European Politics

PO341/ IR362
Syllabus for Fall 2018

Professor Sofía Pérez

232 Bay State Rd., 301
Tel: 353-3876
email: sperez@bu.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays and

Thursdays, 2:00-3:30 PM, or by
appointment

I. Course Description and Objectives

This course is designed to offer students an understanding of political life in Europe. It

explores current and historical political developments in the countries that now comprise
the European Union, as well as the politics of the EU itself. The special problems of the
Eurozone and the electoral rise of new parties of a populist and far Right nature will be a
major focus of the course.

The course is divided into three parts. In the first, we focus on the political histories of
several countries that are now member states of the EU. The objective here is to
understand the differences in the way European countries developed. One question we will
look at is why democratization gave way to fascism and authoritarianism in the first half of
the 20th century in some countries while it did not do so in others, and what lessons, if any
we can take from this for current European politics. This historical part of the course sets
the stage for the second part, in which we focus on current politics in several major EU
member states. Differences in the political systems of these countries, the major political
actors, and the key issues that politics has centered on in recent years will be the focus
here. The third part of the course looks at the political development of the European
Union, its current governance structure and the problems it entails. We will consider
questions such as whether the EU suffers a “democratic deficit,” the problems of European
identity and economic governance, and the way in which these are reflected in current
events.

II. Course Requirements

Your grade in this class will be based on two in-class midterm exams (30% and 15% of the
final grade respectively), a final exam (40% of grade), and class attendance and
participation (15% of grade). Exams are not cumulative.

The assigned reading include parts of a textbook that is available for purchase at the
bookstore :

Mark Kesselman et. al., European Politics in Transition 6th Edition (published by Cengage)

All other readings on the schedule (beyond the Financial Times, see below) are available
on the Course Blackboard LEARN page (learn.bu.edu).

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You are also required to follow the “Europe” news section in the Financial Times of London on
www.ft.com on a daily basis for this class starting with the third week of class. I will announce how
to get a discounted academic subscription rate for the course of the semester in class.
Please be aware that changes to the schedule of class topics, readings, or
assignments may be announced in class or by email!

III. Schedule of Class Topics and Readings

Week I

9/04 Course Introduction

9/06 European Politics: A Periodization

Part I. Political Development

Week II

9/11 Political Development in Europe: Some Theories

9/13 British and French Political Development (variations on a democratic path)

Readings: Kesselman, chapters 1,2 and chapter by Barrington Moore ch. 3

on Blackboard page

Week III

9/18, 20 German Political Development

Readings: Kesselman, chapter 6, 7, 11,12;

Week IV

9/25, 27 A Southern European Path?

Readings: Kesselman, 16,17 Readings on Spain and Sweden on

Blackboard Page

Week V

10/2, 4 A Northern Small State Path;

Readings: Kesselman, ch. 26, chapter by Perry Anderson and readings on

Sweden on Blackboard page.

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Week VI

10/9 No class/ Monday schedule

10/11 Review of Part I

Week VII

10/16 Midterm I

Part II. National Institutions and Current Politics

10/18 Constitutional and Electoral Systems (UK, Germany and France)

Readings: Kesselman, chapters 3,4,5 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15

Week VIII

10/ 23, 25 The Italian Republic and Spain’s Asymmetric Federalism

Kesselman chapters 18-20, Readings on Spain on the Blackboard page.

Week IX

10/30, 11/1 Post-communist transitions and their consequences: Poland, the Czech
Republic, Hungary

Readings Kesselman chapters 28-30

Week X

11/6 Review of Current Events

11/8 Midterm II

Readings: on course webpage

Week XI

11/16 The rise of populist parties

11/18 Guest lecture

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IV. The Politics of European Integration

Week XII

11/20 The History of European Integration

11/22 Thanksgiving recess

Readings: Kesselman chapters 31-33

Week XIII

11/27 The institutions of the EU

11/29 The debate on the Democratic Deficit and the Crisis of the Eurozone

Week XIV

12/ 4, 6 The question of European Identity

Readings: Cederman on course webpage and TBA

Week XV

12/11 Review

Please check the fall final exam schedule for the date, time, and location of the final exam.

No make-up exams will be scheduled without a note from a University officer. Students are
also advised to consult the University’s Academic Conduct Code, which all students will be
held to in this class.

The syllabus, course descriptions, and handouts created by Professor Perez, and all class
lectures, are copyrighted by Professor Perez. Except with respect to enrolled students as
set forth below, the materials and lectures may not be reproduced in any form or otherwise
copied, displayed or distributed, nor should works derived from them be reproduced,
copied, displayed or distributed without the written permission of Professor Perez.
Infringement of the copyright in these materials, including any sale or commercial use of
notes, summaries, outlines or other reproductions of lectures, constitutes violation of the
copyright laws and is prohibited. Students enrolled in the course are not allowed to share
course materials, notes, and other writings based on the course materials and lectures on
a commercial basis or otherwise for payment of any kind. Please note in particular that

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selling or buying class notes, lecture notes or summaries, or similar materials both violates
copyright and interferes with the academic mission of the College and will be considered a
violation of the student code of responsibility that is subject to academic sanctions.