Course: Comparative politics

« Back
Course title Comparative politics
Course code KPOL/B105
Organizational form of instruction Lecture
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study 1
Semester Summer
Number of ECTS credits 5
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Maškarinec Pavel, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Comparative political science, comparative method, main topics of comparative analyses. 2. Government systems I.: parliamentary regimes. 3. Government systems II.: presidential regimes. 4. Government systems III.: semi-presidential regimes. 5. Government systems IV.: Consociational, consensual and majority democracy. 6. Constitutional justice and control of constitutionality. 7. Comparison of legislative bodies. 8. Comparison of executive bodies. 9. Horizontal and vertical division of power in democratic systems. 10. Institutions of direct democracy. 11. Intermediation systems (pluralism, corporatism, neo-corporatism). 12. Constitutional engineering.

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
The course is devoted to comparative political science. It focuses on several main topics. The first presents a general view of comparative research and research techniques in comparative political science. The second focuses on the comparison of the main types of government systems (political regimes). The third deals with the comparison of political institutions at different levels of government (executive, legislation, judiciary, direct democracy, the system of mediation of interests). The fourth is focused on the issue of institutional engineering.
The student is able to use professional terminology. The student distinguishes individual approaches used in comparative political science. The student is able to characterize the specifics of individual types of government systems. The student is able to compare different institutions within the system of multilevel governance (executive, legislation, judiciary, direct democracy, the system of mediation of interests). The student is able to understand the issues of constitutional (institutional) engineering.
Prerequisites
None.

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
To successfully complete the course, it is required to submit a seminar paper in the range of 8 to 10 standard pages and successful completion of the exam.
Recommended literature
  • Cabada, L., Charvát, J., Stulík, O. Současná komparativní politologie: klíčové koncepty. 2015. ISBN 978-80-7380-577-7.
  • HLOUŠEK, V., KOPEČEK, L. a ŠEDO, J. Politické systémy. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2018. ISBN 978-80-7485-150-6.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester