Checking date: 17/05/2024

Versión en español

Course: 2024/2025

Political actors
(14091)
Dual Bachelor in Political Science and Sociology (Plan: 406 - Estudio: 247)


Coordinating teacher: CLAVERIA ALIAS, SILVIA

Department assigned to the subject: Social Sciences Department

Type: Compulsory
ECTS Credits: 6.0 ECTS

Course: 3º
Semester: 1º



Requirements (Subjects that are assumed to be known)
Foundations of Political Science
Objectives
- Being able to explain the historical evolution of political parties, their types and their relations with each democratic model. - Knowing and being able to analyze the organizational structure of the political parties, as well as their interaction with society. - Being able to analyze the different functions political parties perform, both regarding institutions and society. - Being able to differentiate among different kinds of party systems in their main traits. - Knowing and being able to analyze the main characteristics and elements of interest groups and (new) social movements. - Being able to differentiate the main political collective actors regarding their main elements and characteristics.
Skills and learning outcomes
Link to document

Description of contents: programme
- Unit 1. Political parties: definitions and historical evolution. Party models and democracy; from cadre to cartel and movement-parties. - Unit 2. The functions of political parties regarding institutions and society. - Unit 3. The organization and structure of political parties: ideology, members, resources and faces of parties; dominant coalition and territorial structure. The finances of political parties. - Unit 4. Democracy in political parties: the making of political platforms and the selection of party officials and electoral candidates. - Unit 5. Democracy and party systems: definition and typologies. Stability and change. - Unit 6. Political leadership. - Unit 7. The (new) social movements: evolution, traits, movilization patterns and interaction with the political system. New social movements and social networks. - Unit 8. Mass media. - Unit 9. Interest groups.
Learning activities and methodology
In lecture sessions the teacher will explain the main foundations of each unit. Some resources could be recommended to complete the explanation of each unit. Work in seminar sessions will deal with comparing and analyzing cases suggested by the lecturer. Some sessions will be developed in the computing laboratories. The lecturer will assign reading materials (on which test could be implemented), as well as suggest the resources and references to be used by the students prior to each seminar session. Those resources will be written both in Spanish and English.
Assessment System
  • % end-of-term-examination 50
  • % of continuous assessment (assigments, laboratory, practicals...) 50

Calendar of Continuous assessment


Extraordinary call: regulations
Basic Bibliography
  • Dalton, R. J., y M. P. Wattenberg. Parties without partisans: political change in advanced industrial democracies. . Oxford University Press. 2000
  • Duverger, M. Los partidos políticos. . Fondo de Cultura Económica. . 2002
  • Green-Pedersen, C. . The Reshaping of West European Party Politics: Agenda-Setting and Party Competition in Comparative Perspective. Oxford University Press. 2019
  • Hutter, S y H. Kriesi (eds). European Party Politics in Times of Crisis. Cambridge University Press. 2019
  • Katz, R. S. y W. Crotty (eds.) . Handbook of Party Politics. Sage. 2006
  • LaPalombara, J., and Weiner, M. (eds.) . Political Parties and Political Development.. Princeton University Press.. 1966
  • Mair, P. (ed.). . The West European Party System. Oxford University Press. 1990
  • Montero, J. R., R. Gunther y J. Linz . Partidos políticos. Viejos conceptos y nuevos retos. Trotta. 2007
  • Panebianco, A. . Modelos de partido. Alianza. 2003
  • Sartori, G. . Partidos y sistemas de partidos. . Alianza. 1997
  • Von Beyme, K. Partidos políticos en las democracias occidentales. CIS. 1986
  • Ware, A. . Partidos políticos y sistema de partidos. . Istmo. 2004
Additional Bibliography
  • Hallin, D. y P. Mancini. Sistemas mediáticos comparados: tres modelos de relación entre los medios de comunicación y la política. Hacer. 2008
  • Allern, E.H. y T. Bale . Left-of-Centre Parties and Trade Unions in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford University Press. 2017
  • Casal-Bertoa, F. y G. Scherlis. Partidos, sistemas de partidos y democracia. Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires. 2015
  • Castells, M.. Redes de indignación y esperanza. Alianza Editorial. 2012
  • Coller, X., G. Cordero y A. Jaime-Castillo. The Selection of Politicians in Times of Crisis. Routledge. 2018
  • Della Porta, D. y M. Diani. Los movimientos sociales. CIS. 2011
  • Gidron, N., y D. Ziblatt . Center-Right Political Parties in Advanced Democracies. Annual Review of Political Science, 22(1), 17-35. 2019
  • Haughton, T., y K. Deegan-Krause . The New Party Challenge . Oxford University Press. 2020
  • McAdam, D., J.D. McCarthy y M.N. Zald . Movimientos sociales, perspectivas comparadas. Istmo. 1999
  • Molins, J., L. Muñoz y I. Medina. Los grupos de interés en España. Tecnos. 2016
  • Scarrow, S., P. D. Webb, y Thomas Poguntke. Organizing Political Parties, Representation, Participation and Power. OUP. 2017
  • Tarrow, S.. El poder en movimiento. Alianza Universidad. 1997
  • William P. Cross & Jean Benoit Pilet. The Politics of Party Leadership: A Cross-National Perspective. OUP. 2016
  • Ziblatt, D.. Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy. CUP. 2017

The course syllabus may change due academic events or other reasons.