Smith College Government 221 Fall 2013 Class meets Tu, Th 10:30-11:50 Hatfield 203 EUROPEAN POLITICS

Department of Government Professor Mlada Bukovansky Office: 222 Wright Hall, x3674 Office hours: Tu 12-2, W 3-4, or by appt.

Description and Objectives: Europe is widely considered to be the birthplace and bastion of modern liberal democracy and the capitalist market economy. The European Union, an unprecedented institutional development in international politics, rivals the US in economic size and wealth, and European leaders aspire to a stronger role for the EU in global security affairs as well. Yet liberal democracy and a common market are not Europes only legacies. Religious schisms, imperialism, communism, socialism, nationalism, fascism, populist authoritarianism, and two world wars have substantially shaped modern Europes institutions, its politics, and its relations with the rest of the world. The EU itself has been undergoing a prolonged financial and political crisis. After a brief review of 20th century European history, this course offers an exploration of the governing institutions of a selection of European countries, comparing different forms of democracy and surveying some key political issues confronting European leaders and electorates today. The course also introduces students to the key institutions, and some central policy issues, in the European Union. Students will be asked to participate actively not only in discussing assigned reading material, but also in bringing information on current European affairs to the attention of the class. To the latter end, you will be asked to form small groups to follow press coverage of elections (if applicable) and key political debates and issues in the country of your choice, and to keep the class updated with regular oral reports about your chosen country. Additional discussion will take place on a Moodle online forum. Requirements and Grades: following areas: Grades for this course will be based on your performance in the

Class participation and media reports: Essay on Mazower ( 6 pages, due Friday, 9/20): Comparative essay ( 6 pages, flexible deadline 10/17 - 11/15): Take-home final essay ( 6 pages, due Thursday, 12/19):

25% 25% 25% 25%

Class discussions will draw on the readings, so you are expected to have done the readings before class. All work should be completed on time and according to the guidelines given with each assignment. Late penalty is 1/2 grade for each day late. I expect you to adhere to Smith Colleges honor code; it is especially important that you learn how to properly cite your sources in your written work. Readings: The following books are available for purchase at the Smith bookstore:

Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europes Twentieth Century (Vintage, 2000) Ronald Tiersky and Erik Jones, Europe Today, Fourth Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2011) Andreas Staub, The European Union Explained, Second Edition (Indiana University Press, 2011) *Additional readings listed in the schedule are available on the Moodle site for this course.

Schedule of Classes and Assigned Readings I. Tu 9/3 Th 9/5 Tu 9/10 Th 9/12 Tu 9/17 Th 9/19 OVERVIEW AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Tiersky, Introduction Mark Mazower, Dark Continent, Preface and chs. 1-2 Mazower, chs. 3-5 Mazower, chs. 6-7 Mazower, chs. 8-10 Mazower, chs. 11-Epilogue Mazower Essay Due Friday, 9/20 II. COMPARING COUNTRIES Vectors of Comparison

Tu 9/24

*Juan Linz, "The Perils of Presidentialism," Journal of Democracy 1, 1 (Winter 1990): 51-69 *Donald L. Horowitz, "Comparing Democratic Systems," Journal of Democracy 1, 4 (Fall 1990): 73-79 *Seymour Martin Lipset, "The Centrality of Political Culture," Journal of Democracy 1, 4 (Fall 1990): 80-83 *Juan Linz, "The Virtues of Parliamentarism," Journal of Democracy 1, 4 (Fall 1990): 84-91 Germany, Poland

Th 9/26 Tu 10/1

Tiersky, ch. 3 (Germany) *Timo Fleckenstein, The Politics of Labour Market Reforms and Social Citizenship in Germany, West European Politics 35, 4 (July 2012), pp. 847-868. *Mark Mazower, German fear of history jeopardises Europes future, Financial Times 18 July 2013. Th 10/3 Tiersky, ch. 7 (Poland) France, Spain Tu 10/8 Tiersky, ch. 1 (France) Th 10/10 *Jean Baubrot, Lacit and the Challenge of Republicanism, Modern and Contemporary France 17, 2 (May 2009), pp. 189-198. Tu 10/15 Fall Break Th 10/17 *Paul Kennedy, From Unpopular Socialists to the Popular Party: the Spanish General Election of 2011, West European Politics 35, 3 (May 2012), pp. 673-681. *For a Democratic Revolution: Notes from the Universidad Nomada, Social Justice 39, 1 (2013) Great Britain Tu 10/22 Tiersky, ch. 2 (Great Britain)

3 Th 10/24 *Gareth Brown, et al., Careless Talk: Social Reproduction and Fault Lines of the Crisis in the United Kingdom, Social Justice 39, 1 (2013). *Anthony Painter, Time for an Optimistic Englishness, Soundings 49 (2011), pp. 6-17 Italy, Greece Tu 10/29 Tiersky, ch. 4 (Italy) Th 10/31 *Diego Garzia, The 2013 Italian Parliamentary Election: changing things so everything stays the same, West European Politics 36, 5 (2013), pp. 1095-1105. Tu 11/5 *Elias Dinas and Lamprini Rori, The 2012 Greek Parliamentary Elections: fear and loathing at the polls, West European Politics 36, 1 (2013), pp. 270-282. *Takis S. Pappas, Why Greece Failed, Journal of Democracy 24, 2 (April 2013) Scandinavian Countries Th 11/7 Tiersky, ch. 5 Tu 11/12 *Anders Hellstrm, Tom Nilsson, and Pauline Stoltz, Nationalism vs. Nationalism: The Challenge of the Sweden Democrats in the Swedish Public Debate, Government and Opposition 47, 2 (2012), pp. 186-205. Th 11/14 *Ann-Heln Bay, Henning Finseraas, and Axel West Pederson, Welfare Dualism in Two Scandinavian Welfare States: Public Opinion and Party Politics, West European Politics 36, 1 (2012), pp. 199-220. III. Tu 11/19 Th 11/21 Tu 11/26 THE EUROPEAN UNION

Tiersky, ch. 8 Supplement with Staub, Part One. Staub, Part Two, chs. 3-6. Staub, Part Two, chs. 7-8 Tiersky, ch. 11 Thanksgiving Break 11/27-12/1

Tu 12/3 Th 12/5 Tu 12/10

Staub, Part Three, chs. 9-12 Staub, Part Three, chs. 13-16 Review Final Essay Due Thursday, 12/19, 5 pm