, and democratic fairness. These practices amplify societal polarisation and facilitate disinformation, particularly harming minority communities and trust in the electoral process. Existing regulations, such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), fall short of ensuring transparency and accountability. Drawing on international best practices, this paper recommends (1) legally mandated, informed consent for voter data collection, (2) independent, annual data audits of political parties, and (3) public awareness campaigns on digital political advertising. Additional measures include real-time ad transparency dashboards and stricter oversight of digital campaign expenditures. Implementing these reforms will safeguard voter privacy, enhance trust in elections, and strengthen India's democracy.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Luo, Ting}, title = {Online Political Discussion Under Authoritarianism: What Do Citizens Make of Censored Political Discussion?}, series = {Regulation \& Governance}, journal = {Regulation \& Governance}, doi = {10.1111/rego.70036}, abstract = {There is a continuing debate on whether the internet serves as a public sphere for meaningful political discussion and increases political engagement. Yet, we know little about how internet users in authoritarian regimes perceive and experience online political discussion beyond the dominant frame of censorship and surveillance. Based on the first nationally representative survey on internet use in China, this paper examines how citizens view the space for political discussion online and offline and how three types of concerns—repercussions, social desirability, and privacy—shape these perceptions. Results show that Chinese citizens tend to perceive online discussion as more diverse. Those concerned about political repercussions report higher perceived diversity in online discussions, while social desirability concerns correlate with greater perceived diversity in both online and offline settings. Only those concerned for exposure of personal information perceive online political discussion as more uniform. These findings advance understandings of citizen views on political discussion in authoritarian contexts and contribute to broader debates about the role of the internet in political engagement.}, language = {en} } @article{DrapalovaWegrich, author = {Drapalova, Eliska and Wegrich, Kai}, title = {Who Governs 4.0? Varieties of Smart Cities}, series = {Public Management Review}, volume = {22}, journal = {Public Management Review}, number = {5}, doi = {10.1080/14719037.2020.1718191}, abstract = {Research on smart cities is still at an early stage. The conjecture of this article is that smart city strategies and their impacts will inevitably vary across contexts; however, the debate still lacks an analytical toolkit that guides the exploration of such varieties (and similarities) of smart cities. Combining existing research on the governance of smart cities with theories of business-state relations from political economy, this article develops an analytical framework and typology that captures varieties (and similarities) of smart city policies and governance. We apply this framework to four illustrative cases: Prague, Barcelona, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro.}, language = {en} } @article{DariusUrquhart, author = {Darius, Philipp and Urquhart, Michael}, title = {Disinformed social movements: A large-scale mapping of conspiracy narratives as online harms during the COVID-19 pandemic}, series = {Online Social Networks and Media}, volume = {26}, journal = {Online Social Networks and Media}, doi = {10.1016/j.osnem.2021.100174}, abstract = {The COVID-19 pandemic caused high uncertainty regarding appropriate treatments and public policy reactions. This uncertainty provided a perfect breeding ground for spreading conspiratorial anti-science narratives based on disinformation. Disinformation on public health may alter the population's hesitance to vaccinations, counted among the ten most severe threats to global public health by the United Nations. We understand conspiracy narratives as a combination of disinformation, misinformation, and rumour that are especially effective in drawing people to believe in post-factual claims and form disinformed social movements. Conspiracy narratives provide a pseudo-epistemic background for disinformed social movements that allow for self-identification and cognitive certainty in a rapidly changing information environment. This study monitors two established conspiracy narratives and their communities on Twitter, the anti-vaccination and anti-5G communities, before and during the first UK lockdown. The study finds that, despite content moderation efforts by Twitter, conspiracy groups were able to proliferate their networks and influence broader public discourses on Twitter, such as \#Lockdown in the United Kingdom.}, language = {en} } @incollection{DariusStephany, author = {Darius, Philipp and Stephany, Fabian}, title = {How the Far-Right Polarises Twitter: 'Hashjacking' as a Disinformation Strategy in Times of COVID-19}, series = {Complex Networks \& Their Applications X. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2021. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1016}, booktitle = {Complex Networks \& Their Applications X. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2021. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1016}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-030-93413-2}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-93413-2_9}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {100 -- 111}, abstract = {Twitter influences political debates. Phenomena like fake news and hate speech show that political discourses on social platforms can become strongly polarised by algorithmic enforcement of selective perception. Some political actors actively employ strategies to facilitate polarisation on Twitter, as past contributions show, via strategies of 'hashjacking'(The use of someone else's hashtag in order to promote one's own social media agenda.). For the example of COVID-19 related hashtags and their retweet networks, we examine the case of partisan accounts of the German far-right party Alternative f{\"u}r Deutschland (AfD) and their potential use of 'hashjacking' in May 2020. Our findings indicate that polarisation of political party hashtags has not changed significantly in the last two years. We see that right-wing partisans are actively and effectively polarising the discourse by 'hashjacking' COVID-19 related hashtags, like \#CoronaVirusDE or \#FlattenTheCurve. This polarisation strategy is dominated by the activity of a limited set of heavy users. The results underline the necessity to understand the dynamics of discourse polarisation, as an active political communication strategy of the far-right, by only a handful of very active accounts.}, language = {en} } @incollection{McBrideKupiBryson, author = {McBride, Keegan and Kupi, Maximilian and Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Untangling Agile Government: On the Dual Necessities of Structure and Agility}, series = {Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives in Public Management}, booktitle = {Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives in Public Management}, editor = {Stephens, Melodena and Awamleh, Raed and Salem, Fadi}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing}, address = {Singapur}, isbn = {9789811239694}, doi = {10.1142/9789811239700_0002}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {300}, abstract = {The governments of today are not able to transform and adapt to changes in the world around them, as demanded by their constituents. The nature of work, value of public goods, and the constant bombardment of crises are making the old bureaucratic structures obsolete. Agile Government is an emerging theme, that of government-wide reinvention for adaptiveness and responsiveness. It places the accountability, delivery, capture, design and creation of public value at the heart of the government. The concept of agile government is confused with terms like Agile Manifesto, agile governance, agility among others, and because of this, needs some unpacking. This book is a deep dive into this topic. It offers insights from the theoretical development of the topic of agile government, some lessons from government practices around the world, and ongoing academic and policy research. The project is spearheaded by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, which is the first teaching and research institution in the Arab world focusing on public policy and governance.}, language = {en} } @unpublished{DempseyMcBrideHaatajaetal., author = {Dempsey, Mark and McBride, Keegan and Haataja, Meeri and Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Transnational digital governance and its impact on artificial intelligence}, doi = {10.31235/osf.io/xu3jr}, pages = {20}, abstract = {The rapid pace of technological advancement and innovation has put governance and regulatory mechanisms to the test. There is a clear need for new and innovative regulatory mechanisms that enable governments to successfully manage the integration of such technologies into our societies and ensure that such integration occurs in a sustainable, beneficial, and just manner. Artificial Intelligence stands out as one of the most debated such innovations. What exactly is it, how should it be built, how can it be used, and how and should it be regulated? Yet, in this debate, AI is becoming widely utilized within both existing, evolving, and bespoke regulatory contexts. The present chapter explores in particular what is arguably the most successful AI regulatory approach to date, that of the European Union. We explore core definitional concepts, shared understandings, values, and approaches currently in play. We argue that due to the so-called 'Brussels effect', regulatory initiatives within the European Union have a much broader global impact and, therefore, warrant close inspection.}, language = {en} } @article{Garten, author = {Garten, Felix}, title = {The challenge of Chinese digital payment networks}, series = {9Dashline}, journal = {9Dashline}, language = {en} } @article{CowlsDariusSantistevanetal., author = {Cowls, Josh and Darius, Philipp and Santistevan, Dominiquo and Schramm, Moritz}, title = {Constitutional metaphors: Facebook's "supreme court" and the legitimation of platform governance}, series = {New Media and Society}, journal = {New Media and Society}, doi = {10.1177/14614448221085559}, abstract = {Who governs—and who should govern—online communication? Social media companies, international organizations, users, or the state? And by what means? A range of rhetorical devices have been used to simplify the complexities associated with the governance of online platforms. This includes "constitutional metaphors": metaphorical allusions to traditional political concepts such as statehood, democracy, and constitutionalism. Here, we empirically trace the ascent of a powerful constitutional metaphor currently employed in the news media discourse on platform governance: characterizations of Facebook's Oversight Board (OB) as a "supreme court." We investigate the metaphor's descriptive suitability and question its normative and political ramifications. We argue that uncritical characterizations of the OB as Facebook's "supreme court" obscure its true scope and purpose. In addition, we argue that appropriating the socio-cultural symbolism and hence political legitimacy of a supreme court and mapping it onto a different type of actor poses a threat to responsible platform governance.}, language = {en} } @article{CingolaniHildebrandt, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and Hildebrandt, Tim}, title = {Incentive Structures for the Adoption of Crowdsourcing in Public Policy: A Bureaucratic Politics Model}, series = {Sustainability}, volume = {14}, journal = {Sustainability}, number = {20}, doi = {10.3390/su142012982}, abstract = {Collective intelligence paradigms have been increasingly embraced by the public sector as a way to address complex policy challenges. The field is limited, however, by our little, comparative understanding of the political economy factors that create incentives around the adoption of certain types of collective intelligence over others in different organizational settings. This article uses a typology of citizen-sourced open innovation models based on the work of Daren Brabham as well as insights from Elinor Ostrom and Archon Fung, in order to produce a theoretical model of the determinants of crowdsourcing adoption decisions in the public sector. The model derives a political economy analysis that matches various administrative scenarios to different collective intelligence modalities and developments. The insights are illustrated through a number of crowdsourcing initiatives and provide important lessons to practitioners designing such collective challenges.}, language = {en} } @techreport{ToomereKamalanathanFreudenthaletal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Toomere, Taavi and Kamalanathan, Sujani and Freudenthal, Margus and Valdma, Sandhra-Mirella and McBride, Keegan}, title = {Digital Government Interoperability Platform Reference Architecture}, series = {Cybernetica research report D-2-384}, journal = {Cybernetica research report D-2-384}, publisher = {Cybernetica AS}, address = {Tallinn, Estonia}, pages = {30}, abstract = {Interoperability is a core component for any successful governmental digitalization initiative. Though there are numerous ways to build and enable this interoperability, it is possible to identify commonly occurring building blocks. This short report identifies these building blocks, maps them to relevant and common policy goals, and presents a reference architecture model for a digital government interoperability platform. To identify the relevant components of this architecture, desk research was conducted to identify common policy goals associated with interoperability, a workshop was conducted and a comprehensive systematic and comparative study was conducted that analyzed digital government interoperability platforms in twenty countries. The results of this report represent one of the most comprehensive studies to date on digital government interoperability and should, therefore, be of high interest for governmental practitioners, industry, and academics involved with interoperability studies and initiatives.}, language = {en} } @article{MiasayedavaMcBrideTuhtan, author = {Miasayedava, Lizaveta and McBride, Keegan and Tuhtan, Jeffrey Andrew}, title = {Automated environmental compliance monitoring of rivers with IoT and open government data}, series = {Journal of Environmental Management}, volume = {303}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Management}, number = {114283}, doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114283}, abstract = {Environmental monitoring of rivers is a cornerstone of the European Union's Water Framework Directive. It requires the estimation and reporting of environmental flows in rivers whose characteristics vary widely across the EU member states. This variability has resulted in a fragmentation of estimation and reporting methods for environmental flows and is exhibited by the myriad of regulatory guidelines and estimation procedures. To standardise and systematically evaluate environmental flows at the pan-European scale, we propose to formalise the estimation procedures through automation by reusing existing river monitoring resources. In this work, we explore how sensor-generated hydrological open government data can be repurposed to automate the estimation and monitoring of river environmental flows. In contrast to existing environmental flows estimation methods, we propose a scalable IoT-based architecture and implement its cloud-layer web service. The major contribution of this work is the demonstration of an automated environmental flows system based on open river monitoring data routinely collected by national authorities. Moreover, the proposed system adds value to existing environmental monitoring data, reduces development and operational costs, facilitates streamlining of environmental compliance and allows for any authority with similar data to reuse or scale it with new data and methods. We critically discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with open government data, including its quality. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed system using the Estonian national river monitoring network and define further research directions.}, language = {en} } @incollection{QuintarelliMisuracaDeBiaseetal., author = {Quintarelli, Stefano and Misuraca, Gianluca and De Biase, Luca and McBride, Keegan}, title = {The Information Society and the Future of Digital Well-being}, series = {Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report 2022}, booktitle = {Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report 2022}, publisher = {Sustainable Development Solutions Network}, address = {New York}, isbn = {978-1-7348080-3-2}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {115 -- 133}, language = {en} } @incollection{McBrideMisnikovDraheim, author = {McBride, Keegan and Misnikov, Yuri and Draheim, Dirk}, title = {Discussing the foundations for interpretivist digital government research}, series = {Scientific Foundations of Digital Governance and Transformation. Concepts, Approaches and Challenges}, booktitle = {Scientific Foundations of Digital Governance and Transformation. Concepts, Approaches and Challenges}, editor = {Charalabidis, Yannis and Flak, Leif Skiftenes and Viale Pereira, Gabriela}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-030-92945-9}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-92945-9_6}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {121 -- 147}, abstract = {As the research domain of digital government continues to develop as an important body of scholarly research, it is important to understand the core theoretical and philosophical basis of the discipline. Yet, in the domain of digital government, such an understanding does not exist. Therefore, there is currently a need for critical discussion about the concrete role of research philosophy in digital government research. This paper makes a first step in driving such a discussion by presenting arguments and discussion on the relevance of an interpretivist research philosophy for the domain of digital government. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of an interpretivist ontology and epistemology for digital government, discusses relevant theories and methods, and concludes with an overview of what is essential for conducting and carrying out interpretivist digital government research. This paper's contributions represent one of the first concentrated efforts to lay out initial foundations for the role of interpretivism, and research philosophy more generally, for digital government research.}, language = {en} } @incollection{ShahYahiaMcBrideetal., author = {Shah, Syed Attique and Yahia, Sadok Ben and McBride, Keegan and Jamil, Akhtar and Draheim, Dirk}, title = {Twitter Streaming Data Analytics for Disaster Alerts}, series = {2021 2nd International Informatics and Software Engineering Conference (IISEC)}, booktitle = {2021 2nd International Informatics and Software Engineering Conference (IISEC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-1-6654-0759-5}, doi = {10.1109/IISEC54230.2021.9672370}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {1 -- 6}, abstract = {In today's world, disasters, both natural and manmade, are becoming increasingly frequent, and new solutions are of a compelling need to provide and disseminate information about these disasters to the public and concerned authorities in an effective and efficient manner. One of the most frequently used ways for information dissemination today is through social media, and when it comes to real-time information, Twitter is often the channel of choice. Thus, this paper discusses how Big Data Analytics (BDA) can take advantage of information streaming from Twitter to generate alerts and provide information in real-time on ongoing disasters. The paper proposes TAGS (Twitter Alert Generation System), a novel solution for collecting and analyzing social media streaming data in realtime and subsequently issue warnings related to ongoing disasters using a combination of Hadoop and Spark frameworks. The paper tests and evaluates the proposed solution using Twitter data from the 2018 earthquake in Palu City, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The proposed architecture was able to issue alert messages on various disaster scenarios and identify critical information that can be utilized for further analysis. Moreover, the performance of the proposed solution is assessed with respect to processing time and throughput that shows reliable system efficiency.}, language = {en} } @periodical{OPUS4-4778, title = {Special Issue on Tech Companies and Public Interest}, series = {Information, Communication \& Society}, volume = {26}, journal = {Information, Communication \& Society}, number = {1}, editor = {Stockmann, Daniela and Bennett, Lance}, language = {en} } @article{RackwitzPalaric, author = {Rackwitz, Maike and Palaric, Enora}, title = {A shift towards collaboration? Evidence from national digitalisation strategies}, series = {dms - der moderne staat - Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Public Policy, Recht und Management}, volume = {16}, journal = {dms - der moderne staat - Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Public Policy, Recht und Management}, number = {1-2023}, doi = {10.3224/dms.vXiX.273808}, pages = {1 -- 20}, abstract = {This paper seeks to better understand the paradigm shift towards 'networked governance' in digitalisation discourse. Little is known about the link between digitalisation reforms and the main reform paradigms in public management studies. By analysing French and German national digitalisation strategies over time, we find that neo-Weberian, new public management, and networked governance discourses co-exist within the digital era, although networked governance rhetoric is increasingly influential. However, a closer examination reveals that this shift in discourse is unrelated to the increased integration of nonstate actors in actual decision-making and service delivery.}, language = {en} } @article{Rackwitz, author = {Rackwitz, Maike}, title = {Fraught with tension? A machine-learning approach to termination traits of public corporations in English and German local governments}, series = {Public Management Review}, journal = {Public Management Review}, doi = {10.1080/14719037.2023.2204323}, abstract = {Corporatization has gained scholarly attention in recent years, yet little is known regarding why many corporations are eventually terminated, and what happens to their form and functions thereafter. Reinternalizing services is one option local governments may pursue. This paper focuses on the impact of tensions (systemic contradictions) on this final resolution reached: Do local governments choose or refuse reinternalization? Conducting machine learning, I predict termination outcomes based on an original dataset of 244 ceased English and German companies (2010-2020). The results show that macrosystemic tensions are more relevant for resourcing decisions and reinternalization is less likely to be caused by formal ownership issues.}, language = {en} } @article{BreaughRackwitzHammerschmidetal., author = {Breaugh, Jessica and Rackwitz, Maike and Hammerschmid, Gerhard and N{\~o}mmik, Steven and Bello, Benedetta and Boon, Jan and Van Doninck, Dries and Downe, James and Randma-Liiv, Tiina}, title = {Deconstructing complexity: A comparative study of government collaboration in national digital platforms and smart city networks in Europe}, series = {Public Policy and Administration}, journal = {Public Policy and Administration}, doi = {10.1177/09520767231169401}, abstract = {This research deconstructs complexity as a key challenge of intergovernmental digitalisation projects. While much of the literature acknowledges that the fundamental restructuring coupled with technical capacity that these joint projects require leads to increased complexity, little is known about how different types of complexity interact within the collaborative process. Using established concepts of substantive, strategic, and institutional complexity, we apply complexity theory in collaborative digital environments. To do so, eight digital projects are analysed that differ by state structure and government level. Using a cross-case design with 50 semi-structured expert interviews, we find that each digitalisation project exhibits all types of complexity and that these complexities overlap. However, clear differences emerge between national and local level projects, suggesting that complexity in digitalisation processes presents different challenges for collaborative digitalisation projects across contexts.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannSchlosserKsatryo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Schlosser, Sophia and Ksatryo, Paxia}, title = {Social media governance and strategies to combat online hatespeech in Germany}, series = {Policy \& Internet}, journal = {Policy \& Internet}, issn = {1944-2866}, doi = {10.1002/poi3.348}, pages = {1 -- 19}, abstract = {Concerns over online hatespeech have prompted governments to strengthen social media governance. However, claims by policy-makers and political activists regarding the effectiveness and likely consequences of legal regulations remain largely untested. We rely on qualitative interviews and two expert surveys to examine the behavior of public relations professionals in response to online hatespeech when having the option of using the new user-complaint mechanism under the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG). Our findings reveal that strategies depend on whether professionals work at public sector institutions, business, or civil society organizations and political parties. Public sector institutions are likely to report to the platform, but not under NetzDG. Civil society organizations are likely to choose content moderation, counterspeech, and other forms of intervention. Businesses deploy a wide range of strategies. In practice, Germany's procedural approach relying on user-complaint mechanisms to deal with online hatespeech is not used by experts as a means to combat online harassment.}, language = {en} } @article{BrysonHaataja, author = {Bryson, Joanna and Haataja, Meeri}, title = {The European Parliament's AI Regulation: Should We Call It Progress?}, series = {Amicus Curiae}, volume = {4, Series 2}, journal = {Amicus Curiae}, number = {3}, doi = {10.14296/ac.v4i3.5612}, pages = {707 -- 718}, abstract = {The European Union (EU) has been leading the world with its influential digital regulation. However, the EU's legislative process is sufficiently complex and careful that some national legislation clearly influenced by the EU's AI Regulation is already in place in other countries, before the law has even been finalized in the EU. Meanwhile, other states and regions are just beginning to develop AI policy. For both the EU and such others, we here describe the outcomes of the first round of legislative action by one of the EU's two legislative bodies, the European Parliament, in terms of modifying the Artificial Intelligence Act. The Parliament has introduced a number of changes we consider to be enormously important, some in a very good way, and some in a very bad way. At stake is whether the AI Act really brings the power and strength of product law to continuously scale improved practice on products in the EU with intelligent components, or whether the law becomes window-dressing aimed only at attacking a few elite actors post hoc. We describe here the EU process, the changes and our recommendations.}, language = {en} } @techreport{DariusStockmannBrysonetal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Darius, Philipp and Stockmann, Daniela and Bryson, Joanna and Cingolani, Luciana and Griffin, Rachel and Hammerschmid, Gerhard and Kupi, Maximilian and Mones, Haytham and Munzert, Simon and Riordan, R{\´o}n{\´a}n and Stockreiter, Simona}, title = {Implementing Data Access of the Digital Services Act: Collaboration of European Digital Service Coordinators and Researchers in Building Strong Oversight over Social Media Platforms}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-4947}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-49479}, pages = {11}, abstract = {The EU Digital Service Acts signals a move away from self-regulation towards co-regulation of social media platforms within the European Union. To address online harms and rising platform power the DSA clarifies responsibilities of platforms and outlines a new technology regulatory framework to increase oversight. One key oversight instrument constitutes Article 40 of the DSA, which lays out data access for vetted researchers, who add value to regulators and the broader public as creators of knowledge, educators, advisors, innovators, and watchdogs. Currently, the EU Commission and national governments make important decisions regarding Digital Service Coordinators (DSCs) that play a key role in implementation. Based on expertise on European public administration and political science we lay out key challenges and success factors of DSCs that will play a role in promoting successful cooperation between DSCs and researchers. We provide three recommendations: First, we recommend to strengthen transfer of scientific knowledge into policy-making by processing publicly accessible publications within public administrative bodies. To this end, capacities of DSCs need to be increased. In addition, we also point towards the database of vetted researchers collected by the Board of DSCs as important resource in order to strengthen knowledge transfer. Second, the DSC network requires agile institutions with fast response time in order to enable researchers to play a constructive role in implementation. This also includes institutional procedures between DSCs and the Intermediary Body and Data Protection Agencies. To avoid delay in implementation agile institution-building needs to start now. Finally, institutional safeguards will help to avoid strategic choice of companies of the DSC of establishment. At the same time, the Irish DSC's capacity should be strengthened compared to other national DSCs since most large intermediary services providers have their European headquarters in Ireland.}, language = {en} } @article{HammerschmidPalaricRackwitzetal., author = {Hammerschmid, Gerhard and Palaric, Enora and Rackwitz, Maike and Wegrich, Kai}, title = {A shift in paradigm? Collaborative public administration in the context of national digitalization strategies}, series = {Governance}, volume = {37}, journal = {Governance}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1111/gove.12778}, pages = {411 -- 430}, abstract = {Despite claims of a paradigmatic shift toward the increased role of networks and partnerships as a form of governance—driven and enabled by digital technologies—the relation of "Networked Governance" with the pre-existing paradigms of "Traditional Weberian Public Administration" and "New Public Management" remains relatively unexplored. This research aims at collecting systematic evidence on the dominant paradigms in digitalization reforms in Europe by comparing the doctrines employed in the initial and most recent digitalization strategies across eight European countries: Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. We challenge the claim that Networked Governance is emerging as the dominant paradigm in the context of the digitalization of the public sector. The findings confirm earlier studies indicating that information and communication technologies tend to reinforce some traditional features of administration and the recentralization of power. Furthermore, we find evidence of the continued importance of key features of "New Public Management" in the digital era.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Rackwitz, author = {Rackwitz, Maike}, title = {Understanding the causes, dynamics, and consequences of corporatization: An analysis of local government evidence in England and Germany}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5044}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-50441}, school = {Hertie School}, pages = {194}, abstract = {This dissertation explores corporatization-the provision of public services by publicly-owned companies-as a specific public management reform that has strongly been endorsed in the last decades. However, despite the significance of corporatization in public administration and the controversy over its viability as a strategy for enhancing public service provision, there is limited empirical research on its trajectory and associated effects. This dissertation fills this important gap in the literature by examining the causes, dynamics, and consequences of corporatization. It challenges the claim that we are witnessing a resurgence of the state in recent years, resulting in a pendulum shift from the private to the public sector. A mixed-methods approach is employed to analyze three original datasets from English and German local government contexts. Theoretical perspectives rooted in rational choice are complemented by those accounting for irrational ambiguity to capture the unique ambidexterity of corporatization. After clarifying the theoretical background in Chapter 1, this exploration unfolds across three empirical chapters. Chapter 2 investigates what drives corporatization. It reveals that ownership structures in corporatization have become increasingly complex and political-rather than economic-incentives may explain shifts toward indirect municipal ownership. Chapter 3 examines what causes corporatization to reverse. It shows that a return of services to the core local government after a company closes is less likely than other forms of service provision, while the type of service is the factor that matters most for termination decisions. Chapter 4 analyzes how local governments experience and cope with reverse corporatization. Local governments and their employees evidently and mutually impact the return process, which can induce private sector-informed change within the bureaucracy, albeit with limited transformative power. Ultimately, this dissertation finds no clear evidence of a pendulum shift toward the local public sector. This conclusion follows from conceptual and empirical differentiation and depends on how corporatization is framed, as well as on the specific country, service type, and dimension of public influence considered. It also suggests that the notion of the pendulum shift needs reevaluation. For practitioners, this holds several implications that encourage optimism about reform, and advise against an arbitrary approach to diversifying costs.}, language = {en} } @article{GibsonBonDariusetal., author = {Gibson, Rachel and Bon, Esmeralda and Darius, Philipp and Smyth, Peter}, title = {Are Online Political Influencers Accelerating Democratic Deconsolidation?}, series = {Media and Communication}, volume = {11}, journal = {Media and Communication}, number = {3}, issn = {2183-2439}, doi = {10.17645/mac.v11i3.6813}, abstract = {Social media campaigning is increasingly linked with anti-democratic outcomes, with concerns to date centring on paid adverts, rather than organic content produced by a new set of online political influencers. This study systematically compares voter exposure to these new campaign actors with candidate-sponsored ads, as well as established and alternative news sources during the US 2020 presidential election. Specifically, we examine how far higher exposure to these sources is linked with key trends identified in the democratic deconsolidation thesis. We use data from a national YouGov survey designed to measure digital campaign exposure to test our hypotheses. Findings show that while higher exposure to online political influencers is linked to more extremist opinions, followers are not disengaging from conventional politics. Exposure to paid political ads, however, is confirmed as a potential source of growing distrust in political institutions.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Darius, author = {Darius, Philipp}, title = {Are social media platforms accelerators of democratic fragmentation? An inquiry into the relationship of democratic fragmentation and social media platforms in three political arenas: political campaigns, protest movements and democratic institutions}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5055}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-50557}, school = {Hertie School}, pages = {136}, abstract = {Whilst social media platforms provide global communication environments, these platforms are not primarily designed for political debates. This may have adverse effects on democracy and contribute to democratic fragmentation. This dissertation project investigates the role of social media platforms as potential accelerators of fragmentation in established democracies. The overarching question of this dissertation explores to what extent social media platforms may contribute to fragmentation that may result in the erosion of democracy. This dissertation comprises three articles focusing on three political arenas 1) political campaigns, 2) protest movements, and 3) democratic institutions. The first paper investigates the polarisation of online political behaviour on Twitter in democratic election campaigns. The analysis is based on Twitter data of German political parties and election hashtags during the final week of the 2017 and 2021 German Federal elections. The study's findings suggest that the far-right party AfD seeks to polarise online discourse as a strategy and that far-right online partisans may influence the public reception of politicians and established parties. The second paper examines the formation of protest movements on Twitter during the Covid-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The study monitors two established conspiracy narratives and their communities on Twitter, the anti-vaccination and anti-5G communities, before and during the first UK lockdown. The study finds that, despite content moderation efforts by Twitter, conspiracy groups were able to proliferate their messages and influence broader public discourses on Twitter, such as \#Lockdown in the United Kingdom. The findings underline social platforms' potential for protest formation that can result in disinformed social movements. The third paper inspects social platform companies' mimicking of democratic institutions like Meta's oversight board for content decisions that may erode existing democratic institutions. The study traces the emergence of the supreme court metaphor for Meta's oversight board and its use in the US News discourse. The findings emphasise how private organisations and the use of constitutional metaphors can erode the legitimacy of supreme courts and other democratic institutions. The dissertation's findings imply that social media platforms, besides their democratically desirable function for democratic participation and deliberative potentials, contribute to democratic fragmentation in the inspected arenas of political campaigns, disinformed protest movements and democratic institutions. Thus, extended research data access is key to better understanding the social implications of social media platforms and finding adequate regulations of recommender systems, content moderation, and advertisement-based business models.}, language = {en} } @techreport{Griffin, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Griffin, Rachel}, title = {Climate Breakdown as a Systemic Risk in the Digital Services Act}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5075}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-50755}, pages = {18}, abstract = {Digital technologies have substantial environmental impacts. The EU's 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA) requires the largest platforms and search engines to regularly assess "systemic risks" to various social interests - including public health, physical wellbeing, security, and fundamental rights - and to reasonably and proportionately mitigate these risks. Climate change and other escalating environmental crises severely threaten these interests. Accordingly, this policy brief argues that the DSA requires these companies to take reasonable measures to reduce their environmental impacts. This should notably include following best practices to minimise energy and water usage, including "sustainability by design" obligations to pursue less energy- and resource-intensive technologies, design choices, and business practices wherever possible. It should also include measures addressing platforms' indirect environmental impacts, such as the facilitation of environmentally-damaging behaviour by third-party businesses. Since the DSA's risk mitigation obligations apply specifically to the largest platforms - which exercise significant influence over broader technological and commercial ecosystems - regulatory pressure on these companies to take such measures could have outsized environmental benefits. This policy brief by Rachel Griffin, PhD candidate at Sciences Po Law School, offers a legal analysis of the DSA's relevance to environmental policy and explains why environmental risks are within its scope. It then outlines appropriate measures to mitigate platforms' direct and indirect environmental impacts. It concludes with recommendations for platform companies, regulators, and civil society on how to realise the Digital Services Act's potential to help secure a more sustainable tech industry.}, language = {en} } @incollection{RoemmeleDarius, author = {R{\"o}mmele, Andrea and Darius, Philipp}, title = {KI und datengesteuerte Kampagnen: Eine Diskussion der Rolle generativer KI im politischen Wahlkampf}, series = {Informationsfl{\"u}sse, Wahlen und Demokratie: Festschrift f{\"u}r R{\"u}diger Schmitt-Beck}, volume = {Studien zur Wahl- und Einstellungsforschung. Band 35}, booktitle = {Informationsfl{\"u}sse, Wahlen und Demokratie: Festschrift f{\"u}r R{\"u}diger Schmitt-Beck}, editor = {Faas, Thorsten and Huber, Sascha and Krewel, Mona and Roßteutscher, Sigrid}, publisher = {Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH \& Co. KG}, address = {Baden-Baden}, isbn = {9783756008001}, doi = {10.5771/9783748915553}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {199 -- 211}, language = {de} } @article{ElstonRackwitzBel, author = {Elston, Thomas and Rackwitz, Maike and Bel, Germ{\`a}}, title = {Going separate ways: ex-post interdependence and the dissolution of collaborative relations}, series = {International Public Management Journal}, journal = {International Public Management Journal}, doi = {10.1080/10967494.2023.2271468}, abstract = {Interdependence is typically regarded as the cause of inter-organizational collaboration. But it is also a consequence. Collaboration itself creates new interdependence as partners become more entwined in one another's operations and experience the vetoes, compromises, delays, and risks inherent in joint working. This paradox - mitigating one set of interdependencies by creating another - renders collaborative relations inherently unstable. Dissolution may occur if "ex-post" interdependence becomes more troublesome than the original "ex-ante" trigger for the partnership. We test this proposition through comparative analysis of 13 sustained, aborted, and dissolved inter-municipal cooperations in English local government. Ex-post interdependence was most pronounced in those partnerships that ended in dissolution, and informed the design of replacement arrangements. It was also a contributory factor in the abortive cases. But ex-post interdependence was minimized in the group of sustained collaborations by management actions that streamlined the coordination burden imposed by joint working. These findings have implications for partnership design, the collaborator's skillset, and theories of collaborative public management.}, language = {en} } @article{RackwitzRaffer, author = {Rackwitz, Maike and Raffer, Christian}, title = {Shifts in local governments' corporatization intensity: Evidence from German cities}, series = {Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory}, journal = {Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory}, doi = {10.1093/jopart/muae001}, abstract = {Why do local governments create and reform public service companies, given their uncertain economic benefits and potential damage to accountability and service transparency? Taking an extended transaction cost perspective, we argue that corporatization—the provision of public services by publicly owned companies—is a function of fiscal hardship, the decision maker's economic orientation and the level of operator transparency. Using a two-way fixed effects regression, we test this expectation on 680 investment reports of 34 German cities from 1998 to 2017, representing 11,062 year-corporatized entity combinations. We show that the drivers of corporatization are sensitive to the depth of local ownership analyzed. In doing so, we highlight the theoretical need and potential for conceptual differentiation between ownership levels along a corporation's lineage. Exploiting the data's panel structure, we also find that the intensity of corporatization has heightened since the late 1990s, largely due to increasingly complex corporate structures of indirect ownership.}, language = {en} } @article{BonGibsonDariusetal., author = {Bon, Esmeralda and Gibson, Rachel and Darius, Philipp and Greffet, Fabienne and R{\"o}mmele, Andrea}, title = {What drives data-driven campaigning (DDC)? A comparative analysis of the institutional and organisational factors shaping the adoption of DDC in the French and German party systems}, series = {Swiss Political Science Review}, volume = {31}, journal = {Swiss Political Science Review}, publisher = {Wiley}, issn = {1424-7755}, doi = {10.1111/spsr.12652}, pages = {79 -- 101}, abstract = {This paper analyses the adoption of data-driven campaigning (DDC) by German and French parties in recent national elections using data from an original post-election survey of 27 parties (12 German, 15 French) and a new purpose-built DDC campaign index. Specifically, we investigate two main research questions: (1) Do countries and parties vary in the extent to which DDC is practised? (2) If so, what explains those differences? We find that while in both countries DDC adoption is limited in comparison to other campaign modes, differences exist across countries and parties based on a range of macro (systemic) and meso (organisation-level) factors. Most notably, contrary to normalisation theory, we find that minor parties with a 'netroots' base and newcomers who are digital 'natives' engage more in DDC than the 'legacy' major parties.}, language = {en} } @misc{DariusDrewsNeumeieretal., author = {Darius, Philipp and Drews, Wiebke and Neumeier, Andreas and Riedl, Jasmin}, title = {The EUDigiParty data set: The digital campaigning presence of 401 political parties during the European Parliament election 2024 including websites and social media handles on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, and YouTube}, edition = {Version 1.0}, doi = {10.7910/DVN/U6UWPN}, abstract = {The EUDigiParty data set supports researchers interested in investigating digital communication activities by political parties in Europe by providing an extensive list of parties' social media accounts on major digital platforms as of June 2024. The data is valuable for researchers in the fields of political communication, political science, political sociology, and computational social science to inspect party dynamics in Europe from a comparative perspective. The data set also includes identifiers from the Partyfacts database [Version 2023] to enable linking the EUDigiParty data with existing data sets on political parties or country-level data in the European Union. (2024-08-06)}, language = {en} } @misc{Stockmann, author = {Stockmann, Daniela}, title = {Propaganda in Autocracies: Institutions, Information, and the Politics of Belief by Erin Baggott Carter and Brett L. Carter}, series = {Political Science Quarterly}, journal = {Political Science Quarterly}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, doi = {10.1093/psquar/qqaf019}, abstract = {Why do autocracies differ in terms of their strategies for propaganda? This is the fundamental question explored in Propaganda in Autocracies. In the book, Erin Baggott Carter and Brett Carter open with a puzzle to explain why propaganda in the Republic of Congo tends to include more criticism and covers news on political rivals, whereas propaganda in the People's Republic of China tends to have a mouthpiece function displaying its strength. The book argues that these two strategies—referred to as persuasion and domination—are explained by institutions. The coercive nature of autocracies leads to uncertainty among citizens about the autocrat's performance. Yet as electoral constraints become more binding, political elites will use persuasion and propaganda will be less biased toward the regime. In the absence of electoral constraints, citizens solely have the option of removing autocrats by mass protests. In this case, autocrats will choose domination to convince citizens of their capacity for repression.}, language = {en} } @incollection{StockmannLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Luo, Ting}, title = {Xi Jinping's Partnership with Technology Companies and Social Media Platforms}, series = {Chinese Politics: The Xi Jinping Difference}, booktitle = {Chinese Politics: The Xi Jinping Difference}, editor = {Lynch, Daniel and Rosen, Stanley}, edition = {2}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {London}, isbn = {9781032191522}, doi = {10.4324/9781003257943-5}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {22}, abstract = {Contrary to conventional wisdom, even Xi Jinping, who is often depicted in the media and pundit world as having centralized control over nearly every dimension of Chinese governance, still must rely on powerful technology corporations to carry out his will in the increasingly important Internet sector. This suggests a model of political control significantly more nuanced than most observers realize. This chapter argues that Xi Jinping does not rule the Internet and more specifically social media via a tight command-and-control structure, which implies that he is the ultimate decision-maker and companies simply implement his policy decisions. Instead, the chapter demonstrates based on process-tracing that China's governance of the Internet is best understood as a corporate management model, whereby the Chinese state engages in a partnership with technology companies. Xi Jinping assumes a leadership role enforced by state instruments of control and cooptation strategies. At the same time, the state remains dependent on companies due to their informational, organizational, and institutional resources.}, language = {en} } @techreport{SchmitzBryson, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Schmitz, Chris and Bryson, Joanna}, title = {A Moral Agency Framework for Legitimate Integration of AI in Bureaucracies}, number = {v3}, publisher = {arXiv}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2508.08231}, pages = {15}, abstract = {Public-sector bureaucracies seek to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), but face important concerns about accountability and transparency when using AI systems. In particular, perception or actuality of AI agency might create ethics sinks — constructs that facilitate dissipation of responsibility when AI systems of disputed moral status interface with bureaucratic structures. Here, we reject the notion that ethics sinks are a necessary consequence of introducing AI systems into bureaucracies. Rather, where they appear, they are the product of structural design decisions across both the technology and the institution deploying it. We support this claim via a systematic application of conceptions of moral agency in AI ethics to Weberian bureaucracy. We establish that it is both desirable and feasible to render AI systems as tools for the generation of organizational transparency and legibility, which continue the processes of Weberian rationalization initiated by previous waves of digitalization. We present a three-point Moral Agency Framework for legitimate integration of AI in bureaucratic structures: (a) maintain clear and just human lines of accountability, (b) ensure humans whose work is augmented by AI systems can verify the systems are functioning correctly, and (c) introduce AI only where it doesn't inhibit the capacity of bureaucracies towards either of their twin aims of legitimacy and stewardship. We suggest that AI introduced within this framework can not only improve efficiency and productivity while avoiding ethics sinks, but also improve the transparency and even the legitimacy of a bureaucracy.}, language = {en} }