Dr Vesselin Dimitrov

Prof Michael Bruter, Prof Sara Hobolt and Prof Tony Travers

This course is available on the BA in Social Anthropology, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development with Economics, BSc in Environmental Policy with Economics, BSc in History and Politics, BSc in International Relations, BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Politics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics, BSc in Politics and Data Science, BSc in Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and History, BSc in Politics and International Relations, BSc in Politics and Philosophy and BSc in Social Anthropology. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Students must have completed Introduction to Political Science (GV101).

The course aims to give students an understanding of the full range of leading topics and areas of debate and research relevant to the analysis of political institutions and politics in Europe. The course focuses on both core fields of comparative enquiry, such as the study of party competition and voting behaviour, and emerging fields of interest, such as national and European identities, and immigration. The course places particular emphasis on the diverse experiences of liberal democracy in different parts of Europe. The course covers not only long-established democracies in Western Europe, but also the relatively new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. In the Winter Term, the course will study in depth a number of European countries, such as Britain, France and Germany, analysing the main developments in the country concerned in the last twenty years (elections, parties, governments), and then examining issues of particular interest related to that country. Course topics include: electoral behaviour; ideology and issues; political parties and party competition; government formation and coalitions; regionalism and federalism; national and European identities; and immigration.

This course provides a combination of lectures and classes totalling a minimum of 50 and a half hours across the Autumn, Winter and Spring Terms.

There will be reading weeks in Week 6 of the AT and Week 6 of the WT for private study and essay and assessment preparation.

Students will be expected to produce two essays in the AT and one essay in the WT.

T Bale, European Politics: A Comparative Introduction (4th edn) (2017); C De Vries, S Hobolt, S-O Proksch and J Slapin, Foundations of European Politics (2021); M Gallagher et al, Representative Government in Modern Europe (5th edn) (2011); P Heywood et al (Eds), Developments in European Politics (2006); V Dimitrov, K H Goetz & H Wollmann, Governing after Communism: Institutions and Policymaking (2006); S Hix and B Hoyland, The Political System of the European Union (4th edn) (2022); A Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy (2nd edn) (2012).

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the spring exam period.

GENERAL COURSE STUDENTS ONLY:

The Class Summary Grade for General Course students will be calculated as follows: 15% general contribution to class discussions, 15% presentation(s) and, if applicable, essay outline(s), 60% grading of formative coursework (20% for each of the three essays), 10% attendance.