Universität Wien
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210068 SE BAK10: Comparative Democratic Politics (2026S)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 09.03. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 16.03. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 23.03. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 13.04. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 20.04. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 27.04. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 04.05. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 11.05. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 18.05. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Thursday 28.05. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 08.06. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 15.06. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 22.06. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Monday 29.06. 18:30 - 20:00 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The course provides an overview of key themes in democratic politics in a comparative perspective. The course content is articulated in four thematic modules: (1) Democracy: we will start off by examining how political scientists define democracy, explain how it came about, and think about dimensions of variation between types of democratic polities we find around the world. (2) Institutions: we will examine the formal ‘infrastructure’ of rules and institutions of democracy - e.g. electoral systems, legislatures, executives - and discuss how different ways of distributing political power map onto different democratic processes and outcomes. (3) Politics: we will examine how political divisions emerge in democratic countries, how parties and party systems manage these tensions, and think about some major explanations as to why voters behave the way they do. (4) New Issues and Challenges: we will ask whether recent, transnational trends — populism, technocracy, declining support for democratic norms — spell trouble for democracy, and whether institutional innovation can bolster its resilience.

Learning Objectives:

• Defining and identifying key concepts (e.g. democracy, political cleavage, populism, social capital) and conceptual distinctions (e.g. majoritarian-consensus democracy, executive forms, dealignment-realignment) relevant to the study of democratic politics.
• Using this conceptual toolkit to discuss real-world cases.
• Developing the ability to engage critically with specialist literature and to evaluate evidence from case studies and cross-case comparisons.
• Presenting compelling, reasoned arguments, both in writing and orally.
• Understanding the basics of the comparative method, and being able to develop original research questions on democratic politics.

Assessment and permitted materials

The final course grade on a 0-100 point scale is weighted sum of the following components:

15% Attendance and Participation
30% In-Class Quizzes
15% Essay Plan
40% Final Essay

Each component is graded on a 0–100 scale, where: 87–100 Points is ‘Excellent’ (1); 75–86 Points is ‘Good’ (2); 63–74 Points is ‘Satisfactory’ (3); 50–62 Points is ‘Sufficient’ (4), and 0–49 Points is ‘Insufficient’ (5). For a positive completion of this seminar, at least half of the total number of points on the final grade is required (≥ 50 points).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements for an assessment:

- Missing no more than four classes.
- Completion of at least 2/4 in-class quizzes.
- Timely completion of the essay plan.
- Timely completion of the final essay.

Examination topics

Evaluation criteria and examination topics

- Attendance and Participation (15%): Attendance is a prerequisite for the completion of this seminar, as the evaluation is based on continuous assessments during the semester. This component is evaluated on the basis of: (1) Attendance: for full marks on this component, a maximum of two sessions can be missed. (2) Participation: students are expected to participate in class discussions, ask and answer questions, and demonstrate evidence of having done the weekly readings in advance of the class. Required readings must be done in advance of the relevant class.

- In-Class Quizzes (30%): There will be four short in-class quizzes, lasting 20 minutes each and comprising approximately 10 multiple- choice questions. These will be completed within the first part of the lectures in weeks 5 (covering material from weeks 2– 4), 8 (covering weeks 5–7), 11 (covering weeks 8–10) and 14 (covering weeks 11–13). The assessments test students’ command of the required readings and of the content of the lectures. The overall grade for this component is the average of the *three highest-scoring* quizzes over the course of the term (so the mark for the lowest-graded test or a test the student missed is discarded).

- Essay Plan: This assessment is meant to serve as a preparation for the final essay, and is due in week 10 (to be submitted via Moodle). Students will be provided with a choice of essay questions related to the topics from weeks 1–7 in the week starting on 17 November 2025. They will choose one, and submit (1) an introductory paragraph (ca. 200 words), (2) a bullet-point summary of the argument they intend to develop (ca. 600 words), and (3) an annotated bibliography (ca. 7 sources). The essay plan will be evaluated according to the following criteria: coherence and relevance of the introductory paragraph; coherence and relevance of the argument developed in the essay plan; and efficient organisation of the essay plan; accuracy and relevance of the annotated bibliography. Further guidance on this assessment will be provided in class.

Final Essay: The final course assessment is an essay (max 2500 words, excluding bibliography but including title, section titles, footnotes etc.) on one of a choice of essay prompts on topics from the whole course. The essay should be submitted via Moodle after the end of the course. It is expected that students develop and defend a clear argument addressing the essay question, rather than simply listing factual information with some relevance to the topic. It is also advisable to engage with literature beyond the required readings. The essay plan will be evaluated according to the following criteria: coherence and relevance of the argument to the prompt; efficient organisation of the argument; evidence of independent thinking; evidence of deep engagement with the literature; adherence to scholarly conventions for references and citations. Further guidance on this assessment will be provided in class.

Reading list

Required and recommended readings for each class are listed in the Syllabus (to be published on Moodle by the start of the class). Required readings must be completed prior to the relevant class.

There is no core textbook for this course, but the following may be useful as preliminary readings:

– Ansell, B. (2023). Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them. Random House. [esp. part 1]
– Dahl, R. (1989). Democracy and its Critics. Yale University Press.
– Levitsky, S. and Ziblatt, D. (2019). How Democracies Die. Crown.

The following may include useful textbook chapters to read as a companions to the course:

– Caramani, D. (2023) Comparative politics (sixth edition). OUP.
– Boix, C. and Stokes, S. (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. Oxford Handbooks Online.
– Clark, W., Golder, M. and Golder, S. (2024). Principles of Comparative Politics (Fourth edition). CQ Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 27.07.2026 09:27