Universität Wien

210155 SE BAK13 State Activity, Policy and Governance Analyses (2018W)

Making policy -doing comparison

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

A registration via u:space during the registration phase is required. Late registrations are NOT possible.
Students who miss the first lesson without prior notification will lose their seat in the course.

Follow the principles of good scientific practice.

The course instructor may invite students to an oral exam about the student’s written contributions in the course. Plagiarized contributions have the consequence that the course won’t be graded (instead the course will be marked with an ‘X’ in the transcript of records).

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. 50 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 19.10. 10:00 - 14:30 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Saturday 20.10. 09:00 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 07.12. 10:00 - 14:30 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 14.12. 09:00 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Saturday 15.12. 09:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 11.01. 10:00 - 14:30 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Saturday 12.01. 09:00 - 12:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Comparative politics usually means comparing one country or policy with another, or with many others. But what about the comparisons that policy makers themselves make? This course seeks to understand international and comparative politics and policy making as based in the situated 'doings and sayings' of human beings in interaction with each other. We pay particular attention to international institutions, as well as to domestic contexts in which some international or comparative dimension is present.

The course begins by exploring the worlds of the activist, the public official and the elected representative, and goes on to consider the core practices of participation in meetings and the production and circulation of documents. It investigates just how comparisons are made, reviewing associated concepts of learning and translation.

The course is taught in 4 blocks, each of 2 x 3-hour seminars (8 seminars in all). Seminar discussion is based on the close reading of ethnographic case studies, and part of each class will be devoted to supporting students to develop and carry out case study research of their own.

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment is by (i) presentation of draft cases in class and (ii) research papers of 3 000 words.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The final assessment will be based on the following components:

- Oral presentation of draft cases in class (20% of final grade)
- Active participation in class, reading of set papers (usually 3) in advance of each class and feedback on other students’ presentations
- a written research paper of max. 3 000 words (not including footnotes, endnotes, or references). Students are free to develop case study projects according to their interests and experience: case studies submitted for assessment must include an element of empirical research, theorised appropriately in terms of the framework set by the course (80% of final grade)

Attendance is required in all course units. In cases where students are unable to attend for serious reasons (bereavement, illness) evidence for this will be required and students may be required to do extra work to compensate for the materials they missed.

Examination topics

Reading list

Reading list

Indicative readings include:

Freeman, R and Sturdy, S (2017) 'Doing comparison: producing authority in an international organization', in Littoz-Monnet, A (ed) The Politics of Expertise in International Organizations. How international bureaucracies produce and mobilize knowledge, Routledge
Geuijen, K, t'Hart, P, Princen, S and Yesilkagit, K (2008) The New Eurocrats: national civil servants in EU policy-making, Amsterdam: Amsterdam UP
Reckwitz, A (2002) 'Toward a theory of social practices. A development in culturalist theorizing', European Journal of Social Theory 5 243263
Wagenaar, H (2004) ''Knowing' the rules: administrative work as practice', Public Administration Review 64 (6) 643656

The essential literature will be made accessible via moodle

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:38