Seminar Introduction to the political system of Germany

1 Goals The course adresses incoming B.A. and M.A. students alike. It provides an introduction to the german political system and country-specific concepts political science applies to analyse it. As such, it is intended to be a starting point for further studies of the german political landscape. Depending on the learning progress and the previous knowledge of the participants, we will take a more in-depth look at a complex policy like the early 2000's reform politics (-Hartz-Reform-). 2 Course Achievements Students can gain 3 (B.A.) or 5 (M.A.) ECTS-points respectively. To achieve 3 ECTS-points students have to provide an adequate presentation during the course or a screencast introducing a certain topic of the seminar. For being credited 5 points students additionally have to write an essay concerning a relevant question, meeting common scientific standards. While the course in general will be held in English, the essay may as well be written in German. 3 Information and Documents Reading material is made available as an electronic reading shelf on the library's website ( http://duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de/servlets/DocumentServlet?id=39069). Additional information is provided at https://www.uni-due.de/~hq0209/ . 4 Schedule (tentative) • -Zero Hour- and the (Re-)Construction of Democracy (4 SWS) • Federal Level Institutions and the Government (4 SWS) • Elections and the German Party System (4 SWS) • German States and Federalism (4 SWS) • Municipal Self-Government (4 SWS) • Corporatism and Multilevel Interwoven Politics (4 SWS) • Policy Example: Hartz-Reform (2 SWS) • -The Party Never Errs- - The Political System of the GDR (2 SWS) (SWS = 45min) Bemerkung Für das Seminar werden maximal 15 Studierende des BA Politikwissenschaft zugelassen. Diese können das Seminar für das Wahlpflichtmodul, Auswahlbereich -Freie Auswahl aus dem Semesterangebot in den Aufbaumodulen-, belegen. Zielgruppe sind zudem Erasmus-Studierende im Bachelor-Studiengang Politikwissenschaft sowie Studierende im Masterstudiengang -Development and Governance- am Institut für Politikwissenschaft. Gesellschaftswissenschaften Universität Duisburg-Essen WiSe 2015/16 Powi B.A., Politikwissenschaft (Bachelor of Arts) Dipl. pol. Brandenstein Frederik pol