Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Master in political sciences : general (60 ECTS) | 5 crédits | |||
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
1) The State
2) Democratic and Authoritarian Rule
3) Executives, Legislatures, Courts
4) Bureaucracies and sub-national governments
5) Political culture and political communication
6) Interest groups and NGOs in world politics
7) International organizations
8) Regional organizations/European Union as a new political system
9) Poverty, hunger and development
10) Environmental issues in a comparative perspective
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
This course is an essential introduction to the study of comparative politics for students of political science. In fact, comparative politics scholars are required to understand the structures that shape political decisions, the processes making those decisions, and the actors who oversee the process in a variety of settings.
The goal is to acquire a basic knowledge of the main concerns and approaches of the field. This means that our course will be primarily thematic.
This course aims to introduce students to the key concepts, approaches and arguments that will enable them to successfully compare the fundamentals, structures and processes of political systems across the globe.
Taking into account the institutions of government on local, sub-national, national, regional and international levels, the course includes a wide range of case studies, focusing on the foundations of the political phenomenon, on institutions, as well as on wider political processes.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Cours ex cathedra
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Recommended or required readings
- Daniele Caramani (Ed), Comparative politics, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Tyler Dickovick, Jonathan Eastwood, Comparative politics : integrating theories, methods and cases, New York, Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, Shaun Breslin, Comparative government and politics: an introduction, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2016.
- Lowell Barrington, Comparative politics: structures and choices, Boston, Wadsworth, 2013.
- Various, "The role of theory in Comparative politics: a symposium", World Politics, vol. 48, n°1, 1995, p. 1-49.
Assessment methods and criteria
- Final written examination, date: January 2018: 60%
The questions of the exam will be based on recommended readings and on the power-points of the course. It is a closed-book examination.
- Critical article review: 30% (in total 2 000 words, deadline: 13 December 2017)
- Article summary: 10% (in total 1 000 words, deadline: 08 November 2017)
*The work must be turned in before or on the due date. Late work will receive a 1-point reduction each day delayed.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Dr. Antonios Vlassis
avlassis@ulg.ac.be