Admission requirements
Participation in the seminar is only permitted if the propaedeutic phase (60 EC), as well as the second-year course Comparative Analysis of Political Systems, have been passed.
Description
Imagine you had the chance to design a country's political institutions from scratch. Which would you choose? And why? In this seminar course, students debate ten such institutional choices at both the national and international level. We examine both the normative arguments and the empirical evidence regarding the advantages and disadvantages of various institutional options. Possible topics include:
What should the voting age be? Should voting be mandatory? Should parliament be elected via a proportional or majoritarian system? Should there be parliamentary quotas for women? Should populist parties be banned? Should binding referendums be introduced? Should digital microtargeting in political campaigns be prohibited? Should the country pursue nuclear weapons status? Should the country seek permanent membership in the UN Security Council?
Course objectives
- Students are familiar with key debates in politics and political science.
- Students evaluate the pros and cons of institutional choices, assessing the quality of normative arguments and empirical evidence.
- Students develop discussion and argumentation skills.
Teaching method
Debate seminars
Assessment method
Debates (2 × 25%)
Opinion pieces (2 × 25%)
Reading list
Scholarly book chapters and journal articles available via the Leiden University digital library.
Registration
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer(s) (listed in the right information bar). For questions about enrolment, contact the Student Services Centre: ssc@leiden.edu.
Schedule
The timetables are available through MyTimetable (see the button in the upper right corner).