Course Schedule

Course Schedule

Start > Leuphana Bachelor (B.A./B.Eng./B.Sc./LL.B.) -> Major Politikwissenschaft (bis Studienbeginn WiSe 23/24) -> Vertiefung: Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft: Vergleichende Demokratieforschung

Lehrveranstaltungen

Applied statistics: Citizens' conceptions of (an ideal) democracy and how to measure it (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Sarah Engler

Termin:
wöchentlich | Montag | 14:15 - 15:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 14.103 Seminarraum

Inhalt: What do people mean when they talk about democracy? Is it just free and fair elections or do they want more? Do all citizens understand the same when talking about democracy, and if not, why do they differ? In this class, we look at these questions first from a theoretical perspective, and then students explore them empirically by analysing individual survey data of the European Social Survey. The ESS asks respondents what they consider to be important for a democracy, and how they evaluate the state of democracy in their country looking at those aspects. Students will work with the statistical program STATA to explore these questions.

The limits of comparing: Problematizing comparative politics in its politico-economic context (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Adrià Alcoverro

Inhalt: The main idea of this course is to problematise the notion of comparison in political science. Comparison is a very strong subfield in political science that has been pivotal in the development of the discipline. Its holistic take, often employing institutionalized politics as an object of analysis, allows the categorization different institutional orders by the means of comparison to produce rich descriptions as well as concepts. Nonetheless, comparative politics operates within a given order of things, meaning that the larger politico-economic context in which comparison occurs is presented in a static form and normally it is not part of the object of analysis. For that reason, the changes in the larger politico economic order and the influence that these might have in liberal democratic institutions are not fully addressed. At the same time, the political movements and events occurring outside the realm of institutional politics in civil society are often neglected. Also forms of informal political relations entrenched within liberal democratic institutional orders, such as clientelism in different forms, are frequently not grasped. Still, comparative politics has undergone important theoretical and normative transformations proving its capacity to introduce critical approaches. This course points towards this direction in an attempt to comprehend the political in an increasingly complex world.