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212D Democratic Deficits and the Dissatisfaction with Politics ( efterår 2011 - 10 ECTS )

Rammer for udbud

Uddannelsessprog: engelsk
Niveau: Kandidatuddannelsen i Statskundskab
Semester/kvarter: Autumn 2011
Timer per uge: First lesson is on Thursday September 1, 2011 at 10-12 a.m in building 1330, room 018
Deltagerbegrænsning: Each module consists of a maximum of about 20 students. The students need to register for the module
Undervisningssted: Århus
Hovedområde: Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
Udbud ID: 32748

Formål

The seminar module offers a more extensive and more thorough analysis of a topic from within political science. To this end, the seminar module provides an overview and a critical discussion of the literature and the issues relevant for the topic of the seminar.

The objectives for this module are:

to develop further students' knowledge of different approaches to the working of democracy;
to advance a critical analysis and understanding of democratic deficits and political dissatisfaction ;
to develop a good working knowledge of similarities and differences in the working of different democratic political systems
to stimulate critical reflection on the question whether, to what extent and why contemporary democracies are facing the challenges of democratic deficits and political dissatisfaction;
to develop further students' understanding of crucial concepts and terms of comparative political analysis

Among the competences to be achieved for the student in this module are:

the ability to analyze and synthesize diverging approaches to the analysis of democratic politics
the ability to apply established theories, methods and techniques of social science research to contemporary problems of democratic development
a thorough understanding of fundamental concepts, terms and designs of comparative political science research
the ability to formulate a research question and a fitting research design for a (small-scale) research project on democratic deficits and political dissatisfaction
the ability to write a well-reasoned critical research-based paper in English that - in principal - contributes to the existing knowledge in the field of the comparative political analysis of democratic predicaments
the ability to hold in-class presentations that stimulate discussion
the ability to cooperate and communicate well with fellow students
a good working knowledge of (the origins, meaning and consequences of) cross-national similarities and differences in democratic deficits and political dissatisfaction
an ability to reflect critically on major political issues resulting from democratic deficits and the dissatisfaction with politics
an understanding of the logic, importance, but also pitfalls of comparative analysis

Indhold

This seminar focuses on one of the great paradoxes of democratic politics of our time. On the one hand, if anything, in the past three decades, we have witnessed the increasing esteem, legitimacy, and triumph of democracy as a regime throughout the world, while, on the other hand, we have been observing an increasing dissatisfaction with politics, and the loss of confidence in the performance of government in new and well established democracies. Democracy is at once becoming more and less well-liked, or so it seems.

All democracies are confronted with increasing dissatisfaction and disillusionment with politics. This is evidenced by such indicators as the decline in electoral turnout and party membership, increasing voter volatility, dwindling levels of trust in political institutions and actors, and growing political cynicism. Although there is extensive variation in democratic dissatisfaction (Denmark, for instance, is in many respects a remarkable exception!), it is intriguing to observe that, although democracy is considered to be the best form of government, virtually everywhere there is declining support for democracy as inherently a good form of government. This, plus the fact that satisfaction with democratic politics seems to be declining, may indicate that the future of democracy as a popular form of governance is perhaps more gloomy than some may believe. This, however, is a highly contentious thesis of which the empirical validity is challenged by theoretically well-grounded and empirically strong studies. So, the first key goal of this seminar is to diagnose to the best of our ability the current predicament of democratic politics, its cross-national variations, and its major exceptions. Are we facing a ‘just' democratic deficit or is democracy in a much deeper crisis?

The second major aim is to assess critically the explanations for the democratic malaise , as some would label the problem, or for the democratic deficits , as others would prefer to characterize the current political predicament in democracies. It turns out that many explanations of political disaffection and disengagement have been citizen- or demand-side oriented. The dominant (elite) conviction seems to be that there is something wrong with "the people," the public", or "citizen": (s)he lacks social capital and trust, is deprived socioeconomically and culturally, lacks information about good governance or is simply better informed by the media about bad than about good performance, has no interest in politics, does not participate, is too individualized and calculating, is indifferent to what politicians do, simply lacks the intellectual capacity to understand politics, or has rising expectations that can never be met. Are such explanations theoretically plausible and empirically convincing?

Fagspredning

Comparative Politics

Faglige forudsætninger

Of the nine seminars the student has to pass as part of the MA degree, at least six seminar modules have to be in political science

Underviser

Kees van Kersbergen

Prøveform

The assessment method is home assignment.

External examiner/Graded marking.

Undervisnings- og arbejdsform

The seminar module requires active participation of students. At the beginning of the seminar module the lecturer and the students agree on specific "activity requirements" that the students have to fulfill.

This is a seminar with (inter-)active participation (student presentations, discussion).

Litteratur

The module compendium consists of about 1,200 pages.

Concerning the home assignment the student agrees with the lecturer the reading which is relevant for the research question of the home assignment. The reading forms part of the 1,200 pages which students have to read for each seminar module.

- Stoker, Gerry (2006), Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

- Hay, Colin (2007), Why We Hate Politics , Cambridge: Polity Press

- Norris, Pippa (2011), Democratic Deficit: Critical Citizens Revisited , New York: Cambridge University Press.

- Selected articles to be announced later