20672 - COMPARATIVE POLITICS: INSTITUTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Department of Social and Political Sciences
PIERO STANIG
Suggested background knowledge
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
CONTENT SUMMARY
1) Elections and Electoral Systems
- The spatial model of politics.
- Proportional vs majoritarian electoral institutions: functioning and adoption.
- Strategic voting.
(2) Types of executives and delegation of policymaking
Political agency, types of executives, and delegation of policymaking
- Political agency models
- A model of pandering.
- The vote of confidence.
- Government formation.
- Federalism and decentralization.
(5) Accountability, corruption and governance
- Electoral control.
- Lobbies and mafias.
- Political vs. bureaucratic corruption.
- Clientelism and vote buying.
- Consequences of corruption and anti-corruption policies.
6) Political Regimes and Regime Change
- State building and state capacity.
- Transitions to democracy.
- Authoritarian regimes and limited authoritarian government.
- Democratic consolidation.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
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APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
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Teaching methods
- Lectures
DETAILS
Each lecture revolves around one or two papers, which are going to be dissected in detail, in order to understand the mechanics and the logic of the model (for theoretical contributions) and the data and empirical strategy (for empirical contributions). Active participation, based on having read the paper(s) in advance of the relevant lecture, is expected.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
The partial exams are open exclusively to students who attend the lectures regularly.
First Partial: 45% of the grade
Second Partial: 45% of the grade
Participation: 10% of the grade
Participation involves attending lectures and engaging in class discussion.
In addition, every week students submit a brief comment (a few sentences) with their reasoned reaction to the readings covered in the lectures.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students can only sit the cumulative general exam.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
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