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Description of Courses Information for Visiting Students Academic Year 1997/98 |
Contents
Programme Descriptions
Second Year Level Courses
The Programme in Comparative Studies
The Programme is offered in the Autumn Semester 1997 (1 Sept. - 18 Jan.). This programme presupposes one year of previous academic studies
The courses aim at giving the student greater comprehension of the problems facing welfare policy in the present decade. Although the emphasis will be placed in Western Europe, attention will be given to other countries as well. In addition to discussing the practical problems of implementing social policy in a world which is undergoing great political change, the program will also emphasize the scientific methods necessary for analysing these societies,
The following courses constitute the programme in Comparative studies:
- Swedish Politics
- Comparative European Politics
- Comparative Politics
- Problems of Modern Welfare States
In the schedule below you will be able to learn that:
- the Swedish educational system at universities is a module system, i.e. courses are taught as full time programs during rather short periods (5 - 10 weeks)
- the semester is normally divided into four study periods of 4 - 5 weeks duration each,
- this system only in exceptional cases allow students to register for more than one course during one of the study periods,
- names of the courses and the amount of the points or credits they are credited with,
| Sept 1/97 | Oct 2 | Nov 3 | Dec 4 Jan 18/98 |
| Swedish Politics |
Comparative European Politics |
Comparative Poltics |
Problems of Modern Welfare States |
Advanced Courses
A number of courses in the regular programme for Swedish students ar the Department of Government (i.e. courses taught in Swedish) will be taught in English during the academic year 1997/98 if a sufficient number of English-speaking students is applying.
- Comparative Politics
- International Politics
- EU Politics
- Political Theory
- Comparative European Politics
- Essay/research paper
The schedule below indicates the study periods when these
courses are taught in English.
| Sept 1/97 | Oct 2 | Nov 3 Dec 4 Jan 18/98 |
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International Poltics 3rd year level |
Political Theory 3rd year level |
Essay / research paper 3rd or 4th year level |
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EU Politics 3rd year level |
Comparative European Politics 3rd year level |
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Comparative Poltics 3rd year level |
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| Jan 19/98 | Feb 26 | Apr 1 May 6 June 7/98 |
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Course Descriptions
The Programme in Comparative Studies
1. Swedish Politics
This course aims at giving students a working understanding of social and poilitical forces in present day Swedish society. It will present the past century as the formative years, examining the economic and social trends up to and including WWII, and the transition from an agrarian to a highly industrialized nation in a global setting.
The Popular movements of the nineteenth century and the emergence of the modern political parties will be analysed. The struggle for democracy and the outline of constitutional change will be presented from WWI to the single chamber parliament of the 1970's. Ideologies, parties, the present day political scence and recent elections will be discussed, as well as the Swedish experiment of referenda.
Attention will be given to the rather special administrative structure of Sweden. Special historical facts such as the Ombudsman institution, the Freddom of the Press Act, and the Public Documents Act will be discussed.
The idea of a "Swedish Model" will be challenged in a near-history perspective; the role of major organizations both as economic factors and as bargaining partners will be illuminated, together with problem solving strategies in an industrial / post-industrial society. This will link with a close look at the future economic base of the Swedish welfare system.
Finally Sweden will be seen in an international setting: Swedish
defence and security problems and her historical tradition of
neutrality in the face of Swedish membership in the EU will be
presented.
2. Comparative European Politics
This course aims to provide an introduction to government,
public policies and administration in a comparative perspective.
Aspects of West European corporatism will be discussed, with
special regard to the importance of institutional structures.
The role of the EU and the nation-states of Europe will be discussed.
An overview will be given of recent developments in former East
European countries. The aim is to provide the student with a
theoretical background for understanding the comparative method
of analysing causes behind political conflict and political change.
3. Comparative Politics
The course in comparative politics is an introduction to comparative analysis and some of the most central discourses withing this discipline of political science. With reference to methodollogical issues; lectures, literatire and seminars revolve around the questions of how to compare different political systems. In practice this will be applied in an exercise which involves writing a paper which will be discussed by the end of the course.
The theme of this course will mainly focus on the question
of how to maintain democratic stability in plural societies.
By comparing cases, for example from Europe and South Asia, we
will explore how far the comparatve perspective can be taken
with theoretical tools suggested by the discourses on ethnicity,
civicness, and consociationalism, only to mention a few.
4. Problems of Modern Welfare States
One of the most distinguishing features of Sweden is its welfare
state. This course focusses especially on this characteristic
feature and on comparing the Swedish model with other welfare
models. Two questions are given in considerable detail:
1. Why do welfare policies vary in so many different societies? Various theoretical explanations of the development of welfare are introduced, and discussed, e.g. the power-resources theory that focuses on the varying strength of labour movement and institutional theory that focusess on varying state capacities and how institutions influence the power of different interests in a society.
2. What are the prospects of the welfare state? The latest developments of the welfare models are described and discussed in relations to the above mentioned theories. The theses that the welfare state itself has transformed the political struggle is surveyed.
Since this is an international course with students from many
different countries, great emphasis is placed on the discussions
so that we can utilise this unique oppurtunity to learn about
the latest developments in different countries and of how the
different welfare models work in practice.
Advanced Courses
Comparative Politics
This course aims to provide an overview of forms of government
and public policy from a comparative perspective. Special emphasis
is placed on democratic institutions, western European corporatism,
and the conditions for the state and for executing political
power in the Third World.
International Politics
Further analysis of selected theories and concepts. The accent
is on security policy studies, international political-economical
development, interdependency and integration process.
EU Politics
Within a framework of a review of recent European political development, the European Union will be scrutinized. This is seen as differeing from its member states in two distinct ways. First the rule of decision-making, which is different for different issue-areas. A negative, deregulative integration is acheived by supra-national means. A positive, unifying integration is on the other hand decided on by the member states themselves.
The second factor by which the union differs from its member states is the dependency on general elections. In this area too the principle is non-unitary, in contrast to elections within a member state.
Supra-naitonality is not balanced by any analogous procedure for accountability. The room for inter-governmental decision-making is, in contrast, limited by what the various governments can acheive in relation to their own parliaments and electorates.
These two asymmetries, concerning the decision-making rules
and the relationsship to accountability, are mutually dependent.
This course intends to clarify the implications of this double
assymetry.
Political Theory
This course discusses the concept and content of democracy
together with arguments for and against democract. Further, various
problems of democracy, constitutionalism and effectivity; prerequisities
and problems of trasition from authoritarian rule to democracy;
nationalism and democracy; and also gender aspects of democracy.
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Optional Courses in the Faculty of Social Science
A broad range of courses, dealing with issues relevant to contemporary, especially European, society are open also for visiting students. All courses are entirely taught in English.
These courses are intended for visiting students participating either in ERASMUS programmes or in other exchange programmes between Uppsala University and foreign universities.
The "Programme" integrates courses from the fields of Political Science, Economic History, Communication Science, Peacce and Conflict Studies, Development Studies, East European studies, Social and Economic Geography, Business Administration and Education.
Students applying for these courses are requested to contact their home institutional coordinator well before the beginning of the semester, As there is no absolute guarantee to get places in these courses students should prepare an alternative choice of courses.
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