POLI 239: Introduction to European Government

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1 POLI 239: Introduction to European Government Course Overview Required Reading Recommended and Optional Reading Lesson Notes Course Requirements Grading Academic Policies Lessons COURSE OVERVIEW This course is designed to familiarize you with the politics of Western Europe since World War II, not on a country by country basis, but in a truly comparative way that emphasizes the political determinants and consequences of institutional differences. The fundamental goal of this course is to question how institutions, parties, and governments influence the politics of representation in Western Europe. In this context, we will explore several issues. Most prominent among them will be the making of the modern European state; the political economy of Western Europe; parties, party systems, and social cleavages; elections and electoral systems; the nature of governments and policy making; the origins, institutions, and policies of the European Union; and the challenges facing Western democracies. The course is divided thematically into three sections: 1. domestic political institutions 2. the political economy of Western Europe 3. the process and politics of European integration. We will complement our analysis of political themes with more in depth readings on the politics of specific countries. Throughout the course, you will become acquainted with the politics of France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

2 There are no formal prerequisites for this class, but an introductory course in political science is recommended. REQUIRED READING Please see the course listing on the Friday Center website for a full list of required textbooks and materials. RECOMMENDED AND OPTIONAL READING Being informed about what is going on in the world is always a good idea. Keeping up with European events will enhance the quality of our discussions as we incorporate the material and the theories we are learning with what we see and read in the news. In addition, your response papers will require you to write on contemporary European political issues. Listed below are some quality news sources for following events in Europe. The Financial Times (British daily newspaper with quality information on Europe) The Economist (weekly British news magazine with a good comparative perspective) The Guardian (British newspaper with a weekly European edition containing extracts from a number of continental European newspapers) BBC News The New York Times (decent coverage of European events) The European Voice (useful source for EU news) Some weeks will include an Optional Resources section, where I will provide links to articles, handouts, and Web sites that have additional information about topics directly or indirectly related to our course material. The Optional Resources sections may come in handy as you begin to work on your Response Papers. Unless otherwise noted, you will not be responsible for this extra information on exams. LESSON NOTES The lesson notes are analogous to the lecture you would have in a classroom version of this course. These notes synthesize the material in the readings, offer analyses of concepts and theories, and sometimes offer new material. While it is important to read through these lesson notes, they should not be viewed as a substitute for the assigned readings. Note that the length of the lesson notes may vary greatly from week to week depending on the nature of the topic. For some topics there may be no notes. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Part of my job as your instructor is to spark and expand your interest in European politics. I will do my best to fulfill my side of the bargain, but for the class to be successful and fun for all of us, you must keep your part of the bargain as well. That means you must complete the following tasks: One Response Paper: 40 percent Midterm Exam: 15 percent Final Exam: 25 percent Discussion Forum: 20 percent

3 Response Paper (40 percent) Students will be required to write one seven page (typed, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font) response papers. This paper will be worth 40 percent of your final grade. The paper will require you to analyze the political institutions and current events in Europe. Paper prompts will be posted in the assignments section of Sakai, which will provide you with more details about the expectations and requirements. You will submit your papers by posting them at the bottom of the assignment in Sakai. Here are some general guidelines for how to write a good paper: I expect your papers to be clearly organized and argued. All papers should have an introduction that includes a thesis statement for the paper, followed by clear and methodical development of the thesis, ending with a conclusion summarizing the main argument of the paper. These papers are not creative writing exercises, but a method for you to convey to me knowledge and insights you have gained from the readings. If you have never been in a technical writing situation before, let me know, and I will provide you with materials that will make the new task easier. The UNC Writing Center also offers helpful online resources about writing in political science as well as writing in general: Writing in Political Science Effective Academic Writing: The Argument Constructing Thesis Statements Introductions Conclusions Editing and Proofreading Improving Your Writing Style Exams (40 percent) There will be two exams during the semester a midterm (worth 15 percent) and a final (worth 25 percent). Each of these exams will consist of a series of identification questions and short answers. The midterm exam will cover the readings and the lesson notes from Lessons 1 5, while the final exam will cover Lessons Note that the final exam is not cumulative and will cover only the material introduced after the midterm. The exams will be administered at the Sakai site. You will have two hours to complete each exam. You may not use your notes, books, the Internet, or other resources during the exams. I will provide you with a study guide with important terms, sample identification questions, and essay themes two weeks prior to each exam. Discussion Forum (20 percent) I will maintain a discussion forum for the class on the Sakai site. Each lesson will have several discussion questions designed to help you think about the readings and lesson notes. I will post each lesson s discussion questions on Monday of each week. After you have read the assigned readings for the week, you should make at least two contributions to the discussion forum, following the guidelines below: Contribution 1 should address one of the questions that I pose in the discussion forum section for the lesson. Your response should include a critical analysis of the evidence presented in the readings and lesson notes. The title of this contribution should be Contribution 1: Question X where X is the number of the question that you are addressing. Contribution 2 should be a critical response to one of your fellow student s first postings (those labeled Contribution 1 ). Your posting should consider the merits and problems of student s posting. Simply saying that I agree with Joe because his argument makes a lot of sense to me is not

4 sufficient. This contribution should be posted as a follow up under the message to which you are responding. Please change the subject line of your response so that it indicates this is Contribution 2. You are welcome to make additional contributions to the weekly discussion forum. These contributions could be a question about concepts that are still unclear to you, a response to another student s critique of your first contribution, a defense of another student s position, or a response to any other type of comment in the discussion. While I make no promises, these additional posts will help to boost your grade for a given week if they seem to contribute to the overall discussion. Note: You should expect to spend about thirty minutes to an hour thinking about your response and typing out your discussion forum posting. If you are finding that it takes only five minutes, you probably need to think more deeply about the subject, but if you are working on it for more than an hour, you might be going a little overboard. You will receive a discussion forum grade on a ten point scale for each lesson. To receive a grade of seven points, you must post all contributions on time, and your posts must meet the minimum content requirements described above. To get a grade above a seven, your posts must go beyond simply answering the question and provide a detailed critical analysis that offers evidence and support from the course materials or even material found outside the course the news, government and organization Web sites, and so on. You need to use material to support your argument and, cite (even if informally) where that material originates so that we can check it out if we want to. If you are trying to receive a grade higher than seven points, making additional posts beyond the two required ones might come into play, but only if those posts add to the discussion quality is more important than quantity. Please note that the discussion forum is worth 20 percent of your grade, which means that each lesson s postings are worth approximately two percent of your total grade. The discussion forum is heavily weighted for two reasons: First, the discussion forum acts as the closest thing we have to a classroom exchange, and as such, it is vital for the course. Second, since we do not have regular classroom meetings in which we could discuss our interpretations of the readings and our questions about them, the discussion forum is the next best space in which we may do so. Using the discussion forum to communicate with each other. The discussion forum also serves as one of the main ways in which you can communicate with your classmates and with me. If you have questions about the readings that you would like to pose to your classmates or to me such as seeking clarification on the meaning of a specific passage feel free to post the question to the forum. As long as it does not carry the titles described above that are intended for the graded contributions, it will not be graded. Note: I reserve the right to delete any inappropriate or duplicate postings and to intervene in the discussion if the exchange becomes hostile or uncivil. In general, however, I will refrain from getting too involved in the discussion during the week. GRADING Letter grades will be assigned using the following scale: A 95 or greater A B

5 B B C C C D D F 0 59 ACADEMIC POLICIES By enrolling as a student in this course, you agree to abide by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill policies related to the acceptable use of online resources. Please consult the Acceptable Use Policy on topics such as copyright, net etiquette, and privacy protection. As part of this course, you may be asked to participate in online discussions or other online activities that may include personal information about you or other students in the course. Please be respectful of the rights and protection of other participants under the UNC Chapel Hill Information Security Policies when participating in online classes. When using online resources offered by organizations not affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill, such as Google or YouTube, please note that the terms and conditions of these companies and not the University s Terms and Conditions apply. These third parties may offer different degrees of privacy protection and access rights to online content. You should be well aware of this when posting content to sites not managed by UNC Chapel Hill. When links to sites outside of the unc.edu domain are inserted in class discussions, please be mindful that clicking on sites not affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill may pose a risk for your computer due to the possible presence of malware on such sites. Office of Accessibility/Special Accommodations If you are a student with a documented disability, you can receive services through Accessibility Resources & Service. You must self identify through Accessibility Resources to receive services or accommodation from either of these offices. Accessibility Resources works closely with programs, offices, and departments throughout the University to help create an accessible environment. The office is located in Suite 2126 of the Student Academic Services Building (SASB), 450 Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC, and is open from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. You can contact them by phone at or 711 (NC RELAY), or by at accessibility@unc.edu. Honor Code Remember that as a student of UNC Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University s Honor Code, which states that It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.

6 All graded academic work must include a pledge comprised of the following: No unauthorized assistance has been received or given in the completion of this work. LESSONS Lesson 1 Part 1: Welcome to Europe Part 2: What is Comparative Politics? Lesson 2 Part 1: Parliamentary versus Presidential Democracy Part 2: Legislatures Lesson 3 Part 1: Electoral Systems Part 2: Governments and Coalitions Lesson 4 Part 1: Parties as Organizations Part 2: European Party Systems Lesson 5 Part 1: What Do Left and Right Stand for in Western Europe? Part 2: Political Cleavages, Electoral Competition, and Party System Change Lesson 6 Part 1: Politics Inside and Outside Parliament Part 2: Capitalism in Western Europe Lesson 7 Part 1: The European Welfare State Part 2: Welfare State Retrenchment Lesson 8 Part 1: Gender and the Welfare State Part 2: Demography and New Social Risks Lesson 9 Part 1: Perspectives on Regional Integration Part 2: History of European Integration

7 Lesson 10 Part 1: The Institutional Terrain Part 2: Economic Integration and Monetary Union Lesson 11 Theories of European Integration: State centric versus Multilevel Governance in the EU Lesson 12 Part 1: Collapse of Communism Part 2: Eastern Enlargement Lesson 13 Part 1: The Democratic Deficit Part 2: Public Opinion and the Future of the European Union