LFU:online

§ 5 (1) 11 Political System of Austria - Enhanced Level

Students are able to illustrate individual sections of the Austrian political system. They acquire in-depth knowledge in these sections and are able to individually work in other sections. Students will be able to work on research projects independently on these specialization topics and to apply methodological principles in their work.

This VU is aimed at Bachelor students, ideally with previous knowledge of the Austrian political system and the methods of comparative politics. In this course, we will take an in-depth look at the characteristics and forms of (rightwing) populism at the party and voter level, its emergence and the challenges for (liberal) democracies in Europe resulting from this phenomenon. Do populist parties form a new party family? How populist are voters, and why? To what extent do populist actors influence party competition? These questions lead us back to the importance of inter- and transnational developments for the Austrian political system, which we will discuss during the semester. Finally, from a methodological perspective, we will address questions of data collection and analysis in populism research.

In joint discussions as well as by means of group exercises (Breakout Sessions), this course teaches central theoretical concepts before, subsequently in the semester, students present and critically reflect on selected texts. The course is held online and relies on the active participation of students in the course program. Towards the end, the course prepares students methodologically for the preparation of their theses, which can be group or individual projects. The focus is on quantitative and qualitative methods of content and text analysis.

The final grade is composed of several components, each of which must be completed positively.

Attendance, active participation in the course sessions, completion of the exercises as well as text presentation (20%), developing a research concept and writing an empirical-analytical research paper based on it using qualitative or quantitative text analysis (60%), final test on course reading (20%).

Readings (additional literature in Proseminar sessions)

Hawkins, K., Carlin, R., Littvay, L., & Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2018). The Ideational Approach to Populism: Concept, Theory, and Analysis. Routledge.

Goodin, R. (2009). The Oxford Handbook of Political Science, 11. Auflage, Oxford University Press.

successful completion of compulsory modules 1, 2, 3 and 6