[ecrea] Call for Papers: 'Policy and Internet' special issue on "Online Collective Action and Policy Change"

Call for Papers

*Policy and Internet
Special Issue on "Online Collective Action and Policy Change"
*
Guest Editors
Andrea Calderaro (PhD, European University Institute)
Anastasia Kavada (PhD,  University of Westminster)

Policy and Internet, the first major peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary
journal investigating the impact of the internet on public policy, is
inviting submissions for a special issue on 'Online Collective Action and
Policy Change', to be published in January 2013 (paper deadline: 31 March
2012). The journal is edited by the Oxford Internet Institute (University
of Oxford) for the Policy Studies Organization (PSO). Please find more at:
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=595

The Internet has created a new interface between collective action and
policy making: it opens new channels for social coordination and
mobilisation, and it offers multiple platforms from where to influence
public opinion and policy makers. The recent wave of protests that has
swept authoritarian regimes like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, but also
western liberal democracies like Greece, Spain, and the UK, offers new
empirical evidence of the impact that online interactions and information
exchange can have on policy making.

In addition to these recent instances of contentious politics, advocacy
and grassroots groups are increasingly using online technologies to
empower local communities and direct change in the policies that most
affect them. And issues at the heart of online governance, like Internet
regulation, are motivating many collective efforts directed to shaping
file-sharing policies, free software, or digital communication rights.

This special issue calls for academic papers reporting novel empirical
research on how online collective action drives policy change, in any of
its ramifications. This includes topics such as:

- The coordination of protests and mobilisations using online
technologies, and their impact on public opinion and policy making.
- The mechanisms through which online collective action grows and
diffuses, and how or when they trigger a policy reaction.
- The impact of online activity on issue salience, and the responsiveness
of policy makers.
- The interplay between online collective action and the offline policy
cycle, or how policy makers deal with new sources of instability and
disruption.

This list of topics is not exhaustive, and other questions related to
online collective action and its impact on policy making will be
considered. Please contact the editors
((policyandinternet /at/ oii.ox.ac.uk)<mailto:(policyandinternet /at/ oii.ox.ac.uk)>) if
you have any queries about how your paper might fit in the issue.

Paper Submissions

The online submission deadline for papers is*31 March 2012*. Please
indicate in the cover letter that the paper is intended for the special
issue 'Online Collective Action and Policy Change'. Authors are advised to
consult the journal's Guide for Authors before submitting their paper.
Please feel free to contact the guest editors Andrea Calderaro
((andrea.calderaro /at/ eui.eu)<mailto:(andrea.calderaro /at/ eui.eu)>) and Anastasia
Kavada ((a.kavada /at/ westminster.ac.uk)<mailto:(a.kavada /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>) for
any inquires about the special issue.