Print syllabus(in Polish) Current Topics in Political Science
General data
| Course ID: | 2500-PL-PS-SP15-06 |
| Erasmus code / ISCED: |
14.4
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| Course title: | (unknown) |
| Name in Polish: | Current Topics in Political Science |
| Organizational unit: | Faculty of Psychology |
| Course groups: | |
| ECTS credit allocation (and other scores): |
2.00
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| Language: | English |
| Short description: |
The course touches upon the core issues of contemporary democracy in a comparative perspective. It focuses on elections and voting. The topics discussed include, among others, electoral system effects, voter turnout, habitual voting, economic voting, issue voting, the effects of campaigning and the political representation of women and minorities. Examples are drawn from various democratic countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Argentina, Sweden, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and others. |
| Learning outcomes: |
Upon successful completion of the course, students: Know the fundamental differences between various types of electoral systems (first-past-the-post, closed-list proportional representation, open-list proportional representation etc.) and their effect effects on voter turnout, income redistribution, party fractionalization representation of women and minorities etc. Understand the fundamental ideas behind the concept of habitual voting as an emerging orthodoxy in studying both voter turnout and voter choice Are able to distinguish and explain the mechanisms of economic voting, issue voting and strategic voting Are able to explain the relevance of class voting in particular contexts, e.g. in Great Britain Understand the relevance of local campaigning in various contexts Comprehend the concepts explaining the political underrepresentation of women, e.g. gender stereotyping in electoral politics, and assess the effects of various institutional arrangements aimed at enhancing women’s representation, in particular gender quotas |
Classes in period "Summer semester 2023/24" (in progress)
| Time span: | 2024-02-19 - 2024-06-16 |
 
MO SEM
TU W TH FR |
| Type of class: |
Seminar, 15 hours
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| Coordinators: | (unknown) | |
| Group instructors: | Maciej Górecki | |
| Students list: | (inaccessible to you) | |
| Examination: |
Course -
Grading
Seminar - Grading |
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| Full description: |
This is a course on political behavior in contemporary democracy. Its aim is to discuss a number of empirical studies on elections and voting. Elections are crucial to the functioning of democracy. In this course, the core theories explaining voting behaviour are touched upon and reflected on by means of a discussion of studies that test them. The issues such as electoral system effects on political representation, the determinants of voter turnout, the concept of habitual voting, the phenomenon of economic voting, centralised vs local campaigning, gender quota effects on the representation of women, and others, shall be discussed. Examples are drawn from many democratic countries. Cross-country comparative studies shall also be included. |
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| Bibliography: |
1. Electoral systems I: Introduction Gallagher, M. (1991). Proportionality, disproportionality and electoral systems. Electoral Studies, 10(1), 33-51. 2. Electoral systems II: Origins and consequences Boix, C. (1999). Setting the rules of the game: the choice of electoral systems in advanced democracies. American Political Science Review, 93(3), 609-624. Cusack, T. R., Iversen, T., & Soskice, D. (2007). Economic interests and the origins of electoral systems. American Political Science Review, 101(3), 373-391. Clark, W. R., & Golder, M. (2006). Rehabilitating Duverger’s theory: Testing the mechanical and strategic modifying effects of electoral laws. Comparative Political Studies, 39(6), 679-708. 3. Voter turnout: Economic, sociological and psychological approach Riker, W. H., & Ordeshook, P. C. (1968). A Theory of the Calculus of Voting. American Political Science Review, 62(1), 25-42. Opp, K. D. (2001). Why do people vote? The cognitive‐illusion proposition and its test. Kyklos, 54(2‐3), 355-378. Plutzer, E. (2002). Becoming a habitual voter: Inertia, resources, and growth in young adulthood. American Political Science Review, 96(1), 41-56. Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P., & Shachar, R. (2003). Voting may be habit‐forming: evidence from a randomized field experiment. American Journal of Political Science, 47(3), 540-550. Górecki, M. A. (2015). Age, experience and the contextual determinants of turnout: A deeper look at the process of habit formation in electoral participation. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 25(4), 425-443. 4. Democracy and economy Iversen, T., & Soskice, D. (2006). Electoral institutions and the politics of coalitions: Why some democracies redistribute more than others. American Political Science Review, 100(2), 165-181. Iversen, T., & Soskice, D. (2009). Distribution and redistribution: The shadow of the nineteenth century. World Politics, 61(3), 438-486. Lewis-Beck, M. S., & Paldam, M. (2000). Economic voting: an introduction. Electoral studies, 19(2-3), 113-121. 5. Elections and representation: The case of gender Paxton, P., Hughes, M. M., & Painter, M. A. (2010). Growth in women's political representation: A longitudinal exploration of democracy, electoral system and gender quotas. European Journal of Political Research, 49(1), 25-52. Górecki, M. A., & Pierzgalski, M. (2022). Legislated candidate quotas and women's descriptive representation in preferential voting systems. European Journal of Political Research, 61(1), 154-174. Górecki, M. A., & Kukołowicz, P. (2014). Gender quotas, candidate background and the election of women: A paradox of gender quotas in open-list proportional representation systems. Electoral Studies, 36, 65-80. Besley, T., Folke, O., Persson, T., & Rickne, J. (2017). Gender quotas and the crisis of the mediocre man: Theory and evidence from Sweden. American Economic Review, 107(8), 2204-42. 6. Revision |
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Copyright by University of Warsaw.
