210202 PS G7: Analyzing Legislatures and Parliaments (2008W)

Parliaments and legislatures are central institutions of any democracy. Whether presidential or parliamentary the executive must deal with either one. The classical legislature stems from Montesquieu and his idea on the separation of powers. The legislature legislates, i.e. they pass laws. Parliaments also pass laws, but the executive is often times also constitutionally responsible to the legislature. This also influences how we view these institutions. When parliamentary elections occur we are essentially electing a government, and not individual MPs. On the other hand, in a legislative election we do elect legislators whose responsibility lies not to the government or necessarily to the party.
This course provides an overview of classical and new theory, methods and data available when studying parliaments and legislatures. We will cover and wide range of topics, and will read much of the key literature in the field, as well, as look at both classic and novel ways of making quantitative analysis work on the topics. The course will provide the participants with enough information on each topic to be able to perform simple analyses as well as providing a base for further research and independent study.

Among the topics covered in the course are:

" Institutional design
" Elections
" Actors; members and parties
" Government formation and government termination
" Voting behaviour and procedures
" Committees
" Corporatism

A full course plan will be available by the time we meet for the first lecture in early October. The main literature for the course will be journal articles readily downloadable from the library - or from the lecturer if the material is not easily found.