1. LG302 / LG302A 2013 Comparative European Politics Cristina Bucur School of Law and Government, DCU

2. In a nutshell 2 Representative government in modern Europe Two overarching themes Institutions of representative government. Institutional patterns: majoritarian and consensus visions of democracy. Focus on 16 countries Classical examples of majoritarianism and consensualism. Processes of change.

3. Course structure 3 Weeks 1-2: How to observe, measure, and compare democracies & patterns of democracy in modern Europe. Week 3: Classical examples of consociationalism & changes. Week 4-5: Classical examples of majoritarianism & changes (Prof. Robert Elgie, Guest lecturer). Weeks 6-11: Core group of countries that provide a wide variation on many political dimensions. Week 12: Summary, feedback, and guidance.

4. Expectations & transferrable skills 4 Understand the forces that drive representative government in modern Europe and the factors of change. Predict the likely effect of different changes to a political system.

5. Expectations & transferrable skills 5 Read critically a wide range of texts. Learn how to gather, organise and deploy evidence, data, and information from a variety of secondary and primary sources. Practice and improve writing skills.

6. Assessment 6 2 Essays – 50% of the overall course mark each. Avoid choosing a question on a topic that has not been done in class first. All questions require a comparative answer – i.e. should NOT focus solely or predominantly on a single country. Critical evaluation of the literature. Must contain a strong empirical component. Plagiarism of any sort and length will lead to a failing grade.

7. LG302 on Twitter 7

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9. What’s in a tweet 9 News feed Real-time political analyses Academic blogging Data resources Writing tips Chance to ask questions Invitation to comment and debate Opportunity to add your own links

10. Getting in touch 10 Office hours: by appointment. A great time to ask questions is after lectures. Week 12 reserved for individual feedback and guidance on how to do well in the second essay. E-mail, if absolutely necessary (please check Moodle and course outline first). cristina.bucur2@mail.dcu.ie

11. What is Europe?

12. History of Europe in a nutshell 12 People into empires Empires into nations Nations into states States into blocs The new Europe

14. People into empires

15. 15 Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 476 West; AD 285 – 1453 East)

16. 16 Evolution of the Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 476 West; AD 285 – 1453 East)

17. Holy Roman Empire (962-1806)

18. Nations into states

19. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) & The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

20. Europe & the ‘balance of power’ (18 th c. onwards) The Congress of Vienna (1815)

21. 21 Ottoman Empire (1453-1922)

22. Russian Empire (1721-1917)

23. Europe in 1900

24. States into blocs

25. Europe before World War I

26. Europe after World War I

27. Europe during the Cold War (1947-1991)

28. The new Europe

29. Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain

30. EU Member & Candidate Countries (2013)