Advanced Readings in Comparative Politics in English

This seminar is designed to survey major topics and contributions in the field of comparative politics by focusing on the -original” writings. Moreover, we will contrast the classic approaches with newer research in the field. Thus, we will be able to outline the evolution of the discipline and develop a comprehensive map of comparative politics. Therefore, we will address questions such as: How does state and nation building happen? How can we classify political regimes? What characterizes the political culture of a nation? Why do some parties rely on patronage while other parties run on policy programs? In answering these and other questions we will summarize theoretical and empirical corner stones of comparative politics. We will begin with a broad overview of the field. Afterwards we will move our analyses to the macro-level by focusing on the state and nation building. This section will be followed by a meso-perspective on political mobilization and political culture. Finally we will adopt a micro-level view on the process of policy making. Each section will be coupled with an assessment of methodologies used in the respective research area. The seminar has four major learning objectives: First, students will internalize the theoretical diversity in comparative politics by explaining theories to each other and evaluating them together. Second, students will develop an understanding for the methods used in various areas of comparative politics and will be asked to apply these methods in their own work. Third, students will learn to contrast classic theoretical approaches with recent empirical findings, allowing them to better understand the complexity of comparative politics. Finally, students will be able to familiarize themselves with the English academic language. Requirements: English will be the language of this seminar. Requirements: - Studienleistung: Presentation (Referat) and short essays - Prüfungsleistung: Research paper (13-15 pages) or oral exam (20 minutes) - Boix, Carles / Susan C. Stokes. 2007. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Politik, Bachelor (fachübergr.) VM 3 Universität Hannover SoSe 2016 Institut für Politische Wissenschaft Dozent