210071 SE BAK12: Austrian Politics (2019W)

International migration is one of the most important issues in European and Austrian politics. Migration is a highly salient issue for the electorate, and it has played a significant role in reshaping political party systems. The mobilization of immigration by political parties and movements has challenged liberal democracies but has also provided opportunities for democracy. This course discusses entanglements of democracy and migration. It examines the politics of immigration, its increasing politicization, and looks at the causes rooted within liberal democracy as well as its effects on democracy more broadly.
This course is designed to be interactive. To facilitate a lively exchange among participants during class and to guarantee a high learning outcome, for each teaching day a list of readings is assigned. Readings are usually book chapters, or journal articles. Short summaries of each of these readings have to be prepared by the participants of this course. These summaries need to address the following questions: What is the main argument of the text? What is particularly interesting about this text? Which questions did it stimulate when reading it? The course also requires students to give a short presentation, and to constructively comment on presentations of their peers. Participants are asked to deliver a short opinion piece on democracy & immigration at the beginning of the course to stimulate a fruitful debate, and to submit a short essay on this question after the end of the course to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the course.
Learning objectives
By the end of this course, students are expected to:
• Demonstrate independent and critical understanding of the politicization of immigration, its causes and its effects on liberal democracy and European societies
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the most important aspects of political responses to and perception about international migration in Europe
• Demonstrate appropriate cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, including understanding complex concepts and theories, exercising critical judgement, problem-solving skills; making effective oral and written presentations, utilizing specialist primary and secondary sources, and deepening the capacity for independent learning
• Write essays/opinion pieces with a coherent argument that are referenced in accordance with established academic practice

Preconditions to take part in this course
Students have to be able to read and discuss academic texts and clearly formulate ideas in English to participate in this course, and to be graded positively. I have a strict citation policy; academic standards of citing have to be followed rigorously. Any instances of plagiarism (or any other dishonest forms of relying on other people´s work to obtain a grade) will be reported to the respective authorities of the department.
This course is demanding but rewarding. You will have to devote time and energy to it beyond the four teaching days. In return, you will gain expertise in an extremely exciting and highly relevant research field.
To provide an ideal environment for academic exchange and learning mobile phones, tablets and laptops are not allowed in class!