BIG DATA AS A POLITICAL TECHNOLOGY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICE: EPISTEMOLOGICAL, METHODOLOGICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF DIGITAL GOVERNANCE

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive study of Big Data as a political technology that radically transforms the structure of the political process, the logic of decision-making, and the interaction between government, society, and technological platforms. The relevance of this research stems from the fact that in today’s world, data has become a strategic resource that not only provides new analytical capabilities but also shapes new conditions for the functioning of the political system as a whole. The purpose of this review study is to comprehensivelyunderstand big data as a political technology that influences the epistemological foundations of political knowledge,changes the methodology of Political Science, and transforms the institutional practices of digital governance.The article was prepared through analysis of the conceptual origins of the Big Data phenomenon, identificationof key epistemological changes, investigation of methodological transformations, and characteristics of the socio- political construction of big data as an instrument of power. The research demonstrates that Big Data has a “variable ontology” and represents not neutral digital arrays but a socio-technical constellation that takes shapein a specific political and institutional context. The methodological shift in Political Science is analyzed, whichconsists in the transition from selectivity to totality, from causality to correlation, radically changing the ways hypotheses are formulated. It has been stated that technology corporations have transformed from economic actors into “super policy participants” who possess data on the behavior of billions of people and communication infrastructure that has become the “infrastructure of democracy”. Comparative analysis of Big Data usage inChina, the USA, and the EU revealed different approaches to data governance depending on the political regime.Based on the review and research results, it is concluded that the transformation brought by the Big Data era often involves the redistribution of political agency and changes in decision-making subjects. Key Big Data challengesin this regard are identified: dealgorithmization of responsibility, strengthening citizens’ digital autonomy, and rethinking democracy in the digital age. Thus, political agency in the Big Data era is defined as the ability not only to adapt to new digital realities but also to rethink politics as a practice of collective knowledge in conditions of information surplus, where the human factor remains key in the political process.