Editing Organizing and Governance in Online Communities (UW COM597 Winter 2025) (section)

== Schedule ==
=== Friday January 10: Introduction ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:

This pair of two articles on peer production:
* Coase, Ronald H. 1937. “The Nature of the Firm.” ''Economica'' 4 (16): 386–405. https://doi.org/10.2307/2626876. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/2626876}}
* Benkler, Yochai. 2002. “Coase’s Penguin, or, Linux and the Nature of the Firm.” ''Yale Law Journal'' 112 (3): 369–446. https://doi.org/10.2307/1562247. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/1562247}}

These articles on "community" and it's relationships to organizations, especially in online spaces:

* Bruckman, Amy. 2006. “A New Perspective on ‘Community’ and Its Implications for Computer-Mediated Communication Systems.” In ''CHI ’06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems'', 616–21. Montréal, Québec, Canada: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/1125451.1125579. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1145/1125451.1125579}}
* Hampton, Keith N. 2016. “Persistent and Pervasive Community: New Communication Technologies and the Future of Community.” ''American Behavioral Scientist'' 60 (1): 101–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215601714. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215601714}}
* O’Mahony, Siobhan, and Karim R. Lakhani. 2011. “Organizations in the Shadow of Communities.” In ''Communities and Organizations'', 33:3–36. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X(2011)0000033004. {{avail-free|1=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1873989}}

;Optional reading:

* Oldenburg, Ray. 1989. ''The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day''. First Edition. New York: Paragon House. [Chapter 1 ("The Problem of Place in America") and Chapter 2 ("The Character of Third Places")]  {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/128963059/download?download_frd=1}}

=== Friday January 17: Introduction: Agency, Structure, and Governance ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:

The [[:wikipedia:structure and agency|argument over the primacy of agency and structure in shaping society]] is probably the most important animating debate in both the classical and contemporary social sciences and has important connections to thinking about governance. We'll read classic texts from both perspectives as well a series of more recent texts that have extended these ideas into thinking about governance in online communities.

Here are two pieces about rational choice (a position strongly associated with a focus on individual agency):

* Simon, Herbert A. 1955. “A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice.” ''The Quarterly Journal of Economics' 69 (1): 99–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852. {{Avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852}}
* Champion, Kaylea. 2020. “Characterizing Online Vandalism: A Rational Choice Perspective.” In ''International Conference on Social Media and Society (SMSociety’20)'', 47–57. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3400806.3400813. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1145/3400806.3400813}}

Here is a set of pieces about social structure, authority, and governance (especially bureaucracy):

* Weber, Max. 2019. ''Economy and Society: A New Translation''. Translated by Keith Tribe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. [Ch. 1, Pt. II: "The Concept of Social Action" (pgs. 99-138); Ch. 3: "Types of Rule", Pt. 1-4 9 (pgs. 338-378)] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129316420/download?download_frd=1}}
* Kreiss, Daniel, Megan Finn, and Fred Turner. 2011. “The Limits of Peer Production: Some Reminders from Max Weber for the Network Society.” ''New Media & Society'' 13 (2): 243–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810370951. {{Avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810370951}}
* O’Neil, Mathieu. 2014. “Hacking Weber: Legitimacy, Critique, and Trust in Peer Production.” ''Information, Communication & Society'' 17 (7): 872–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.850525. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.850525}} 
* Schneider, Nathan. 2022. “Admins, Mods, and Benevolent Dictators for Life: The Implicit Feudalism of Online Communities.” New Media & Society 24 (9): 1965–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820986553. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820986553}}

;Optional readings:
* Weber, Max. 2019. ''Economy and Society: A New Translation''. Translated by Keith Tribe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. [The remainder of Chas. 1 and 3 plus very short "Overviews" notes to the chapters (pgs. 74-138, 335-449)] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129206284/download?download_frd=1}}
* Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1959. “Bureaucratic and Craft Administration of Production: A Comparative Study.” ''Administrative Science Quarterly'' 4 (2): 168–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/2390676. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/2390676}}
* Weber, Max. 1978. “Chapter IX: Bureaucracy.” In ''Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology'', edited by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich, 956–1005. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129206133/download?download_frd=1}}

=== Friday January 24: Collective Action ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:

* Olson, Mancur. 1965. ''The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups''. First Edition. Harvard University Press. [Introduction (pgs. 1-3); Chapter I "A Theory of Groups and Organizations" (pgs. 5-52); Chapter II "Group Size and Group Behavior" (pgs. 53-65)] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129481805/download?download_frd=1}}
* Marwell, Gerald, and Pamela Oliver. 1993. ''The Critical Mass in Collective Action''. Cambridge University Press. [Chapters 1-3 (pgs. 1-57)] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129481803/download?download_frd=1}}
* Lupia, Arthur, and Gisela Sin. 2003. “Which Public Goods Are Endangered?: How Evolving Communication Technologies Affect the Logic of Collective Action.” ''Public Choice'' 117 (3): 315–31. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PUCH.0000003735.07840.c7. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PUCH.0000003735.07840.c7}}
* Bimber, Bruce, Andrew J. Flanagin, and Cynthia Stohl. 2005. “Reconceptualizing Collective Action in the Contemporary Media Environment.” ''Communication Theory'' 15 (4): 365–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2005.tb00340.x. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2005.tb00340.x}}
* Bennett, W. Lance, and Alexandra Segerberg. 2012. “The Logic of Connective Action.” Information, Communication & Society 15 (5): 739–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.670661. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.670661}}

;Optional readings:

* Bimber, Bruce A., Andrew J. Flanagin, and Cynthia Stohl. 2012. ''Collective Action in Organizations: Interaction and Engagement in an Era of Technological Change''. Communication, Society and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press. [https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/washington/reader.action?docID=862354&ppg=1| UW Library E-book]
* Marwell, Gerald, and Pamela Oliver. 1993. ''The Critical Mass in Collective Action''. Cambridge University Press. [Chapter 4 "Production Functions" 57-94] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129481804/download?download_frd=1}}

=== Friday January 31: Organizational Ecology ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:
* Hannan, Michael T., and John Freeman. 1977. “The Population Ecology of Organizations.” ''American Journal of Sociology'' 82 (5): 929–64. https://doi.org/10.1086/226424. {{avail-uw|https://www.jstor.org/stable/2777807}} {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129783853/download?download_frd=1}}
* Young, Ruth C. 1988. “Is Population Ecology a Useful Paradigm for the Study of Organizations?” ''American Journal of Sociology'' 94 (1): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1086/228949. {{avail-uw|https://www-jstor-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/2781020}} {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129783852/download?download_frd=1}}
* Carroll, Glenn R., and Anand Swaminathan. 2000. “Why the Microbrewery Movement? Organizational Dynamics of Resource Partitioning in the U.S. Brewing Industry.” ''American Journal of Sociology'' 106 (3): 715–62. https://doi.org/10.1086/318962. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1086/318962}}
* Zhu, Haiyi, Robert E. Kraut, and Aniket Kittur. 2014. “The Impact of Membership Overlap on the Survival of Online Communities.” In ''Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems'', 281–90. CHI ’14. New York, NY: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557213. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557213}}
* TeBlunthuis, Nathan, and Benjamin Mako Hill. 2022. “Identifying Competition and Mutualism between Online Groups.” In ''Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM ’22)'', 16:993–1004. Palo, Alto, California: AAAI Press. https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v16i1.19352. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v16i1.19352}}
* TeBlunthuis, Nathan. 2025. "Towards a Theory of Online Organizational Ecology." Working Paper. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/129783711/download?download_frd=1}}

;Optional readings:
* Bruderl, Josef, and Rudolf Schussler. 1990. “Organizational Mortality: The Liabilities of Newness and Adolescence.” ''Administrative Science Quarterly'' 35 (3): 530–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393316. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/2393316}}
* Wang, Xiaoqing, Brian S. Butler, and Yuqing Ren. 2013. “The Impact of Membership Overlap on Growth: An Ecological Competition View of Online Groups.” ''Organization Science'' 24 (2): 414–31. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0756. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0756}}
* Zhu, Haiyi, Jilin Chen, Tara Matthews, Aditya Pal, Hernan Badenes, and Robert E. Kraut. 2014. “Selecting an Effective Niche: An Ecological View of the Success of Online Communities.” In ''Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’14)'', 301–10. New York, New York: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557348. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557348}}

=== Friday February 7: (New) Institutional Approaches ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* Turn in your [[#Final Project Identification]] into the [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/assignments appropriate Canvas dropbox]

;Required readings:
* North, Douglass C. 1991. “Institutions.” ''Journal of Economic Perspectives'' 5 (1): 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.5.1.97. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.5.1.97}}
* Meyer, John W., and Brian Rowan. 1977. “Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony.” ''American Journal of Sociology'' 83 (2): 340–63. {{avail-uw|https://www.jstor.org/stable/2778293}}
* DiMaggio, Paul J., and Walter W. Powell. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” ''American Sociological Review'' 48 (2): 147–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101}}
* Powell, Walter W., and Paul J. DiMaggio. 2012. “Introduction.” In ''The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis''. University of Chicago Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130105152/download?download_frd=2}} {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130105153/download?download_frd=1}} ''(The first file is searchable but pages 16 17 are very small. If you have trouble reading it, there's nonsearchable scanned copy at the second link.)''
* Hercheui, Magda David. 2011. “A Literature Review of Virtual Communities: The Relevance of Understanding the Influence of Institutions on Online Collectives.” ''Information, Communication & Society'' 14 (1): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691181003663593. {{avail-uw|1=https://doi.org/10.1080/13691181003663593}}
* Caplan, Robyn, and danah boyd. 2018. “Isomorphism through Algorithms: Institutional Dependencies in the Case of Facebook.” ''Big Data & Society'' 5 (1): 2053951718757253. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951718757253. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951718757253}}
* Zhong, Qiankun, and Seth Frey. 2022. “Institutional Similarity Drives Cultural Similarity among Online Communities.” ''Scientific Reports'' 12 (1): 18982. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23223-8. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23223-8}}

;Optional readings:
* Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1997. “On the Virtues of the Old Institutionalism.” ''Annual Review of Sociology'' 23 (Volume 23, 1997): 1–18. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.1}}.
* Powell, Walter W., and Paul J. DiMaggio. 2012. ''The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis''. University of Chicago Press. ''[Available from Mako by request]''
* Powell, Walter W., and Paul J. DiMaggio. 2023. “The Iron Cage Redux: Looking Back and Forward.” ''Organization Theory'' 4 (4): 26317877231221550. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877231221550}}
* Georgiou, Andreas, and Daniel Arenas. 2023. “Community in Organizational Research: A Review and an Institutional Logics Perspective.” ''Organization Theory'' 4 (1): 26317877231153189. https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877231153189. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877231153189}}
* North, Douglass C. 1990. ''Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678. ''[Available from Mako by request]''

=== Friday February 14: Ostrom Workshop Approaches ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:
* Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. ''Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action''. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. [Chapters 1-3 (pgs. 1-102)] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130424701/download?download_frd=1}}
* Hess, Charlotte, and Elinor Ostrom. 2011. “Introduction: An Overview of the Knowledge Commons.” In Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice, edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom, 3–26. The MIT Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130479475/download?download_frd=1}} ['''Note:''' You only need to read pages 3-14, not the summary/recap of the book.]
* Silberman, M. Six. 2016. “Reading Elinor Ostrom in Silicon Valley: Exploring Institutional Diversity on the Internet.” In ''Proceedings of the 2016 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP ’16)'', 363–68. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2957276.2957311. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1145/2957276.2957311}}
* Kollock, Peter, and Marc Smith. 1996. “Managing the Virtual Commons: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities.” In Computer-Mediated Communication, 109. John Benjamins. https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/books/9789027285669-pbns.39.10kol. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130478560/download?download_frd=1}}
* Frey, Seth, P. M. Krafft, and Brian C. Keegan. 2019. “‘this Place Does What It Was Built for’: Designing Digital Institutions for Participatory Change.” ''Proceedings of the ACM Human-Computer Interaction''. 3 (CSCW): 32:1-32:31. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359134. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1145/3359134}}
* Jhaver, Shagun, Seth Frey, and Amy X. Zhang. 2023. “Decentralizing Platform Power: A Design Space of Multi-Level Governance in Online Social Platforms.” Social Media + Society 9 (4): 20563051231207857. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231207857. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231207857}}

;Optional readings:
* Hardin, Garrett. 1968. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” ''Science'' 162 (3859): 1243–48. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243}}
* Hess, Charlotte, and Elinor Ostrom. 2011. “A Framework for Analyzing the Knowledge Commons.” In Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice, edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom, 41–81. The MIT Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130479471/download?download_frd=1}}
* Frischmann, Brett M., Michael J. Madison, and Katherine Jo Strandburg. 2014. ''Governing Knowledge Commons''. Oxford University Press. ''[Available from Instructor]''
* Schneider, Nathan, Primavera De Filippi, Seth Frey, Joshua Z. Tan, and Amy X. Zhang. 2021. “Modular Politics: Toward a Governance Layer for Online Communities.” Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 5 (CSCW1): 16:1-16:26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449090. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1145/3449090}}
* Frey, Seth, Qiankun Zhong, Beril Bulat, William D. Weisman, Caitlyn Liu, Stephen Fujimoto, Hannah Wang, and Charles M. Schweik. 2022. “Governing Online Goods: Maturity and Formalization in Minecraft, Reddit, and World of Warcraft Communities.” Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6 (CSCW2): 300:1-300:23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555191. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.1145/3555191}}

=== Friday February 21: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:
* Hirschman, Albert O. 1970. ''Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. [Chapters 1-4, 7, 9] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130763079/download?download_frd=1}}
* Turco, Catherine J. 2016. ''The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media''. New York: Columbia University Press. [Chapter 1-2] {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/130763077/download?download_frd=1}} <!-- broken pdf, should be intro and chapter 2-->
* Frey, Seth, and Nathan Schneider. 2023. “Effective Voice: Beyond Exit and Affect in Online Communities.” ''New Media & Society'' 25 (9): 2381–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211044025. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211044025}}
* Centivany, Alissa, and Bobby Glushko. 2016. “‘Popcorn Tastes Good’: Participatory Policymaking and Reddit’s.” In ''Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems'', 1126–37. CHI ’16. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858516. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858516}}

;Optional readings:
* Hirschman, Albert O. 1980. “‘Exit, Voice, and Loyalty’: Further Reflections and a Survey of Recent Contributions.” ''The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly / Health and Society'' 58 (3): 430–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/3349733. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2307/3349733}}
* Dowding, Keith, Peter John, Thanos Mergoupis, and Mark Van Vugt. 2000. “Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Analytic and Empirical Developments.” ''European Journal of Political Research'' 37 (4): 469–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00522. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00522}}
* Flew, Terry. 2009. “The Citizen’s Voice: Albert Hirschman’s Exit, Voice and Loyalty and Its Contribution to Media Citizenship Debates.” ''Media, Culture & Society'' 31 (6): 977–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443709344160. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443709344160}}

=== Friday February 28: Oligarchy and Participation ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:

* Michels, Robert 2001. “Synthesis: The Oligarchical Tendencies of Organization.” In ''Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchial Tendencies of Modern Democracy'', translated by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul, 218–46. Kitchener, Ontario: Batoche Books. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/131114042/download?download_frd=1}} ['''Note:''' Feel free to skim everything except "Chapter 4. Final Considerations" (pgs. 240-246), which is the most well-known and famous part of the book.]
* Leach, Darcy K. 2005. “The Iron Law of What Again? Conceptualizing Oligarchy across Organizational Forms.” ''Sociological Theory'' 23 (3): 312–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00256.x. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00256.x}}
* Konieczny, Piotr. 2009. “Governance, Organization, and Democracy on the Internet: The Iron Law and the Evolution of Wikipedia.” ''Sociological Forum'' 24 (1): 162–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2008.01090.x. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2008.01090.x}} 
* Shaw, Aaron, and Benjamin M. Hill. 2014. “Laboratories of Oligarchy? How the Iron Law Extends to Peer Production.” ''Journal of Communication'' 64 (2): 215–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12082. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12082}}

* Freeman, Jo. 1972. “The Tyranny of Structurelessness.” ''Berkeley Journal of Sociology'' 17 (January):151–64. {{avail-uw|http://www.jstor.org/stable/41035187}}
* Kelty, Christopher M. 2017. “Too Much Democracy in All the Wrong Places: Toward a Grammar of Participation.” ''Current Anthropology'' 58 (S15): S77–90. https://doi.org/10.1086/688705. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1086/688705}}
* Kelty, Christopher, and Seth Erickson. 2018. “Two Modes of Participation: A Conceptual Analysis of 102 Cases of Internet and Social Media Participation from 2005–2015.” ''The Information Society'' 34 (2): 71–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2017.1414092. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2017.1414092}}

;Optional readings:
* Michels, Robert. 2001. ''Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchial Tendencies of Modern Democracy''. Translated by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul. Kitchener, Ontario: Batoche Books. ''[Aavailable from Instructor]''
* Diefenbach, Thomas. 2019. “Why Michels’ ‘Iron Law of Oligarchy’ Is Not an Iron Law – and How Democratic Organisations Can Stay ‘Oligarchy-Free.’” ''Organization Studies'' 40 (4): 545–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617751007. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617751007}}
* Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1956. Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union. Glencoe, Ill: Free Press. ''[Aavailable from Instructor]''
* Voss, Kim, and Rachel Sherman. 2000. “Breaking the Iron Law of Oligarchy: Union Revitalization in the American Labor Movement.” ''American Journal of Sociology'' 106 (2): 303–49. https://doi.org/10.1086/ajs.2000.106.issue-2. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1086/ajs.2000.106.issue-2}}
* Bainbridge, William Sims. 2013. “The Iron Law.” ''Journal For Virtual Worlds Research'' 6 (3). https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v6i3.7056. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v6i3

* Pateman, Carole. 1970. ''Participation and Democratic Theory''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720444. ''[Aavailable from Instructor]''
* Pateman, Carole. 2012. “Participatory Democracy Revisited.” ''Perspectives on Politics'' 10 (1): 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592711004877. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592711004877}}
* Dunbar-Hester, Christina. 2019. ''Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ''[Aavailable from Instructor]''

=== Friday March 7: Decentralization ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:
* {{avail-wp|Decentralization}}

* Hayek, Friedrich A. 1945. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” ''American Economic Review'' 35 (4): 519–30. {{avail-free|https://www.kysq.org/docs/Hayek_45.pdf}}
* Powell, Walter W. 1990. “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization.” In ''Research in Organizational Behavior'', edited by B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings, 12:295–336. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/131454325/download?download_frd=1}}
* Schneider, Aaron. 2003. “Decentralization: Conceptualization and Measurement.” ''Studies in Comparative International Development'' 38 (3): 32–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686198. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686198}}

* Forte, Andrea, Vanesa Larco, and Amy Bruckman. 2009. “Decentralization in Wikipedia Governance.” ''Journal of Management Information Systems'' 26 (1): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222260103. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222260103}}
* DiResta, Renée. 2025. “The Great Social Media Diaspora.” ''Noema Magazine'', January. https://www.noemamag.com/the-great-decentralization. {{avail-free|https://www.noemamag.com/the-great-decentralization}}

* Lemmer-Webber, Christine. 2024. “How Decentralized Is Bluesky Really?” Blog. Dustycloud Brainstorms (blog). November 22, 2024. https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/. {{avail-free|1=https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/}}
* Newbold, Bryan. 2024. “Reply on Bluesky and Decentralization.” Blog. Whitewind (blog). November 27, 2024. https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3lbvbtqrg5t2t. {{avail-free|https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3lbvbtqrg5t2t}}
* Lemmer-Webber, Christine. 2024. “Re: Re: Bluesky and Decentralization.” Blog. Dustycloud Brainstorms (blog). December 13, 2024. https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/. {{avail-free|https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/}}

;Optional readings:

* Mintzberg, Henry. 1980. “Structure in 5’s: A Synthesis of the Research on Organization Design.” ''Management Science'' 26 (3): 322–41. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.26.3.322. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.26.3.322}}
* Podolny, Joel M., and Karen L. Page. 1998. “Network Forms of Organization.” ''Annual Review of Sociology'' 24 (Volume 24, 1998): 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.57.

* Kessy, Ambrose. 2013. “Decentralization and Citizens’ Participation: Some Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives.” ''The African Review: A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs'' 40 (2): 215–39. {{avail-uw|https://www.jstor.org/stable/45341662}}
* Mookherjee, Dilip. 2015. “Political Decentralization.” ''Annual Review of Economics'' 7 (Volume 7, 2015): 231–49. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115527. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115527}}

* Baran, P. 1964. “On Distributed Communications Networks.” IEEE Transactions on Communications Systems 12 (1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCOM.1964.1088883. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1109/TCOM.1964.1088883}}
* Nottingham, Mark. 2023. “Centralization, Decentralization, and Internet Standards.” Request for Comments RFC 9518. ''Internet Engineering Task Force''. https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC9518. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC9518.}}
* Hsieh, Ying-Ying, and Jean-Philippe Vergne. 2023. “The Future of the Web? The Coordination and Early-Stage Growth of Decentralized Platforms.” ''Strategic Management Journal'' 44 (3): 829–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3455.

=== Friday March 14: Final Presentations ===

The full class session will be devoted to final presentations. Details on the final papers are in [[#Final Deliverables]]

;Assignments:
* Share a PDF copy of any presentation material in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/assignments the appropriate Canvas dropbox].
* Be ready to present for approximate 15 minutes on your final project.