Comparative Politics

2026/2027

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

4

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Факультет мировой экономики и мировой политики

Статус:

Курс обязательный

Когда читается:

3-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Руднева Татьяна Сергеевна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course is designed to introduce the students to Comparative Politics. Comparative analysis of political institutions and how they function in different settings will help the students understand what determines the differences in political outcomes which Political Science in general and Comparative Politics in particular are trying to explain. During the course, the students will learn the necessary concepts, acquaint themselves with classic readings and learn to compare different forms of government and their consequences.

Learning Objectives

• The primary goal of the course is to acquaint the students with Comparative Politics.
• The students should learn some basic theoretical and practical problems in the area of Comparative Politics.
• The students should learn to identify differences and similarities and how they relate to outcomes.
• The students should learn to compare different forms of government.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students are familiar with the concepts of legitimacy and constitutionalism and how they relate to political culture.
• Students are able to explain the concept of federalism and how it differs from local government.
• Students are able to explain how presidential systems differ from parliamentary ones.
• Students are able to analyze whether the EU is a federation or not.
• Students are able to show the advantages and drawbacks of specific electoral systems.

Course Contents

• State and legitimacy
• Political culture
• State-building and governance
• Nations and society
• Political economy
• Consititions and courts.
• Electoral systems.
• Presidentialism, partliamentarism, semi-presidentialism.
• Term limits and impeachments
• Referendums
• Democratic and non-democratic regimes
• Levels of government

Assessment Elements

• Class participation
  Students’ class participation is graded on the basis of students' participation in seminar discussions. Class participation refers to discussion performance rather than mere attendance. All students are expected to attend seminars and participate by listening attentively, contributing to discussions and participating in in-class group and presentation projects. Students’ statements and answers to questions must contain well formulated arguments that clearly show their position. To do this, students must demonstrate a quality preparation for the seminar: do their homework, read the assigned literature and be ready to perform a critical evaluation of it.
• End-of-term assessment
  End-of-term assessment is a written in-class test consisting of multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions and an essay. The test will be evaluated according to the completeness and correctness of the answers provided.
• Final exam (oral)
  At the exam, a student will receive a set of three questions related to the course material. After a ten-minute preparation, a student is expected to orally answer those questions. The exam instructor may ask follow-up questions if necessary.
• Structured Debate
  Structured Debate is a group project where students debate a specific position related to the course material.
• Midterm assessment
  Midterm assessment is a written in-class test consisting of multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions and an essay. The test will be evaluated according to the completeness and correctness of the answers provided.

Interim Assessment

• 2026/2027 2nd module
  0.45 * Final exam (oral) + 0.25 * Class participation + 0.1 * Midterm assessment + 0.1 * Structured Debate + 0.1 * End-of-term assessment

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Embedded autonomy : states and industrial transformation, Evans, P., 1995
• Political atlas of the modern world : an experiment in multidimensional statistical analysis of the political systems of modern states, Melville, A., 2010
• Political science : a global perspective, Morlino, L., 2017
• The civic culture : political attitudes and democracy in five nations, Almond, G. A., 1989
• The fundamentals of political science research, Kellstedt, P. M., 2013
• The fundamentals of political science research, Kellstedt, P. M., 2018

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Considerations on representative government, Mill, J. S., 1991
• Political Science. Vol.54, N.1, , 2002
• Political Science. Vol.54, N.2, , 2002

Authors

• Kuznetsova Elena Viktorovna
• Rudneva Tatiana Sergeevna
• Zakharova Elizaveta Sergeevna
• Vishniakova Nataliia Vladimirovna