GV952-7-FY-CO:
Comparative European Politics
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Government
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Postgraduate: Level 7
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 28 June 2024
30
22 May 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
The first part of the module will be devoted to studying the roots of party systems, party competition, electoral systems, the rise of populist and extremist parties, corruption, and linkages between citizens and politicians in West and East European countries. In the second part, we will study the institutional foundations of welfare-capitalism and examine how coordinated and liberal capitalism types responded to challenges such as globalisation and deindustrialization.
A large part of the module is devoted to studying the power-sharing arrangements in the European Union. In this context, we will analyse what the euro crisis, influx of refugees, and disintegration dynamics implies for the future of the EU. The module also provides an accessible introduction to research design and methods that political scientists have used to address these topics.
The aim of this module is to provide a better understanding of democratic political and economic processes in Europe.
By the end of the course students will have a sound knowledge of contemporary European politics. Specifically, students will become familiar with the political and economic institutions as well as with party politics and economic policymaking in Europe. The module familiarizes students with the advantages and limitations of comparative research. Students are encouraged to critically assess the validity of conflicting theoretical claims and arguments on the basis of appropriate empirical evidence.
The module will cover the following topics:
Week 2: Methods and Concepts of Comparative Research
Week 3: Social Cleavages and Party Systems
Week 4: Dynamics of Party Competition
Week 5: Populist Parties and Linkages between Voters and Citizens
Week 6: Economic Crises and the Rise of Radical Right Parties
Week 7: Electoral Systems
Week 8: Unitary States, Federal States, Devolution, and Bicameralism
Week 9: Democracy and Social Capital
Week 10: Democratic Backsliding
Week 11: Executive-Legislative Relations
Week 16: Direct Democracy and Referendums
Week 17: Interest Groups
Week 18: Varieties of Capitalism and Skill Regimes
Week 19: The Welfare State and Welfare State Retrenchment
Week 20: Theorizing the European Union
Week 21: The Eurozone and Influx of Refugees
Week 22: Disintegration Dynamics in the EU
Week 23: The EU and Foreign Policy
Week 24: Patronage and Corruption
Week 25: Central Banks
Study on this module entails:
1. Thinking, discussing, and writing clearly and logically.
2. Linking together, and understanding the linkages between, empirical facts and abstract concepts.
3. Retrieving, synthesising, and critically evaluating information from diverse sources, using the Library and the Internet.
Teaching on the module will be in the form of weekly seminars (two hours).
The seminar structure allows a flexible approach towards the topics provided by the module outline. The seminar will often start with a brief introductory lecture by the supervisor, leading to other seminar methods where the students are more actively involved (student presentations, group discussion, recap quiz).
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Anthony Downs (1957) ‘An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy’,
Journal of Political Economy, 65(2), pp. 135–150. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1827369.
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Bonnie M. Meguid (2005) ‘Competition between Unequals: The Role of Mainstream Party Strategy in Niche Party Success’,
The American Political Science Review, 99(3), pp. 347–359. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/30038944.
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Kitschelt, H. (1988) ‘Organization and Strategy of Belgian and West German Ecology Parties: A New Dynamic of Party Politics in Western Europe?’,
Comparative Politics, 20(2). Available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/421663.
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Green, J. and Jennings, W. (2012) ‘Valence as Macro-Competence: An Analysis of Mood in Party Competence Evaluations in Great Britain’,
British Journal of Political Science, 42(2), pp. 311–343. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123411000330.
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John M. CareySimon Hix (2011) ‘The Electoral Sweet Spot: Low-Magnitude Proportional Electoral Systems’,
American Journal of Political Science, 55(2), pp. 383–397. Available at:
https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=59748932&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
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Munck, Gerardo L.Snyder, Richard (2007) ‘Debating the Direction of Comparative Politics: An Analysis of Leading Journals’,
Comparative Political Studies, 40(2007), pp. 5–31200740. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414006294815.
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Gerring, John (2007) ‘Is There a (Viable) Crucial-Case Method?’,
Comparative Political Studies, 40(2007), pp. 231–253200740. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414006290784.
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Przeworski, A. and Teune, H. (1982) ‘Chapter 2 - Research Designs’, in The logic of comparative social inquiry. Malabar, Fla: R.E. Krieger.
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John Gerring (2004) ‘What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?’,
The American Political Science Review, 98(2), pp. 341–354. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055404001182.
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Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2018) ‘Cleavage theory meets Europe’s crises: Lipset, Rokkan, and the transnational cleavage’,
Journal of European Public Policy, 25(1), pp. 109–135. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1310279.
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Lipset, S.M. and Rokkan, S. (1967) Party systems and voter alignments: cross-national perspectives. New York, NY: Free Press.
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Kitschelt, Herbert (2000) ‘Linkages between Citizens and Politicians in Democratic Polities’,
Comparative Political Studies, 33(2000), pp. 845–879200033. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/001041400003300607.
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Moffitt, B. (2015) ‘How to Perform Crisis: A Model for Understanding the Key Role of Crisis in Contemporary Populism’,
Government and Opposition, 50(2), pp. 189–217. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26350371.
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Cas Mudde (2004) ‘The Populist Zeitgeist’,
Government and Opposition, 39(4), pp. 541–563. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44483088.
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Caramani, Daniele (2017) ‘Will vs. Reason: The Populist and Technocratic Forms of Political Representation and Their Critique to Party Government’,
American Political Science Review, 111(1). Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26288979.
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Rydgren, J. (2007) ‘The Sociology of the Radical Right’,
Annual Review of Sociology, 33(1), pp. 241–262. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131752.
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Borchardt, K. (1991)
Perspectives on modern German economic history and policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511622304.
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McGann, A.J. and Kitschelt, H. (2005) ‘The Radical Right in The Alps’,
Party Politics, 11(2), pp. 147–171. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068805049734.
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Bustikova, Lenka (2014) ‘Revenge of the Radical Right’,
Comparative Political Studies, 47(12), pp. 1738–1765. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/compls47&i=1699.
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CUSACK, T.R., IVERSEN, T. and SOSKICE, D. (2007) ‘Economic Interests and the Origins of Electoral Systems’,
American Political Science Review, 101(3), pp. 373–391. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055407070384.
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G. Bingham Powell, Jr.Georg S. Vanberg (2000) ‘Election Laws, Disproportionality and Median Correspondence: Implications for Two Visions of Democracy’,
British Journal of Political Science, 30(3), pp. 383–411. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/194001.
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Schleiter, P. and Tavits, M. (2016) ‘The Electoral Benefits of Opportunistic Election Timing’,
The Journal of Politics, 78(3), pp. 836–850. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1086/685447.
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McCoy, J. and Somer, M. (2019) ‘Toward a Theory of Pernicious Polarization and How It Harms Democracies: Comparative Evidence and Possible Remedies’,
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 681(1), pp. 234–271. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218818782.
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Bonotti, M.
et al. (2018) ‘In Defence of Political Parties: A Symposium on Jonathan White and Lea Ypi’s’,
Political Studies Review, 16(4), pp. 289–305. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918755662.
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Sunstein, C.R. (2002) ‘The Law of Group Polarization’,
Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(2), pp. 175–195. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9760.00148.
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Schmitter, P.C. and Karl, T.L. (1991) ‘What Democracy Is. . . and Is Not’,
Journal of Democracy, 2(3), pp. 75–88. Available at:
https://muse-jhu-edu.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/article/225590/.
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Alejandro Portes (2000) ‘The Two Meanings of Social Capital’,
Sociological Forum, 15(1), pp. 1–12. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3070334.
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Berman, Sheri (1997) ‘Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic’,
World Politics, 49(3), pp. 401–429. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/wpot49&i=454.
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Gesthuizen, M., van der Meer, T. and Scheepers, P. (2009) ‘Ethnic Diversity and Social Capital in Europe: Tests of Putnam’s Thesis in European Countries’,
Scandinavian Political Studies, 32(2), pp. 121–142. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2008.00217.x.
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Waldner, D. and Lust, E. (2018) ‘Unwelcome Change: Coming to Terms with Democratic Backsliding’,
Annual Review of Political Science, 21(1), pp. 93–113. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050517-114628.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Alexandra Hennessy, email: alexandra.hennessy@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Alexandra Hennessy
Module Supervisor: Alexandra Hennessy, alexandra.hennessy@essex.ac.uk
Yes
No
Yes
Dr Damien Bol
King's College London
Senior Lecturer
Available via Moodle
Of 28 hours, 28 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Government
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