POL438H1F L0101

Graduate Course Code: POL2321H1F L0101

Topics in Comparative Politics I

Electoral Behaviour, Parties and Party Systems in Federal Countries

Themes

This course examines the politics of federal and decentralized polities. Early research on federalism is based mostly on the US experience and is predominantly normative. Federalism is seen as the panacea for a wide range of political and economic problems including ethnic conflict, economic inefficiency and lack of democratic accountability. Today, the literature on federalism and decentralization is more nuanced, more empirically grounded and more comparative. This course evaluates these recent developments and explores the conditions under which federalism and/or decentralization affect a variety of policy and political outcomes. This course will also examine the ways in which voters, candidates and parties behave within a federal institutional context, and how their behavior interacts with key institutions. Finally, this course will address the structural conditions and bargaining relationships that give rise to federal and decentralized institutions.

Texts

TBA

Format and Requirements

One two-hour seminar per week. Course requirements TBA.

Prerequisites

2.0 credits in POL/ JPA/ JPF/ JPI/ JPR/ JPS/ JRA courses