LFU:online

Students are able to evaluate and critically question current political science debates by

literature studies and discussions. They know how to critically assess and comment literature

in terms of content and methodology.

The course addresses questions that are at the core of Political Economy and Comparative Politics: How do individuals respond to risk and insecurity? How does uncertainty affect political behavior, preferences and attitudes? In times of shifting social boundaries, technological change, globalization, migration, and climate change, how do such transformations influence how people vote, engage in politics or view the state as such? How does risk, understood in its multiple forms – that is, risk following from economic volatility, fear toward social and cultural change, risk to fall victim to crime or repression – influence the likelihood to engage in political activism, voice demands for state action and shape citizens’ view toward the state?

Methodologically, we will come across a variety of approaches such as regression analysis, multilevel models, field experiments, laboratory experiments and qualitative case studies.

Term paper + presentation

Mares, I. (2003). The politics of social risk: Business and welfare state development. Cambridge University Press.
Rehm, Philipp (2016) Risk inequality and welfare states: social policy preferences, development, and dynamics. Cambridge University Press.

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