30609 - TOPICS IN POLITICS
Department of Social and Political Sciences
Suggested background knowledge
Mission & Content Summary
How do basic democratic institutions (such as electoral laws) shape the way parties come into being, compete successfully, or perish?
How do parties organize in order to reach out to voters?
Types of electoral systems
Explanations for electoral system reforms
Consequences of reforms
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- understand the vast and exciting field of parties, party systems, electoral systems and reforms.
- understand how parties come about and develop
- distinguish between plurality and proportional electoral systems and their most popular subtypes,
- evaluate the prevailing theories for how electoral systems come about,
- assess the empirical evidence of electoral system consequences,
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- Ddesign a set of electoral institutions that are advantageous in a real-life political setting.
- Present and discuss a case study detailing empirical aspects of party politics in one specific country of choice
- Individual works / Assignments
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
Students are expected to actively participate in class debates and share their views with their peers. They will be requested to read all materials in advance.
Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the students’
assessment is based on the following components:
1. In-class participation (10% of the final grade) aimed to test the students’ ability to interact in a constructive
way and to think critically.
2. Individual Assignment (20%) aimed at analyzing one specific country as a case study for the electoral institutions studied in class.
3. Collaborative Assignment (20%) aimed at testing the students' ability to analytically present and collaborate with each other.
4. Written exam (50% of the final grade), consisting of multiple choice and open questions. The exam will also include short statements to discuss, aimed to assess students’ ability to articulate reasoning and to evaluate the potential effects of given institutions and the trade-offs involved in the choice of institutions.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students’ assessment will be based on one final written exam (with the same content of the exam for attending students), consisting of multiple choice and open questions. The exam will also include short statements to discuss, aimed to assess students’ ability to articulate reasoning and to evaluate the potential effects of given institutions and the trade-offs involved in the choice of institutions.
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
All reading materials will be indicated in the syllabus which will be published at the beginning of the first semester.