Electoral Processes in the World
Code: 104514 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503778 International Relations | OB | 2 | 2 |
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OT | 3 | 2 |
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OT | 4 | 1 |
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OT | 4 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Joan Ricart Angulo
- Email:
- joan.ricart@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
Basic notions of political science
Objectives and Contextualisation
Getting to know the main components and types of existing electoral systems
Understanding the effect that the choice of electoral system can have on the political party system as well as on relationships between the executive and legislative powers
Getting to know how to apply the methodology to observe electoral processes
Understanding the role of the media system in the political life and getting familiar with the methodological tools to analyse media coverage and access to the media by political candidates and parties
Competences
- International Relations
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Analyse the behaviour of international actors, both state and non-state.
- Apply knowledge of the structure and operation of international institutions to problems and/or practical cases, either real or simulated.
- Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
- Design, plan and carry out projects and studies for analysis and/or intervention in different areas of international relations.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Learn and analyse the impacts of the globalisation process on domestic political systems and on the behaviour of the political actors and the public.
- Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
- Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- 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.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse and critically evaluate the evolution of the population of a region.
- Analyse and show future scenarios focusing on the different basic demographic variables.
- Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
- Apply theoretical and analytical knowledge of international relations in practical and professional case studies, in particular in the area of conflict and cooperation between actors.
- Carry out basic demographic studies (population pyramids, growth forecasts, age-period cohort analysis) and analyse the main current problems of the population.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Critically evaluate the impacts of globalisation in different areas: security, environment, human rights, migrations and peace.
- Evaluate the distinctive and instrumental aspects of the different trends and analytical approaches to international relations from a conceptual and methodological focus.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within the area of your own knowledge.
- Outline the basic knowledge for demographic analysis, in particular the basic techniques and elements for studying population (birth and death rates, migration , natural and organic growth, etc.)
- Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
- Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
- Propose new ways to measure success or failure when implementing ground-breaking proposals or ideas.
- Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Propose viable projects and actions that promote social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Propose ways to evaluate projects and actions for improving sustainability.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- 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.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
- Use sources of data, time references and magnitudes in population analysis.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
- Weigh up the risks and opportunities of one's own ideas for improvement and proposals made by others.
Content
1. Electoral systems and their effects on the political system
Types of Electoral Management Bodies
Majority/plurality electoral systems
Proportional electoral systems. Fragmentation of party systems and government formation.
Mixed electoral systems
Electoral system reform
2. Political communication and electoral campaigns
Political communication and political knowledge. Media systems of the world
Political news. Media routines.
Mass media effects: agenda setting, agenda building and framing.
The media and the election campaign
3. Electoral integrity and election observation
How to measure electoral integrity. Election observation.
Legal framework for elections.
Electoral campaign and Election day.
Media and social media observation.
4. Comparative electoral behaviour
Effects of cleavages on voting behaviour.
Leaders and issues.
Economic vote. Strategic vote.
Dual and second-order vote. Election turnout.
Methodology
There will be master classes to introduce a topic.
Following each master class (or classes), there will be scheduled presentations by students on previously chosen academic readings. The readings will be related to the topic introduced during the preceding master class session and will be followed by a discussion.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Master classes | 32 | 1.28 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Readings presentation and discussion | 20 | 0.8 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Exam | 2 | 0.08 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Compulsory readings | 30 | 1.2 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Readings' presentations | 15 | 0.6 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
| Study of learning materials introduced in class | 30 | 1.2 | 5, 29, 18, 14 |
Assessment
1. Written exam (50%). This will assess knowledge acquired by students both at the master classes and at the presentations and discussion of academic readings.
2. Presentation (40%). This mark will include the student’s own presentation as well as her participation in the debates about others' readings.
3. Participation in class dicussions (10%). This percentage of the final mark could be absorbed by the exam if there is not a sufficient number of presencial lectures.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in class discussions | 10% | 0.6 | 0.02 | 10, 4, 5, 29, 8, 18, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 26, 25, 9, 31 |
| Readings' presentation | 40% | 2.4 | 0.1 | 3, 2, 1, 6, 5, 29, 17, 18, 7, 14, 16, 32, 24, 19, 20, 23, 28, 27, 26, 25, 30, 11, 12 |
| Written exam | 50% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 1, 5, 29, 17, 18, 7, 14, 16, 28, 27, 30 |
Bibliography
Basic
European Union (2016), Compendium of International Standards for Elections. Antwerpen: European Union. Available online.
European Union (2016), Handbook for European Union Election Observation (third edition) . Vottem: European Union. Available online.
Farrell, D. M. (2001), Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction. London and New York: Palgrave. Available as e-book.
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (2005), Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook. Stockholm: International IDEA. Available online.
Lange, B.P., and Ward, D. (2004). The Media and Elections. A Handbook and Comparative Study. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Available as e-book.
VVAA (1993), "Choosing an Electoral System" in Journal of Democracy, 4/1, pp. 53-91. Available online.
Norris, P. (2004), Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available as e-book.
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) (2012), Handbook On Media Monitoring for Election Observation Missions. Warsaw: OSCE. Available online.
Perloff, R.M. (2014), The Dynamics of Political Communication. Media and Politics in a Digital Age. New York: Routledge. Available as e-book.
Riker, W. H. (1982), “The Two-party System and Duverger's Law: An Essay on the History of Political Science”, in American Political Science Review, 76/4, pp. 753-766. Available online.
Complementary
Golder, M. (2005), ‘Democratic Electoral Systems Around the World 1946–2000’, Electoral Studies, 24/1, pp. 103–121. Available online.
Horowitz, D. L. (2003) ‘Electoral Systems: A Primer for Decision Makers’, Journal of Democracy, 14, pp. 115–127. Available online.
Lijphart, A. (2004), “Constitutional Design for Divided Societies”, Journal of Democracy, 15/2, pp. 96-109. Available online.
Michael, G. (1992), ‘Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes, and Majorities’, British Journal ofPolitical Science, 22, pp. 469–496. Available online.
Moser, R. G. and Scheiner, E. (2004), ‘Mixed Electoral Systems and Electoral System Effects: Controlled Comparison and Cross-National Analysis’, Electoral Studies, 23/4, pp. 575–600. Available online.
Software
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