This course provides an introduction to Social Network Analysis (SNA) and demonstrates its application to the study of political phenomena, particularly in the realm of political elites and policy-making. Social networks describe the interactions and relationships between actors, and the links among individuals and organisations are often at the core of politics. Legislators can be connected to each other through activities such as co-sponsoring a bill. Government and interest groups form policy networks through the exchange of resources. As a mode of administrative governance, bureaucrats and authorities establish networks of coordination to fulfil complex tasks, especially within the multi-level polity of the EU. The notion of discourse networks leads us to describe policy debates by considering the statements of political actors as links between actors and concepts.
The course is structured into two parts: We begin with an understanding of the conceptual and methodological foundations of SNA: what language do network researchers use to describe their subject? How do we structure and manage network data? Is there a general network theory and what methods does SNA provide (e.g. community detection)? In a second step, we will transfer the ideas of network analysis to the field of political science. Participants will learn how to approach political networks theoretically and explore a selected range of empirical applications.
For better illustration, in both parts of the seminar we will use software such as Gephi to create, describe and visualise real-world sample data from both the offline and online spheres. Please bring your own laptop.
- Kursleiter/in: Erik Wolfes-Wenker