The first semester will commence with a consideration of the nature and origins of parties, as well as their role in modern democracy. The semester&©s prime focus will be on parties as organizations. This will involve several tutorials on organisational typologies, as well as on ideological families, which can be related systematically to organizational characteristics. Third, we will address the issue of parties&© internal life. Two questions are particularly relevant in this context: a) the internal distribution of power, and b) rank-and-file participation in parties. The initial topic of the second semester will be attempts to explain individual western European states&© diverse pattern of political parties and party competition by reference to the timing and development of political cleavages. We will then move on to the issue of voting behaviour and how changes in the social fabric of Western societies have fundamentally altered parties&© capacities to control their electorates. We will conclude with a series of tutorials on party systems, including on the measurement and explanation of party system change.
It is expected that throughout, our empirical focus will in the main be on most or all of the following: Austria, Belgium, Eire, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, though this will be subject to consultation at the first meeting.
- To familiarise you with both classic and contemporary political science literature on the analysis of European parties, party systems and elections.
- To ensure that you have a detailed empirical knowledge of these phenomena in a selection of western European states.
By the end of semester 2, students will be familiar with:
- If you are registered for PIR-30035 and PIR30036 European Party Systems and Elections, you are taking the modules as a year long special subject and will receive two finals marks. One will comprise the aggregate of the grades you obtain for two anonymous essays of 2,500 (min) to 3,000 (max.) words. The second finals mark will be derived from your performance at an unseen examination at the end of the second semester. The exam questions will be drawn from a selection of the topics studied throughout both semesters. Please note that, broadly speaking, the essays are designed to assess your capacity to gather and analyse empirical material, whilst the examination will test your grasp of the more theoretical aspects of the course. Exam questions will provide little or no opportunity to repeat material used in essays.
- If you are registered for PIR-30039 Political Parties I: Origins and Organization, your module mark will comprise the aggregate of the grades you obtain for two anonymous essays of 2,500 (min) to 3,000 (max.) words submitted during the autumn semester.
- If you are registered for PIR-30040 Political Parties II: Party Systems and Voting Behaviour your module mark will comprise the aggregate of the grades you obtain for two essays of 2,500 (min) to 3,000 (max.) words submitted during the spring semester. The submission dates will be announced once the second semester has commenced, but it is likely that the first essay will be due shortly before and the second shortly after the Easter vacation.
This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.