210072 SE BAK13: State Activity, Policy and Governance Analyses (2022W)

How can we analyze differences between party systems and investigate party positions? In what policy areas do parties differ regarding their positions, and how have these differences changed over time? How can we measure public opinion? How responsive are political parties to the demands of the voters? Are political parties pledge breakers? What explains the success of radical challenger parties from the right and the left? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this seminar, which offers an overview of the comparative literature on political parties. The course literature will consider theoretical and empirical work, both classic and contemporary. The course aims to help students identify the general themes and open questions in the literature and generate new questions that they can explore further in their own research.
This course focuses on political parties and the determinants of their electoral success and failure. The course covers various approaches to measuring party competition and responsiveness in representative democracies. We will first discuss the central role of political parties in representative democracies. Second, we discuss which strategic “tools” political parties have at hand to mobilize voters in their favor. Next, we assess how party positions can be analyzed and whether party competition has become increasingly complex. Third, we will discuss whether and under which circumstances political parties (do not) respond to the demands of the public.