SPS 2 nd term seminar 2015-2016 Key Concepts & Research in Political Science and Sociology By Stefanie Reher and Diederik Boertien Tuesdays, 15:00-17:00, Seminar Room 3 (first session on January, 19th) Please register online or with Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu This course serves as an introduction to the fields of Political Science and Sociology for EUI Researchers. It is especially designed for researchers without experience in the respective fields, but researchers from the SPS department are also welcome to participate. The aim of the course is to introduce EUI Researchers to some of the central concepts and research themes that are prominent in sociological and political research. Each of the sessions of this course will discuss key central themes and introduce EUI researchers to major theoretical concepts and empirical studies that have advanced our understanding of social and political phenomena. The sessions on sociology are structured according to three common and related questions asked by sociologists that illustrate their approach. Once presented with a given topic, problem or phenomenon, sociologists are often interested in: I) How is the behavior of individuals affected by this phenomenon? II) How are groups (e.g. gender, ethnicity, class, families) affected? III) How is society affected (e.g. levels of trust, social inequality)? Each of the substantive sessions will discuss a topic in the light of these questions to illustrate the sociologist s approach, why certain topics are of key interest to them, and which explanations for social behavior recur in their research. Political science is a vast discipline that encompasses fields as diverse as political theory, political sociology, and international relations. While maintaining a broad perspective, the political science sessions in this course have a focus on comparative politics in the context of democratic regimes. The sessions build on each other conceptually, starting from the meaning of democracy and countries transition to democratic governance, addressing varieties in democratic institutions and citizens 1
choices in the democratic process, and ending with a discussion of the role of political culture in deepening and sustaining democracy. The assumptions and conclusions of these topics will be discussed in light of current affairs and developments. In addition, participants will be introduced to various empirical approaches and methods used in political science. Prerequisites No prerequisites or background in sociology or political science is required. Learning Goals & Outcomes 1) To promote academic literacy of the EUI community and enhance dialogue between the Researchers of the different departments. 2) To gain familiarity with sociological and political research, by getting to know some of its major theoretical concepts and empirical research strands. 3) To perceive key questions in one s field (be it economics, history or law) from a sociological and political perspective. Assessment Participants are expected to cover the basic readings for each session (1-2 articles per session) and actively participate in class discussion. All readings (basic as well as additional) will be made available to the participants at the beginning of the course (electronically/dropbox); the first two will be sent per email in advance. In the last session each participant is expected to give a short presentation applying a political science/sociology perspective to a research question from her/his original field (see session 10). Session 1: Introduction to Political Science and Sociology (Tuesday 19.01.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) Both sociology and political science are broad fields of social science that encompass rich research agendas. In the first session we present the structure and content of the course. In addition, we give a broad introduction to the fields of Political Science and Sociology and identify their links to History, Law, and Economics. The course will then move on to introducing the participants to some major topics in Political Science (democratization, electoral institutions and behavior, and political culture) and Sociology (gender equality, inequality of opportunity, and social class). Each of the eight substantive sessions will be devoted to the discussion of key trends and observations in today s societies and politics that are of great interest to sociologists, political scientists, and often to other disciplines as well. 2
Session 2: Demographic Change (Tuesday 26.01.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) Demographers have documented dramatic changes in people s life courses during the post-war period: an increased prevalence of pre-marital cohabitation, postponement of marriage, decreased fertility, and rising divorce rates. In this session we discuss the trends and the impact these changes have on people s lives, groups and society in general. Sociologists have concentrated on how these patterns have developed unequally across social groups. In addition, there seem to be remarkable differences across Western countries, sparking ideas about the determinants of levels of fertility and divorce in society. Session 3: The Gender Revolution (Tuesday 02.02.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) In this session we will discuss one of the most impacting changes in Western societies of the last decades: the gender revolution. Whereas possibilities for personal development were very limited for women at the beginning of the last century, women now attain higher levels of education than men and are increasingly able to pursuit professional careers. At the same time, scholars have noted trends towards a slowing down or even halting of the trend toward more gender egalitarianism since the 1990s. We discuss the evidence for this hypothesis regarding a stalled revolution by looking at how people s lives have changed over the last decades in domains such as the division of domestic work within families and sex segregation in the workplace. Session 4: Educational Systems and Inequality of Opportunity (Tuesday 09.02.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) Education is a key feature of modern societies and is often seen as the main channel through which inequality of opportunity can be reduced. Given that inequality of opportunity is an outcome that is central to sociologists interest in systematic differences in life outcomes, this field of study has produced some of its central and most widely used concepts such as, for instance, cultural and social capital. In this session we look at how features of educational systems are related to life chances of individuals from disadvantaged groups and how families with more socioeconomic resources often manage to prevent their offspring from performing badly in educational systems. In addition, attention is paid to how educational systems are related to other societal characteristics such as the structure of the labor market. 3
Session 5: The rise and fall of a concept? Social Class (Tuesday 16.02.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) This week we will discuss the concept most closely associated to sociological research: social class. The concept is normally used to describe different groups of people that share similar roles within a capitalist economy. In its most classical conception it was used to distinguish between employers and employees. It has been argued that membership of such a class is a crucial trait that has an important influence on people s opportunities, living conditions, or even taste for music or food. In the last decades many sociologists have been involved in a discussion whether the concept of social class is still relevant for people s lives, or whether other traits such as income are more relevant for people s lives. This session serves to illustrate the weaknesses and strengths of the sociological analysis of phenomena. Session 6: From Authoritarianism to Democracy (Tuesday 23.02.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) One of the main goals pursued by political scientists until today is to explain how political regimes shift from authoritarianism to democracy. In this session, we first discuss the concept of democracy, including its relationship to liberalism, and contrast it with different types of authoritarian regimes. We then explore various explanations of the democratization process. Here, we focus on the question of whether, and how, economic development affects democratization and the consolidation of democracy. Session 7: The Rules of the Game (Tuesday 01.03.2016; 15h-17h; Sala del Capitolo, Badia) Having learned how the concept of democracy can be understood and how countries become democratic, we move on to exploring the different types of political institutions present in democratic systems. Following Arend Lijphart, we can broadly distinguish between institutional set-ups which emphasize the principle of majority rule and promote effective governance ( Westminster systems ) and those that emphasize checks and balances and foster compromise ( consensus systems ). One dimension along which these systems differ is that of electoral rules. We discuss the dichotomy between majoritarian and proportional representation systems, as well as more nuanced variations, and how they affect party systems, government formation, and political representation. 4
Session 8: Voter Behavior (Tuesday 08.03.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) Why do voters decide to turn out at the ballot box, even though their vote is unlikely to determine the outcome of the election? And how do they decide which party to support? These questions concern political scientists, pollsters, and spin doctors alike. In this session, we discuss different theories of voter turnout, from rationalitybased approaches to arguments that focus on social relationships. Secondly, we examine different schools of explaining the vote choice. The traditional approaches focus on sociological factors, such as class and religion, and on psychological mechanisms, such as party identification and cognitive short-cuts. Yet, traditional social boundaries are blurring and party membership is in decline in most democratic countries. We discuss the implications of these developments for electoral behavior and party systems, including the rise of fringe parties. Session 9: Political Culture (Tuesday 15.03.2016; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) Political culture refers to the orientations of citizens towards various political objects. These objects include the political community, the regime, political institutions as well as specific actors and elites. Two key issues with which political scientists are concerned are (1) what kind of political culture fosters democracy and (2) which factors promote it. We explore Almond and Verba s famous model of the civic culture and address questions such as: When can political distrust and apathy be positive for democracy, and at which point does it threaten the legitimacy of the regime? Moreover, we discuss a factor that is argued to have a variety of positive effects on democracy, namely social capital. The concept is popular yet controversial among political scientists as well as sociologists. We gain an insight into the debate by illuminating conceptual and empirical issues. Session 10: Conclusions and Reflections (Thursday 17.03.2015; 15h-17h; Seminar Room 3, Badia) For this session participants are expected to prepare a small presentation of 10 minutes. Presenters are expected to discuss how insights from sociology or political science could inform their own research, or research within their discipline. This could be done by presenting one s own project in light of the course, or by discussing the relevance of one of the readings of the course for one s own research project/area. 5