| Academic year: | 2006-2007 |
| Course code module | 1BPSW-11 |
| Semester: | 2nd semester |
| Credits: | 6 |
| Study load (hours) | 168 |
| Theory (hours): | 45,00 |
| Practice/Exercises(hours): | |
| Other (hours): | |
| Part-time program: | 1 |
| Instructor(s) | Petra Meier
|
| Language of instruction: | Dutch |
| Semester exam information: | semester exam in June |
| Contract restriction information: | |
1. Prerequisites
*Algemene competenties
A sound interest in politics (following the news)
*Sequentiality
2. Objectives (expected learning outcomes)
* Knowledge of the main political actors and institutions in Belgium
* Knowledge of the main trends and debates in Belgian politics
* Adopt a political science perspective of politics
* Learn how to think comparatively
* Analytical thinking
* Apply abstract concepts to political reality
3. Course content
This course is an inductive introduction in political science drawing on the Belgian case. The aim of the course is to introduce core actors, institutions, processes and debates of Belgian politics, in order to achieve a better understanding of concepts and theories of political science. This aim is achieved by systematically studying current issues in Belgian politics. Politics is the organisation and management of society, but society undergoes change and so does its organisation. There is a shift and transformation of politics, with respect to the levels where it can be found and the actors involved in it. The course studies this evolution and its consequences for the Belgian society, treating among others: multi-level governance, decentralisation and federalisation, consociational vs. majoritarian democracy, partitocracy and the role of parties, pillarization, electoral evolutions and volatility, changes in political participation, living in an ethnically diverse society, relations between government and parliament, asymmetric coalitions and the relations between communities, regions and the federal level, the impact of Europe...
4. Teaching method
Direct contact: Lectures
5. Assessment method
Exam: Written, without oral presentationClosed bookMultiple choiceOpen questions
6. Compulsory reading – study material
Marc Hooghe (red.) (2006) Op zoek naar politiek. Democratie en de verplaatsing van de politiek. Leuven: Acco.
De artikels uit West European Politics volume 29, nummer 5 (november 2006).
The literature will be dealt with in the following order:
(12/2):
Hooghe, M. (2006), Inleiding: de verplaatste politiek, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
(19/2):
Swenden, W. & Jans, M.T. (2006), ‘Will it stay or will it go ?’ Federalism and the sustainability of Belgium, West European Politics 29(5), pp.877-894.
(26/2):
Deschouwer, K. (2006), Ik zeg u (nog) geen vaarwel. Politieke partijen en de nationale staat, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
De Winter, L., Swyngedouw, M. & Dumont, P. (2006), Party System(s) and Electoral Behaviour in Belgium: From Stability to Balkanisation, West European Politics 29(5), pp.933-956.
(5/3)
Huyse, L. (2006), De pers als politieke speler, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
(19/3)
Hooghe, M. & Stolle, D. (2006), Een verschuiving van de politieke participatie. Politieke participatie en ongelijkeid, 1974-2002, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
Walgrave, S. (2006), Het transnationale verzet tegen de oorlog in Irak. Een analyse in acht landen aan de hand van protestsurveys, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
(26/3)
Billiet, J., Maddens, B. & Frognier, A.-P. (2006), Does Belgium (still) exist? Differences in political culture between Flemings and Walloons, West European Politics 29(5), pp.912-932.
Hooghe, M., Reeskens, T. & Stolle, D. (2006), Variaties in samenleven. Het samenleven in etnisch diverse gemeenschappen, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.De uitdagingen voor een diverse samenleving
(16/4)
Brans, M., De Visscher, C., & Vancoppenolle, D. (2006), Administrative reform in Belgium: Maintenance or modernisation?, West European Politics 29(5), pp.979-998.
De Rynck, S. & Dezeure, K. (2006), Policy convergence and divergence in Belgium: Education and health care, West European Politics 29(5), pp.1018-1033.
(23/4)
De Winter, L., & Dumont, P. (2006), Do Belgian Parties Undermine the Democratic Chain of Delegation ?, West European Politics 29(5), pp.957-976.
Deschouwer, K. (2006), And the peace goes on? Consociational democracy and Belgian politics in the twenty-first century, West European Politics 29(5), pp.895-911.
(7/5)
Baetens, M. & Bursens, P. (2006), Transformatie van soevereiniteit door Europese integratie. Op zoek naar de legitimiteit van een meerlagig politiek systeem, in M. Hooghe (red.), Op zoek naar politiek, Leuven: Acco.
Beyers, J. & Bursens, P. (2006), The European rescue of the federal state: How Europeanisation shapes the Belgian state, West European Politics 29(5), pp.1057-1078.
7. Recommended reading - study material
none
8. Tutoring