Technology and Politics (STS 176) (176)	2004 Fall
Stanford University	California	Science, Technology and Society
This course examines two subjects: (1) the impact that politics and government have on technology – on technology’s development, applications, and benefits and costs – and (2) the impact that new technologies such as the Internet are having on politics, including elections. It focuses on American politics, but with some attention to developments in other countries. The course pays particular attention to questions of technology and democracy. How democratic are the decisions that governments make regarding technology? Do citizens and elected officials or a relatively few experts make the major decisions? Are decisions made in a clear, deliberative way or in fact do societies tend to drift in certain technical directions without much thought or deliberation? What would a more “democratic” way of directing technology look like, and would it actually be desirable? For example, what would be more “democratic” ways of guiding the development and use of biotechnologies or nanotechnologies? In terms of the impact of technology on politics, have innovations such as television and the Internet broadly enhanced or hurt important features of democratic life such as equality, freedom, and participation?
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