Political Analysis

Competences and skills: - Being able to explain the historical evolution of political parties, its 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 pressure groups and (new) social movements. - Being able to differentiate the main political collective actors regarding their main elements and characteristics.

K1: Acquire the knowledge, techniques and terminology specific to the field of economics, politics and international relations. K2: Knowledge of the principles and values of democracy and sustainable development, in particular, respect for human rights and fundamental rights, gender equality and non-discrimination, and the principles of universal accessibility and climate change. K3: To know basic humanistic contents, oral and written expression, following ethical principles and completing a multidisciplinary training profile. K4: Acquire knowledge of the economic, legal, political and social reality from a comparative perspective. K5: To know the sources of law and the model of freedoms and fundamental rights of the Spanish and international legal systems. K7: To know and understand the main models of political, economic and social organization of States and the processes of change in contemporary societies and politics. K8: To understand the differentiating elements of international problems according to the degree of development of a country. K9: To know the relevant political and sociological theories to understand the structure and functioning of the main socio-political systems. S2: Critically relate current and past events and processes S3: Plan and organize team work making the right decisions based on available information and gathering data in digital environments. S5: Apply knowledge to identify with rigor, precision and scientific objectivity the social processes and possible solutions. S6: Be able to apply the scientific method to the social, political and economic questions posed by the globalized society. S8: Knowing how to propose and use the appropriate tools to solve basic problems of economic, social and political content, especially in the international context. S10: Ability to gather and interpret relevant data and knowledge for the elaboration and defense of arguments on topics in their area of study. S12: Design and evaluate public policy and management and quality improvement programs in the public and private sectors. C3: Ability to establish good interpersonal communication and to work in multidisciplinary and international teams. C4: Be able to engage in lifelong autonomous learning, enabling them to adapt to new situations.

Description of contents: Programme. - Unit 1. Poltical 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 organtion 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. Parties and party systems in democratic Spain. - Unit 7. Pressure groups: traits, organization and activity patterns. - Unit 8. The (new) social movements: evolution, traits, movilization patterns and interaction with the political system. New social movements and social networks.

In lecture sessions the teacher will explain the main foundations of each unit. Some resources could be recomended 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 developped in the computing laboratories. The lecturer will asign 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.