UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK Master of Research in Sociology

COURSE SYLLABUS Course Title Politics in contemporary societies Lecturer: Gabriel Badescu Ph. D. Credits 6 Hours per week 2 Year 2

Semester 3 Enrolment prerequisites: Enrolment in this course is no conditioned by any substantive pre-requisites, since the most important concepts of modern political science will be defined and discussed. Nevertheless, notions of qualitative and quantitative methodology are necessary in order to fully understand the assigned bibliography.

General course objectives: The general objective of this master level course is to familiarize students with the most important notions and concepts within contemporary political science. Therefore, the course will touch on the field and the associated disciplines within the Political Sciences, emphasizing both the need for a separate and yet integrated Political Science. Thus, the course will introduce the history of the discipline, its most important turning points, both methodologically and substantively, and its most significant components, from the study of political systems to the study of international relations, from political parties to political participation, from social movements to institutional crafting, and from political culture to political theory. Specific course objectives: -defining political science and configuring its place within the social sciences -describing the evolution from history, to institutionalism, positivism and post-positivism as turning points within the discipline -characterizing democratic politics -exploring non-democratic political systems -the definition and functioning of international relations -characterization of political behavior -the role of political theory Qualification level Observable skills Knowledge Memorization and processing of central tenets of modern political science Comprehension Describing causal links and functioning mechanisms within political science Analysis Applying theoretical concepts in the understanding of real world

Synthesis Evaluation

situations (analytical models) Summarization of central tenets of democratic politics Using political science to assess political progress

Key concepts: political science, social sciences, political system, political regime, comparative approach, democracy, dictatorship, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, transition to democracy, international relations, international system, positivism and post-positivism, institutionalism, institutional crafting, political behavior, political culture, public opinion, social capital, party politics, electoral policy, human rights, ethnopolitics, political theory Course activities: short lecture and graduate seminar format of discussion on the literature .

Student evaluation Student evaluation consists of: assessing participation in discussion, presentation of weekly readings, final paper

Course topics 1. Political science definition of the discipline and historical evolution 2. The evolution of the discipline in epistemological and ontological terms main schools of thought 3. Political theory classical and modern 4. Democracy concept, implementation, evolution 5. Non-democratic forms of political systems authoritarianism, totalitarianism. 6. Transitions to democracy the challenge of comparison. 7. Comparative politics. 8. Institutional arrangements within a democracy. 9. Political behaviour. 10. Political culture and civil society. 11. Party politics, minorities. 12. International relations and human rights. 13. Globalization and the sovereign nation state. 14. Transnationalism, globalization and contemporary dilemmas: immigration.

1. King, Keohane, Verba. 1994. Desigining Social Inquiry. Princeton University Press. 2. Collier, Brady. 2004. Rethinking Social Inquiry. Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 3. Lynch, Klotz. 2007. Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations. ME Sharpe. 4. Easton, D. 1965. A Framework for Political Analysis. Prentice Hall. 5. Weber,M. 2003. The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism.Dover Publications.

6. Lijphart, Arend.1999. Patterns of Democracy : Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. Yale University Press. 7. Lijphart. 1995. Electoral Systems and Party Systems. 8. Linz and Stepan. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation. 9. Burchill, Linklater et al. Theories of International Relations. 10. Verba, Schlozman and Brady. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. 11. Putnam. Bowling alone. 12. Dryzek. Democracy in Capitalist Times : Ideals, Limits and Struggles. Seminar topics 1. Political science definition of the discipline and historical evolution 2. The evolution of the discipline. 3. Political theory classical and modern 4. Democracy concept, implementation, evolution 5. Non-democratic forms of political systems. 6. Transitions to democracy the challenge of comparison. 7. Comparative politics. 8. Institutional arrangements within a democracy. 9. Political behaviour. 10. Political culture and civil society. 11. Party politics, minorities. 12. International relations and human rights. 13. Globalization and the sovereign nation state. 14. Transnationalism and globalization. Seminar bibliography 1. King, Keohane, Verba. 1994. Desigining Social Inquiry. Princeton University Press. 2. Collier, Brady. 2004. Rethinking Social Inquiry. Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 3. Lynch, Klotz. 2007. Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations. ME Sharpe. 4. Easton, D. 1965. A Framework for Political Analysis. Prentice Hall. 5. Weber,M. 2003. The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism.Dover Publications. 6. Lijphart, Arend.1999. Patterns of Democracy : Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. Yale University Press. 7. Lijphart. 1995. Electoral Systems and Party Systems. 8. Linz and Stepan. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation. 9. Burchill, Linklater et al. Theories of International Relations. 10. Verba, Schlozman and Brady. Voice and Equality : Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. 11. Putnam. Bowling alone. 12. Dryzek. Democracy in Capitalist Times : Ideals, Limits and Struggles.