Course Schedule
Lehrveranstaltungen
Behavioral Public Economics (Seminar)
Dozent/in: Mario Mechtel
Termin:
Einzeltermin | Mo, 04.04.2022, 10:15 - Mo, 04.04.2022, 11:45 | C 14.006 Seminarraum | Joint Kick-off Session Mechtel / Kruse
wöchentlich | Montag | 10:15 - 11:45 | 04.04.2022 - 08.07.2022 | C 14.006 Seminarraum
Inhalt: Based on numerous empirical and experimental insights, the field of behavioral economics emerged within the last decades and became an important part of mainstream economic research. Behavioral economists have contributed to the debates about many topics in public economics. This seminar will cover fundamental topics from this field. We will approach behavioral public economics from a pragmatic, policy-oriented perspective. Without talking too much about the fundamental question of whether the assumptions made in neoclassical theory are “valid”, we will raise different policy relevant questions and incorporate behavioral insights to test whether they improve policy outcomes. The lecture part of the seminar will briefly cover basics from behavioral economics (non-standard preferences, bounded self-control, imperfect optimization), while part II will focus on specific aspects of behavioral public economics research.
Comparative Political Behavior (Seminar)
Dozent/in: Stefan Kruse
Termin:
Einzeltermin | Mo, 04.04.2022, 10:15 - Mo, 04.04.2022, 11:45 | C 14.006 Seminarraum | Joint Kick-off Session Mechtel / Kruse
wöchentlich | Dienstag | 12:15 - 13:45 | 04.04.2022 - 08.07.2022 | C 12.108 Seminarraum
Inhalt: This course focuses on citizens' role in the democratic process, how this role has changed over time, and how these changes are altering the nature of democracy. The quality of democracy is primarily measured by the active participation of all citizens in political processes, the responsiveness of rulers to popular demands, and the protection of individuals' rights and freedoms across all social groups. For voters to make meaningful decisions and influence government actions, they must know something about the issues, understand the available options, and need sufficient knowledge of how the political system works. Against this backdrop, this course addresses some of the major controversies in political behavior research. The first part of the course illustrates the continuing debate about the political abilities of average citizens and the extent to which public opinion surveys allow researchers to study individuals' motivations and expectations to better understand and predict human behavior. The second part of the course focuses on political participation. Based on international public opinion data, we will explore patterns of citizen participation and examine the causes and consequences of citizen involvement in institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms of political participation across different countries. The third part of the course focuses on political culture research and its contribution to better understand the social roots of democracy and how these roots are transforming through cultural change. We will pay particular attention to the effects of social capital and value orientations on political support and democratization in a comparative perspective. Against this backdrop, the fourth part of the course introduces students to the study of electoral behavior contrasting the main approaches to explaining participation and voting choice. The course also addresses various aspects of representation in liberal democracies.