Politics

Political Change: Political Parties and Party Systems

Module code: L2034
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar, Workshop
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

This module seeks to identify the major processes of political change in a given context, and to examine the factors driving such processes. The module will analyse empirically the forms that change has taken in practice and will test different theories of change.

Whatever their effect on public policy, and notwithstanding the challenges they face, parties are still one of the main representative linkages between citizens and the state in liberal democracies. As such, they continue to attract as much attention from those interested in comparative politics as they do in the media.

Academics continue to cite American political scientist EE Schattsneider to the effect that 'modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of political parties', an assertion he made over half a century ago. But is it still true? To support or contest it we need to start with a few questions. Where did parties  – and party systems – come from? Are they all the same underneath or do they differ systematically? What are they supposed to do and what do they actually do? How have they changed and where are they going? Are they fulfilling the political functions that democracy requires of them, and if not, can they be complemented by other forms of democratic participation?

Therefore the module offers you an understanding of the development of political parties and party systems, and their importance in contemporary advanced industrial democracies. Although the primary empirical focus is on the development of parties and party systems in Western Europe, the module is designed primarily as a tool rather than a survey, in order to allow you to use theoretical and analytical models to study parties and party systems in a wide range of countries.

Module learning outcomes

  • Have developed a critical approach to comprehending, applying and criticising comparative models of party and party system development and behaviour
  • Locate and critique the ideal types political scientists use when talking about parties
  • Analyse the drivers of change in party systems, including the entry of new parties
  • Have enhanced their research skills (gathering, sifting and assessing of information and evidence), both quantitative and qualitative through researching a topic on parties or party systems