Political Systems in Central and Eastern Europe II

HUM-413(b) / 3 crédits

Enseignant: Filatov Maksym

Langue: Anglais

Withdrawal: It is not allowed to withdraw from this subject after the registration deadline.

Remark: Une seule inscription à un cours SHS+MGT autorisée. En cas d'inscriptions multiples elles seront toutes supprimées sans notification.

Summary

This spring continuation guides students through an individual research project on political regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on external constraints, economic dependence, sanctions, authoritarian adaptation, hybrid regimes, and comparative democracies, including Switzerland.

Content

Session 1. Introduction to the spring semester: objectives, organization, and expectations

Session 2. Choosing a research topic

Session 3. Formulating a research question

Session 4. Building a theoretical and conceptual framework

Session 5. Choosing a method: case study, comparison, process tracing, or discourse analysis

Session 6. Selecting cases and identifying sources

Session 7. Presentation of research proposals

Session 8. Working with sources: official documents, reports, political data, and academic literature

Session 9. Developing an analytical argument

Session 10. Workshop on preliminary empirical findings

Session 11. Intermediate presentations

Session 12. Structuring the final paper

Session 13. Final project presentations

Session 14. General discussion and finalization of written papers

 

Keywords

Political regimes, Central and Eastern Europe, authoritarianism, hybrid regimes, democratization, economic dependence; sanctions, external influence, the European Union, comparative politics, international relations, direct democracy, federalism.

 

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

none

Recommended courses

none

Important concepts to start the course

-

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Formulate formulate a research problem
  • Apply basic analytical tools from comparative politics and international relations
  • Compose compose theory, method, and empirical material in a coherent research design
  • Compare compare political regimes through structured case-study analysis
  • Analyze analyze regime trajectories, institutional transformations, and political change
  • Develop develop academic writing skills through the preparation of a research
  • Present present research findings orally and engage in critical academic discussion
  • Assess / Evaluate Evaluate academic sources and empirical evidence to support theoretically informed arguments

Transversal skills

  • Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
  • Evaluate one's own performance in the team, receive and respond appropriately to feedback.
  • Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
  • Continue to work through difficulties or initial failure to find optimal solutions.
  • Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.
  • Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.
  • Collect data.
  • Write a scientific or technical report.

Teaching methods

The course combines:

methodological workshops;

collective supervision;

individual or small-group meetings;

discussions of research projects;

intermediate presentations;

feedback from the instructor and peers;

guidance in writing the final research paper.

 

Expected student activities

Students are expected to develop an individual supervised research project. Their activities will include:

selecting a research topic related to political regimes, external constraints, economic dependence, sanctions, hybrid regimes, or comparative democracies;

formulating a clear research question and building an appropriate analytical framework;

selecting relevant methods, cases, academic literature, policy documents, and empirical sources;

participating in methodological workshops, supervision sessions, and collective discussions;

presenting a preliminary research proposal and intermediate findings;

giving constructive feedback on other students' projects;

revising their research design in response to feedback;

preparing a final oral presentation;

writing a final research paper according to academic standards.

 

Assessment methods

Assessment is based on the following components:

a final oral presentation;

a final written research paper;

active participation in workshops and discussions

 

Supervision

Office hours Yes
Assistant.e.s Yes
Forum Yes

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Yes

Bibliography

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., & FitzGerald, W. T. (2024). The craft of research (5th ed.). University of Chicago Press.

George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. MIT Press.

Kellstedt, P. M., & Whitten, G. D. (2018). The fundamentals of political science research (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Kriesi, H., & Trechsel, A. H. (2008). The Politics of Switzerland: Continuity and Change in a Consensus Democracy. Cambridge University Press.

Lijphart, A. (2012). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. Yale University Press.

Yanow, D., & Schwartz-Shea, P. (Eds.). (2015). Interpretation and method: Empirical research methods and the interpretive turn (2nd ed.). Routledge.

 

 

 

Notes/Handbook

-

Websites

Moodle Link

Videos

Prerequisite for

none

Dans les plans d'études

  • Semestre: Printemps
  • Nombre de places: 60
  • Forme de l'examen: Pendant le semestre (session d'été)
  • Matière examinée: Political Systems in Central and Eastern Europe II
  • Projet: 3 Heure(s) hebdo x 14 semaines
  • Type: obligatoire

Semaine de référence

Cours connexes

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