Civic Competence in Creative Cities - How digital Innovations Contribute to Durable Democracies (internet voting)

Upon completing the course, students will be able to:
-describe the background and implementation of internet voting in the context of Estonian e-governance / Estonia as a digital society;
-identify and create indicators for evaluating the diffusion and impact of internet voting;
-design research projects with which diffusion and impact of internet voting are explained; and
-interpret findings from internet voting studies and translate these findings into policy recommendations in relation to possible uses of internet voting.

Vincentius Martinus Franciscus Homburg - Vincent Homburg is the full Professor of e-Governance and the holder of the ERA Chair of e governance and digital public services at the University of Tartu.

Topic	Credit	Lectors
1. Internet voting (introduction, context and core concepts) Adoption rate and use of internet voting	17	Vincentius Martinus Franciscus Homburg
2. Impact of internet voting Behavioural aspects of internet voting	17	Vincentius Martinus Franciscus Homburg
3. Trust and distrust in internet voting Internet voting in Estonia: Estonian exceptionalism?	18	Vincentius Martinus Franciscus Homburg

The course is free of charge for those who took part in SVJS.TK.069

The course takes place in the Moodle online environment. The course is scheduled in three (consecutive) weeks. Each week, students are tasked to watch short videos (asynchronously) and read two research articles on diffusion and impact of internet voting. Each week there will be an online class on Zoom (synchronously), in which students are offered the opportunity to come up with questions, and in which the details of the research designs and findings will be discussed. Each week, there will be an exam (weeks 1 & 2: online multiple choice test, week 3: oral examination of the whole course by the instructor).

Learning takes place in the online learning environment, which presupposes that students have good ICT and web communication skills.

This course offers a 2 ECTS extension to the in-person Summer University course and focuses on practices and impacts of internet voting in Estonia. Estonia is the only country in the world that has been consistently offering internet voting (alongside postal voting and in-person voting) in elections over 19 years (2005 - now). One of the most frequently asked questions by political scientists is how internet voting works and what its behavioural impacts are. In this online extension, these (and other) questions are answered by presenting and discussing empirical studies (based on log analyses and surveys).

The course focuses on the backgrounds and implementation of internet voting in Estonia, and discusses quantitative studies on diffusion and impact of internet voting in Estonia.

Students need to score at least 33% of each multiple choice and oral exam.
Minimum scores E for each of the tests exams

differentiated (A, B, C, D, E, F, not present)

The assessment method consist of the following:
-Multiple choice exams (67% of the final grade)
-Oral exam (33% of the final grade)

Multiple choice exams (MC) - There will be two MC tests (max. 25 minutes, one resit if needed), maximum allowed time for each test is 25 minutes. The assessment criteria includes: F – substandard score on MC tests. E – 50% score on MC tests D – 60% score on MC tests C – 80% score on MC tests B – 90% score on MC tests A – 100% score on MC tests Oral exam - There will be an oral exam (20 minutes max) related to learning objectives 2, 3 and 4), with a focus on application, evaluation and creation. The assessment criteria includes: F –insufficient reflection and understanding of impact studies on internet voting, as evident in oral exam. E –sufficient understanding of findings of impact studies on internet voting, limited reflection as evident in oral exam. D –sufficient understanding and sufficient reflection of impact studies on internet voting, as evident in oral exam. C –good reflection and understanding of impact studies on internet voting, including some methodological reflection as evident in oral exam. B –good reflection and understanding of impact studies on internet voting, sufficient methodological reflection as evident in oral exam. A –advanced reflection and proven understanding of impact studies on internet voting, including advanced methodological understanding as evident in oral exam.

Certificate of completion

Kerli Klock, kerli.klock@ut.ee, +372 +372 737 5937