course 2012-2013
Comparative Public Management (21704)
Titulació/estudi: Grau en Ciènces Politíques i de l'Administració
Curs: 3 y 4º
Trimestre: 2r
Nombre de crèdits ECTS: 6
Hores dedicació estudiant: 150
Llengua de la docència: anglais
Professorat: Kenneth Hanf
1. Presentation of the course
The course will examine developments in the patterns of intergovernmental relationis within contemporary states against the background of changes occurring in the international and national context of these countries. It will look closely at the impacts of these changes on the manner in which political space is organized and managed.
Two themes will serve as the analytical thread running through the course: the future of the traditional nation state and the alternative forms of organizing space for political action. In his connection, we are particularly interested in the impacts of the changes in the international and national environments of states on their capacities for performing the functions on which their legitimacy is based.
Against this general background we will look at the way in which increasing Europeanization of political life is contribution to the transformation of traditional systems of intergovernmental relations into complex arrangements for multi-level governance.
2. Learning Objectives
General Objectives:
- Capacity to think critically and systematically about political problems
- Capacity to recognize general patterns in the details of specific events
- Capacity to apply general analytical concepts to concrete problems
Specific Objectives:
- Appreciate the importance of understanding the spatial dimensions of political organization
- Undersand and apply the concept of "governance" to the analysis of the dynamics of cooperative action in dealing with collective problems
- Recognize emergent new forms of territorial governance at the sub-national level
- Be able to recognize and analyze the dynamics of networks of public and private actors in the management of public affairs.
3. Content of course
- Presentation of basic concepts for analyzing the dynamics of collective problem-solving in multi-level systems of governance.
- Examination of different forms of multi-level governance that are emerging under the impact of globalization and European integration.
- Consideration of the extent to which the incorporation of both the global and European level of governance - but also the increasing important of the sub-national, regional, levels of governance - has resulted in a reconfiguration of the structures and processes of the traditional nation state.
4. Evaluación of student performance
The final evaluation will take the form of either a final exam or a final essay and will count for 60% of the course grade. If the final essay is selected, a number of suggestions for topics and for the structure of the essay will be presented during the course. Before the essay is started, the topic and the general focus will be discussed with and approved by the professor.
Presence and active participation in both the general lecture classes and the seminars will count for 20% of the final grade. Furthermore, group presentations, to be prepared on the topics covered in the seminars, will make up the remaining 20% of the evaluation.
Opportunities will also be provided for continual feedback between students and the professor throughout the course.
5. Basic Bibliography
The required readings consist of
- Selected chapters from the book, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations in the European Union and the United States (edited by E. Ongaro et al., 2010)
- A Reader containing articles on the different topics covered in the course will also be available.
- Insofar as possible, these readings will be posted on Campus Global
6. Class Meetings
There will be two kinds of class activities
- General lecture sessions for all students: during these classes the general concepts and basic information will be presented and applied to the different topics covered in the course. Active dialogue with the students will be encouraged and it will be assued that the students have read the materials assigned for the particular class sessions. These sessions will provide an opportunity for making sure that the reading materials have been understand and "digested."
- In addition, there will be four seminar sessions for which the class will be divided into two groups (which will meet on alternate weeks). These seminars will provide an opportunity for more direct and intense participation by students in the discussions of the material to be examined. The seminars will also be used for group presentations on the different topics to be deveoped in these sessions. Preparation of the seminar sessions will be done by the students, individually and in groups, on the basis of material assigned.
- It is assumed that the time outside the general lecture and seminar sessions will be used by the students for reading and preparation of the different forms of participation during the class contact hours.
- The working language of the course will be English. However, the power point presentations will be in Spanish and there will be Spanish summaries of the main points of the lectures posted on the Aula Global. Moreover, contriubtions to the class discussions and in the seminars can be made either in English or in Spanish. Written work can also be in either of the two languages.
7. Program of class activities
Week 1: Elaboration of the focus of the course: tools for understanding the challenges to the nation state
Week 2: The analytical framework: the dependent variable (IGR) and the independent variables (changes in the external and internal context of the sovereign state).
Week 3: Understanding the "nation state as the political-administrative institutional framework and point of reference for modern political life
Week 4: External changes: globalization and the reconfiguration of traditional institutions
Week 5: Internal changes and the structural reorganizaiton of the Welfare State
Week 6: Internationalization as Europeanization: the reality of the UE for the Member States
Week 7: The EU as a "fused policy system": access to and influence in new decision arenas
Week 8: Regions and the rediscovery of territoriality
Week 9: Territorial Cohesion and new forms of territorial cooperation
Week 10: Review: The path from "intergovernmental relations" to "multi-level governance"
Comparative Public Management (21704)
Titulació/estudi: Grau en Ciènces Politíques i de l'Administració
Curs: 3 y 4º
Trimestre: 2r
Nombre de crèdits ECTS: 6
Hores dedicació estudiant: 150
Llengua de la docència: anglais
Professorat: Kenneth Hanf
1. Presentation of the course
The course will examine developments in the patterns of intergovernmental relationis within contemporary states against the background of changes occurring in the international and national context of these countries. It will look closely at the impacts of these changes on the manner in which political space is organized and managed.
Two themes will serve as the analytical thread running through the course: the future of the traditional nation state and the alternative forms of organizing space for political action. In his connection, we are particularly interested in the impacts of the changes in the international and national environments of states on their capacities for performing the functions on which their legitimacy is based.
Against this general background we will look at the way in which increasing Europeanization of political life is contribution to the transformation of traditional systems of intergovernmental relations into complex arrangements for multi-level governance.
2. Learning Objectives
General Objectives:
- Capacity to think critically and systematically about political problems
- Capacity to recognize general patterns in the details of specific events
- Capacity to apply general analytical concepts to concrete problems
Specific Objectives:
- Appreciate the importance of understanding the spatial dimensions of political organization
- Undersand and apply the concept of "governance" to the analysis of the dynamics of cooperative action in dealing with collective problems
- Recognize emergent new forms of territorial governance at the sub-national level
- Be able to recognize and analyze the dynamics of networks of public and private actors in the management of public affairs.
3. Content of course
- Presentation of basic concepts for analyzing the dynamics of collective problem-solving in multi-level systems of governance.
- Examination of different forms of multi-level governance that are emerging under the impact of globalization and European integration.
- Consideration of the extent to which the incorporation of both the global and European level of governance - but also the increasing important of the sub-national, regional, levels of governance - has resulted in a reconfiguration of the structures and processes of the traditional nation state.
4. Evaluación of student performance
The final evaluation will take the form of either a final exam or a final essay and will count for 60% of the course grade. If the final essay is selected, a number of suggestions for topics and for the structure of the essay will be presented during the course. Before the essay is started, the topic and the general focus will be discussed with and approved by the professor.
Presence and active participation in both the general lecture classes and the seminars will count for 20% of the final grade. Furthermore, group presentations, to be prepared on the topics covered in the seminars, will make up the remaining 20% of the evaluation.
Opportunities will also be provided for continual feedback between students and the professor throughout the course.
5. Basic Bibliography
The required readings consist of
- Selected chapters from the book, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations in the European Union and the United States (edited by E. Ongaro et al., 2010)
- A Reader containing articles on the different topics covered in the course will also be available.
- Insofar as possible, these readings will be posted on Campus Global
6. Class Meetings
There will be two kinds of class activities
- General lecture sessions for all students: during these classes the general concepts and basic information will be presented and applied to the different topics covered in the course. Active dialogue with the students will be encouraged and it will be assued that the students have read the materials assigned for the particular class sessions. These sessions will provide an opportunity for making sure that the reading materials have been understand and "digested."
- In addition, there will be four seminar sessions for which the class will be divided into two groups (which will meet on alternate weeks). These seminars will provide an opportunity for more direct and intense participation by students in the discussions of the material to be examined. The seminars will also be used for group presentations on the different topics to be deveoped in these sessions. Preparation of the seminar sessions will be done by the students, individually and in groups, on the basis of material assigned.
- It is assumed that the time outside the general lecture and seminar sessions will be used by the students for reading and preparation of the different forms of participation during the class contact hours.
- The working language of the course will be English. However, the power point presentations will be in Spanish and there will be Spanish summaries of the main points of the lectures posted on the Aula Global. Moreover, contriubtions to the class discussions and in the seminars can be made either in English or in Spanish. Written work can also be in either of the two languages.
7. Program of class activities
Week 1: Elaboration of the focus of the course: tools for understanding the challenges to the nation state
Week 2: The analytical framework: the dependent variable (IGR) and the independent variables (changes in the external and internal context of the sovereign state).
Week 3: Understanding the "nation state as the political-administrative institutional framework and point of reference for modern political life
Week 4: External changes: globalization and the reconfiguration of traditional institutions
Week 5: Internal changes and the structural reorganizaiton of the Welfare State
Week 6: Internationalization as Europeanization: the reality of the UE for the Member States
Week 7: The EU as a "fused policy system": access to and influence in new decision arenas
Week 8: Regions and the rediscovery of territoriality
Week 9: Territorial Cohesion and new forms of territorial cooperation
Week 10: Review: The path from "intergovernmental relations" to "multi-level governance"