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

Logo UAB

Comparative Politics I

Code: 101081 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Political Science and Public Management OB 3
International Relations OB 3

Contact

Name:
Margarita Leon Ramon Borja
Email:
margarita.leon@uab.cat

Teachers

(External) Mireia Grau

Teaching groups languages

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


Prerequisites

The student is expected to know adequately, at a minimum, the concepts and theories worked in the Political Science subject of the first of the degree. It is also taken for granted that the student routinely reads generalist newspapers following especially the news of national and international politics
										
											
										
											Group G1 will be taught in English and a good level of active and passive comprehension in English is expected (see objectives). The afternoon classes (G51) will be taught in Spanish / Catalan and a good level of reading in English is expected. Exams can be delivered in Catalan, Spanish, or English. Practices in English classes will be conducted in English.
 
 

Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject is compulsory in the third year of Degree and Political Science and Public Management. The course aims to work on some of the main approaches, concepts and theories of comparative politics through an in-depth analysis of the most relevant Western European political systems.
										
											
										
											G1 is completely in English to give students an opportunity to consolidate an English level that allows them to follow and participate in English subjects both at the UAB and in international exchange programs. It is expected to conduct classes with an active understanding of English, that is, seminary discussions will be conducted in English. Written evaluation work and the exam can be done in English, Catalan or Spanish. The oral presentation will be in English and the level is expected to allow a correct and fluent oral expression

Competences

    Political Science and Public Management
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  • Assess the social, economic and environmental impact when acting in this field of knowledge.
  • 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.
  • Develop critical thought and reasoning and be able to communicate them effectively, both in your own language and second or third languages.
  • Develop strategies for autonomous learning.
  • Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  • Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  • Make changes to the methods and processes of the area of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and wishes of society.
  • Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  • Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  • Showing a good capacity for transmitting information, distinguishing key messages for their different recipients.
  • Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  • Working autonomously.
  • Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  • 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.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  2. Analyse the public policies of different countries and political systems.
  3. Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  4. Assess the social, economic and environmental impact when acting in this field of knowledge.
  5. Connecting the different components that shape the structure and operations of political systems and the environment where they interact.
  6. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Develop critical thought and reasoning and be able to communicate them effectively, both in your own language and second or third languages.
  10. Develop strategies for autonomous learning.
  11. Draw up comparative analyses of different political systems, identifying the way in which differences and similarities are argued.
  12. Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  13. Identify the main actor, structure and operation of different political systems .
  14. Identify the main actors, structures and operation of internal and international political systems from a comparative perspective.
  15. Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  16. Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  17. Make changes to the methods and processes of the area of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and wishes of society.
  18. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  19. Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  20. Showing a good capacity for transmitting information, distinguishing key messages for their different recipients.
  21. Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  22. Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  23. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  24. Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  25. Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  26. Working autonomously.
  27. Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  28. Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.

Content

NOTE: FOR A MORE UP TO DATE DESCRIPTION OF COURSE CONTENT PLEASE SEE SYLLABUS AVAILABLE IN MOODLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE

PART I: INTRODUCTION

 

TOPIC 1 - Introduction to Comparative Politics

 

 

Topic 2: The logics of the comparative method.

 

 

Topic 3: introduction to institutions and key concepts in comparative politics

 

 

PART II: POLITICAL SYSTEMS

Topic 4: historical antecedents and constitutions (UK, Germany, France and Italy)

 

Topic 5: Electoral systems and party systems

 

Topic 6: Legislatures and governments

 

Topic 7: Territorial distribution, federalism and decentralization

 

 

 PART III:  COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF QUALITY OF DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC POLICY OF DIFFERENT REGIMES

TOpic 8. Majoritarian and Consensual democratic models

 

Topic 9: Vetoplayers

 

Topic 10: Policy outcomes of different political systems


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 30 1.2 5
Oral presentations 8 0.32 6, 19, 20, 25
Seminars 16 0.64 3, 8, 7, 16, 5
Type: Supervised      
Office hours 14 0.56
Type: Autonomous      
individual study 30 1.2 18, 15, 23, 26, 28
Reading 35 1.4 26
Writing 15 0.6 3, 8, 15, 5, 23

Comparative politics 1 is a 6 ECTS credit course, this means 150 hours of student work in total (25 horas/1 ECTS). These credits are organised around the following activities

Directed activities:

  • Lectures and in group debates.
  • oral Presentation of class work
  • Seminars

Supervised activities:

  • Individual tutoring available for group work and any other individual assessment

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
Essay 30% 0 0 1, 24, 4, 2, 3, 8, 7, 6, 10, 9, 11, 19, 18, 13, 14, 15, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 21, 5, 23, 27, 26, 28, 25
Evaluation of seminar tasks 20% 0 0 1, 24, 4, 2, 8, 6, 10, 9, 11, 18, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 21, 5, 23, 26, 28
Exam 50% 2 0.08 2, 3, 8, 7, 6, 11, 18, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 5, 23, 26

Evaluation is divided in 3 main elements:

 

  • Exam: 50% of the grade (compulsory to pass the exam in order to pass the course).
  • Reading test, practical exercises and similar activities: 20 % of the grade
  • Group work: 30 % of the final grade
Resit

-If the exam, the group work or both do not obtain a pass (5 or above) the student will be able to retake either one part or both. Important points: 
- The coursework in seminars (reading tests or similar) cannot be retaken
-The resit could be partial (just one of the parts) or complete(both parts) 
- The maxim grade for the resit is a pass (5) 
- in order to take the resit the student must have first taken the ordinary exam and submit the group work on time (justified absences for medical reasons apply)  

Unique evaluation: 

Written exam (100% of the grade). This exam will have one part common to the normal evaluation and a second part which will be essay-based and will relate to the contents covered in seminars and in the practical course work

 

 Non-Evaluation:

This condition will only apply to students who have not taken the exam and have not done the group work either. With a single grade in one of these evaluations, it is no longer possible to access the condition of not assessed.

 

Use of artificial intelligence (AI). -

It is allowed to use AI in this course as an integral part of the development of the work, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution of the student in the analysis and personal reflection. The student will have to 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. Non-transparency in the use of AI will be considered academic dishonesty and may lead to a penalty in the course grade, or greater sanctions in cases of severe misuse.

 


Bibliography

Basic Readings (for a more up to date and detailed list of key references please see the syllabus which will be available at the beginning of the course)

Core Reading: Lijphart, A.,  Patterns of Democracy, Yale: Yale University Press, 1999.

 

Colomer, J. M. (Ed.) Comparative European Politics, third Edition, London: Routledge, 2008.

Caramani, D. (eds.) Comparative Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, 

Bara, Judith, Mark pennington 2009 Comparative Politics, Sage

Bale, T. European politics: a comparative introduction, 2nd Edition, London: Palgrave, 2008

Levis, M. (1997) Consent, Dissent and Patriotism, Cambridge University Press

Landman, T., Issues and methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2003.

 

Mona Lena Krook, Joni Lovenduski and Judith Squires (2009). Gender Quotas and Models of Political Citizenship. British Journal of Political Science, 39, pp 781-803

Pasquino, G., Sistemas políticos comparados, Buenos Aires, prometo libros, 2004.

Poguntke, Thomas y Paul Webb (eds): The presidentialization of politics. A comparative study of modern democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Tsebelis, G. Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2002.

 

 


Software

 

Not specified


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
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 51 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 10 English first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 51 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 510 Catalan first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Catalan first semester afternoon