Course syllabus - Cologne Summer Term 2015

This course aims at re-examining the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of democracy and their performance in a period of crisis and continuing globalization. The course pursues a fourfold goal. First, it is to provide a general idea of the origins and evolution of the concept of democracy and its inherent problems and dilemmas. We will question the classical tension between collective government and individual liberty, but also look at more contemporary problems. We will then take a cursory look at contemporary democracies around the world: what is the recent history of democracy, its progress, its transformation and its problems. In particular we want to discuss how globalization has taken an ever greater share of decisions out of the national political realm to take to other – trans- or supranational – spheres. We also want to show discuss how demographics, economic developments and the increasing budgetary constraints have increasingly limited the autonomy of government. Third, we will look at the interplay between citizens on the one hand and their political representatives and democracy on the other. While we know that the attitudes and convictions of citizens are not decisive for the advent and consolidation of democracy, there are several tendencies that may be important for the future of democracy. The role of the media will receive special attention here, as well the rise of far-right and other anti-systemic parties.

Finally we will devote time to solutions and remedies: are the examples to follow? Can democracy be re-invented and adapted to changing contexts? The idea of this final section is to ask questions and to look for interesting examples of renewal, rather than to provide answers.

The public lecture will be devoted to the interaction and tensions between the evolution of capitalism and the future of democracy. We will concentrate in particular on govenments' strategies and voters' reactions since the beginning of the financial and sovereign debt crises in 2008. We will focus in particular on the electoral success of 'new' parties and the decline of 'old' forces.

The main objective of this course is to provide students with a set of conceptual and empirical tools and tomorrow push them to develop a personal analysis about the future of one of the fundamental principles of contemporary political systems. The idea is to expose them to particular arguments and analytical frameworks from different disciplines (political science, sociology, economics, philosophy).

Assignments and grading

Seminar participants are expected to write a small research project. The idea is to develop a personal research question and to assemble a number of documents, data and other sources on this subject, as well as a detailed outline explaining how the project is to be carried out. Term papers will be presented and discussed during a 2-day seminar on July 10 and 11.

Academic integrity and quotation policy 

I pay strong attention to academic integrity (plagiarism etc.) and correct quoting. I will distribute a document at the beginning of the seminar concerning academic integrity.  

Seminar 1 – April 10, 2015

Democracy: concepts, history and variety

This seminar will discuss the historical foundations of liberal democracy. It will discuss its ancient and more recent elements. This will be confronted with the political struggles that established liberal democracies, especially in Europe. Finally, we will survey the variety of institutional configurations of contemporary political systems and the trade-offs they operate between the different goals and constraints of liberal democracy.

PDF presentation for Seminar 1

Required reading: 

• Urbinati, Nadia, and Mark E. Warren. "The concept of representation in contemporary democratic theory." Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 11 (2008): 387-412.
• Armingeon, Klaus. "The effects of negotiation democracy: A comparative analysis." European Journal of Political Research 41.1 (2002): 81-105.

Seminar 2 – April 24, 2015

The problem of policymaking autonomy and its consequences

We will look at the challenges to policymaking autonomy that contemporary democracies are facing. Economic globalization is a first major challenge, strongly diminishing the ability of government to steer national economies. Attacks on central government power, however, also took place on the domestic arena, as public finances and economic growth deteriorated. Finally, this appears to be having serious consequences for the outputs and outcomes of policymaking in liberal democracies, as post-war social-democratic bargains were terminated. Inequality and dualization are haunting advanced industrial democracies.

PDF presentation for Seminar 2

Required reading:

• Anderson, C. J., & Beramendi, P. (2012). Left parties, poor voters, and electoral participation in advanced industrial societies. Comparative Political Studies,45(6), 714-746.
• Crum, Ben. "Saving the Euro at the Cost of Democracy?." JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies (2013). (This paper is not publicly available. You may find it either through your university network or a common folder that I will make available).

Seminar 3 – April 30, 2015

Citizens and the crisis of democracy

Citizens have become more and more distrustful over time – if not of democracy – of the politicians and institutions supposed to embody democracy. While declining turnout was long not a major problem, increasing volatility is leading to rapid restructuring of party system, almost systematic de-election of incumbents and, thus, rising policy instability. The emergence of populist parties on the right, but also on the left is making the very business of government more and more difficult, as majorities are becoming more difficult to find.

PDF presentation for Seminar 3

Required reading:

• Dalton, R. J. (2005). The social transformation of trust in government.International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 133-154.
• Mazzoleni, G., & Schulz, W. (1999). " Mediatization" of politics: A challenge for democracy?. Political Communication, 16(3), 247-261. (Not available, cf. supra)

Seminar 4 – May 12, 2015

Contemporary capitalism and the future of democracy

This lecture will look at the gap between the performance of contemporary democracies and citizens/voters' expectations. We will look at some recent examples of restructuring of political competition to better understand were democracies in Europe (and the rest of the industrialized world) is headed. Possibly, depending on the political context, we may realize a first stocktaking exercise after the likely success of new political forces such as Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain.

PDF presentation of the conference

Required reading:

• Soroka, S. N., & Wlezien, C. (2012). Political Institutions and the Opinion-Policy Link. West European Politics, 35(6), 1407-1432.
• Rothstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for all: Equality, corruption, and social trust. World politics, 58(01), 41-72.

Workshop – July 10 & 11, 2015
Student presentations

Topics of student presentations are proposed by students, based on course material and are to be sent by email by May 1st, 2015. I will send out individual feedback for each proposal. There will be office hours on the afternoon of May 12 for those wanting more feedback.

Presenters are expected to prepare handouts or additional readings to be handed/sent to the rest of seminar attendants at least a week in advance. 

I will fix the exact schedule once the topics of student presentations have been established.

Final papers and grading

The final papers should take into account the issues raised and discussions during the workshop. They are to be sent in by July 20, 11.59 pm, to this address: emiliano.grossman.scpo@analyse.urkund.com and/or satisfy other plagiarism control procedures at the Uni Köln.

Essays should not exceed 5000 words, everything included (i.e. references, appendix etc.). There will be penalties for essays handed in late and NO essay will be accepted after July 25. Presentations and class participation will account for 30% of the final grade (including discussion of other papers), the papers for 70%.