COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Syllabus
EN
IT
K. Newton; J.W.v Deth (2021), Foundations of Comparative Politics. Democracies of the Modern World.
Cambridge Univ. Press, ISBN: 9781108927390
Other materials will be provided by the instructor during the course, especially for working groups.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide students with knowledge of the analytical categories of comparative politics, in particular those of political systems, their dynamics, actors and processes of interaction with society, the quality of political regimes, regional and global dynamics. By comparing different political systems, students should be able to identify the different characteristics and functioning of different forms of democracy and participation, as well as authoritarianism and contestation.
Learning Outcomes
The course contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the degree course, in line with the professional profiles and employment outlets envisaged, providing students with notions useful for an in-depth and critical understanding of some major debates in the comparative politics field , including:
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students will get to know and understand the political regimes, the main types of democracy and authoritarian regimes, and processes of democratization and regime change;
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The course provides tools to understand and discuss the level of involvement and action of relevant actors, both governmental and non-governmental, in different regions of the world Following the lectures, students will consolidate their knowledge of the fundamental concepts of democracy and illiberalism and their ability to independently apply the knowledge they have acquired social and relational skills, teamwork and the ability to formulate policy plans and strategies.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS: the ability to draw independent judgments and conclusions about political regimes and contestation is stimulated by highlighting the connections between the concepts developed during the course, the notions acquired in previous courses and the links between these notions and the major contemporary economic problems.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: By attending the course and interacting with the two lecturers, students will develop their communication skills and their ability to organise and share articulate reasoning, social and relational skills, teamwork and the ability to formulate policy plans and strategies.
LEARNING SKILLS: Through the study of the case studies. the students will acquire the ability to independently analyse and investigate specific topics related to the course contents.
Learning Outcomes
The course contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the degree course, in line with the professional profiles and employment outlets envisaged, providing students with notions useful for an in-depth and critical understanding of some major debates in the comparative politics field , including:
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students will get to know and understand the political regimes, the main types of democracy and authoritarian regimes, and processes of democratization and regime change;
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The course provides tools to understand and discuss the level of involvement and action of relevant actors, both governmental and non-governmental, in different regions of the world Following the lectures, students will consolidate their knowledge of the fundamental concepts of democracy and illiberalism and their ability to independently apply the knowledge they have acquired social and relational skills, teamwork and the ability to formulate policy plans and strategies.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS: the ability to draw independent judgments and conclusions about political regimes and contestation is stimulated by highlighting the connections between the concepts developed during the course, the notions acquired in previous courses and the links between these notions and the major contemporary economic problems.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: By attending the course and interacting with the two lecturers, students will develop their communication skills and their ability to organise and share articulate reasoning, social and relational skills, teamwork and the ability to formulate policy plans and strategies.
LEARNING SKILLS: Through the study of the case studies. the students will acquire the ability to independently analyse and investigate specific topics related to the course contents.
Prerequisites
.
No formal pre-requisites
No formal pre-requisites
Program
The course programme is divided into 3 inter-related parts as follows:
1) Structural conditions and actors
2) From authoritarianism to democracy
3) Working on case studies
During each lecture, the lecturer presents the planned content with the aid of power point presentations and invites students to critical reflection and dialogue.
1) Structural conditions and actors
2) From authoritarianism to democracy
3) Working on case studies
During each lecture, the lecturer presents the planned content with the aid of power point presentations and invites students to critical reflection and dialogue.
Books
Attending students:
1. Slides of the course.
2. Reading material distributed by the lecturers
Non attending students (below 80% attendance): will study ONE of the following textbooks:
1. Slides of the course.
2. Reading material distributed by the lecturers
Non attending students (below 80% attendance): will study ONE of the following textbooks:
Bibliography
K. Newton; J.W.v Deth (2021), Foundations of Comparative Politics. Democracies of the Modern World.
Cambridge Univ. Press, ISBN: 9781108927390
Other materials will be provided by the instructor during the course, especially for working groups.
Teaching methods
The course combines different teaching methods: lectures; seminars; student presentations. The lectures will provide the students with the necessary information and reading guidelines on the phenomena under study, while seminars will see students critically engage with this knowledge and encourage/participate in class debates. Students are expected to attend each class, to come to class prepared and to participate in discussions.
Students will agree the topic of their presentations with the lecturers and give assessed Power-point presentations in which they will critically evaluate the content and argument of a chosen topic and introduce related questions for the class discussion.
Students will agree the topic of their presentations with the lecturers and give assessed Power-point presentations in which they will critically evaluate the content and argument of a chosen topic and introduce related questions for the class discussion.
Exam Rules
Course assessment
The (default )verification of learning takes place exclusively through a final examination which consists of an individual or group presentation as discussed below. The objective of the final examination is to verify the achievement of the course learning outcome. In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to integrate knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning, analytical ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity of exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
Minimum score for passing the written test 18 out of 30.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students may take the examination on all available dates. there is no roll-call jump.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
• FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate language;
• 18-20: Barely sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible generalisations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgement, the topics are frequently exposed in an incoherent manner and with inappropriate/technical language;
• 21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; ability to analyse and synthesise correctly with sufficiently coherent logical argumentation and appropriate/technical language
• 24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; Good analytical and synthetic skills with arguments expressed in a rigorous manner but with language that is not always appropriate/technical.
• 27-29: Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
• 30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an original manner and with appropriate technical language.
Course evaluation for attending students:
• In-class presentations (100 %)
• Rules for the presentation: Students can work on their presentations alone or in groups. A group may comprise 2 to 4 students. The students agree on the topic of the presentations with the lecturers, individually or in groups. Each student/group prepares its presentation and emails it to the lecturers at least one day in advance of the day scheduled for class discussion. In the case of group presentations, each group member receives the same final grade.
Course evaluation for non-attending students:
• Final oral exam (100%).
• Rules for the oral exam: the final exam consists of an approximately 20-minute oral test with questions on one of the textbooks indicated above,
The (default )verification of learning takes place exclusively through a final examination which consists of an individual or group presentation as discussed below. The objective of the final examination is to verify the achievement of the course learning outcome. In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to integrate knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning, analytical ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity of exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
Minimum score for passing the written test 18 out of 30.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students may take the examination on all available dates. there is no roll-call jump.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
• FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate language;
• 18-20: Barely sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible generalisations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgement, the topics are frequently exposed in an incoherent manner and with inappropriate/technical language;
• 21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; ability to analyse and synthesise correctly with sufficiently coherent logical argumentation and appropriate/technical language
• 24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; Good analytical and synthetic skills with arguments expressed in a rigorous manner but with language that is not always appropriate/technical.
• 27-29: Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
• 30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an original manner and with appropriate technical language.
Course evaluation for attending students:
• In-class presentations (100 %)
• Rules for the presentation: Students can work on their presentations alone or in groups. A group may comprise 2 to 4 students. The students agree on the topic of the presentations with the lecturers, individually or in groups. Each student/group prepares its presentation and emails it to the lecturers at least one day in advance of the day scheduled for class discussion. In the case of group presentations, each group member receives the same final grade.
Course evaluation for non-attending students:
• Final oral exam (100%).
• Rules for the oral exam: the final exam consists of an approximately 20-minute oral test with questions on one of the textbooks indicated above,