HU Credits: 4

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: political science

Semester: Yearly

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Prof. Gideon Rahat, Dr.

Coordinator Email: msgrah@mscc.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours:

Teaching Staff:
Prof Gideon Rahat

Course/Module description:
Comparative Politics is a field of research aims at developing concepts, models, frameworks for analysis and theories that might explain political events and processes across different political systems, different times, and different contexts. The purpose of this course is to deepen students' knowledge of the research questions and the main disagreements in the field. This process will take place through the study of basic and current research in the field.

Course/Module aims:
The course intends to supply each research student a wide basis of knowledge before each turns to focus on her specific research domain.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
* to specialize in comparative politics.
* To present wide knowledge of various issues in comparative politics.
* To summarize the state of the discipline in various fields within the discipline.
* To present the main concepts, approaches and models in the discipline.
* To compare various aspects in various political systems.

Attendance requirements(%):
100%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Reading, attendance and participation in class.

Each student will submit abstracts/assignments of all requested reading material at the beginning of each class.


Presentations in class: Each student will present several subjects in class for 45 minutes.

Course/Module Content:
1 Introduction
2 Political Power
3 Democracy
4 Undemocratic regimes
5 Democratization
6 Consensus versus Majoritarian democratic regimes; presidential versus parliamentary
7 Law and Politics
8 Political Socialization
9 Political culture: From the individual to the state
10 Political culture: a global perspective
11 Civil Society and Social Capital
12 Political Economy: The Politics of GDP
13 Political Participation
14 Voters turnout
15 Voters behavior
16 Electoral systems: Majoritarian, PR or mixd?
17 The effect of electoral systems on voters' behavior
18 Political parties
19 Party systems
20 Political representation
21. Politics and gender
. 22Nationalism and Ethnicity
23 Revolutions
24 Political Violence
25 Politics and the Internet
26 Globalization and Politics
27 Summary

Required Reading:
Lijphart, Arend. 1998. "Consensus and Consensus Democracy: Cultural, Structural, Functional, and Rational-Choice Explanations," Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 21(2): 99-108.

Dahl, Robert A. 1957. The Concept of Power. Behavioral Science. Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 201-215.

Lukes, Steven, Power: A Radical View, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2005.

Dahl, Robert A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New haven: Yale University Press. Ch. 1, 3 (pp. 1-16, 33-47).

Diamond, Larry. 1999. Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, pp. 1-19.

Brooker, Paul. 2009. Non-Democratic Regimes. Second Edition. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, Introduction and Ch. 1, (pp. 1-45)

Larry Jay Diamond. 2002. " Thinking About Hybrid Regimes," Journal of Democracy, 13 (2): 21-35

Bogaards, Matthijs.2009."How to Classify Hybrid Regimes? Defective Democracy and Electoral Authoritarianism", Democratization, 16(2): 399-423.

Huntington, Samuel P. 1991. "Democracy's Third Wave," Journal of Democracy, Volume 2(2): 12-34.

Geddes, Barbara. 1999. “What Do We Know about Democratization after Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 2: 115-144.

Arend Lijphart. 2012. Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries, 2nd Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, Chapter 1-4 (pp. 1-61).

Rein Taagepera. 2003. "Arend Lijphart’s Dimensions of Democracy: Logical Connections and Institutional Design," Political Studies, 51 (1): 1–19

Various writers. "presidentialism," In Diamond, Larry, Marc F. Plattner and Philip J. Costopoulos, eds. 2010. Debates on Democratization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, pp. 255-305.

Hirschl, Ran. 2008. "The Judicialization of Mega-Politics and the Rise of Political Courts," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 11, pp. 93-108.
Sapiro, Virginia. 2004. "Not Your Parents' Political Socialization: Introduction for a New Generation," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 7, pp. 1-23.

Jennings, M. Kent. 2007. "Political Socialization," in Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingermann, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 29-44.

Almond, Gabriel A., and Sidney Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Little, Brown, and Company. Ch. 1 (pp. 1-44).

Welzel, Christian and Ronald Ingelhart. 2011. "Political Culture," in Daniele Caramani, ed. Comparative Politics, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 311-330.

Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72(3): pp. 22-49.
Barber, Benjamin R. 1995 Jihad vs. McWorld. New York: Ballantine Books, "Introduction," pp 1-20.

Putnam, Robert D. 1995. "Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America ”Political Science & Politics, Vol. 28(4): 664-683.

Chambers, Simone and Jeffrey Kopstein. 2001. "Bad Civil Society," Political Theory, Vol. 29 (6): 837-865.

Kitschelt, Herbert and Philipp Rehm. 2011. "Political Participation," in Daniele Caramani, ed. Comparative Politics, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 331-351.

Kaase, Max. 2007. "Perspectives on Political Participation," in Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingermann, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.783-796.

Blais, Andr´e. 2006. "What Affects Voter Turnout?" Annual Review of Political Science. Vol.. 9: 111–25

Geys, Benny. 2006. "Explaining voter turnout: A review of aggregate-level research," Electoral Studies, Volume 25(4): 637–663.

Dalton, Russell J. 2010. "Ideology, Partisanship, and Democratic Development," in Lawrence Leduc, Richard G. Niemi and Pippa Norris (eds.), Comparing Democracies 3, London: Sage, pp. 143-164.

Lardeyret, Guy. 1991. "The Problem with PR," Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2 (3): 30-35.
Quade, Quentin L. 1991. "PR and Democratic Statecraft," Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2 (3): 36-41.
Lijphart, Arend.. 1991. "Double-Checking the Evidence," Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2 (3): 42-48.
Bowler, Shaun, David M. Farrell and Robin T. Pettitt. 2005. “Expert Opinion on Electoral Systems: So Which Electoral System is ‘Best’?” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, vol. 15, no. 1 pp. 3-19.

Shugart, Matthew Soberg. 2001. "Electoral “efficiency” and the move to mixed member Systems," Electoral Studies, Vol. 20: 173–193.

Riker, William H. 1986. "Duverge's Law Revisited," in Bernard Grofman & Arend Lijphart A. (Eds.) Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences, N. Y.: Agathon Press Inc, pp. 19-42.

Sartori, Giovanni. 1986. "The Influence of Electoral Systems: Faulty Laws or Faulty Method?" in Bernard Grofman & Arend Lijphart A. (Eds.) Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences, N. Y.: Agathon Press Inc., pp. 43-68.

Duverger, Maurice. 1986."Duverger's Law: Forty Years Later," in Bernard Grofman & Arend Lijphart A. (Eds.) Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences, N. Y.: Agathon Press Inc., pp. 69-84.

Katz, Richard S. and Peter Mair. 1995. "Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party." Party Politics, 1 (1): 5-28.
Ignazi, Piero. 2014. "Power and the (Il)legitimacy of Political Parties: An Unavoidable Paradox of Contemporary Democracy"? Party Politics, online first.

Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic theory of Democracy. Harper Collins Publishers. Ch. 7, 8 (pp. 96-141).

Wolinetz, Steven. 2006. "Party Systems and Party System Types," in Richard S. Katz and William Crotty eds., Handbook of Party Politics, London: Sage, pp. 51-62.

Mair, Peter. 2006. "Party System Change," in Richard S. Katz and William Crotty eds., Handbook of Party Politics, London: Sage, pp. 63-73.

Htun, Mala. 2004. “Is Gender Like Ethnicity? The Political Representation of Identity Groups,” Perspectives on Politics, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 439-458.
Webels, Bernhard. 2007. "Political Representation and Democracy," in Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingermann, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 833-849.
Lovenduski, Joni. 1998. "Gendering Research in Political Science," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 1, pp. 333-356.
Wangnerud, Lena. 2009. "Women in Parliaments: Descriptive and Substantive Representation," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 12, pp. 51-69.
בן ישראל, חדווה. 2004. "חקר הלאומיות כיום: על טבעה של הלאומיות," בתוך חדווה בן ישראל, בשם האומה: מסות ומאמרים על לאומיות וציונות. באר שבע: אוניברסיטת בן גוריון, עמ' 451-491.

Posner, Daniel. 2004. "Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas Are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi." American Political Science Review, 98(4): 529-545.

Goldstone, Jack A. 2001. "Towards a Fourth Generation of Revolutionary Theory," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 4, pp. 139-187.
Valentino, Benjamin A. 2014. "Why We Kill: The Political Science of Political Violence against Civilians," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 17, pp. 89-103.
Farrell, Henry. 2012. "The Consequences of the Internet for Politics," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 15, pp. 35-52.
Margolis, Michael. 2007. "E-Government and Politics," in Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingermann, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.765-782.
Berger, Suzanne. 2000. "Globalization and Politics," Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 3, pp. 43-62.
Sorensen, Georg. 2011. "Globalization and the Nation State," in Daniele Caramani, ed. Comparative Politics, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 451-466.

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 50 %
Participation in Tutorials 10 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 40 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
Course program may change under decision of the lecturers, including changing the exercises listed in the syllabus.

Please contact me with any question or problem. We will be happy to help.