Comparative analysis of political institutions

Course goals

After successful completion of this course, students:

• have gained insight in the international, and institutional contexts of policy making;
• are able to recognize and apply the key concepts in the field of comparative politics;
• understand the workings of the main political and administrative institutions in the  Netherlands, the European Union and EU member states;
• are able to identify how the workings of these institutions differ between countries and how the workings of different political institutions affect one another within political systems;
• have gained insight in the relevance of these political institutions with respect to public issues and policy outcomes.

 
In addition, students are capable of:

• comparatively analyzing a scholarly question on the workings of political or administrative institutions;
• communicating their ideas and analyses clearly and persuasively in a paper;
• participating actively in class discussions in English with  with different national and cultural backgrounds;
• reflecting critically on their own values in relationship to  others with different backgrounds, within both a national and an international perspective.

Content

How can a political party in the UK win an election by only 35% of the vote? Why does the US president wield much power whilst the German president hardly has any? And how different is politics in central and eastern Europe from the west? You will find the answers to these and many similar questions through comparative analyses of political institutions.
 
This course offers an introduction to the workings of institutions such as governments, parliaments, electoral systems, political parties and supra-national administration. It will address their structure as well as their internal workings, and explains how their workings are influenced by other political institutions, interest groups and the media. We will compare the workings of various institutions between political systems, but we will also address the interplay of different institutions within the same political system. In this course, we will focus on various member states of the European Union (including the Netherlands),  and the EU itself.
 
In class, we will discuss the literature through questions and exercises, and we will address the advantages and disadvantages of having specific political institutions, such as a majoritarian or a consensus system, a presidential or a parliamentary democracy, etc. Finally, we will pay attention to comparative research methods. This will help you to write your own paper.
 
Exchange students visiting Utrecht School of Governance are allowed to enroll for this course.