Comparative Politics – EPS
A.Y. 2010-11
Marco Giuliani - marco.giuliani@unimi.it
Department of Social and Political Studies – room 201
Office hours: Tuesday: 9.30-12.30
Aims and objectives
The comparative method, in its widest meaning, represents the mainstream
method for testing hypotheses in the field of political science. Comparisons
may be both implicit or explicit, employ different techniques and range from
intensive within case study analysis to complex multivariate quantitative
models. The course aims at introducing the student to the major topics of the
current debate in the field of comparative politics and will provide a detailed
understanding of how the main political processes operate within democratic
countries. Methodological issues will be approached in the first part of the
course, followed by a review of the major hypotheses regarding the functioning
of political institutions and organizations and by a series of empirical
researches exemplifying the different “styles” of comparative analysis.
Prerequisites and assessment
Although there aren’t any formal prerequisites, an introductory course in
political science and comparative politics is highly recommended.
Attendance: 10%
Presentation and discussion: 30%
Exam: 30%
Final paper (4000 words): 30%
Timetable
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
14.30-16.15
16.30-18.15
8.30-10.15
C25
C22
C22
Students have to follow at least 80% of the lectures (i.e. you can miss no more
than 6 lectures)
Course outline and syllabus
The course is organized around six topics for a total amount of 30 lectures.
Each reading is compulsory, and has to be completed before the lecture. The
updated reading list will be regularly provided on the web pages of the course
(www.socpol.unimi.it/corsi/compol) and students are warmly invited to have a
look at it. Issues in grey imply the active presentation from behalf of the
students. Readings with a star * means that they cannot be retrieved among the
electronic resources subscription of the faculty.
1. Course presentation (Mon 20 Sep.)
Topic 1. Methodology
2. Explaining through comparisons (Wed 22 Sep.)
* H. Brady, Causation and explanation in social science, in J. BoxSteffensmeier, H. Brady and D. Collier (eds), The Oxford Handbook of
Political Methodology, Oxford, Oxford UP. 2008, pp. 217-249.
3. Some problems in comparisons (Thur 23 Sep.)
* J.W. van Deth, Estabilishing equivalence, in T. Landman and N.
Robinson (eds), The Sage Handbook of Comparative Politics, London, Sage
2009, pp. 84-100.
4. What is scientific enough? (Mon 27 Sep.)
* C. Tilly and R. Goodin, It depends, in R. Goodin and C. Tilly (eds), The
Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis, Oxford, Oxford UP
2006, pp. 3-32.
* R. Taagepera, Making Social Sciences More Scientific. The Need for Predictive
Models, Oxford, Oxford UP 2008, ch. 1 and 3 (I have included even
ch. 2 FYI).
Topic 2. Democracy
5. The causes of democratization (Wed 29 Sep.)
* B. Geddes, What causes democratization?, in C. Boix and S.C. Stokes
(eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, Oxford, Oxford UP
2007, pp. 317-339.
6. Testing models of democratization (Thur 30 Sep.)
* D. Berg-Schlosser and G. de Meur, Conditions of democracy in interwar
Europe: a boolean test of major hypotheses, in “Comparative Politics”, (26)3,
1994, pp. 253-279.
* H. Keman, Comparing democracies: theories and evidence, in H. Keman
(ed.), Comparative democratic politics. A guide to contemporary theory and
research, London, Sage 2002, pp. 32-64.
7. Measuring democracy (Mon 4 Oct.)
H. Munck and J. Verkuilen, Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy.
Evaluating alternative Indices, in “Comparative Political Studies”, 2002, pp.
5-34.
Dataset presentation:
Freedom House,
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15
Polity 4,
http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm
8. Democracy: type or continuum? (Wed 6 Oct.)
D. Collier and R. Adcock, Democracies and dichotomies: a pragmatic approach
to choices about concepts, in “Annual Review of Political Science”, 1999, 2,
pp. 537-565.
* M. Bogaards, Measures of democratization: From degree to type to war, in
“Political Research Quarterly”, 2010, 2, pp. 475-488
9. Hybrid regimes? (Mon 11 Oct.)
M. Bogaards, How to classify hybrid regimes: defective democracies and electoral
authoritarianism, in “Democratization”, 2009, (16)2, pp. 399-423.
* L. Morlino, Are there hybrid regimes? Or are they just an optical illusion?, in
“European Political Science Review”, 2009, (1)2, pp. 273-296.
10. The consequences of democratization (theory). (Wed 13 Oct.)
* G. Carbone, The consequences of democratization, in “Journal of
Democracy”, 2009, (20)2, pp. 123-137
11. The consequences of democratization (empirics). (Thur 14 Oct.)
Readings “à la carte”. See web pages.
Topic 3. Electoral systems
12. Electoral systems and their effects (Mon 18 Oct.)
* R. Taagepera, Electoral systems, in Boix and Stokes (2007), pp. 678-702.
13. The political consequences of electoral systems (Wed 20 Oct.)
K. Benoit, Electoral Laws as Political Consequences: Explaining the Origins and
Change of Electoral Institutions, in “Annual Review of Political Science”,
(2007), pp. 363-390
14. Consequences and reforms of electoral systems (Thur 21 Oct.)
S. Morgenstern and J. Vazquez-D’Elia, Electoral Laws, Parties and Party
Systems in Latin America, in “Annual Review of Political Science”,
(2007), pp. 143-168.
E. Schneider, Does Electoral System Reform Work? Electoral System Lessons
from Reforms in the 1990s, in “Annual Review of Political Science”,
(2008), pp. 161-181
Dataset presentation:
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
http://www.cses.org/
European Election Studies
http://www.ees-homepage.net/
15. The Causes of Electoral Systems (Mon 25 Oct.)
K. Benoit, Electoral Laws as Political Consequences: Explaining the Origins and
Change of Electoral Institutions, in “Annual Review of Political Science”,
(2007), pp. 363-390
Topic 4. Party systems
16. Varieties of party systems (Wed 27 Oct.)
H. Kitschelt, Party systems, in Boix and Stokes (2007), pp. 522-554..
17. Dimensions of party competition (Thur 28 Oct.)
Dataset presentation: Party manifestos, Expert surveys
Budge et al., Mapping policy preferences I and II
Benoit and Laver, Party Policy in Modern Democracies
M.R. Steenbergen e G. Marks, Evaluating expert judgements, in “European
Journal of Political Research”, 2007, (46)3, pp. 347-366.
L. Curini, Experts’ Political Preferences and Their Impact on Ideological Bias.
An Unfolding Analysis based on a Benoit-Laver Expert Survey, in “Party
Politics”, 2009, (16)3, pp. 299-321.
S. Franzmann and A. Kaiser, Locating Political Parties in Policy Space: A
Reanalysis of Party Manifesto Data, in “Party Politics”, 2006, (12)2, pp.
163-188.
K. Benoit and M. Laver, Estimating party policy positions, in "Electoral
Studies", 2007, (26), pp. 90-107.
18. Problems of operationalization (Wed 3 Nov.)
H. Stoll, Social Cleavages and the Number of Parties: How the Measures You
Choose Affect the Answer You Get, in “Comparative Political
Studies”,(41)11, 2008, pp. 1439-1465.
A. Blau, The Effective number of parties at four scales: Votes, Seats, Legislative
Power and Cabinet Power, in “Party Politics”, (14)2, 2008, pp. 167-187.
19. Fractionalization or polarization? (Thur 4 Nov.)
R.J. Dalton, The quantity and the quality of party systems. Party system
polarization, its measurement, and its consequences, in “Comparative Political
Studies”, (41)7, 2008, pp. 899-920.
20. Immobilism and Change in the political space (Wed 10 Nov.)
S. Walgrave and M. Nuytemans, Friction and party manifestos change, in
“American Journal of Political Science”, (53)1, 2009, pp. 170-206.
H. Kriesi et al., Globalization and the transformation of the national political
space: Six European countries compared, in “European Journal of Political
Research”, (45), 2006, pp. 921-956.
Topic 5. Legislatures and Executives
21. Legislative-executive relationship (Thur 11 Nov.)
D. Samuels, Separation of powers, in Boix and Stokes (2007), pp. 703-726.
22. Neither parliamentary, nor presidential (Mon 15 Nov.)
R. Elgie, Variations on a Theme. A fresh look at semipresidentialism, in
“Journal of Democracy”, (16)3, pp. 98-110.
23. The effects on governance (Wed 17 Nov.)
J. Gerring et al., Are parliamentary systems better?, in “Comparative
Political Studies”, (42)3, 2009, pp. 327-359.
Database presentation:
WB governance indicators
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp
24. The effects on the partyness of government (Thur 18 Nov.)
P. Schleiter and E. Morgan-Jones, Party government in Europe?
Parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies compared, in “European
Journal of Political Research”, (48), 2009, pp. 665-693.
25. Coalitions (Mon 22 Nov.)
* K. Strøm & B. Nyblade, Coalition theory and government formation, in Boix
and Stokes (2007), pp. 782-802. (Mon
26. Alternation (Wed 24 Nov.)
M. Debus, Office and Policy Payoffs in Coalition Governmnets, in “Party
Politics”, 2007, (14)5, pp. 515-538.
S. Horowitz, K. Hoff and B. Milanovic, Government turnover: Concepts,
measures and applications, in “European Journal of Political Research”,
(48)1, 2009, pp. 107-129.
Database presentation:
Comparative political datasets (I, II and III)
http://www.ipw.unibe.ch/content/team/klaus_armingeon/comparativ
e_political_data_sets/index_ger.html
Topic 6. Institutions and Public policy
27. Legislative agenda setting (Thur 25 Nov.)
T. Brauninger and M. Debus, Legislative agenda setting in parliamentary
democracies, in “European Journal of Political Research”, 2009, (48)6, pp.
804-839.
28. Governments, parties and public policies (Mon 29 Nov.)
M. Schmidt, When parties matter: a review of the possibilities and limits of
partisan influence on public policy, in “European Journal of Political
Research”, (30), 1996, pp. 155-183.
S. Binzer Hobolt e R. Klemmensen, Government responsiveness and political
competition in comparative perspective, in “Comparative Political Studies”,
(41)3, 2008, pp. 309-337.
29. Dynamics of policy change (Wed 1 Dec.)
F. Baumgartner et al., Punctuated equilibrium in comparative perspective, in
“American Journal of Political Science”, (53)3, 2009, pp. 603-620.
30. Westminster, Majoritarian or Something Else? (Thur 2 Dec.)
* Blondel J. e Battegazzorre F., “Majoritarian” and “Consensus”
parliamentary Democracies: a Convergence trowards “Cooperative
Majoritarianism”, in “Quaderni di scienza politica”, (9)2, 2002, pp. 225251.
* A. Vatter, Lijphart expanded: three dimension of democracy in advanced
OECD countries?, in “European Political Science Review”, (1)1, pp. 125154.
Database presentation:
Beck et al.
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXT
RESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20649465~pagePK:64214825~piPK:64
214943~theSitePK:469382,00.html
Henisz
http://www.management.wharton.upenn.edu/henisz/