Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
LJMU Partner Taught
Learning Methods
Online
Module Offerings
4502BCIRDL-SEP-PAR
Aims
1. To familiarise students with the key concepts and methods in the subject area of comparative politics.
2. To equip students with essential knowledge about major political systems and their national variances.
3. To understand the key debates in the discipline of comparative analysis.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Identify and engage with the methods and concepts employed in comparative politics.
2.
Explain the evolution and variances of different political systems from a
comparative perspective.
3.
Identify the key debates in the discipline of comparative analysis.
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:
Topics covered may include the following:
• Theoretical approaches to understanding political systems
• What is the state? The importance of domestic politics at the international stage
• Why compare governments and politics with each other?
• Democratic government and politics
• Authoritarian government and politics
• Somewhere in between democratic and authoritarian rule
• Political parties, political culture, the media and participation
• Elections and voting
• The role of non-state actors in shaping government and politics - Interest groups from corporate to social movements
Topics covered may include the following:
• Theoretical approaches to understanding political systems
• What is the state? The importance of domestic politics at the international stage
• Why compare governments and politics with each other?
• Democratic government and politics
• Authoritarian government and politics
• Somewhere in between democratic and authoritarian rule
• Political parties, political culture, the media and participation
• Elections and voting
• The role of non-state actors in shaping government and politics - Interest groups from corporate to social movements
Module Overview:
In order to understand how the state engages with other actors at the internationallevel it is essential to understand how the state functions. It is driven both by theory and practical examples. This module examines the various political models and howthey operate in practice. How does China, for example, operate in the spacebetween authoritarian rule and democracy? Does China's political model offerstability and an example for other states to follow? Can a state lose its democraticidentity as well as gain one? These are all the kinds of questions that arise whencomparing different political systems, states and societies with each other. It alsoexamines the different components to what makes a state or informs a state's culturesuch as political parties and the media. A skills specific session will be incorporatedin this module.
In order to understand how the state engages with other actors at the internationallevel it is essential to understand how the state functions. It is driven both by theory and practical examples. This module examines the various political models and howthey operate in practice. How does China, for example, operate in the spacebetween authoritarian rule and democracy? Does China's political model offerstability and an example for other states to follow? Can a state lose its democraticidentity as well as gain one? These are all the kinds of questions that arise whencomparing different political systems, states and societies with each other. It alsoexamines the different components to what makes a state or informs a state's culturesuch as political parties and the media. A skills specific session will be incorporatedin this module.