Y657/W605  Advanced Industrial Democracies  (3 cr)  10:30 – 12:30
T    WH 204

This seminar about West European politics introduces participants to
a range of issues that concern analysts of Western Europe and, more
broadly, advanced industrialized democracies. Therefore, this class
is not just a survey of West European countries. Rather, using
Western Europe as a "testing ground," the seminar's analytical goal
is to introduce participants to several issues that preoccupy
analysts of advanced democracies. You may thus conceive of the
seminar as an Approaches and Issues class about advanced
democracies. Accordingly, the seminar's thematic focus will change
on an almost weekly basis. Topics include Institutional Systems,
Party systems, Political Culture, Modernization and Economic
Theories of Democracy, and Coalition Theories. In addition to weekly
memos on the assigned reading material, course requirements include
a term paper, a final exam, and, above all, thoughtful contributions
to seminar discussions.