The Study of International Politics V: Comparative Politics (E585)

Course Organization

Time & Location:
Thursday, 17:15-19:00, R2

Lecturer:
Marco Giugni
Office: Unimail 5361
Office hours: By Appointment
Telephone: 022 379 99 14
E-mail: marco.giugni@politic.unige.ch

Teaching Assistant:
Andrew Prosser
Office: Rigot 35
Telephone: 022 908 59 48
Email: prosser0@hei.unige.ch

Course Description

This course focuses on differences in the political systems of contemporary democracies, using as basic reading Arend Lijphart’s book Patterns of Democracy. Lijphart distinguishes between two models of democracy (Westminster and consensual) according to the degree of concentration of power within the political system and based on ten institutional dimensions. Each of these dimensions will be addressed and discussed, together with Lijphart’s general argument as well as his claims concerning the economic and social-cultural impact of the two models of democracy. In addition to Lijphart’s book, supplemental readings will be used which examine the various aspects in more detail or from a different angle.

Requirements

Students are expected to write a 5000 words (about 15 pages double-spaced) mid-term paper to be delivered on May 24 and to take a two-hour exam at the end of the semester. The midterm paper and the final exam will count, respectively for 50%, of the overall grade. In addition, students are expected to do all the readings and to participate actively in the discussions

Readings

Main reading

• Lijphart, Arend (1999). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Basic bibliography

• Almond, Gabriel A., Bingham G. Powell, Jr., Kaare Strom, and Russell J. Dalton (2003). Comparative Politics: A Theoretical Framework . Fourth Edition. New York: Longman.
• Goodin, Robert E., and Hans.-Dieter Klingemann, eds. (1996). A New Handbook of Political Science . Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Part IV: Comparative Politics)
• Landman, Todd (2003). Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics . Second Edition. London: Routledge.
• Lichbach, Mark Irving Lichbach, and Alan S. Zuckerman, eds. (1997). Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mahoney, James, and Dietrich Rueschemeyer, eds. (2003). Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Newton, Ken, and Jan W. Van Deth (2006). Foundations of Comparative Politics . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Przeworski, Adam, and Henry Teune (1970). The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry . New York: Wiley.
• Ragin, Charles C. (1989). The Comparative Method . Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Peters Guy B. (1998). Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods . New York: New York University Press.
• Tilly, Charles (1984). Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Practical matters

A number of copies of Lijphart’s book will be pre-ordered at the Pacific bookstore, which is located at Unimail. The supplemental readings (usually two articles or book chapters) will be given by the teacher one week in advance. They can be downloaded from the dokeos platform of the University of Geneva (https://dokeos.unige.ch).

Course Outline

15 March
Course introduction and organization

Readings:

• No reading assignment

22 March
The Westminster model and the consensus model

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 1 to 4

29 March
Party systems

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 5
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

5 April
Cabinets

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 6
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

12 April
Easter break – no class

19 April
Executive-legislative relations

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 7
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

26 April
Electoral systems

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 8
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

3 May
Interest groups

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 9
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

10 May
Division of power

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 10
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

17 May
No class

24 May
Parliaments and congresses

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 11
• Supplemental readings (to be announced)

31 May
Constitutions, judicial reviews, and central banks

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 12 and 13

7 June
The conceptual map of democracy and the impact of the two models

Readings:

• Lijphart, ch. 14 to 17

14 June
Exam