@article{Stockmann, author = {Stockmann, Daniela}, title = {Race to the Bottom: Media Marketization and Increasing Negativity Toward the United States in China}, series = {Political Communication in China: Convergence or Divergence Between the Media and Political System?}, volume = {28}, journal = {Political Communication in China: Convergence or Divergence Between the Media and Political System?}, number = {3}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {London}, doi = {10.1080/10584609.2011.572447}, pages = {268 -- 290}, abstract = {This article examines how Chinese newspapers respond to opposing demands by audiences and Propaganda Department authorities about news regarding the United States when competition poses pressure on marketized media to make a profit. To examine the tone of news reporting about the U.S., I rely on a computer-aided text analysis of news stories published in the People's Daily and the Beijing Evening News, comparing the years 1999 and 2003 before and after the rise of commercialized newspapers in the Beijing newspaper market. Results show that the emergence of news competitors may exert pressure on less marketized papers to change news content, resulting in an increase of negative news about the United States. Evidence is provided to show that the rise of negative news is unlikely to result from an intended strategy by Propaganda authorities, actions undertaken by the American government, or journalists' own attitudes.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Luo, Ting}, title = {Which Social Media Facilitate Online Public Opinion in China?}, series = {Problems of Post-Communism}, volume = {64}, journal = {Problems of Post-Communism}, number = {3-4}, doi = {10.1080/10758216.2017.1289818}, pages = {189 -- 202}, abstract = {Why does online public opinion emerge in some social media more easily than in others? Building on research on authoritarian deliberation, we describe spaces for political discussion in Chinese cyberspace in terms of interactivity, which results in different forms of political discussion. Drawing on semi-structured qualitative expert interviews with information and communications technology professionals at Tencent, Weibo, and Baidu, we explain how major social media differ in terms of their structure and the company's motivation. We specify which features are more likely to facilitate the emergence of online public opinion in Chinese social media and provide preliminary evidence from 92 semi-structured interviews with Internet users.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannGallagher, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Gallagher, Mary E.}, title = {Remote Control: How the Media Sustains Authoritarian Rule in China}, series = {Comparative Political Studies}, volume = {44}, journal = {Comparative Political Studies}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1177/0010414010394773}, pages = {436 -- 467}, abstract = {This study examines the role of the media in sustaining regime stability in an authoritarian context. The article engages the recent work on authoritarian resilience in comparative politics but goes beyond the standard focus on elections to other important institutions, such as the media and courts, that are used by authoritarian leaders to bolster legitimacy. The authors find that the Chinese media contribute to regime legitimacy and effective rule by propagandizing citizens' experiences in the legal system. However, unlike the "mouthpieces" of earlier communist regimes, the marketized Chinese media provide more convincing and sophisticated messages that continue to accord with state censorship demands while satisfying readers' interest in real-life stories and problems. The "positive propaganda" and the relative uniformity of information sources because of state censorship lead aggrieved citizens to the law as a realm for dispute resolution and rights protection. Statistical analysis of a randomly sampled survey conducted in four Chinese cities in 2005 demonstrates that exposure to media reporting about labor-law-related issues successfully promotes the image of a proworker bias in the law among citizens, thus encouraging them to participate in the legal system. The state is able to achieve its political goal because of the lack of conflicting sources of information and the lack of previous experience with the reformed legal system among citizens.}, language = {en} } @article{Stockmann, author = {Stockmann, Daniela}, title = {One Size Doesn't Fit All: Measuring News Reception East and West}, series = {The Chinese Journal of Communication}, volume = {2}, journal = {The Chinese Journal of Communication}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1080/17544750902826640}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-23950}, pages = {140 -- 157}, abstract = {This article investigates how and why measures developed in the American context yield different results in China. Research in the United States has shown that a person's level of political knowledge is a stronger and more consistent predictor of news reception compared to alternative measures, such as media consumption or education. Yet a case study of news reception of pension reform in Beijing demonstrates that attentiveness and education constitute more valid indicators than knowledge. These differences in the empirical findings may result from translation from English into Chinese as well as specifics of the Chinese education system. However, when using valid measures the relationship between attentiveness and news reception is strong among Beijing residents, revealing that information-processing works as anticipated based on American media research.}, language = {en} } @article{Stockmann, author = {Stockmann, Daniela}, title = {Towards Area-Smart Data Science: Critical Questions for Working with Big Data from China}, series = {Policy and Internet}, journal = {Policy and Internet}, number = {10(4)}, doi = {10.1002/poi3.192}, pages = {393 -- 414}, abstract = {While the Internet was created without much governmental oversight, states have gradually drawn territorial borders via Internet governance. China stands out as a promoter of such a territorial-based approach. China's separate Web infrastructure shapes data when information technologies capture traces of human behavior. As a result, area expertise can contribute to the substantive, methodological, and ethical debates surrounding big data. This article discusses how a number of critical questions that have been raised about big data more generally apply to the Chinese context: How does big data change our understanding of China? What are the limitations of big data from China? What is the context in which big data is generated in China? Who has access to big data and who knows the tools? How can big data from China be used in an ethical way? These questions are intended to spark conversations about best practices for collaboration between data scientists and China experts.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannLuoShen, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Luo, Ting and Shen, Mingming}, title = {Designing authoritarian deliberation: how social media platforms influence political talk in China}, series = {Democratization}, volume = {27}, journal = {Democratization}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1080/13510347.2019.1679771}, pages = {243 -- 264}, abstract = {Discussion is often celebrated as a critical element of public opinion and political participation. Recently, scholars have suggested that the design and features of specific online platforms shape what is politically expressed online and how. Building on these findings and drawing on 112 semi-structured qualitative interviews with information technology experts and internet users, we explain how major Chinese social media platforms differ in structure and motivation. Drawing upon a nationwide representative survey and an online experiment, we find that platforms aiming to make users a source of information through public, information-centred communication, such as the Twitter-like Weibo, are more conducive to political expression; while platforms built to optimize building social connections through private, user-centred communication, such as WhatsApp and Facebook-like WeChat, tend to inhibit political expression. These technological design effects are stronger when users believe the authoritarian state tolerates discussion, but less important when political talk is sensitive. The findings contribute to the debate on the political consequences of the internet by specifying technological and political conditions.}, language = {en} } @article{WorthamGaudlBryson, author = {Wortham, Robert H. and Gaudl, Swen E. and Bryson, Joanna}, title = {Instinct: A Biologically Inspired Reactive Planner for Intelligent Embedded Systems}, series = {Cognitive Systems Research}, volume = {57}, journal = {Cognitive Systems Research}, doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2018.10.016}, pages = {207 -- 215}, abstract = {The Instinct Planner is a new biologically inspired reactive planner, based on an established behaviour based robotics methodology and its reactive planner component—the POSH planner implementation. It includes several significant enhancements that facilitate plan design and runtime debugging. It has been specifically designed for low power processors and has a tiny memory footprint. Written in C++, it runs eciently on both Arduino(Atmel AVR) and Microsoft VC++ environments and has been deployed within a low cost maker robot to study AI Transparency. Plans may be authored using a variety of tools including a new visual design language, currently implemented using the Dia drawing package.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {The survival of open government platforms: Empirical insights from a global sample}, series = {Government Information Quarterly}, volume = {Volume 38}, journal = {Government Information Quarterly}, editor = {Elsevier,}, edition = {Issue 1}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.giq.2020.101522}, abstract = {For a number of years scholars have theorized about a change of paradigm in the collaborative practices between governments and citizens as a result of the newly emerged many-to-many forms of connectivity. A vibrant agenda on open government has flourished since, with critical advances on the conceptual front, but much less empirical testing of its propositions. This article makes use of a recognized typology of co-production initiatives in order to implement a Cox hazards survival analysis of 465 open government platforms from a global sample in 87 countries. Its main findings suggest that government-initiated collaborations have the lowest risk of termination and that citizen-to-government initiatives the highest. They also show that while internationally-exerted pressure for openness favors the genesis of open government platforms, it does not affect their survival chances.}, language = {en} } @article{LindemannStoetzer, author = {Lindemann, Korinna and Stoetzer, Lukas F.}, title = {The effect of televised candidate debates on the support for political parties}, series = {Electoral Studies}, volume = {69}, journal = {Electoral Studies}, issn = {0261-3794}, doi = {10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102243}, abstract = {During campaigns for legislative elections, a large portion of the general public follows televised debates between the front-running candidates. How can the candidates use the public interest in the debates to increase the support for their party? In this article, we argue that especially challenger candidates can improve the public perception of their valence qualities, such as personal integrity, leadership, and competence, and can - as a result - raise the support of their party. We expect that the perceived policy stances of the candidates matter less. Building on televised debate experiments during the German Federal Elections of 2009 and 2013, we analyse the effect of the debates on party vote and in how far this relationship is mediated by changes in valence and policy evaluations of the candidates. Results show that changes of candidate valence, but not changes in policy perceptions, of the social-democratic front-running candidates mediate the vote intention for the party. Respondents who perceived the candidates more competent, empathetic and have integrity as a result of the debate are more likely to vote for the candidate's party. Our analysis further reveals, however, that this valence effect is not long-lasting and does not carry-over to vote intention briefly before the election.}, language = {en} } @article{BrysonMalikova, author = {Bryson, Joanna and Malikova, Helena}, title = {Is There an AI Cold War?}, series = {Global Perspectives}, volume = {2}, journal = {Global Perspectives}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1525/gp.2021.24803}, abstract = {Regulation is a means societies use to create the stability, public goods, and infrastructure they need to thrive securely. This policy brief is intended to both document and to address claims of a new AI cold war: a binary competition between the United States and China that is too important for other powers to either ignore or truly participate in directly, beyond taking sides. We argue that while some of the claims of this narrative are based at least in part on genuine security concerns and important unknowns, evidence for its extreme binary nature is lacking. This absence of factual evidence is concerning, because related geopolitical tensions may be used to interfere with regulation of AI and agencies associated with its development. Here we first document and then analyze the extremely bipolar picture prominent policymakers and political commentators have been recently painting of the AI technological situation, portraying China and the United States as the only two global powers. We then examine the plausibility of these claims using two measures: internationally registered AI patents and the market capitalization of the companies that hold them. These two measures, while each somewhat arbitrary and imperfect, are often deployed in the context of the binary narrative and can therefore be seen as conservative choices in that they should favor exactly the "champions" of that narrative. In fact, these measures do not produce bipolar results: Chinese capacity has been exaggerated and that of other global regions deprecated. These findings call into question the motivation behind the documented claims, though they also further illuminate the uncertainty concerning digital technology security. We recommend that all parties engage in contributing to a safe, secure, and transparent regulatory landscape.}, language = {en} } @article{RackwitzHustedtHammerschmid, author = {Rackwitz, Maike and Hustedt, Thurid and Hammerschmid, Gerhard}, title = {Digital transformation: From hierarchy to network-based collaboration? The case of the German "Online Access Act".}, series = {dms - der moderne staat - Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Public Policy, Recht und Management}, volume = {14}, journal = {dms - der moderne staat - Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Public Policy, Recht und Management}, number = {1}, doi = {10.3224/dms.v14i1.05}, pages = {101 -- 120}, abstract = {To unlock the full potential of ICT-related public sector innovation and digital transformation, governments must embrace collaborative working structures and leadership, is commonly argued. However, little is known about the dynamics of such collaborations in contexts of hierarchy, silo cultures, and procedural accountability. A widely voiced but empirically insufficiently substantiated claim is that bringing cross-cutting digital endeavours forward requires more lateral, network-based approaches to governance beyond traditional Weberian ideals. We test this claim by shedding light on three distinct challenges (complexity, risk, and power imbalance) encountered when implementing the specific collaborative case of the German Online Access Act (OAA) and by examining how they have been addressed in institutional design and leadership. Our analysis, which combines desk research and semi-structured expert interviews, reveals that flexible, horizontal approaches are on the rise. Taking a closer look, however, vertical coordination continues to serve as complementary means to problem-solving capability.}, language = {en} } @article{StockmannHartmanLuo, author = {Stockmann, Daniela and Hartman, Keri and Luo, Ting}, title = {The political position generator - A new instrument for measuring political ties in China}, series = {Social Networks}, volume = {63}, journal = {Social Networks}, issn = {0378-8733}, doi = {10.1016/j.socnet.2020.05.004}, pages = {70 -- 79}, abstract = {This paper proposes a novel instrument - the political position generator - for measuring individuals' political ties, or personal, affective connections to state officials and other political actors. It adopts and adapts the more general position generator framework in social capital research to capture three key dimensions of political ties - upper reachability, network diversity, and tie strength. The measure is validated with data from a representative survey of the Chinese population and three scales representing the three political ties dimensions are created. In correlational and multivariate regression analyses, we find initial evidence of the instrument's criterion-related (discriminant and concurrent) validity.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {Infrastructural state capacity in the digital age: What drives the performance of COVID-19 tracing apps?}, series = {Governance}, journal = {Governance}, doi = {10.1111/gove.12666}, pages = {1 -- 23}, abstract = {In a context where states increasingly complement their physical presence with digital means, the classic idea of infrastructural state power needs reconsideration. The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unparalleled opportunity to that end, given the uniformity of one type of digital infrastructural intervention - the offer of contact tracing apps - and its highly varying performance across geographies. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to expand traditional discussions on state infrastructural power by testing a series of propositions on the explanatory factors behind tracing apps' emergence and adoption rates. The findings stemming from a pool of 150 countries show no straightforward connection between traditional and digital forms of infrastructural power. They also point at the primacy of governmental trust over financial, institutional, and technological factors - including privacy standards - when explaining high adoption, suggesting that the relational aspect of infrastructural power acquires a proportionally greater weight in the digital era.}, 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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @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} } @article{Robinson, author = {Robinson, Nicholas}, title = {Open to open-source AI? Navigating AI model choice in public sector agencies}, series = {Government Information Quarterly}, volume = {43}, journal = {Government Information Quarterly}, number = {2}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, doi = {10.1016/j.giq.2026.102133}, abstract = {Public sector Agencies are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools. High quality open-source AI (OSAI) options are available, but much of their current attention is on proprietary options such as Copilot and ChatGPT. There are parallels with take-up of open-source software (OSS). While OSS has a foothold in niche functions of Agencies' technology suites, it has not seen widespread adoption despite backing from technical and political spheres and its potential to reduce costs and spur increased competition and innovation. Grounded in theoretical frameworks and evidence used to investigate OSS uptake, the study draws on interviews with 31 decision-makers on AI adoption in Australian, Canadian and German public sector Agencies to analyse key factors in the feasibility of open-source technologies in general and OSAI in particular, compared to their proprietary counterparts. In comparison to determinants of OSS adoption, technological characteristics like fit, control and the availability of hardware infrastructure are more influential in whether OSAI is adopted. Furthermore, organisational considerations like digital sovereignty and data protection were more prominent in the AI decisions. Conversely, AI models are more homogenous and easier to switch between than traditional software products, meaning that perceptions of usability, fears of vendor lock-in and availability of support were not as strong an influence as with OSS. Although AI is a fast-evolving technology, the choice to adopt OSAI or proprietary AI involves making commitments today — like investment in hardware and building internal sovereign capabilities — that will echo into the future.}, language = {en} }