Gamification as a Trend in the Development of Civic and Political Participation

The paper analyzes the methods of gamification in the practices of civic and political participation and it identifies research questions about the problems and prospects of this trend of social inclusion. Gamification creates a new experience of political actors, be it a leader, a political consultant or a representative of the masses; a review of the research allows us to clarify the actual “growth points” of social analytics of gamification. Particular attention is paid to cases related to game mechanics of urban participation, immersive journalism and the use of digital resources by political technologists in election campaigns. The analysis of the scientific discussion about urban participatory democracy revealed that the success of these practices is influenced not only by political will of the coordination potential of the local social structure but also by autonomy and financial capabilities of a political organization interested in civil participation and the design of the participation process. The possible examples of immersive journalism and its gamified product, newsgames, in Russian realities are such information resources as “Lentach” and “Meduza”. New digital products are actively used by politicians and political technologists at the federal and regional levels. In conclusion, the authors discussed the phenomena of interpassivity.