POL 306 – Political Parties and Interest Groups

POL 306  – Political Parties and Interest Groups; Weekly hours: 2+1, ECTS: 6
This course aims to assist the students in understanding the role of political parties and interest groups in American politics, to give to students practice in critical thinking about research on various issue on parties and interest groups. Introduction to Parties and Interest Groups; Why Parties?; Parties and Party Systems; Cleavages and Electoral Systems; History of American Parties; Parties in Elections; Mass Partisanship; Parties in Government; Parties as Organizations; Theories of Groups in Political Science; Organizing Interest Groups; PACS and Lobbying; Lobbying and Methodological Issues in Studying Lobbying and Its Effects; Interest Groups and the Lobbying of Institutions.