Master
2024/2025
Modern Political Science
Type:
Elective course (Politics. Economics. Philosophy)
Area of studies:
Political Science
Delivered by:
School of Politics and Governance
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Master’s programme:
Политика. Экономика. Философия
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
64
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The goal of this course is to introduce to students the latest mainstream works from the leading international journals in Political Science and Comparative Political Economy. Why some countries are stuck in technological backwardness, while others prosper? Why in some countries people enjoy longer and healthier lives? What is the role of political institutions in answering these questions? What is the political economy of the US Congress’ organization? Are bureaucrats motivated by ideology or career concerns? Also, I will introduce today’s hot topics in Political Science and tie them to the current events. What role does Internet play in contemporary social movements? Does social media help overcome collective action problem or just disseminate more information? Who are trolls and how they manipulate public opinion? Why far rights are gaining their momentum? Why did “the efficient secret” of the UK Parliament disappear when it came to Brexit? Along answering these theoretical questions, we will touch upon the empirical concerns (endogeneity problems, null-hypothesis testing in frequentist models) and their possible solutions: instrumental variables, research discontinuity design, Bayesian analysis).