LG302 / LG302A 2013 Comparative European Politics Cristina Bucur School of Law and Government, DCU

In a nutshell 2 Representative government in modern Europe Two overarching themes Institutions of representative government. Institutional patterns: majoritarian and consensus visions of democracy. Focus on 16 countries Classical examples of majoritarianism and consensualism. Processes of change.

Course structure 3 Weeks 1-2: How to observe, measure, and compare democracies & patterns of democracy in modern Europe. Week 3: Classical examples of consociationalism & changes. Week 4-5: Classical examples of majoritarianism & changes (Prof. Robert Elgie, Guest lecturer). Weeks 6-11: Core group of countries that provide a wide variation on many political dimensions. Week 12: Summary, feedback, and guidance.

Expectations & transferrable skills 4 Understand the forces that drive representative government in modern Europe and the factors of change. Predict the likely effect of different changes to a political system.

Expectations & transferrable skills 5 Read critically a wide range of texts. Learn how to gather, organise and deploy evidence, data, and information from a variety of secondary and primary sources. Practice and improve writing skills.

Assessment 6 2 Essays – 50% of the overall course mark each. Avoid choosing a question on a topic that has not been done in class first. All questions require a comparative answer – i.e. should NOT focus solely or predominantly on a single country. Critical evaluation of the literature. Must contain a strong empirical component. Plagiarism of any sort and length will lead to a failing grade.

LG302 on Twitter 7

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What’s in a tweet 9 News feed Real-time political analyses Academic blogging Data resources Writing tips Chance to ask questions Invitation to comment and debate Opportunity to add your own links

Getting in touch 10 Office hours: by appointment. A great time to ask questions is after lectures. Week 12 reserved for individual feedback and guidance on how to do well in the second essay. , if absolutely necessary (please check Moodle and course outline first).

What is Europe?

History of Europe in a nutshell 12 People into empires Empires into nations Nations into states States into blocs The new Europe

People into empires

15 Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 476 West; AD 285 – 1453 East)

16 Evolution of the Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 476 West; AD 285 – 1453 East)

Holy Roman Empire ( )

Nations into states

The Thirty Years’ War ( ) & The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Europe & the ‘balance of power’ (18 th c. onwards) The Congress of Vienna (1815)

21 Ottoman Empire ( )

Russian Empire ( )

Europe in 1900

States into blocs

Europe before World War I

Europe after World War I

Europe during the Cold War ( )

The new Europe

Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain

EU Member & Candidate Countries (2013)