Year 2010-11
Spanish and Catalan Politics (21974)
Qualification: Degree in Political and Administration Sciences.
Year: 2nd
Term: 1st
Number of ECTS credits: 6
Hours of student dedication: 150 hours
Teaching language: Catalan
1. Introduction to the course
The course seeks to study the relations between society and politics from the perspective of how people relate to institutions, the main interaction mechanisms, the main actors and the channels through which society's demands and support is expressed.
The course will start by setting the historical bases that have shaped the current political system. Ti will focus primarily on the weaknesses in the development of the state, liberalism, democracy and political integration in the institutional design, political practice, and the cleavages and political polarization within society.
The main body of the course will be dedicated to the study of the current political process. Its starting point is the electoral processes of the transition years which were institutionalized in the 1978 constitution. Within this context, the approaches taken, the organizational elements and electoral consolidation (territorially and socially) of political parties, the electoral system, voter behaviour and the competitive dimensions that developed in the party system will be studied.
In addition, political culture and citizens participation trends will be examined together with an analysis of the main civil society organizations including the most relevant interest-based organizations and social movements.
The overall aim of the course is for students to acquire knowledge on and be able to master the main aspects needed to understand the relationship between citizens and political power and the nature of Spain's democracy.
2. Competences to be achieved
GENERIC COMPETENCES
• Ability to analyse and synthesise.
· Basic IT skills.
· Ability to manage information (ability to search for and analyse information from a variety of sources)
· Ability to work in a team.
· Interpersonal abilities
· Ability to ably knowledge to practical situations.
· Research capacity.
· Ability to generate new ideas (creativity).
• Ability to work alone / autonomous study.
SPECIFIC COMPETENCES
Ability to recognise how citizens behave and democratic values. This competence allows students to understand political attitudes and behaviours and the processes of political preference acquisition and expression.
Subject specific knowledge (to know):
- The main paradigms and their alternatives related to political culture and democratic values.
- Political behaviour and culture models.
- Political and social research techniques.
- Variables that influence individual and collective political behaviour.
Generic knowledge (to know how to):
- Identify institutional, political and social variables.
- Apply political and social research techniques.
- Identify sources of data.
- Explain and predict patters and trends of political behaviour.
Ability to recognise how electoral processes work. To know and be able to analyse electoral processes including election campaigns, party electoral strategies and analysing and interpreting electoral results.
Subject specific knowledge (to know):
- Theories on social election processes.
- How electoral campaigns work.
- The main electoral systems and their political implications.
- The processes followed to draw up, analyse and interpret surveys.
- Analytical tools to interpret electoral results.
Generic knowledge (to know how to):
- Carry out electoral analysis.
- Analyse electoral campaigns.
- Define post election scenes.
- Design and analyse public opinion surveys.
- Find available electoral data.
3. Contents
Topic 1. The historical roots of the current political system in Spain and Catalonia.
Topic 2. From dictatorship to demcoracy.
Topic 3. Political culture and public opinion in Spain and Catalonia: the subjective base of politics.
Topic 4. Political parties in Spain and Catalonia.
Topic 5. Elections and the political process in Catalonia and Spain.
Topic 6. Citizens electoral participation
Topic 7. Competition dynamics
Topic 8. Interest groups and social movements.
Topic 9. Nonelectoral political participation.
4. Assessment
Exam
Accounts for 50% of the total mark. It will evaluate the clarity of knowledge on the main elements and characteristics of the Spanish political system, and the factors and processes of its development.
Seminars
The work carried out for the seminars will amount to 50% of the final mark.
5. Bibliography and other resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
Topic-1
Solé Tura, Jordi; Eliseo Aja. 1977. Constituciones y periodos constituyentes en España (1808-1936). Ed.Siglo XXI, Madrid 1977 (and later editions)
Topic-2
Pierre Vilar. 1979. Historia de España (p. 159-177)
José María Maravall and Julián Santamaría. 1989. "Transición política y consolidación de la democracia en España" In: J.F. Tezanos, R. Cotarelo and A. de Blas (eds.) La transición democrática española. Madrid: Editorial Sistema, 1989.
Topic-3
Torcal, Mariano. 2008. "El origen y la evolución del apoyo a la democracia en España. La construcción del apoyo incondicional en las nuevas democracias". Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 18: 29-65.
Bonet, Eduard, Irene Martín and José R.Montero. 2006. "Las actitudes políticas de los españoles" in J.R.Montero, J.Font and M.Torcal (eds.) Ciudadanos, asociaciones y participación en España. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2006. P.105-133
Topic-4
Van Biezen, Ingrid. 2003. Political Parties in New Democracies (p. 15-49; 203-220). Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003. (chp. 4: "Spain" p. 77-104)
Verge, Tània. 2007. Partidos y representación política: Las dimensiones del cambio en los partidos politicos españoles, 1976-2006. Madrid, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2007. (chp. 2, p. 38-79)
Topic-5
Pallarés, Francesc: "25 anys després de les primeres eleccions: elements per a un balanç". Diàlegs. Revista d'Estudis polítics i socials. 16, 2002: 11-32.
Pallarés, Francesc. 2009. "Cuestión de democracia: la necesaria desconstitucionalización de la circunscripción provincial en las elecciones al Congreso. Razones, problemas y retos", in: Estudios sobre la Constitución Española. Homenaje al Profesor Jordi Solé-Tura. Madrid: Ed. Cortes Generales. p. 777-823
Topic-6
Font, Joan; Araceli Mateos. 2007. "La participación electoral". in J.R. Montero, I. Lago and M. Torcal (eds.) Elecciones Generales 2004. Madrid: CIS (p. 143-168)
Ferrer, Mariona; Ignacio Lago and Francesc Pallarés. 2007. L'abstenció electoral a Catalunya a les eleccions autonòmiques de 2006 en perspectiva evolutiva. Informe per a la Direcció General de Participació Ciutadana-Generalitat de Catalunya. Available at:
(http://www10.gencat.cat/drep/binaris/iv%20document%20abstencio%20electoral%202_tcm112-79299.pdf)
Topic-7
Oñate, Pablo. 2009. "Treinta años de elecciones democráticas en España: balance de un record en nuestra historia política", in Pablo Oñate (coord.) Treinta años de elecciones en España, Valencia, Ed. Tirant lo Blanch. (p. 15-38). (Aula Global)
Topic-8
Pardo, Rafael. 1996. "Oranizaciones empresariales, sindicatos y relaciones industriales en el cambio de siglo", in J. Tusell, E. Lamo de Espinosa and R. Pardo (eds.) Entre dos siglos. Reflexiones sobre la democracia española. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1996
Jordana, Jacint. 1998. "Sindicalisme i política" in M. Caminal and J.Matas (eds.) El sistema polític de Catalunya, Ed. Tecnos, Barcelona 1998.
Topic-9
Ferrer, Mariona. 2005. "Participación Política" in M. Torcal, L. Morales and S. Pérez Nievas (eds.) España sociedad y política en perspectiva comparada. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch.(p. 221-236)
Mota, Fabiola. 1999. "La realidad asociativa en España" in Joan Subirats (ed.) ¿Existe sociedad civil en España? Responsabilidades colectivas y valores públicos. Madrid: Pubs. Fundación Encuentro.
5.2. Other resources
- Topic summaries and notes provided by the teachers available in the Aula Global.
- Bibliography for the preparation of seminars (provided by the teachers)
- Complementary bibliography to prepare the different topics (provided by the teachers).
6. Methodology
The course is organized into lectures, seminar sessions and students' individual autonomous work.
LECTURES
Weekly two-hour sessions where the most important aspects of each topic will be covered and additional literature and other resources will be presented. It will then be up to students themselves to follow the teachers' indications to develop the points presented. This work will be assessed through a final exam. (See assessment section).
SEMINARS
In addition to lectures, the course contents will be developed in 4 seminars, the themes for each of them are listed below. The aim of the seminars is to allow students to discuss and engage with in greater depth, specific aspects of the course contents.
7. Programme of activities
Week-1
- Lecture: The historical roots of the current Spanish and Catalan political system
Week-2
- Lecture: Franco's dictatorship: the main features of the regime, its evolution and crisis.
- Seminar 1: The Second Spanish Republic
Week-3
- Lecture: Political change: strategies during the transition; the bases, key aspects and problems of the constitutional consensus.
Week-4
- Lecture Political culture and public opinion in Spain and Catalonia: the subjective base of politics.
- Seminar 2: Disengagement from politics?
Week-5
Lecture Political parties in Catalonia and Spain.
Week-6
- Lecture Election and the political process in Spain and Catalonia
- Seminar 3: Electoral systems: The debate in Catalonia and Spain
Week-7
- Lecture Electoral participation
Week-8
- Lecture: The competitive dimension: parties' electoral support
- Seminar: Elections and electoral behaviour in Catalonia
Week-9
- Lecture Interest groups and social movements.
Week-10
- Lecture Non-electoral political participation. Associations and participation.