COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

POL 1010

Module Co-ordinators: Claire Dunlop [semester 1]

c.a.dunlop@ex.ac.uk

Bill Tupman [semester 2]

w.a.tupman@ex.ac.uk

Tutor: Jamie Hall

j.j.hall@ex.ac.uk

Thursday October 7th

Claire Dunlop Introductory Lecture

Using the World Wide Web and the various support sites provided for the module. Using Powerpointed lectures as handouts and lecture outlines

THERE IS NO TUTORIAL IN THE FIRST WEEK. STUDENTS SHOULD HOWEVER FOLLOW UP THE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE BY FINDING THE MODULE WEB-SITE AT:

http://www.ex.ac.uk/~watupman/compgov/

You should find the tutorial exercise on the "links" page and go through it to familiarise yourself with the use and abuse of the World Wide Web

2nd lecture Thursday October 14th

Claire Dunlop

a lexicon of the basic concepts required for the study of Government

[old lecture from last year]

[Concepts and Definitions in Comparative Government

Claire's lecture 2004

Tutorial 1 organisation and allocation of presentations

NB tutorials are forntnightly. Each tutorial appears twice on this website. You should look at the noticeboard to find out which group you are in and when it meets

3rd lecture Thursday October 21st

Claire Dunlop:

What is Democracy?

lecture in Powerpoint XP, may not work on older machines

.Claire's lecture 2004

Tutorial 1 organisation and allocation of presentations

NB tutorials are forntnightly. Each tutorial appears twice on this website. You should look at the noticeboard to find out which group you are in and when it meets

4^th Lecture Thursday October 31^st

4th Lecture Thursday October 28th

Claire Dunlop

Comparing Democracies:

Comparing Governments, Processes and the ideas behind them: contemporary issue

Claire's lecture 2004

TUTORIAL 2: What is Democracy?

5^th Lecture Thursday November 4th

Claire Dunlop

The European Union- I integration

Intergovernmental or Supranational

Claires lecture 2004

TUTORIAL 2: What is democracy?

STUDY WEEK

NOVEMBER 8 – 12

NO LECTURES OR CLASSES

6th lecture Thursday November 18th

The European Union II

the political system

Claires lecture 2004

TUTORIAL 3 THE EUROPEAN UNION

Remember to visit the website!

7^th lecture Thursday November 25^th

Claire Dunlop

The Democratic Deficit in the European Union

Claire's lecture 2004

the relevant issue of Eurobarometer, which surveys public opinion in the EU

http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb60/eb60_en.pdf

TUTORIAL 3 THE EUROPEAN UNION

Discussion topics and reading list as above.

8^th lecture Thursday December 2nd

Claire Dunlop

federalism

Claire's 2004 lecture

TUTORIAL 4 – Comparative Government

Lecture 9 Thursday December 9 ^th

Claire Dunlop

case study 1: France 4th to 5th Republic

The French System of Government

Jamie Hall on France

TUTORIAL 4 – Comparative Government

and look at one from the 1960s and compare it with a more recent one. Why and How are the themes different?

WINTER VACATION [4 WEEKS]

10^TH lecture Thursday January 13th

Claire Dunlop

case Study 2

Federalism and quasi-federalism: Germany and Spain

Other Systems of Government in Western Europe

Claire's lecture 2005

TUTORIAL 5– Federalism

Discussion topics and reading list as above.

11^th lecture Thursday January 20th

Claire Dunlop

Territorial Politics

TUTORIAL 5– Federalism

Discussion topics and reading list as above.

APPRAISAL WEEK [JANUARY 24^TH – JANUARY 28th ^]

NO LECTURES OR CLASSES

12th lecture Thursday February 3rd

Bill Tupman

What is Comparative Government?

Classifying Governments: Traditional classification systems based on institutional approaches, starting with Plato/Aristotle and continuing through to structural functionalism.

Finishing with Comparative Government as conceived in the XXIst Century

TUTORIAL 6– France, Germany and Spain.

13^th lecture Thursday February 10^th

Bill Tupman

Case study 3: the United States of America

TUTORIAL 6– France, Germany and Spain.

14^th lecture Thursday February 17^th

Bill Tupman

Other Traditions: Communist Systems I

Underpinnings of Communist systems [Rousseau, Marx, Lenin and Mao]

TUTORIAL 7: Anglo-American Democracy.

15^th lecture Thursday February 24^th

Bill Tupman

Case study 4: USSR and China

The Institutions of Communist systems: understanding the attractiveness of alternatives to colonialism

The part of the lecture on China is separate because of the size of the pictures I used as backgrounds

The actual lecture I delivered without the pictures that the first two lectures possess and including thoughts on Gorbachov and the failure to reform

TUTORIAL 7: Anglo-American Democracy

16^th lecture Thursday March 3rd

Bill Tupman

Case study 5

Other Traditions: Islamic Systems

I promised you the link to the debate in the Middle East Quarterly:

http://www.meforum.org/article/447

TUTORIAL 8– Communist Systems as above.

17^th lecture Thursday March 10th

Bill Tupman

Transition to Democracy I

Dr. Larbi Sadiki's introductory lecture from 2001

TUTORIAL 8– Communist Systems as above.

18^th Lecture Thursday March 17th

Bill Tupman

Transitions to Democracy II

Aspects of Transition in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East [Dr. Sadiki's 2002 lecture]

TUTORIAL 9 – Transitions to Democracy

EASTER VACATION

Lecture 19 Thursday April 28th

Bill Tupman

Civil Society [as advised by Larbi Sadiki]

Nicola Pratt's original lecture on Civil Society

jamie Hall's 2005 lecture

TUTORIAL 9 – Transitions to Democracy

20^th Lecture Thursday May 5^th

Bill Tupman

Revision I

Claire's all encompassing revision lecture

REVISION LECTURE 1

REVISION TUTORIAL

21st Lecture Thursday May 12^th

Bill Tupman

Revision lecture II

Revision tutorial

Revision tutorial

ESSAY TITLES

POL 1010

FIRST ESSAY

CHOOSE ONE

1. How would you assess whether the American or the British political system was better able to express the hopes and aspirations of its citizens?
2. If popular sovereignty is central to democracy how do the various democracies inhibit the operation of popular will and are they right to do so?
3. How do their attitudes towards founding and history affect the different democracies?
4. Is a European Constitution necessary or desirable?
5. Choose two states in western Europe and discuss reasons why some of their institutions could be of benefit to the UK political system. 
6.  The European Union possesses all the essential elements of a democratic political system, and thus is open to analysis using the tools of comparative politics. Discuss.

SECOND ESSAY

CHOOSE ONE

7. Assess the relative merits of the French and American Presidential systems 

8. "For federalism to work it must be carefully tailored to the needs of the

polity concerned" . Discuss

9. Compare and contrast the relative powers of the British and American legislatures.

10. Compare and contrast the political executives of TWO of the following countries: France; Spain; Germany; Italy. 

11. Assess the view that there is no homogeneous level of regional government in Europe.

12. What are the essential differences between the regional tiers of government in France, Germany and Spain?

Third essay

Choose one

 . 13. Discuss the effect of Islam on the institutions of Middle Eastern political systems. Is this the only factor influencing these systems?

14. How can we apply the different concepts of "civil society" to states that are not Western Democracies?  

15. Assess the relative merits of the different explanations put forward for understanding the process of transition to democracy. Use examples from different parts of the world to support your argument 

16. What should we compare if we are to study something called Comparative Government?

17. Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using structural functionalism [Gabriel Almond] to compare the political systems of Western democracies with other political systems.

18. Can China both modernise and remain a Communist state?