Übung Political Leadership Comparing Chief Executives in Modern Democracies in English

The seminar will focus on comparing parameters of political leadership by chief executives (prime ministers, chancellors and presidents) in modern democracies. It is mostly concerned with the relationship between leaders and their institutional environments. The seminar covers a number of topics, including constitutional powers of the chief executive, the role of the chief executive within the cabinet as well as executive - legislative relations. Furthermore, the focus will be on relations between the chief executive on the one hand and inter and intra-party politics, the voters, the public, the policy making as well as the internationalization of politics on the other. Moreover, the role of the media and their --celebrity politics-- will be considered, thus, the logic of modern mass media which focuses on personalities rather than on programs and issues. Finally, the seminar will discuss different veto players and constraints on the powers of the chief executive. The seminar is meant to provoke discussion on a few general thoughts: How does the chief executive's role and powers affect the quality of the democratic process? And how does his role and powers affect the quality of the government and its public policy? The government and politics of several countries (Germany, Britain, The United States, Israel and others) will be discussed throughout the seminar as a means of comparison. Poguntke, T, & Webb P, The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford Univ. Press, 2005, Ch. 1 pp.1-25.; Helms L., Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors: Executive Leadership in Western Democracies, Palgrave Macmillan 2005, Ch. 1 pp. 3-23.; Goetz, K.H. 'Power at the Center: the Organization of Democratic Systems' in Paul M. Heywood, Erik Jones, Martin Rhodes and Ulrich Sedelmeier (eds) Developments in European Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2006, 73-96.; O'Malley, E., -The Power of Prime Ministers: Result of an Expert Survey-, International Political Science Review (2007), vol 28. No. 1, pp. 7-27.; House of Commons, Political and Constitutional Reform Committee: The Role and powers of the Prime Minister, Written Evidence (by 20 academics and politicians) July 2011 Anmeldung Anmeldung zur Veranstaltung über Coremato von 05.10.2016 bis 11.10.2016 unter: http://www.gsi.uni-muenchen.de/studium/organisation/ole/index.html Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politikwissenschaft LMU München WiSe 1617 Prof. Dr. Korn Dan