Comparative Politics II
Code: 101080 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500259 Political Science and Public Management | OB | 3 | 2 |
| 2503778 International Relations | OB | 3 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Aránzazu Tirado Sánchez
- Email:
- Arantxa.Tirado@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Other comments on languages
Some readings in EnglishTeachers
- Aránzazu Tirado Sánchez
Prerequisites
Comparative Politics I
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of this course is to deepen in the study of Comparative Politics on the basis of the theme of world democratization, expanding the object of study to the non-European countries of Latin America and Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
From the perspective of the students, the main objective is to apply the knowledge to the analysis of a country that exceeds the mere description, based on the application of the topics presented during the course and the bibliographic search in indexed quality journals.
The main issues have to do with democratization in the world, trends in institutional arrangements for and against democracy: presidentialism, populism, corruption, electoral but not real democracy, federalism and regionalism, consensual democracy and other alternatives for complex societies including failed states.
Competences
- Political Science and Public Management
- Applying the knowledge of the structure and operations of political institutions to problems and practical, real or simulated cases.
- Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
- Connecting the different components that shape the structure and operations of political systems and the environment where they interact.
- Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
- Demonstrating knowledge about the structure and working of the European Union and its main institutions, as well as identifying the main political actors and recognising the main means of integration.
- Demonstrating the comprehension of the structure and functioning of political systems in the internal and international arena, both in the analytic area and in the elaboration of intervention proposals or public policies.
- Demonstrating the understanding of the structure and operations of political institutions.
- Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
- Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
- Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
- Managing the main theoretical formulations about political institutions and connecting them with the global structure of political systems, both in the internal and international arenas.
- Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.
- International Relations
- Analyse cases and phenomena in the international sphere and interpret different political texts using contemporary political theories.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the public policies of different countries and political systems.
- Analysing the electoral processes, including campaigns, parties' electoral strategies, political scenarios and analysis and interpretation of electoral results.
- Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
- Connecting the different components that shape the structure and operations of political systems and the environment where they interact.
- Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
- Demonstrating knowledge about the structure and working of the European Union and its main institutions, as well as identifying the main political actors and recognising the main means of integration.
- Demonstrating the comprehension of the structure and functioning of political systems in the internal and international arena, both in the analytic area and in the elaboration of intervention proposals or public policies.
- Draw up comparative analyses of different political systems, identifying the way in which differences and similarities are argued.
- Explaining political, individual and collective attitudes and behaviours, as well as the education process and expression of political preferences.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Identify the main actor, structure and operation of different political systems .
- Identify the main actors, structures and operation of internal and international political systems from a comparative perspective.
- Identifying and distinguishing the functioning of the electoral processes.
- Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
- Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
- Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
- Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.
Content
1. Classifications, empires, state creation, waves of democratization
- Joseo M. Colomer (2006) Grandes imperios, pequeñas naciones. Barcelona. Anagrama.
- S. Huntington, (1994) La tercera ola: la democratización a finales del siglo XX. Barcelona, Paidós.
2. Theories on democracy emergence and development
- L. Diamond “ (2003) ¿Puede el mundo entero ser democrático?” Revista Española de Ciencia Política, núm. 9 págs. 9-38.
- L. Diamond, (2011) “Why democracies survive” Journal of Democracy 22 (1):17-30.
- Inglehart (various works in Campus Virtual)
- Engerman y Sokolof (various works in Campus Virtual)
3. Liberal democracy and measurement of democracy
- Freedom House
- Levine, D.H. y Molina, J.E. (2007) “La calidad de la democracia en América Latina”, América Latina Hoy, 45:17-46
- VDEM
- Geissel, Brigitte; Kneuer, Marianne; Lauth, Hans-Joachim (2016) “Measuring the quality of democracy: Introduction”, International Political Science Review, Vol. 37(5), pp. 571–579-
- Rothstein, Bo; Teorell, Jo (2008) “What Is Quality of Government? A Theory of Impartial Government Institutions”, Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, Vol. 21, No. 2, April, pp. 165–190.
- Vollenweider, Camila; Ester, Bárbara (2018) “¿Indicadores de la calidad democrática o de la democracia mainstream?”, CELAG, https://www.celag.org/indicadores-de-la-calidad-democratica-o-de-la-democracia-mainstream/
4. Presidentialism's risks
- Linz, J. (1990) “The Perils of presidentialism” Jornal of democracy, Vol 1, N.1.
- Valenzuela, A (2004) “LatinAmerican Presidents Interrupted,” Journal of Democracy, 15 (4): 5--9
- Fukuyama, F. et al. (2005) “Facing the Perils of Presidentialism?” ,” Journal of Democracy, 16 (2):102-116
- Pérez-Liñán, Aníbal S. (2003) “Pugna de poderes y crisis de gobernabilidad: ¿Hacia un nuevo presidencialismo?”, Latin American Research Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 149-164.
5. Federalism
- Stepan, A. (1999) “Federalism and Democracy. Beyond the US Model ” Journal of Democracy 10 (4): 519-34
- Elazar, D. Anàlisi del federalisme i altres textos. Institut d’Estudis Autonòmics, Generalitat de Catalunya.
- Mathew, G. (2009) “L’Índia: unitat en la diversitat a través d’un federalisme en evolució”. A M. Caminal i F. Requejo, Clàssics del Fedealisme, Generalitat de Catalunya. Institut D’Estudis Autonòmics (online)
- Bermeo, Nancy (2002) “A New Look at Federalism: The Import of Institutions”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 13, Number 2, April, pp. 96-110.
- Horowitz, Donald L. (2014) “Ethnic Power Sharing: Three Big Problems”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 24, Number 2, April, pp. 5-20.
6. A critical look at liberal democracy
- Boron, Atilio A. (2006) “La verdad sobre la democracia capitalista”, Socialist Register en Español, CLACSO, Buenos Aires, pp. 45-78.
- Gilley, Bruce (2009) “Is Democracy Possible?”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 20, Number 1, January, pp. 113-127.
- Puddington, Archer (2015) “A Return to the Iron First”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 26, Number 2, April, pp. 122-138.
- Roper, Brian S. (2013) The History of Democracy: a Marxist Interpretation, Pluto Press.
7. Latin American and Caribbean democracies: populism and lawfare
- Díaz.Cayeros A., B. Magaloni (2010) “La ayuda para los pobres de América Latina” Journal of Democracy en español 2: 185-200
- De la Torre, C. (2001) “Redentores populistas en el neoliberalismo: nuevos y viejos populismos latinoamericanos,” Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 4: 171-196.
- Díaz Parra, Ibán; Romano, Silvina María (2018) “Política y antipolítica: entre los gobiernos progresistas y el giro conservador en América Latina”, Estado & comunes, revista de políticas y problemas públicos, nº 6, vol. 1, enero-junio, Ed. Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN), Ecuador, pp. 159-180.
- Tirado Sánchez, Aránzazu (2019) “El mito del populismo en la Revolución Bolivariana” en Romano, Silvina María/ Díaz Parra, Ibán (eds.), América Latina, dilemas y desafíos. Reflexiones sobre la deriva de los gobiernos progresistas, Ed. Universidad de Cádiz, pp. 47-57.
- Romano, Silvina M. (comp.) (2019) Lawfare. Guerra judicial y neoliberalismo en América Latina, Ed. Mármol Izquierdo/CELAG.
- Dunlap, Charles J. (2008) “Lawfare Today: A Perspective”, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Winter.
8. Islamism and democracy
- Diamond, L. 2010 “Why are there no arab democracies?” Journal of Democracy 21 (1): 93.104
- Tessler, M, J. Amanal, M. Robbins 2012 “New Findings on arabs and democracy” Journal of Democracy 23 (4): 89-103
- Roy, O. (2006) Islam en Europa, ¿una religión más o una cultura diferente? Conferencia en UCM
- Roy, O. 2012 “The Transformation of the Arab World” Journal of Democracy 23 (3): 85-18
- Stepan,A, 2012 “Tunisia’s Transition and the twin tolerations” Journal of Democracy 23 (2): 89-103
9. Africa, electoral democracies, ethnic conflicts and colonialism
- D. Brumberg (2002) “The trap of liberalized autocracy”, Journal of Democracy 13 (4): 56-68, 2002
- N. Van de Walle (2004) “Elecciones sin democracia. La gama de los regímenes de África”, Estudios Políticos (Medellín) 24: 179-195. Originalmente en Journal of Democracy 13 (2) de 2002.
- Fortes, Meyer; Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (2010) “Introducción”, Sistemas políticos africanos, Ed. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Universidad Iberoamericana.
10. Failed states and corruption
- J. Goldstone, “Pathways to state failure” Conflict management and peace science 25(4): 285-296
- P. Collier,” How to reduce corruption”. African Development Review, Vol. 12, 2, 2002.
- Weiss, Laura; Devore, Jonathan (2019) “Corruption Wars”, NACLA Report on the Americas, 51:2.
11. Democracy in Asia: China and India
- Bregolat, E. (2007) La segunda revolución china Barcelona: Destino.
- Diamond, L (2012) China and East Asian Democracy, Journal of Democracy 23, 1 pàgs. 5-13
- Lijphart, A. (1996) “The puzzle of Indian Democracy” The American Political Science Review 90, 2 pàgs. 258-268
- Drèze, J. A. Sen (2014) Una gloria incierta: India y sus contradicciones. Madrid: Taurus
- Varshney, Ashutosh (2014) “India’s Democracy at 70: Growth, Inequality, and Nationalism”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 28, Number 3, July, pp. 41-51.
e no arab democracies?” Journal of Democracy 21 (1): 93.104
- Tessler, M, J. Amanal, M. Robbins 2012 “New Findings on arabs and democracy” Journal of Democracy 23 (4): 89-103
- Roy, O. (2006) Islam en Europa, ¿una religión más o una cultura diferente? Conferencia en UCM
- Roy, O. 2012 “The Transformation of the Arab World” Journal of Democracy 23 (3): 85-18
- Stepan,A, 2012 “Tunisia’s Transition and the twin tolerations” Journal of Democracy 23 (2): 89-103
Methodology
Directed activities:
- Lectures by the instructor
- Seminars: discussion of readings and exercises
- Presentation of papers: presentations by gropus, comments and evaluation
Supervision:
- Individual support to write papers and follow up of the course
Autopnomous activities:
- Readings: papers, articles, book chapters
- Individual study
- Writing papers and completing exercises: question on readings, comparative analysis of various countries followingthe guidelines provided by instructors.
- Evaluation: Individual exercises, written exams.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 30 | 1.2 | 14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutoring | 15 | 0.6 | 23 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual work by the student | 75 | 3 |
Assessment
The evaluation of this subject will be made from the following deliveries by the student:
• Exam: 40% of the grade. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition to pass the exam to pass the subject.
• Reading and exercise controls: 30% of the grade
• Course paper:30% of the grade (group paper of two or three students on one of the proposed topics).
Important considerations:
• The course CAN NOT be passed WITHOUT A GRADE IN ANY OF THE THREE SECTIONS (SEMINARS, PAPER, EXAMINATION).
• Strict application of the norm of being present in the seminar to have access to the reading control. NO EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE
• Obligatory presentation of the different parts of the group paper during the course on the date indicated. Those who DO NOT do so may lose 1 POINT OVER 10 FOR EACH OF THE PARTS THEY MISS
• THERE ARE TWO EXAMINATION DATES. On the first date set by the school, ONLY STUDENTS who have an 80% follow-up of the classes, measured by random controls, can TAKE THE EXAM
• On the second exam date all students can TAKE THE EXAM.Those who DO NOT pass the exam on the first date will have the opportunity to retake the exam on the second date set by the School.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exam | 40% | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 3, 21, 7, 6, 5, 8, 16, 11, 12, 10, 14, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 22, 23 |
| Group Paper | 30% | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 1, 3, 21, 7, 6, 5, 8, 9, 16, 11, 12, 10, 14, 13, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 22, 23 |
| Readings Control | 30% | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 1, 3, 21, 7, 5, 8, 9, 16, 11, 12, 10, 14, 13, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 23, 20 |
Bibliography
Orientation references
- Ashbee, E. i Ashford, N. (1999) US Politics Today. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Almond, G., B. Powell, K. Strom i R. J. Dalton,(2000) Comparative Politics Today. A world View. Longman: New York.
- Bermeo, N. (2010) “¿Acaso la democracia electoral promueve la igualdad económica?” Journal of Democracy en español 2: 201-217.
- Blofield,M. (2010) “Desigualdad política en América Latina”. Journal of Democracy en español 2: 58-34.
- Brumberg, D. (2002) “The trap of liberalized autocracy”, Journal of Democracy 13 (4): 56-68.
- Chauvet, L. i P. Collier (2011) “What are the preconditions for turnarounds in failing states?” Conflict management and peace science 25(4): 332-348.
- De la Torre, C. (2001) “Redentores populistas en el neoliberalismo: nuevos y viejos populismos latinoamericanos,” Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 4: 171-196.
- Diamond, L. (2010) “Why are there no arab democracies?” Journal of Democracy 21 (1): 93.104.
- Diamond, L. (2011) “Why democracies survive” Journal of Democracy 22 (1):17-30.
- Díaz-Cayeros A., B. Magaloni (2010) “La ayuda para los pobres de América Latina” Journal of Democracy en español 2: 185-200.
- Elazar, D. (1991) Federal systems of the world, a handbook of federal, confederal and autonomy arrangements, Harlow, Longman.
- Erk, J. (2006) “Does Federalism Really Matter? “ Comparative Politics 39 (1): 103-120.
- Goldstone, J. (2011) “Pathways to state failure” Conflict management and peace science 25(4): 285-296.
- Guha, R. (2019) Dominación sin hegemonía. Historia y poder en la India colonial, Ed. Traficantes de Sueños.
- Huntington, S. (1994) La tercera ola: la democratización a finales del siglo XX. Barcelona, Paidós.
- Kissinger, H. (2012) China. Ed. Debate.
- Lijphart, A. (1996) “The Puzzle of Indian Democracy: A Consociational Interpretation” American Political Science Review 90 (2).
- López García, B. (2000) El mundo árabo-islámico contemporáneo. Una historia política. Ed. Síntesis.
- Oltra, J. (1996) America para los no americanos: una introducción al estudio de las instituciones políticas de los EEUU. Barcelona, EUB.
- Protsyk, O. (2005) “Politics of intraexecutive conflict in semipresidential regimes in Estern Europe", East European Politics and Societies 19:135.
- Putnam, R. (2000) Per a fer que la democràcia funcioni. Barcelona, Proa.
- Requejo, F. (2003) Federalisme plurinacional i estat de les autonomies. Barcelona, Proa.
- Roitman Rosenmann, M. (2019) Por la razón o la fuerza. Historia y memoria de los golpes de Estado, dictaduras y resistencias en América Latina, Ed. Siglo XXI España.
- Romano, S. M. (comp.) (2019) Lawfare. Guerra judicial y neoliberalismo en América Latina, Ed. Mármol Izquierdo/CELAG.
- Roper, Brian S. (2013) The History of Democracy: a Marxist Interpretation, Pluto Press.
- Rothstein, B. (2011) “Anti-corruption: the indirect big-bang approach”, Journal of International Political Economy, 18 (2): 228-250.
- Roy, A. (2019) Caminant amb els camarades, Ed. Tigre de Paper.
- Roy, O. (2002) El islam mundializado. Los musulmanes en la era de la globalización, Ed. Bellaterra.
- Roy, O. (2012) “The Transformation of the Arab World” Journal of Democracy 23 (3): 85-18.
- Saunders, C. (2003) “Federalism, decentralisation and conflict management in multicultural societies”, en Federalism in a Changing World. Montreal, McGill.
- Schleiter, P i E. Morgan-Jones, (2010) “Who is in charge? Presidents, Assemblies and the Political Control of Semipresidential Cabinets” Comparative Political Studies, 43:1415.
- Schmitter, P. i T. Karl, (1991) “What democracy is ...and is not” Journal of Democracy 2 (3):75-88.
- Schmitter, P. (2010) “Twenty-five Years, Fifteen Findings”, Journal of Democracy 21 (1): 17-28.
- Stepan, A, (2012) “Tunisia’s Transition and the twin tolerations” Journal of Democracy 23 (2): 89-103.
- Tessler, M, J. Amanal, M. Robbins (2012) “New Findings on arabs and democracy” Journal of Democracy 23 (4): 89-103.
- Uharte, L. M.; Martí Comas, J. (coords.) (2019) Repensar la economía desde lo popular. Aprendizajes colectivos desde América Latina, Ed. Icària.
- Valenzuela, A (2004) “Latin American Presidents Interrupted”, Journal of Democracy, 15 (4): 5--9.
- Zanin Martins, C.; Zanin Martins, V. T.; Valim, R. (2019) Lawfare: uma introdução, Ed. Contracorrente.