1. GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1. Teacher doc. dr. sc. Danijela Dolenec 1.6. Year of Study 3. and 4. year Contentious Politics in Old and New 1.2. Course Title 1.3. ECTS Democracies 5 1.3. Associates / 1.4. Type of course activities Lectures 50% + seminars 50% 1.4. Study Programme Undergraduate 1.5. 1.5. Type of course Elective 1.6. 2. COURSE DESCRIPTION 1.1. Course objectives (max 200 words) Contemporary political events, from Occupy Wall Street to fierce clashes at the Maidan, suggest that it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand the development of political regimes without analysing the circumstances, modes and outcomes of noninstitutional civic action. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the analysis of a wide spectrum of contentious politics. The concept contentious politics stands for a diverse array of collective political action, which apart from social movements includes episodic contention such as demonstrations and strikes as well as more far-reaching events such as civil wars and revolutions but always with a focus on how they interact with political institutions and the political process more broadly (Tarrow 2013). Protest actions are analysed within a comparative politics framework, with the objective of deepening our understanding of their effects on political parties, electoral strategies, public policies as well as political participation and democratisation more broadly. Students learn to apply classical and contemporary approaches to contentious politics as an integral part of the political process which plays an important role in democratisation. Given that the current crisis of representative democracy exposes permanent challenges to consolidated democracies, both of the old variety in Western Europe and the US, and the new democracies that emerged after the Third Wave, students are learn theoretical approaches that do not focus exclusively on elite interactions, and they are encouraged to evaluate the role of contentious politics in the development of democracy. 1.2. Enrolment conditions Formal conditions stipulated by existing regulation of the Faculty of Political Science. [Numbers in brackets refer to FPZ Learning Outcomes for Undergraduate Study programme in Political Science.] 1.3. Learning Outcomes at the level of Study Programme* (1) BA in Political Science graduates are capable of presenting and academic writing on topics and problems in comparative politics, as well as communicating their knowledge on comparative politics to expert and lay audience, and to the general public. (5) BA in Political Science graduates can discern similarities and differences among states and political regimes; they are able to classify them and conduct a basic comparative analysis of political systems and their elements. They understand 1
1.4. Learning Outcomes at the Level of Given Course 1.5. Course Content, by Week fundamental problems of institutional design. (13) BA in Political Science graduates are capable of independent use of research sources such as libraries, the internet and relevant databases; they are capable of assessing, interpreting and applying relevant theories and sources of information to the given research problem, and undertake simple statistical analysis by using appropriate computer software. (14) BA in Political Science graduates have developed the language competence in one of three major languages (English, German or French), which includes comprehension (listening and reading), speaking and writing, as specified in the European Language Portfolio of the Council of Europe (16) BA in Political Science graduates have developed critical thinking skills, including practical judgement. They are capable of value-based and normative judgements of existing political institutions, processes and topics, as well as novel political problems that appear in the discipline of political science. (1) By writing weekly short assignments and presenting them in class, students develop writing and presentation skills. (5) Students know and understand the characteristics of contemporary contentious politics actions, such as demonstrations, occupations etc., as well as social movements in the context of various political regimes. Special focus is given to linking contentious politics with party system dynamics, the electoral process as well as their influence on the formation of public policies. (13) By writing weekly short written assignments which require summarising, linking with other relevant sources and making inferences, students independently analyse, evaluate and interpret relevant theories and sources of information. (14) By reading, writing and speaking in English students improve their active language competence in English. (16) In group and individual work in seminar students apply critical reading and writing skills, as well as analyse and evaluate chosen case studies of contentious politics. 1. Classical approaches to contentious politics I. Marx i Tocqueville. 2. Classical approaches to contentious politics II. Resources, opportunities and mobilisation patterns (Tilly, McAdam, Tarrow etc.). 3. Theories of individual and collective behaviour: Hirschman and Olson. 4. Contemporary political science approaches to social movements. The Political process approach. Defining key concepts: Contentious Politics, social movements, institutional and non-institutional collective action. 5. Exploring the relationships between contentious politics on the one hand, and party system dynamics, the electoral process, public policy formation, conventional political participation and the development of democracy on the other. 6. New social movements in the USA and Western Europe: ecology, feminism, student movements. Inglehart's theory of postmaterialism. 7. Social movements of the Left and the Right. Anti-regime movements, radicalism and violence. 8. Politics of contention in consolidated democracies I. Occupy movements in the USA and Europe. 9. Politics of contention in consolidated democracies II. The Tea Party movement and the Republican Party. 2
1.6. Types of Classroom Activity 1.8. Student Requirements 10. Politics of contention in Third Wave democracies I. Solidarity in Poland from a union movement to democratic political opposition. 11. Politics of contention in Third Wave democracies II. Weak societies and strong states? Political participation in new democracies of Eastern Europe. 12. Politics of contention in Third Wave democracies III. Contemporary social movements in Croatia Right to Education and Right to the City. 13. Politics of contention in authoritarian regimes: the Ukraine/ Turkey. lectures seminars practice on line e-learning fieldwork independent assignments multimedia and networks laboratory mentored work (other) 1.7. Comments Regular attendance of lectures and seminar, weekly reading assignments and writing short submissions. Two colloquia or written exam. Class Attendance 2 Research Practical Work. Experiment Written Work 1.9. Types of Student Activity Essay Work in seminar 2 Colloquia Oral Exam 2.1. Student Evaluation 2.2. Obligatory Exam Literature Written Exam 1 Project The final grade is composed from written exam (or two colloquia), which account for 50% of the grade, and active participation in seminar class, which includes weekly reading assignments and writing short written submissions. Seminar work accounts for the other 50% of the grade. Title 1. Tarrow, S. (2012). Strangers at the Gates. Movements and States in Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2. Goldstone, J.A. (ed.) (2003). States, Parties and Social Movements (Chapters 1 and 5). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 3
Seminar reading (approx.. 18 pages per week): Additional Literature 1. Olson, M. (1965). The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard University Press 2. Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Harvard University Press 3. Inglehart, R. (1971). The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies, American Political Science Review, Vol. 65, No. 4, p. 991-1017. 4. Kriesi, H. (2005). Movements of the Left, Movements of the Right: Putting the Mobilisation of Two New Types of Social Movements into Political Context, in Kitschelt, H. et al (eds.) Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 5. Tilly, C. (2003). Varieties of Violence, Chapter 1 in The Politics of Collective Violence, Cambridge University Press 6. Della Porta, D. (1995). Comparative Research on Political Violence, Chapter 1 in Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 7. Rootes, C. (2004). Environmental Movements, in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, eds.david A. Snow, S. A. Soule and H. Kriesi, London: Blackwell Publishing. 8. Gitlin, T. (2012). Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street. Harper Collins. 9. Williamson, V., Skocpol, T. and Coggin, J. (2011). The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 25-43 10. Ost, D. (2005). The Defeat of Solidarity. Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press. 11. Ekiert, G. and Kubik, J. Contentious Politics in New Democracies: East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, 1989-93, World Politics, Vol. 50, No. 4, p. 547-58 12. Kopecky P. and Mudde, C. (2002). Uncivil Society?: Contentious Politics in Post-Communist Europe, Routledge 13. Lalić, D. (2011). Klasične demonstracije, političko gibanje ili novi društveni pokret?, Političke analize, No.6, p. 23-28 14. Dolenec, D. and Doolan, K. (2013). Reclaiming the role of higher education in Croatia: dominant and oppositional framings, in Zgaga, P., Teichler, U. and Brennan, J. (eds.), The Globalisation Challenge for European Higher Education. Convergence and Diversity, Centres and Peripheries. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. 15. Stubbs, P. (2012). Networks, organisations, movements: narratives and shapes of three waves of activism in Croatia, Polemos, Vol. 15, No. 2, p. 11-32 16. Levitsky, S. and Way, L. (2002). The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 51-65 4
Quality Assessment Procedures The first and second learning outcome is ensured by collecting information from students during classes, and by testing output competences via colloquia and written exam. The third, fourth and fifth learning outcomes is ensured by collecting information from students during classes, evaluating their written work and testing output competences via colloquia and written exam. The harmonisation of learning outcomes with the course content, methods of teaching and methods of evaluation are ensured via teacher self-evaluation and applying a student survey at the end of the semester. 5