DSPO 25A10 - Citizen Politics and Democracy in Times of Crisis
DSPO 25A10 · Fall semester 2026-2027
- Language of tuition
- English
- Course type
- Cours séminaire
- Number of hours
- 24
- Credits
- 5
Information
Description
This course explores the role of the citizen within contemporary democratic processes. It draws on insights from political sociology and comparative politics to answer essential questions regarding continuity and change on issues such as vote choice, political participation, public protest, trust in the political system, ideological orientations and political attitudes. Special emphasis is placed on the impact of the different crisis on the changing preferences and behaviors of mass publics across Europe and the global world also. The effects of these changes on the patterns of political trust, with the emergence of “distrusting democrats” as a structural element of democracy on today, will be studied in the last third of the course.
The course also aims to develop the 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. Students will be invited to critically combine theoretical tools with empirical evidence to comprehend the dynamic link between public opinion and political parties in postmodern Western democracies.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required for this class. For the first session, students must read : Dalton, Russell. 2000. “Citizen Attitudes and Political Behavior.” Comparative Political
Studies, vol. 33(6/7), August/September, pp. 912-940
Assessment
Grades will be determined by : a) a short essay of 2000 words (30%) ; two quizzes (30%); a final exam (40%)
Readings
Main readings 3
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Dalton, Russell. 2000. “Citizen Attitudes and Political Behavior.” Comparative Political
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Jost and Sidanius, Appendix: How to Read a Journal Article in Social Psychology (Jordan and Zanna 1999).
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What is the main perspective of the course? Definitions, main concepts and approaches presented in this course. What is a “citizen politics” perspective ?
Further readings 34
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(*) Almond, G. A. (1989). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. London : Sage, chapter 1.
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(*) Pippa Norris. Political activism: New challenges, new opportunities. In : Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, Edited by Carles Boix and Susan Stokes (Oxford University Press)
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(*)Geissel, Brigitte. 2008. Reflections and findings on the critical citizen: Civic education—What for? European Journal of Political Research 47:34-63.
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(*)Grande, E., Lachat, R., Dolezal, M., Bornschier, S., & Frey, T. (2008). West European politics in the age of globalization (pp. 154-182). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., chapter 1.
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(*)Inglehart, R. F. (2008). Changing values among western publics from 1970 to 2006. West European Politics, 31(1-2), 130-146.
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(*)Mayer, N. (2009). ‘What remains of class voting?’. In Perrineau, P. and L. Rouban. Politics in France and Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 167-182*.
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(*)Norris, P. (2009). ‘Political activism: New challenges, new opportunities.’ Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics Edited by Carles Boix and Susan Stokes (Oxford University Press)*.
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(*)Russell J. Dalton. 2008. Citizen Politics: Public opinion and political parties in advanced industrialized democracies. Washington DC, CQ Press, chap. 9.*
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(*)Russell J. Dalton. 2008. Citizen Politics: Public opinion and political parties in advanced industrialized democracies. Washington DC, CQ Press. Chap. 6
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(*)Schraff, D. (2021), Political trust during the Covid-19 pandemic: Rally around the flag or lockdown effects?. European Journal of Political Research, 60: 1007-1017
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Are traditional social cleavages weakening or being reinvented as ‘cues’ for voting behavior and party choice? Is there a crisis of political mediations due to this weakening? Are citizens still expressing political demands based on sociological belongings?
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Clarke, Harold, and Marianne Stewart. 1998. ‘The decline of parties in the minds of citizens.’ Annual Review of Political Science 1: 357-78.
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Class 11 : Changing patterns of political trust : Europe and globalization as new sources of political cleavages and distrust ?
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Class 6: The weakening of the social basis of politics: is there still a “class voting” or a “religious voting” ? How to explain the decline of traditional basis of politics ?
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Class 7: Partisanship party politics: are party attachments in decline? Is it the end of political parties ?
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Class 9: Patterns of Political Trust and Mistrust
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Converse, Philip. 1964. ‘The nature of belief systems in mass publics.’ In David Apter, eds. Ideology and Discontent. New York: Free Press.
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Cordero, G. and S, Pablo. 2015. “Economic Crisis and Support for Democracy in Europe”, West European Politics.
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Dalton, Russell. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Western Democracies. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House (Introduction)
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Evans, Geoffrey. 2000. ‘The continued significance of class voting.’ Annual Review of Political Science 3, pp. 401‐417.
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Inglehart, Ronald. 2003. ‘How Solid is Mass Support for Democracy and How Do We Measure It?’ PS: Political Science and Politics.
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Is there an erosion of ‘conventional’ forms of participation (voting, party membership, civic engagement)? Are there new forms of civic participation? Are repertoires of collective action mixing “old” and “new forms” of actions?
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Lewis Beck et al. The American Voter revisited, chap. 10.
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Mayer, N. The Electoral impact of the crisis on the French “working class”: more to the right? In Bermeo, Nancy and Bartels, Larry M (eds.). Mass Politics in Tough Times. Opinions, Votes, and Protest in the Great Recession :New York : Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 266-296.
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Mayer, N., Rovny, A., Rovny, J. & N. Sauger. (2015). ‘Outsiderness, Social Class and Votes in the 2014 European Elections’, European Journal of Social Sciences, 53 (1): 157-176*.
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Piurko, Y., Schwartz, S. H., & Davidov, E. (2011). Basic Personal Values and the Meaning of Left‐Right Political Orientations in 20 Countries. Political Psychology, 32(4), 537-561
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Putnam, R. (1993). Making Democracy Work. New Jersey : Princeton University Press, pp. 167-185
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Rüdig, W., & Karyotis, G. (2014). Who protests in Greece? Mass opposition to austerity. British Journal of Political Science, 44(03), 487-513.
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Russell J. Dalton. 2008. Citizen Politics: Public opinion and political parties in advanced industrialized democracies. Washington DC, CQ Press, chap. 7 and 8
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Ryan E. Carlin. Distrusting Democrats and Political Participation in New Democracies: Lessons from Chile. Political Research Quarterly , September 2011, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 668-687
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van der Meer, T. (2017, January 25). Political Trust and the “Crisis of Democracy”. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics
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What is political trust? why so many uses of this concept in modern political science research ? What are the different dimension of political trust and its different patterns? Do context matter, either institutional or political, socio-economic? And can external shock (like Covid) generate a trust shock ?
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What is the Hans-Peter Kriesi contribution to the “winners” vs “losers” of modernization conflict? How citizen are affected by EU integration and globalization? Who are the “winners” and the “losers”? How political parties evaluated in their policies choices and preferences due to EU integration and globalization? Are there any gaps between these policy evolutions and the citizen demands?
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What kinds of citizens enrich democracy? Recent research focuses on "distrusting democrats" or "critical citizens" who "share widespread aspirations to the ideals and principles of democracy" and "adhere strongly to democratic values" but who distrust hierarchical political institutions. Who are they ?
Teaching units
| Unit no. | Unit type | Teaching units | Teachers | Number of hours | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13291 | Cours séminaire | Citizen Politics and Democracy in Times of Crisis | Bruno CAUTRES | 24 | 5 |
Teachers
- Bruno CAUTRES
In the curricula
- Bachelor Exchange Programme, Seminars / Bachelor, Programme d'échange, séminaires - 26/27COLLÈGE UNIVERSITAIRE - CAMPUS PARIS
- Bachelor, semestre 3 : cours séminaires - 26/27COLLÈGE UNIVERSITAIRE - CAMPUS PARIS
Contacts and resources
- Contact
- NICOULEAU Svetlana