Course Description
This course trains students to analyze political events, institutions, processes, and political cultures across countries through a comparative approach. Students study not only structural differences among political systems but also the historical, social, and cultural contexts that shape them, using examples from different regions. Topics include state formation, evolution of political regimes, governance models, forms of political participation and political cultures, alongside comparative analysis of party systems and electoral systems and their impact on politics. The course also examines the authority and roles of political institutions in bilateral and multilateral relations, common security policy, and the historical and practical effects of key international treaties, including the Rome and Paris treaties. Students study decision-making mechanisms and member state competences in the United Nations and the role of third parties in UN processes, developing the ability to identify patterns and exceptions, evaluate institutional dynamics, and explain outcomes with both theoretical and empirical reasoning across democratic, authoritarian, and hybrid regimes, including the influence of ideology, identity, and globalization on political behaviour and decision-making.
