Notes of all lectures given by Koen Damhuis and Alexander Hoppe for the course Comparative Analysis of Political Institutions (CAPI) (USG2051) in . The exam was all open questions and a lot were related to subjects discussed in the lectures and seminars. Finished the course with a 8/ A
All lectures week 47 till week 3 – Comparative Analyis of Political
Institutions (CAPI) 2020-2021 (USG2051)
Table of contents
Lecture week 47 – Introduction ................................................................................................ 2
Lecture week 48 – Varieties of democracy ............................................................................... 4
Lecture week 49 – Electoral systems ........................................................................................ 8
Lecture week 50 – Parties and party systems ......................................................................... 13
Lecture week 51 – Political participation and the public sphere ............................................ 17
Lecture week 2 – The nation-state and supra-national constraints ....................................... 21
Lecture week 3 – The EU as a new political system ................................................................ 25
,Lecture week 47 – Introduction
Lecture part 1 – CAPI?
US elections à majority in the white house and senate and house of representatives
In NL more parties (28), small parties can make it to parliament (in US it’s the winner takes it
all). NL has one of the most of the proportional systems in the worlds (so small parties can
get seats, party for animals)
difference between political systems is important
à a countries political system (institutions and agencies) structures the ways in which
citizens’ preferences (inputs) are translated into policy (outputs)
VB: Trump (wall Mexico) in NL coalition forming with consensus of the parties that where
involved
The political system according to Easton (1965)
Citizens demands (inputs) are translated in
politic policies (outputs). Allows for a
systematic analysis of all institutions and
agencies that are in involved in the collective
and authoritative realization in policies
outputs
the framework works in two directions à
1. need input and support from citizens in
order to develop public policies. 2. Policies have to be justified, evaluated by the citizens and
may generate new demands of support. Outputs lead back to the input à never ending
cycle.
Simplified model of representative democracy: a combination of two chains
The chain of responsiveness
- Links the citizens’ preferences tot the results of policy making
- Democratic responsiveness occurs when the democratic process induces the
government to form and implement policies that citizens want (trump, build the wall)
- Influenced by: varieties of democracy, electoral systems, parties and party systems,
forms of participation, interest groups, media/ public sphere, supra-national
constraints
The chain of accountability
- Links public policies to the citizens preferences
- Incumbent governments should assume responsibility for their acts and enable
voters to respond with sanctions, if the policy output does not correspond to their
preferences (Biden or not the vote at all)
2
, Part 2 – the structure of the course: six themes
2. Varieties of democracy
3. Electoral systems
4. Parties and party systems
5. Political participation and the public sphere
6. Supra-national constraints
7. The EU as a new political system?
Varieties of democracy
- What actually is a democracy?
- Which different types of democracies can we distinguish?
- Why are some countries more democratic than others?
- And how can we measure this?
3. Electoral systems
- Elections are the cornerstone of representative democracies
- What are the sets of rules under which rules elections are held?
- And what are the consequences?
- The pros and cons of referenda
4. Parties and party systems
- Parties are the most important actors in modern democracies
- What are parties actually? And what are their main functions?
- What are different systems in which political parties operate?
5. Political participation and the public sphere
- No democracy without participation
- Why do people actually participate?
- In different forms of participation?
- What is the role of other participants in the democratic decision-making process,
such as interest groups?
- And what is the role of the media (from a comparative perspective)?
6. Supra-national constraints
- The most significant political unit of the modern world are ‘states’
- Processes of economic and political globalization changed their role
- What is a (nation) state?
- And what are the consequences of globalization for democratic decision-making
processes?
7. The EU as a new political system?
- The EU illustrates the changing role of nation-states in a globalized world
- How does the EU actually function?
- To what extent can it be considered as a new political system? And what are the
main differences with political systems at the national level?
3
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