https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/W_JSM_109This course has the following learning goals: Knowledge and understanding. 1) Learn the core concepts used in the field of comparative politics and discuss them in relation to the relevant literature. 2) Understand different institutional design choices and explain why these are important for democratic stability. 3) Understand the opportunities and pitfalls of the comparative method. 4) Learn the differences between various explanations used in comparative politics. Application. 5) Apply theoretical knowledge about democracy to construct example democratic indices. 6) Apply theoretical knowledge about different institutional systems to a set of practical constitutional design choices. 7) Apply various concepts and theories to formulate research designs and analyse qualitatively concrete cases. Making judgments. 8) Evaluate different theories used in comparative politics based on their logical coherence and empirical applicability. 9) Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the comparative method to study contemporary political phenomena. Communication. 8) Present findings orally and in writing and discuss them with other students.This course introduces PPE students to the field of Comparative Politics by presenting and discussing a series of topical issues in the field, as well as methodological issues. The focus of this course is the origins and effects of democratic institutions, as well as non-institutional forms of democratic participation. Using the comparative method, our goal is to understand the differences between forms of government and what effects they have within the polity. Additionally, we discuss the connection between politics and the economy, and varieties of capitalism within an interconnected global economy. We cover four main sets of questions: · Why do some countries democratize while others do not? What distinguishes democratic from non-democratic regimes? What is the relationship between economic growth and democracy? What is the relationship between culture and democracy? When aiming to answer these questions, we will face many methodological issues. For example, how do we define democracy, how do we classify countries as democratic or not, and how do we deal with countries that fall somewhere in between democratic and autocratic rule? · Why do some democracies have different institutions than others? What determines the initial choice of institutions, such as the electoral system or welfare state, for example? Furthermore, what are the effects of different institutions? What impact do institutional choices have on social and economic equality, on representation or the quality of democracy? · How does economics matter for the study of comparative politics? What are the results of the interplay between global economic trends and national institutions. What varieties of capitalism are there? Is there a tension between attempts to constitutionalize economic governance and democratic participation and oversight. · How have non-institutional forms of democratic participation affected both institutional politics and wealth distribution within societies (e.g. social movements for enfranchisement and shorter working hours)? What is the role of ‘counter-democracy’ in modern society? What kinds of attempts for deepening democratic participation have been put forward in recent years? As might be expected for questions as broad and complex as these, while there is much we currently know, many debates are still open. The objective of this course is to weigh the available evidence – both descriptive and causal – to arrive at the fullest possible understanding of key themes within comparative politics. These issues will be introduced in the lectures but dealt with more in-depth in the accompanying seminars. In the seminars, students work on practical assignments and applications of the lecture content.Lectures and seminars (active learning groups). Seminar attendance is mandatory: students must attend at least 75% of the seminar sessions of a course.group project (designing a constitution) and final examCore textbook: Roberts Clark, W., Golder, M. and Golder, S. (2017)Principles of Comparative Politics. Third Edition. Sage Publications. Additional book chapters and academic articles can be found on Canvas.First year PPE studentsAll information about the course will be delivered via Canvas and course announcements, please check the course website frequently.