210158 SE M7: State Activity, Policy and Governance Analyses (2018W)

The aim of this course is to link public policies and policy-making processes to party politics. The course takes a comparative angle and will look at how party politics and party preferences interfere with public-policymaking and how diverging political ideologies influence and shape public policies. During the seminar, we will discuss whether and why governments indeed respond differently to essentially similar policy problems and current (economic) challenges (e.g. unemployment, financial crisis, globalization, immigration, etc.). We will also look into how and whether the relationship between party politics and policies has evolved and changed over time and assess the question whether the great recession has led to a new style in policy-making and governance. The course draws on a large literature situated at the intersection between party politics, political economy and comparative politics and aims at integrating popular readings and examples from a variety of countries. In addition to discussing the theoretical linkages between political parties and policies, we will also look into how scholarly research has operationalized this nexus and how attempts to measure policy positions and party ideology have evolved over time. While the seminar is rooted in a vibrant scholarly field, I expect participants to familiarize themselves with various primary sources illustrating political discourses over public policies (ranging from newspapers, to parliamentary debates, public opinion polls, party statements, statements by influential vested interest groups etc.). Engaging with thesematerials should not only help participants to link scholarly contributions with `real world' examples but also prepare students to work on their take home assignments and papers