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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Politics

Undergraduate Course: Comparative Politics in a Globalized World (PLIT08008)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course will provide students with the conceptual knowledge and practical skills to understand comparative politics in a globalized world. It introduces the comparative method, and applies that method to core questions and issues of comparative and international politics. These questions will cover political regimes, state formation and institutions, political and economic development, democracy, order and violence.
Course description Week 1. Introduction : Studying comparative politics in a globalized world
Q: What makes a good comparativist; Why compare?

Week 2. The Comparative Method
Q: How to compare; how to study variation across and within states (case studies, two-unit comparisons, multiple-unit comparisons, and mixed designs)


ISSUES / QUESTIONS
Weeks 3/4. Comparative Political Systems (political culture, types of govt regimes)
Q: What makes a democracy; can democracy be imposed from abroad?

Weeks 5 -7 (week 6 is Reading/ILW) Comparative Institutions
(Constitutions, legislatures, parties; electoral systems, pressure groups)
Q: Where does power lie within states; why do institutions develop differently?

Weeks 8/9. Economic Development and Globalization
Q: What determines how states develop? Why are some countries rich while others are poor? Why does globalization affect states differently?

Week 10. Order and conflict
(How states impose order; sources of conflict)
Q: What causes revolutions? Why terrorism? Is terrorism changing in a globalized world?

Week 11. Conclusion & revision
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  350
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 40 %, Coursework 60 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to:
-Recognise the diversity of political systems around the world and their key components (including institutions, actors, and culture);
-Explain why political systems differ, and how those differences shape domestic and global politics;
-Understand the logic of the comparative method and be able to apply it to real world events and outcomes;
-Assess the value of comparative political science for understanding current events and global relations;
-Effectively communicate comparative political analysis in written and oral forms
Reading List
Lim, T.C. (2006), Doing Comparative Politics: An Introduction to Approaches and Issues (Boulder: Lynne Riener).
Hague, R and Harrop, M. (2013) Comparative Government and Politics, 9th ed.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Christina Boswell
Tel: (0131 6)50 9924
Email: christina.boswell@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Andra Roston
Tel: (0131 6)50 3932
Email: Andra.Roston@ed.ac.uk
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