15152

SoSe 21: European Politics

Tobias Hofmann

Comments

This seminar introduces you to the scientific study of European politics. We will apply the basic theoretical tools, concepts, and empirical methods of comparative politics to analyze, understand, and explain some of the systematic relationships that exist between economic, political, and social variables within European countries and within the European Union. European Politics is divided thematically into two sections. For the most part, the first section focuses on the domestic political institutions of the liberal European democracies and the variation that exists between them. While you will acquire country-specific knowledge, the course will not be an in-depth study of individual countries. Instead, you will learn about the similarities and differences in the executive-legislative relations, electoral systems, and party systems across Europe as well as the effects that the variation in these institutional arrangements have on government accountability, representation, economic performance, etc. The second section of the course deals with the process of European integration and the European Union, its institutions and decision-making procedures. close