POL 401 – Comparative Politics

POL 401 – Comparative Politics; Weekly hours: 2+1, ECTS: 6
This course aims to address a wide range of policy‐relevant issues such as: What are the key features of democracies and autocracies, and how can regimes in South Africa, Nigeria and Iran be classified? What is the appropriate balance of powers between the president and the Congressing Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico? What are the prospects for building stable states and democratic governance in Iraq and Afghanistan? How could human rights be strengthened through constitutional reforms in Russia and Belarus? Introduction, What is comparative politics?; Regimes: Varieties of democracy; Regimes: Varieties of autocracy; Case‐study discussions: South Africa, Nigeria, and Iran; Institutions: Constitutions: ; Institutions: Electoral systems; Institutions: Executives bureaucracies; Institutions: Legislatures; Institutions: Federalism and decentralization; Case‐study discussions: UK,US, France and Germany; Political parties party systems; Interest groups social movements; Political culture-activism and communication; Case‐study discussions: Mexico and Brazil; Policymaking processes; Governance performance: Economic performance & welfare states; Case‐study discussions: India and China.