Course Title：Introduction to Comparative Politics

The course 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. We study political systems around the world with a view to understanding and explaining their differences and similarities with respect to political institutions, the behaviour of key political actors, and their policymaking processes and performance. Among other things, comparative politics teaches us about the causes and effects of different ways of organizing the institutions of government: for instance what are the consequences of choosing a strong president versus a strong parliament or a highly proportional versus a majoritarian electoral system. The over-arching goal of this course is to introduce students to the practice of comparison in a systematic and social scientific way. We will encounter a range of methods used in comparative politics from historical case studies to large N quantitative studies. No prior knowledge is required or assumed. By the end of this class, students should learn to become critical consumers of journalistic and academic writing. After taking this module, students should understand how to make intelligent and informed comparisons across states, regions and organizations for themselves.