Year 2011-12

Political Institution Theories (21682)

  

Qualification: Degree in Political Science and Administration
Year: 3rd
Term: 3r
Number of ECTS credits: 4
Hours of student dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language: Catalan
Teacher: Jacint Jordana

 

1. Introduction to the course

  

Political institutions are one of the major solutions to the problems of collective action that human societies in order to promote coordination and cooperation among individuals and facilitate the production of public goods. Therefore, it is very important to understand how institutions emerge, what are the conditions for their stability, and what are the aggregate effects they generate, both in terms of performance as well as efficiency, equity and social efficiency. During recent decades, political science has developed several theories on political institutions that go beyond the traditional perspectives which are mainly descriptive. Through dialogue with various social sciences, particularly economics, sociology, and to some extent also cognitive psychology, different theoretical perspectives have emerged that have been recognized as "new institutionalism" in political science.

This course aims at providing students with sufficient knowledge of the main theoretical perspectives on institutions in political science today, and knowledge of the relevant authors and texts. In this third year course, students should provide a rich theoretical interpretation of knowledge about comparative politics and public policy acquired in previous courses.  It is also aimed at stimulating their ability to think theoretically about the role of institutions in political processes and boosting their deductive capacity.

  

2. Competences to be achieved

 

Generic skills:

Capacity for analysis and synthesis

Ability to manage information

Research skills

Ability to learn

Specific skills:

Recognize the structure and functioning of political institutions

  

  

3. Contents

  

A first section will be devoted to reviewing the basic concepts of the various theoretical approaches to political institutions which are currently in force in academic debates. In this context, the most important are the focus of 'Rational Choice', and the historical and sociological institutionalism.

A second block of content will centre on analyzing the nature of the problems in political institutions we seek to resolve, in order to identify and assess the problems faced by the different institutional designs.  Finally the challenged of explaining the diversity of institutional solutions to the problems identified will be addressed.

A third block of the content focuses on the study of more specific institutional forms. The goal here is to discuss the application of theories of political institutions to specific areas. Particular attention will be placed on considering institutions that have a non-majority character, based on the principle of political delegation.  

 

4. Assessment

  

We combine continuous assessment with final evaluation. The final mark will be calculated from two forms of evaluation:

1.) Continuous assessment includes written exercises, reading articles, academic active participation, oral presentations. In addition students must complete an individual essay on a specific aspect of the curriculum.

2.) Final evaluation. Students must pass a final written (or oral) evaluation, which prove they have acquired basic knowledge of the subject, analytical skills, critical reasoning.

The final exam is equivalent to 40% of the final mark. The remaining 60% will be from the continuous assessment mark.  Students must have passed the final exam in order to pass the course.

  

5. Bibliography and other resources

  

5.1. Basic bibliography

  

Colomer, Josep M. (2007), Instituciones Políticas, Barcelona: Ariel (2a edición)

 

Elster, Jon (1992), Local Justice, New York: Russell Sage Foundation (Trad. espanyola: Gedisa, 1994)

 

Hall, Peter A. i Rosemary C.R. Taylor (1996), "Political Science and the Three 'New Institutionalisms'", Political Studies, vol. 44: 936-957.

 

March, James G. I Johan P. Olsen (1984), "The new Institutionalisms: organizational Factors in Political Life", American Political Science Review, vol. 78: 734-749.

 

Mahoney, James i Kathleen Thelen (2010), (Eds.), Explaining Institutional Change. Ambiguity, Agency and Power, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

 

North, Douglas C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Ostrom, Elinor (1990), Governing the Commons: the Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, New York: Cambridge University Press (Trad. espanyola: FCE, 1999).

 

Tsebelis, George (2002), Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 

Peters, B. Guy (1999), Institutional Theory in Political Science: The New Institutionalism, Londres: Cassells, (Trad. espanyola: Gedisa, 2003)

 

Rhodes, R.A.W., Sarah A. Binder i Bert A. Rockman (2006), (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

5.2. Other resources

  

Databases on political institutions:

http://einstein.library.emory.edu/govinstlinks.html

 

http://nd.edu/~apsacp/data.html

 

http://www.nsd.uib.no/macrodataguide/set.html?id=11&sub=1

  

6. Methodology

  

The methodology of the course will be based on a combination of lectures, seminars in which to guided exercise are set (individual or group), and in activities outside the classroom.

In the lectures the teacher will explain the contents of the course. In the seminars the contents of the previous lecture will be complemented with a specific set of readings.  Students will be required to provide reviews, critical analysis and / or essays on the readings. There will also be some sessions of data analysis on the characteristics of political institutions.

In addition, students will perform independent activities outside the classroom (reading texts, study notes for the course, completing exercises, ...).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Programme of activities

  

Week	Ses	Type	Session content	Student work during the week
				Learning activity		Hrs. in class	Hrs out of class
				In class	Outside class
Iª	1	T	Subject presentation: motivation, content description, methodology and assessment criteria	Lecture	Lectures	2	4
	2	T	Collective action and political institutions. How to explain institutional changes.	Lecture		2
IIª	3	T	Historic institutionalism	Lecture	Lectures Information search	2	4
	4	S	Seminar 1. The continuity of institutions: the presidentialism in Latin America	discussions and presentations		2
IIIª	5	T	Sociologic institucionalism	Lecture	Lectures Case studies Presentation preparation	2	4
	6	S	Seminar 1. The continuity of institutions: the presidentialism in Latin America	discussions and presentations		2
IVª	7	T	Institutionalism "Rational choice"	Lecture	Lectures Case studies Presentation preparation	2	4
	8	S	Seminar 2. Institution design: County councils of Catalonia	discussions and presentations		2
Vª	9	T	Institutions and non-estate forms	Lecture	Lectures Case studies Presentation preparation	2	4
	10	S	Seminar 2. Institution design: County councils of Catalonia	discussions and presentations		2
VIª	11	T	Institutions and non-estate forms	Lecture	Lectures Case studies Presentation preparation	2	4
	12	S	Seminar 3: institutions, preferences and distributions: Economic and Social Councils in Europe	discussions and presentations		2
VIIª	13	T	Institutions and democracy	Lecture	Lectures Case studies Presentation preparation	2	4
	14	S	Seminar 3: institutions, preferences and distributions: Economic and Social Councils in Europe	discussions and presentations		2
VIIIª	15	T	Democracy and institutional balance	Lecture	Lectures Data analysis	2	4
	16	S	Seminar 4. The diffusion of political institutions. The case of regulatory agencies	discussions and presentations		2
IXª	17	T	Democracy and institutional delegacy	Lecture	Lectures Data analysis Presentation preparation	2	4
	18	S	Seminar 4. The diffusion of political institutions. The case of regulatory agencies	discussions and presentations		2
Xª	19	T	Democracy, state and regulation	Lecture	Lectures	2	4
	20	T	Final review	Lecture		2
Dedication hours: Subtotal						40	40
XIª  XIIª	Dedication hours for preparing final evaluation						20
TOTAL HOURS							100

Week: week number  Ses: session number; Type: type of session, T (theory), S (seminar)