ASPO 23A10 - Comparative Politics

This comparative politics lecture aims at familiarizing students with the methods and objectives of comparison in the field of political science to help them grasp the contemporary world of politics in all its diversity. It will insist on the fundamental objects of political science in a comparative perspective: states, regimes, institutions, electoral systems, political divisions, social movements, behaviors or votes. Examples will mainly be focused on Western democracies as well as countries of the MENA region. In order to break with a static view of comparative socio-political contexts, the course will be open to analyzing political change and breaks, whether they take the form of revolutions, crises or renewal of the political order. It will aim at developing students’ analytical skills in comprehending current political events, public opinion, new social movements and current electoral dynamics from a comparative perspective. Each session of the course will draw on theoretical concepts and link them to empirical findings using comparative, time-series survey data.

No prerequisites are required for this class.

Class 1: Methods and theories of comparative politics

Class 2: Political cultures and political orientations

Class 3: Postmaterialism and the support for Democracy

Class 4: Categorization of the political order & political change in questions (crisis, revolution, transition)

Class 5: Political participation: Conventional modes of participation and the new protest movements

Class 6: The social basis of politics

Class 7: Midterm

Class 8: The context and meaning of Left-Right orientations

Class 9: Partisanship party politics: are party attachments in decline?

Class 10: Globalization and the changing of party system and voters

Class 11: Identity politics, nationalism and national identities

Class 12: Europe as a new source of political cleavages

Conclusion: A global society based on distrust?

Grades will be determined by the weighted average of a) one midterm written exam; b) a take home end of term research essay, and other exams taken in the seminar attached to this lecture course (50% of the final grade), including a) one group presentation b) one analysis of an academic article. Active oral participation in class is rewarded with up to 10% in the final class average.

Late essays receive a grade penalty of 3% for every 24 hours of delay.