Actualités et agenda
Nos formations
Présentation
Students are not required to have any background in the discipline and, in fact, the course is designed to introduce some basic concepts and approaches in political science.
This course provides the analytical knowledge and practical skills to understand comparative politics worldwide. It addresses a wide range of policy-relevant issues: What are the key features of democracies and autocracies, and how can regimes best be classified? How can backsliding on human rights be prevented in the European Union and worldwide? How did national state emerge and what is their role in an age of globalization? What fuels populism in Western democracies such as the U.S., UK, and France? What are the effects of different electoral systems? How did parties and party system change over the past decades and why? Is political participation declining or just changing?The course covers these questions and many others by utilizing the methods and techniques of comparative politics. You will learn about states and regimes worldwide – as well as deepening your understanding of your own society. The orientation is problem and reform focused. This course analyzes (i) the nature of comparative politics (ii) processes of state formation and the classification of regimes types, (iii) the structure of political institutions, (iv) the role of political actors, and (v) processes of governance performance. During the seminar we review the leading research literature to understand the theoretical concepts and empirical literature on each topic.The course will provide invaluable skills and knowledge for anyone seeking to develop familiarity with the major issues in comparative politics and the practical skills in analyzing countries around the globe. In the age of globalization, cross-national insights into politics are invaluable for a wide range of potential careers, whether working for international agencies, multilateral organizations, non-profit NGOs, international corporations, or national governments.
1. Introduction to the Course and What is Comparative Politics
2. The Comparative Methods
3. The Nation State and Secession
- Sørensen, Georg. 2001. “War and State-Making: Why Doesn’t it Work in the Third World?” Security Dialogue 32(3): 341–54.
- Griffiths, RD, Martinez, A. (2021) Local conditions and the demand for independence: A dataset of secessionist grievances. Nations and Nationalism. 2021; 27: 580– 590. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12667
4. Variances of Democracy and Authoritarianism
- Dahl, Robert. 1999. On Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press (Part III-Chapter 8)
- Bogaards, Matthijs and Elischer, Sebastian. 2016. Competitive authoritarianism in Africa revisited. Z Vgl Polit Wiss (2016) (Suppl) 10:5–18, DOI 10.1007/s12286-015-0257-6
5. Democratisation and Democratic Back Sliding Process
- Geddes, B. (1999) “What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science, 2:115–44
- Waldner, David and Lust, Ellen. 2018; Unwelcome Change: Coming to Terms with Democratic Backsliding.Annual Review of Political Science21:93–113
6. Election Systems and Voters
- Lindberg, S. I. 2005.Consequences of electoral systems in Africa: a preliminary inquiry. Electoral Studies 24, 41–64
- Hooghe, Liesbet, and Marks, Gary. 2018. “Cleavage Theory Meets Europe’s Crises: Lipset, Rokkan, and the Transnational Cleavage,” Journal of European Public Policy 25(1): 109–35.
7. Parties and Party Systems
- Bennett, W. L., Segerberg, A., & Knüpfer, C. B. (2018). The democratic
interface: Technology, political organization, and diverging patterns of electoral representation. Information, Communication & Society, 21(11), 1655-1680.
8. Public Policy
- Dolowitz, D., Marsh, D., « Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making », Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration, 13(1), 2000, p. 5–24
9. Digitalisatio
Seminar 9: Party Systems and Parties
Seminar 10: Voters
Seminar 11: Quiz and Challenges in Comparative Politics and Conclusion
Assessment
- Final 4000 word essay (50%)
- Seminar Presentation and Discussion (30%)
- One in Final in Class Quiz (20%) base on Readings
Modalités
One or several specific topics will be discussed in each lecture. Students should follow the order of the topics as listed in the course outline and prepare the readings accordingly. Keeping up with the readings is essential for achieving the learning objectives of this course.
Students are expected to:
- have the relevant readings done before attending the lectures;
- participate actively in all classes;
- write an essay of approximately 4000 words. Further details regarding the essay and the quizzes will be given during the semester.
Lastly, everyone will be expected to participate in class, including through brief class exercises. Sessions will involve discussing the readings, group exercises, hand-on practical online sessions, report presentations, case studies, and debates about controversial issues.
Ressources
Bermeo, N. (2016) On Democratic Backsliding, Journal of Democracy, 27 (1): 5-19|| Boix C., Stokes S. (dir.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007.|| Caramani, Daniele (2005) “The Formation of National Party Systems in Europe: A Comparative-Historical Analysis” <i>Scandinavian Political Studies</i>, Vol. 28 – No. 4.|| Cheibub, José Antonio, Jennifer Gandhi, and James Raymond Vreeland. 2010. “Democracy and Dictatorship Revisited<i>.” Public Choice</i>, vol. 143, no. 2-1, pp. 67-101.|| Daniele Caramani. Ed. 2017. <i>Comparative Politics. </i>4th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ¿Clark W.R., Golder M., Golder S.N. (2017), <i>Principles of Comparative Politics</i>, Washington DC: CQ Press.|| Darren R. Halpin and Bert Fraussen (2017) “Conceptualising the policy engagement of interest groups: Involvement, access and prominence”, <i>European Journal of Political Research </i>56: 723–732 doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.12194|| David Collier. ‘The Comparative Method’ In Ada Finifter. Ed. 1993. <i>Political Science: The State of the Discipline II</i>. APSA. Can be download from SSRN <a>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=1540884</a>|| Elkins, Zachary. 2000. Gradations of Democracy? Empirical tests of alternative conceptualizations. American Journal Of Political Science 44 (2): 293-300.|| Emanuele, V and A. Chiaramonte (2018) A growing impact of new parties: Myth or reality? Party system innovation¿in Western Europe after 1945, <i>Party Politics</i>, Vol. 24(5): 475–487|| Geddes, B. (1999) “What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years?” <i>Annual Review of Political Science, </i>2:115–44|| Gellner, E. (1983) <i>Nations and Nationalism, </i>Cornell University Press (Chapter 1, 4, 5, 6 = 29 pages)|| Hans Kermanand Paul Pennings (2017) “Comparative research method” in Daniele Caramani. Ed. 2017. Comparative Politics. 4th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.|| <i>Ian Budge, Michael D. McDonald (2007), Election and party system effects on policy representation: Bringing time into a comparative perspective, Electoral Studies, Volume 26, Issue 1</i>|| IDEA Network (2008) Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook (chapters: 1, 2 and tale on page 119-120)|| John Geering. 2004. ‘What is a case study and what is it good for?’ APSR.¿98(2): 341-354. WOS:000221903700009|| Katz, Richard S., and Peter Mair. 1995. ‘Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party’. <i>Party Politics </i>1 (1): 5–28.|| LeDuc, L. (2015) “Referendums and deliberative democracy”, <i>Electoral Studies</i> 38: 139- 148|| <a>Leonardo Morlino</a> (2013) ntroduction à la politique compare. Armand Colin|| Lijphart, Arend. 2012. <i>Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries</i>. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press (Introduction, CH 4 and 15) <i> </i>|| Max Roser (2018) - "Democracy". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/democracy' [Online Resource]|| Me´ny Y., Surel Y., Politique compare´e, Paris, Montchrestien, 2009 (8e e´dition).|| Michael Coppedge, John Gerring, David Altman, Michael Bernhard, Steven Fish, Allen Hicken, Matthew Kroenig, Staffan I. Lindberg, Kelly McMann, Pamela Paxton, Holli A. Semetko, Svend-Erik Skaaning, Jeffrey Staton and Jan Teorell¿ (2011) “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: A New Approach”, <i>Perspectives on Politics</i>, Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 2011), pp. 247-267|| Norrris P (2002) Democratic phoenix : reinventing political activism Cambridge : Cambridge University Press: Chapter 2|| Norrris P (2002) Democratic phoenix: reinventing political activism Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Chapter 8 and 10)|| Peters, G (2017) “Approaches in comparative Politics” in Daniele Caramani. Ed. Comparative Politics. 4th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br