Delivered at:: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Course type:: Compulsory course

When:: 4 year, 3, 4 module

Instructor

Rudneva, Tatiana

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course is designed to introduce the students to Comparative Politics. Comparative analysis of political institutions and how they function in different settings will help the students understand what determines the differences in political outcomes which Political Science in general and Comparative Politics in particular are trying to explain. During the course, the students will learn the necessary concepts, acquaint themselves with classic readings and learn to compare different forms of government and their consequences.

Learning Objectives

The primary goal of the course is to acquaint the students with Comparative Politics.
The students should learn some basic theoretical and practical problems in the area of Comparative Politics.
The students should learn to identify differences and similarities and how they relate to outcomes.
The students should learn to compare different forms of government.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students are familiar with the concepts of legitimacy and constitutionalism and how they relate to political culture.
Students are able to explain the concept of federalism and how it differs from local government.
Students are able to explain how presidential systems differ from parliamentary ones.
Students are able to analyze whether the EU is a federation or not.
Students are able to show the advantages and drawbacks of specific electoral systems.

Course Contents

Modes of comparing political systems
Legitimacy, constitutionalism and political culture
#3 Constitutions and judicial power
#4 Individual rights
Presidential and parliamentary systems
# 6 Presidential and parliamentary systems (advantages and disadvantages)
# 7 Party systems
Electoral systems
# 9 Representation
# 10 Local government
# 11 Federal and unitary states
# 12 Bureaucracy
# 13 Clientelism

Assessment Elements

Seminar participation
Questions pertaining to the course readings.
Oral examination
Mock 1
Mock 2

Interim Assessment

2023/2024 4th module
0.1 * Mock 1 + 0.1 * Mock 2 + 0.4 * Oral examination + 0.4 * Seminar participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Dahl, R. A. (1989). Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven: Yale University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=52831
Heinelt, H., Egner, B., & Bertrana, X. (2016). Policy Making at the Second Tier of Local Government in Europe : What Is Happening in Provinces, Counties, Départements and Landkreise in the On-going Re-scaling of Statehood? London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1061410
Leonardo Morlino, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, & Bertrand Badie. (2017). Political Science : A Global Perspective. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2273334
Niskanen, W. A. (2017). Bureaucracy and Representative Government. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1608574
Robert A. Dahl. (2020). On Democracy. Yale University Press.
Strohmeier, G. (2015). Does Westminster (still) represent the Westminster model? An analysis of the changing nature of the UK’s political system. European View, 14(2), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12290-015-0368-0
The civic culture : political attitudes and democracy in five nations, Almond, G. A., 1989
The Oxford handbook of electoral systems / edited by Erik S. Herron, Robert J. Pekkanen, and Matthew S. Shugart. (2018). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.50224433X

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Barisione, M., & Michailidou, A. (2017). Social Media and European Politics : Rethinking Power and Legitimacy in the Digital Era. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1362963
Bonneau, C., & Cann, D. (2015). Party Identification and Vote Choice in Partisan and Nonpartisan Elections. Political Behavior, 37(1), 43–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-013-9260-2
Croissant, A. V. (DE-588)120357321, (DE-627)080624138, (DE-576)178221074, aut. (2018). Comparative politics of Southeast Asia an introduction to governments and political regimes by Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.496911902
Laffin, M. (2018). Beyond Bureaucracy? : The Professions in the Contemporary Public Sector. Abingdon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1984789
Qingmin, Z. (2016). Bureaucratic Politics and Chinese Foreign Policy-making. Chinese Journal of International Politics, 9(4), 435–458. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/pow007
Reinhard Steurer, & Christoph Clar. (2015). Is decentralisation always good for climate change mitigation? How federalism has complicated the greening of building policies in Austria. Policy Sciences, (1), 85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-014-9206-5
Scott Gehlbach, & Alberto Simpser. (2015). Electoral Manipulation as Bureaucratic Control. American Journal of Political Science, (1), 212. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12122

Authors

RUDNEVA TATYANA SERGEEVNA
FARAKHDUST FATIMA -

Bachelor’s Programme 'International Program 'International Relations and Global Studies''

Address

Comparative Politics