Democratic Political Institutions
Course Code: PUBLG058
Course Tutor: Dr Sherrill Stroschein (Department of Political Science)
Assessment: 2,000 word essay (60%) + 1hr unseen written examination (40%)
Credit Value: 15
About this course
This course examines democratic
institutions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Democracies
throughout the globe are constituted of different rules for governing and
representation, and the course will cover these different options as well as
their advantages and disadvantages for particular contexts. The course first
examines basic constitutional structures for the allocation of powers between
executives and legislatures and the conduct of elections. Throughout the
course, we evaluate the origins and maintenance of institutions in terms of two
different theoretical views on human behavior: the economic and sociological
perspectives. Other examples of institutions covered include study federalism,
devolution, and autonomy. The course then turns to various ways of
incorporating citizen interests through representative structures, addressing
parties and party systems as well as alternative forms of participation such as
such as direct democracy, deliberative democracy, and corporatism. We also
address the functioning of bureaucracies, accountability, corruption, and the
role of judiciaries in politics. Finally, the course concludes with an
examination of Iraq as a case study for governance in divided societies and
options for institutional power-sharing.
By the end of this course, students will be able to critically evaluate different options for democratic institutions across different country contexts. They will also be able to assess both academic and policy arguments in favor of various institutions in terms of their potential biases toward individualist or sociological assumptions about human behavior. Finally, students will develop skills of critical reading, thinking, and writing though a combination of readings, lectures and discussions, and writing assignments.
