Political Science

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

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Module Code: POU22032

Module Name: Comparative Politics B 2024-25

ECTS Weighting: 5
Semester/Term Taught: Semester 2
Contact Hours: 22 hours lectures + fortnightly tutorials; 4 hours of tutorials
Module Personnel: Lecturer - Dr Noah Buckley
Module Co-Requisite: POU22031 Comparative Politics A
Module Pre-Requisite: POU11011 & POU11012 Introduction to Political Science A & B or POU11021 & POU11022 Politics and Irish Society A & B

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Describe and assess the study of comparative politics in a systematic, social-scientific way
Examine key issues in comparative politics
Identify interesting research questions in comparative politics
Describe a variety of political systems around the world
Explain how democratic and non-democratic regimes emerge and survive
Explain what happens when peaceful democratic politics fails
Understand the challenges in building stable and peaceful multi-ethnic states
Understand the primary causes of phenomena such as corruption, civil wars and ethnic violence.

Module Learning Aims

This module aims to build students’ understanding of the basics of comparative politics, research methodology and argumentation in political science, with particular reference to less developed countries.

Module Content

This module is an introduction to the study of comparative politics and provides an overview of some of the key theoretical frameworks, concepts, and analytical methods of this field of study, as applied to the developing world. We particularly examine political regime types (e.g., democracy and authoritarianism), asking why and how authoritarian regimes persist and what the origins of democracy are. Other topics covered in depth include the causes of civil war, ethnic violence, corruption, and economic development.