LFU:online

BA Politikwissenschaft § 5 (1) 12.b Vergleich politischer Systeme - Verteifung

Students acquire the ability to illustrate and explain the structure and function profiles of different democratic governmental systems. Moreover, they are able to individually analyse and evaluate complex phenomena from the field of comparative government based on relevant theoretical-conceptual approaches.

The aim of the course is to provide students with a theoretically and empirically sophisticated understanding of the relationship between legislative institutions and legislators’ behaviour, while undertaking on an in-depth study of legislative politics in the Federal Republic of Germany. Drawing on the comparative literature on legislative politics, the course will discuss the key institutions involved in law-making in Germany, and illuminate the effects of the organisational and behavioural choices made there. The course will cover theories of legislative behaviour and organization, and the effects of various legislative organisational structures.

No specific methodological approach is favoured in the course; readings cover a wide range of approaches to the study of legislatures

30% of the grade will be given based on an assessed presentation and discussion; 70% will be based on a research paper.

Bräuninger, Thomas and Thomas König. 1999. The checks and balances of party federalism: German federal government in a divided legislature. European Journal of Political Research 36(2):207-234.

Cox, Gary W. 2006. The Organization of Democratic Legislatures. In The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press pp. 141-161.

Carey, John M. and Matthew Søberg Shugart. 1995. Incentives to cultivate a personal Vote: a Rank Ordering of Electoral Formulas. Electoral Studies 14(4):417-439.

positive Absolvierung der Pflichtmodule 1, 2, 3 und 7