KAFP 4105 - Governance, Democracy and Public Policy : Democracy in crises

This course reflects on how liberal representative regimes are facing crises that challenge their foundations, their legitimacy and their institutions. It aims to bring students to an advanced level of understanding of how the political has changed in recent decades and how it challenges liberal representative governments. It will provide social scientific tools (political science, sociology and anthropology) to analyse the transformations of contemporary democratic institutions and the ways they construct and respond to what they perceive as crises: climate change, migrations, covid pandemic, the rise of populism, the transformations of forms of political participation away from representation, protests, new information and communication technologies and their implications. How do political institutions orient individuals' behaviours and contribute to give meaning to the world and their lives within it? How do they respond to contemporary needs, demands and challenges? How do contemporary citizens understand their role in their polity and act accordingly? How do they relate to their communities, think and act politically? During this course students will learn about key contemporary debates about the analysis of political systems and core concepts for a critical analysis of political events. They will develop a deeper understanding of influential and innovative social scientific works relating to democracy, forms of democratic participation and public policy, appreciating their strengths and weaknesses. They will learn to engage critically with these texts, authors and approaches in order to develop cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, including the ability to present reasoned and effective arguments in written and oral form, to pursue independent learning and to show critical judgement.

Florence FAUCHER,Brune DU MARAIS

Cours magistral seul

English

Each session has a list of readings, 2 compulsory ones and a few others for those wishing to go further. Students are expected to read two texts (usually peer- reviewed academic journal articles) every week and to write a blog entry based on their readings, which serves as the basis for their class participation. Participation is assessed in quality (rather than on quantity), so coming prepared to each session helps everybody to engage with the material discussed in class. Students write an individual end of term essay and give a group presentation during the semester.

None.

Autumn 2022-2023

End of term essay 30% - Group assignment 40% - Weekly blog 30%

Sessions 3 to 11 start with a group presentation that is a case study of the topic of the week, followed by a discussion. It is followed by a taught part, which is meant to be interactive. Students are encouraged to ask questions and contribute to the discussion at any point. This interactive part is helped by the weekly blog contributions. Students are expected to be physically and intellectually present at each class. As a consequence, I ask students not to use computers, tablets, smartphones and other electronic equipment during class. They damage concentration and the ability of people around to focus on the discussion. Research shows that hand written notes improve learning.