LFU:online

Students have a solid understanding of the key currents in gender studies in political science and are able to analyse the interdependence of gender and other categories – such as ethnicity, class, sexuality – with consideration of historical developments and the potential for change. Students can critically examine various types of political theories and empirical research in terms of their explicit and implicit gender norms. They can independently evaluate political strategies and gender policy in national, European and international contexts. 

The lecture aims to provide a global overview of the study of politics and gender. Departing from a classification of gender & politics as one of the fastest growing subfields in comparative politics, it starts by introducing central concepts and theories. We then move to study empirical evidence on gender and political participation, gender and political presence, gender and political power, and gender and policies. In these sections, we will study topics like, for example, the gender-segregation of labor markets, gendered patterns of voting, gender gaps in political ambition and candidacy, and gendered patterns of citizen-elite congruence in comparative perspective. Each lecture is composed of a general overview of the topic, followed by a discussion of a specific case or a given cross-national study illustrating important aspects of the respective topic.

The course does not employ a specific methodological approach; the relevant literature is based on a broad spectrum of approaches to the study of political science. This includes case studies and cross-country comparisons based on both quantitative and qualitative data.

Multiple Choice exam at the end of the semester

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