This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

Logo UAB

Comparative Politics II

Code: 101080 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Political Science and Public Management OB 3
International Relations OB 3

Contact

Name:
Eva Kristine Ostergaard-Nielsen
Email:
eva.ostergaard@uab.cat

Teachers

Eva Kristine Ostergaard-Nielsen
(External) Luisa Faustini Torres
(External) Pablo Castaņo Tierno

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Comparative Politics I 


Objectives and Contextualisation

The main objective of this course is to provide theoretical and methodological tools relevant for the comparative analysis of politics across the world. The course covers a broad span of types of political regimes including both democratization and autocratic resilience and the factors that might help us understand these processes. Students will engage with lectures on different themes across in particular the Americas, Africa and Asia.

This course follows on from comparative politics 1 which focuses on the study of mainly EU countries.


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 metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the public policies of different countries and political systems.
  2. Analysing the electoral processes, including campaigns, parties' electoral strategies, political scenarios and analysis and interpretation of electoral results.
  3. Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  4. Connecting the different components that shape the structure and operations of political systems and the environment where they interact.
  5. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Draw up comparative analyses of different political systems, identifying the way in which differences and similarities are argued.
  9. Explaining political, individual and collective attitudes and behaviours, as well as the education process and expression of political preferences.
  10. Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  11. Identify the main actor, structure and operation of different political systems .
  12. Identify the main actors, structures and operation of internal and international political systems from a comparative perspective.
  13. Identifying and distinguishing the functioning of the electoral processes.
  14. Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  15. Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  16. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  17. Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  18. Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  19. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  20. Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
  21. Working autonomously.
  22. Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.

Content

 

Introduction

- State formation and democracy

-Theories of democratic development

-Theories of autocratic resilience

-How to measure and compare democracy

 

Political regimes, institutions and mobilization

-Presidentialism in comparative perspective

-Federalism and secessionism

-Populism in Latin America and Asia

-International migration and democratization

 

Further regional perspectives

-Democracy and Autocracy in the Middle East

-Electoral democracies and autocracies in Africa

-Asian political development, China and India.   


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures and seminars 49.5 1.98 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 17, 4, 22
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 4 0.16
Type: Autonomous      
Individual study 30 1.2 14, 10, 15, 18, 19, 21
Reading 30 1.2 16, 15, 18
Writing 15 0.6 3, 20, 5, 14, 17, 19, 22

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.

 

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.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam 40% 3.5 0.14 1, 3, 20, 7, 6, 5, 8, 16, 11, 12, 14, 10, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 21, 22
Group Paper 30% 10 0.4 2, 1, 3, 20, 7, 6, 5, 8, 9, 16, 11, 12, 14, 10, 13, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 21, 22
Readings control and presentations 30% 8 0.32 2, 1, 3, 20, 7, 5, 8, 9, 16, 11, 12, 14, 10, 13, 15, 18, 17, 4, 19, 22

  • The evaluation of this subject will be made from the following deliveries by the student:
    Exam: 40% of the grade.
  • Reading and exercise controls in seminars: 30% of the grade
  • Course paper:30% of the grade, group paper of 2-4 students (depending on class size) on one of the proposed topics.

 

Important considerations:

  • The course cannot be passed without a grade in all three forms of evaluation of this course: seminars, group paper and exam. 
  • The course cannot be passed without passing the exam. The exam may not be exactly the same for the groups of morning and afternoon. 
  • There is mandatory presence at seminars to have access to the reading control or other forms of evaluations.
  • It is mandatory to comply with the dates for all deliveries (presentations, group work) in order to obtain feedback/grades.  
  • There are two exam dates. Those who pass on the first date will not be able to appear on the second. Only those who have failed on the first date may present themselves for the re-examination where their max grade can be 5.

Not evaluable: 

Any student who has participated in any of the evaluated activities cannot opt for being 'no avaluable'.
 
Single assessment 
  • There will be a single assessment evaluation on the exam date set by the Faculty.
  • The single assessment will include different three assessment activities where the the student must demonstrate having acquired the sameskills and competencies as students who opt for continuous assessment.
  • The tests will consist of an exam, a control of all the readings of the course and an individual work with identical weights to those of the continuous assessment.
  • The details of the single assessment will be explained in the beginning of the course.
     
     
     
    Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): 
    For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively in support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction or translations. The student must clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The lack of transparency of the use of AI in any assessable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater sanctions in serious cases.

Bibliography

Basic, more specific readings for seminars to be provided at beginning of course. 

Boix, Carles and Susan C. Stokes (eds.) (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Croissant, Aurel and Philip Lorenz (2018), Comparative Politics of Southeast Asia, Amsterdam: Springer

Levitsky, Steven and Daniel Ziblatt (2019), How Democracies Die, New York: Crown.

Linz, Juan (1990) “The Perils of presidentialism” Jornal of democracy, Vol 1, N.1

Meredith, Martin (2005) The State of Africa, A History of Fifty Years of Independence. Free press 

Roitman Rosenmann, Marcos (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.

Siaroff, A. (2022). Comparing Political Regimes: A Thematic Introduction to Comparative Politics. University of Toronto Press.

 


Software

 Freedom House, VDEM, Polity IV, Economist Inteligence Unit 


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 1 English second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 51 Catalan/Spanish second semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 1 English second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Catalan/Spanish second semester afternoon