Admission Requirements
Participation in the BAP is only permitted if you passed the first year of IRO and completed at least 40 EC of the second year, including the courses Academic Skills: Research Design, Statistics II and Qualitative Research Methods.
Please note: For students who started their IRO programme before 1 September 2022 the admission requirements of 2023-2024 are still applicable: (a) first year, (b) 40 EC from year 2, incl (c) Research Methods in Political Science (10 EC) and (d) Academic Skills: Research Design (5 EC).
Transition regulations
If a student did not complete Research Methods in Political Science (10 EC) in 2022-2023 or earlier, they should complete Research Methods in Political Science (5 EC, year 1) and Qualitative Research Methods (5 EC, year 2).
Bachelor Project Information meetings Leiden
Semester II: The information session will be offered in block 2, Friday 29 November 2024, 15.15 ONLINE. Students will receive the invitation by mail from the SSC.
Registration for Bachelor Project
Semester II: The information will be available in November 2024.
Should you have questions regarding the registration, please email the SSC via ssc@leiden.edu.
Language
The thesis of the Bachelor Project Internationale Politiek will be written in English.
If you want to write your thesis in Dutch please consult your BAP teacher in advance.
Description
Goal 1: Learning to apply concepts, theories and methods in a research project that fits within a framework that has been formulated by the teacher in advance;
Goal 2: Conducting, and reporting on, a limited empirical or literature study.
Content: The bachelor project is a course that offers substantive instruction, followed by a research part within which students carry out an individual study. Various projects are offered that are structured around different themes. Students first follow substantive instruction for a number of weeks in which they deepen their knowledge of a specific subject within a subfield of political science. After that, students learn to formulate a research question, to design research to answer that question, to conduct their own research, and to report correctly and clearly on that research.
The final report - the Bachelor's thesis - completes the Bachelor's degree in Political Science. The thesis is an individual final paper based at least partly on the student’s own, original research.
Mode of Instruction
Workgroup meetings, walk-in meetings, library instruction, and above all self-study.
Library Instruction
On Brightspace you will find more information on the digital module 'Library instruction'.
Study materials
Halperin, S. & Heath, O. (2017) 'Political research: Methods and practical skills' - Oxford University Press, is assumed to be known. The core literature can be found on the Brightspace page of the Bachelor's Project. Further information about the bachelor project and the subprojects will also be available there.
Assessment Method
Students either pass or fail the entire BAP (16 weeks) worth 20 ECTS.
The assignments made in the first, substantive part of the BAP will jointly generate a first partial grade. This grade counts for 40% of the final BAP grade. It is rounded to one decimal. Obtaining a sufficient grade for this part of the BAP is not a necessary condition for passing the course.
The full thesis written in the second, thesis-specific part of the BAP will generate a second partial grade. This counts for 60% of the final BAP grade. It is rounded to whole and half numbers and passed with a 5,5 or higher. Obtaining a sufficient grade for this part of the BAP is a necessary condition for passing the course. This means that a (sufficiently high) partial grade for the second part of the BAP can compensate an insufficient partial grade for the first part of the BAP.
The final grade is the weighted average of both partial grades. In order to pass the entire BAP (20 ECTS), the final grade must be sufficient (i.e. at least 5,5) and, as stated above, the grade for the full thesis must be sufficient (i.e. at least 5,5) as well.
Concerning retakes:
Since the first, substantive part of the BAP counts for less than 50% towards the final grade, students who obtain an insufficient partial grade for that part do not have the right to a retake.
Since the full thesis written in the second, thesis-specific part of the BAP counts for 50% or more towards the final grade, students who obtain an insufficient partial grade for their thesis do have the right to a retake.
Students who obtain a sufficient partial grade for the full thesis written in the second, thesis-specific part of the BAP also have the right to a retake, unless they passed the entire BAP on their first attempt (which means both the final grade and the partial grade for the thesis obtained by them are sufficient).
Students failing the course but having received a sufficient grade for one of the two parts of the course are allowed to take the same BAP next academic year – provided that it is still offered and has not been changed fundamentally – but may skip that part of the course for which they received the sufficient grade. They can, so to speak, “take their sufficient partial grade to next academic year”.
Students failing the course and having received an insufficient grade for both parts of the course have to start all over again next academic year.
Students can follow only 1 BAP per academic year.
Final product:
The thesis. It should be between 7,000-8,000 words. Note that this is the actual required length of the thesis and not 7,000-8,000 plus/minus 10%. Regarding the word count: Everything from introduction to conclusion counts (as picked up by the count in MS Word). The following elements do not count: front page, abstract, table of contents and list of references. Concerning the abstract and table of contents: these are optional.
Deadlines:
BAP semester II: tba
Students who get an insufficient grade for their bachelor thesis – and so fail the entire BAP – have the right to improve their thesis and submit it for a second time. They do so on the basis of the feedback given by the supervisor during a feedback meeting. Note, however, that students are not entitled to any further supervision. The submission deadlines for the second chance are:
BAP semester II: tba
There are two important caveats to this:
Students do not have the right to submit their thesis for a second time if their first attempt resulted in a sufficient grade.
Students do not have the right to submit their thesis as part of the second chance if they did not submit a completed version of their thesis during the first chance.
Bachelor Project themes:
Semester II
106 - Challenges to Democracy and the Rule of Law in European Politics(Dr. T. Theuns)
Substantively, this bachelor project will dissect the successes, challenges, and evolving landscape of contemporary democratic governance and the rule of law in the context of European politics. With the rise of populism and the far-right, fundamental challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, and a global context of fragile and deteriorating democratic government, the democratic commitment of European countries has come under sustained pressure. These developments not only demand urgent analysis to understand how and why they are taking place, they also pose fundamental ontological, conceptual and theoretical questions about the nature and future of European integration.
The readings in the first part of the course will be structured around my book Protecting Democracy in Europe: Pluralism, Autocracy and the Future of the EU (Hurst/Oxford University Press 2024). Besides book chapters, students should be prepared to do extensive reading of political theory and empirical political science articles on the theme of the BAP. In the second part of the course, students will write individual theses on an aspect of democracy and the rule of law in European politics. Research questions can ask conceptual, normative or theoretical questions on challenges to democracy and the rule of law in Europe, but students can also broach more empirical themes, for instance geared towards better understanding the processes of democratic and rule of law regressions or EU responses to democratic backsliding in member states.
In terms of methods, this BAP will use and facilitate political theory methods such as normative and conceptual analysis, critical theory, genealogy and analytic political philosophy, as well as qualitative empirical designs including discourse analysis, doctrinal analysis, interpretative case studies. While descriptive analysis of existing statistical data is possible where relevant and useful, it will not be possible in this BAP to write a thesis using advanced statistical analyses or quantitative data-gathering. Students need not necessarily write a bachelor’s thesis using political theory methods (critical theory, genealogy, normative political philosophy, etc.), but it is essential that they are interested in political theory and confident engaging in conceptual, normative and theoretical material.
107 - Civil Wars in Theory and Practice (Dr. J. Schulhofer-Wohl)
Description: This course explores the dynamics of civil wars. It draws on literature in political science and other fields in the social sciences to understand how civil wars are conducted. We begin by considering how to define civil war and whether there are different types of wars. We then analyze the recruitment of fighters (whether by government armed forces or rebel groups) and other forms of individual participation in conflict; the origins and effects of international connections and inputs to civil wars; forms of cooperation between armed groups; and military competition between armed rivals, including the role of violence against civilians. Readings cover conflicts around the world, from wars in the aftermath of the Second World War to contemporary Syria
Research Methods for the thesis: Students can use quantitative methods or qualitative methods in the thesis in this BAP (or a mixed-methods design). Since the course focuses exclusively on positivist research on civil war in the social sciences, students should not take this BAP if they want to write a thesis from a critical theory perspective or using philosophical research methods. In addition, the course emphasizes the need for methods to be linked to the research question. Students who want to write a thesis using content analysis or discourse analysis simply because these are the methods that they are most familiar with are strong discouraged from taking this BAP.
BEFORE the first meeting, please read:
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. “How to Tell a True War Story,” pp.67-80. [Brightspace]
Schulhofer-Wohl, Jonah. 2018. “Syria, Productive Antinomy, and the Study of Civil War.” Perspectives on Politics 16(4):1085–91.
Sambanis, Nicholas. 2004. “What is Civil War? Conceptual and Empirical Complexities of an Operational Definition.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 48(6):814-58.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. The Logic of Violence in Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press. Ch. 1, “Concepts,” pp.16-31.
108 - Computational International Relations (Dr. S. Rezaeedaryakenari)
109: Environmentalisms of the Right - (Dr. R. Ploof)
Environmentalism is now often assumed to be an issue of the political left and center. Yet this has not always been the case in the past, nor is it likely to be in the future. How have those on the right historically conceptualized and taken up environmental concerns? How, in the context of climate change, might they do so once again?
Rooted in political theory, this course examines the conceptual foundations of right environmentalisms. It explores how political philosophers – like Heidegger on the one hand and Horkheimer and Adorno on the other – have both embraced and challenged rightist approaches to nature, the environment, and humanity’s relationship to the material world. Emphasizing the interplay between theory and practice, the course also looks at how these ideas have intersected with and informed far-right political action.
This BAP is amenable to a variety of qualitative methodological approaches, however explicit methods guidance will focus on political theoretical analysis. Students wishing to use a different qualitative method in their thesis should be prepared to draw on prior methods training. Use of quantitative methods is not permitted.
Finally, please note that this BAP allocates a non-trivial portion of the part one grade to active in-class participation and will not be a good fit for students who do not wish to engage in seminar-wide discussion.
110 - European Health Politics (Dr. E. van Reuler)
Health policy frequently makes the headlines and spending on health care counts for around ten per cent of the GDP in many European countries nowadays. In these countries, health governance is a complex field in which the government plays a major role in shaping the services delivered.
Moreover, the role of the European Union in health has been diversified and extended over the past decades. One can think of, for example, policy programmes such as the Health in all Policies programme that was developed in the early 2000s, disease specific programmes that are often initiated by countries during their EU presidency, and more recently - and most ambitiously - the European Health Union initiative, which emerged as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Bachelor Project (BAP) investigates health policy from a European perspective. For the purpose of this BAP, health is defined broadly: from public health to hospital care and from mental health care to nursing homes. The European perspective comes in through comparisons between countries as well as the European Union’s engagement with health.
During the substantive part of this BAP (block 3), we start exploring the foundations of health policy from a comparative perspective. This means getting familiar with many new terms as well as the major ways in which health care systems are organised. Afterwards, we move on to the role of the European Union and the impact of its health initiatives on health policies in the member states.
In block 4, students research a health policy related question of their choice. A European perspective is expected to be present, but if good methodological reasons exist comparisons with non-European cases are allowed. We work with qualitative methods, such as (comparative) case studies and content analysis. A mixed methods approach is also an option if it suits the research question.
111 - Foreign Policy in Times of American Decline (Dr. C. van de Wetering)
This course focuses on US foreign policy-making after 9/11. With the subsequent presidencies from Bush jr. to Biden, discussions have emerged about the primacy of the US and its foreign policy conduct. These discussions became particularly salient under the Trump presidency, but the US is still facing several challenges domestically and internationally. That said, the debate on US decline has been raging for decades. What this course then aims to tackle is how students can perform a foreign policy analysis in light of the manifold agents and structures that can be taken into account. In addition, it asks what the role of the US is in global affairs and it addresses a few possible crises that have been facing the US, including the challenges of other major powers and the constraints of presidential power. It throws up various questions: What are the implications of these crises or particular events for US foreign policy-making toward other countries? How are policies enabling further retraction of the US globally? In general, what actors play a large role in shaping the policy course and when are foreign policy agents able to enact change?
In terms of research methods, the course focuses on qualitative methods, ranging from empirical research methods to discourse analysis and critical theory. With regard to the reading, the course will make use of a selection of academic articles and chapters.
Course aims:
To reflect on academic debates regarding US decline in order to evaluate the role of the US in global affairs.
To gain an understanding of the major theories and approaches to analyze the foreign policy process and to critically assess and apply these.
112 - Gender and Sexuality in International Politics (Dr. M. Mos)
This Bachelor Project (BAP) looks at the role that gender and sexuality play in international politics. The course is divided into a substantive (Block 3) and thesis-writing component (Block 4). The substantive part is organized thematically. Gender-related themes include gender quotas, domestic and wartime violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and global resistance to 'gender ideology.' Sexuality-related themes include same-sex unions, homonationalism, and the adoption of anti-LGBTI legislation. We will explore these themes from the perspective of empirical International Relations. This has two important implications for the design of this course: (1) the empirical focus means that we will primarily engage with descriptive and explanatory research questions, which sets the course apart from a normatively and philosophically inclined class on gender studies or queer theory; and (2) the international focus means that we will pay particular attention to International Relations theories; to developments within international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization; to transnational connections among both progressive and anti-gender actors; and to the international context within which domestic policymaking takes place. Gender and sexuality are increasingly contentious within international politics. An important prerequisite is therefore that students approach these topics with an open mind and a willingness to consider viewpoints that may differ from their own. Students should also expect to encounter empirical material that they might find disturbing, for example when reading about anti-gender politics or violence against women.
The first half of the course will introduce students to new research questions, theoretical concepts and frameworks, and methods of inquiry. These novel insights should form the foundation for the Bachelor thesis project, which takes center stage during the second half of the BAP. Students are asked to formulate a meaningful and feasible research question that connects to one of the course themes. The research project must be empirical and qualitative in nature. Research methods may include, but are by no means limited to, (comparative) case studies, process tracing, discourse analysis, content analysis, and frame analysis. Students will be expected to draw on both primary and secondary data to answer their research question.
113 - International Law and the Life and Death of States (Y.Y. Zhu)
Statehood is the most fundamental of all international legal institutions; yet the laws surrounding the birth and, more rarely, the death of states remain surprisingly muddled. Indeed, there is today no generally accepted legal framework governing the death of states, even though global warming will wipe off island states in the Pacific within the next few decades. Meanwhile, statehood is becoming increasingly detached from states’ capacity to actually govern their territories, and the last decades have seen the emergence of the ‘failed states’ paradigm, zombie states that retain full legal personality but who lack the capacity of performing the most basic of state functions.
This BAP will examine the international law governing the birth and death of states, both from a legal/doctrinal point of view and from a normative one. In Block III, you will study the existing body of law in this area in a seminar format, and critically assess the existing legal state of affairs. At the end of Block II and during Block IV, you will develop your own research question and pursue a research project related to the topic, under individualized supervision.
Methodologically, this BAP will focus on qualitative methods, and in particular legal analysis, both of the “black letter law” sort and the more normative approach. The course readings will include complex legal documents, reflecting the nature of the subject.
114 - Jnternational Law, Use of Force, and Protection of Human Rights (Dr. M. Kinacioglú)
This thesis seminar is designed to support bachelor students in conceptualizing, structuring and writing their projects on topics related to the law of the use of force in international relations, and the instruments and institutions for protection of human rights. It provides for key conceptual foundations of resort to force and human rights, and introduces main theoretical debates with special emphasis on questions related to the current practice, legitimacy and efficiency. The seminar also includes methodological aspects with a focus on normative research design. It invites project proposals that involve several aspects, diverse issues and current debates regarding the use of force and human rights.
115 - Justice and Equality in a Globalised World (Dr. M. Verschoor)
In January 2022, Oxfam reported that during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic the ten richest men on earth more than doubled their wealth, whereas 99 percent of people worldwide saw their income fall, and 160 million were forced into poverty. To most readers, this probably sounds like an instance of blatant injustice. But why exactly would inequalities like this be unjust? In order to answer this question, we have to turn to political philosophy.
Political philosophers have long occupied themselves with the question what people owe to each other. In response to this question, different thinkers have developed different views of justice and equality. Liberal egalitarians suggest that all members of society ought to enjoy equal basic liberties, while inequalities in income and wealth are allowed under particular conditions. Libertarians argue that such inequalities do not have to be unjust as long as they are the result of voluntary transactions between free individuals. Luck egalitarians take it that it is only unjust when one person is worse off than another as a result of bad luck, rather than her own choices. Relational egalitarians point out that equality is ultimately not about how certain goods are distributed among people, but about the way in which people relate to one another: what matters is whether they enjoy equal standing or respect. This brings into focus not just material inequalities, but also problems of domination and oppression.
Each of the views mentioned above yields another answer to the question what we owe to one another. But even if we settle on an answer to this question, there remains a further question to be asked, namely: To whom do we owe this? For a long time, political philosophers simply took it for granted that the notions of justice and equality apply to the domestic sphere only. If justice requires that individuals be treated as equals in some respect, then surely, many assumed uncritically, the scope of this requirement is limited to the domestic context. According to this statist view, justice is something co-nationals, i.e. citizens belonging to the same state, owe to each other. It is not something co-nationals owe to foreigners.
Recently, however, political philosophers have started to wonder whether the notion of justice could – and indeed should – also be invoked at the international, and perhaps even global, level. They raise this question because they have come to realise that the assumption of the statist view – the idea of a world divided into independent states – is a fantasy. Even if there ever existed a world of independent states, then, or so they claim, it certainly no longer exists nowadays. Instead, we live in an age of globalisation; an age in which states and individuals are becoming increasingly interdependent. During the last fifty years we witnessed an enormous increase in transboundary problems, such as climate change, economic crises, immigration flows, epidemics, terrorism, and other violent political conflicts.
This has led many political philosophers to reject the statist view of justice and instead embrace a cosmopolitan view. Given that human beings affect each other’s lives on an unprecedented scale, it makes no sense to limit the scope of justice to the domestic sphere of a set of independent states. Instead, principles of justice ought to be applied globally. Others, however, think that the effects of globalisation are exaggerated or otherwise morally insignificant and therefore do not change the scope of justice. Consequently, they remain committed to their statist view.
In this bachelor project students explore both the content and the scope of justice and equality. In the first, substantive part of the project (weeks 1-6), students become familiar with the most influential accounts of justice and equality in contemporary political philosophy (weeks 1-3), and the main statist and cosmopolitan views as well as various aspects of the academic debate on the scope of justice in a globalised world (weeks 4-6). In the second, thesis-specific part (weeks 7-16), students develop a philosophical perspective connected to one of the topics discussed in the first phase of the project, be it with respect to the content of justice and equality (weeks 1-3), or the scope of these values in a globalised world (weeks 4-6).
116: Readings in the History of Political Thought - M. Longo
This Bachelor Project engages close, critical reading of texts in the history of political thought, focusing on the modern era (roughly 16th – 20th century). This period oversaw huge political and economic changes – the rise of the modern state, liberalism, capitalism – and spawned equally significant contributions to political philosophy. Debates in this period regarded themes such as sovereignty, justice, democracy, obedience, and freedom – all of which remain pressing today.
This year the BAP will take an in-depth look at one of the most important authors within this varied canon – Hannah Arendt. Class will center on a close reading of her seminal work of political philosophy, The Human Condition; it was also look at secondary literature that engages critically with her legacy. During class we will reason through and debate a wide range of subjects that emerge from this text, including the intertwining of politics and morality, the relationship between citizen and state, and the role of theology in the secular era.
For their final theses, students will be asked to draw on this material to develop their own unique reading of the primary source material and use it to contribute to contemporary debates in the field.
Block III will be primarily substantive, working through the texts and articles in careful detail. By the end of the block, students will have developed skills necessary to critically evaluate primary sources and substantiate arguments in the field. There will be two written assignments – one focused on explicating primary sources; the second based on analyzing debates within the secondary literature. In Block IV, students will work independently to create their own arguments, drawing upon their own reading of the primary source material, to answer a question and advance a debate of their choosing. This term will involve extensive student-teacher dialogue, as well as group discussions, to help bring the projects to fruition.
The syllabus will be distributed before the first meeting of class. Because this is a reading intensive course, it makes sense to get a head start on some of the readings beforehand.
117 - Social Movements and Political Violence (Dr. C. Jentzsch)
The Bachelor’s project (BAP) Social Movements and Political Violence focuses on the links between civil resistance, social movements and political violence. Civil resistance can take on a variety of forms and social movements engage in different activities to achieve their goals. This BAP seeks to study the linkages between these different forms to analyze processes of escalation and radicalization of contentious collective action. The substantive component of the BAP is divided into three parts. The first part introduces students to the general topic of civil resistance and social movements: Why do social movements and civil resistance campaigns emerge? Why do people join such campaigns? What do social movements do? The second part then focuses on the dynamics of state-movement interactions: Under what conditions does civil resistance remain peaceful? Why do states sometimes accommodate and why sometimes repress protest? Under what conditions does nonviolent civil resistance “work” to achieve a movement’s goals? The third part of the course focuses on the dynamics of intra-movement competition and transformation. How and why do movement tactics evolve? Under what conditions do social movements turn to violence to achieve their goals? What types of violence do they engage in? Under what conditions do social movements produce armed groups? The types of political violence we will discuss include state repression, riots, political assassinations, terrorism, and civil war. Empirical examples will primarily come from Latin America and Africa, but also from the US and Europe, and include historical and contemporary examples, ranging from the Dutch resistance against German occupation during World War II to the Arab Uprisings in 2010/2011. The assignments during the substantive component of the BAP ask students to make use of a variety of primary and secondary sources, including visual media, and include both individual writing assignments and group presentations.
The substantive component of the BAP will provide students with an overview of the important concepts and theories in the field of social movements and political violence, demonstrate how to apply them to specific cases, and provide students with ideas for the thesis. For the thesis, students are asked to choose one theme from the syllabus, develop a well-identified research question relevant to that theme, and apply appropriate concepts and theories to a social movement of their choosing. The research for the thesis should go well beyond course readings and include a range of primary and secondary data, including visual media where appropriate. During the thesis-writing component of the BAP, students will learn how to plan and write case studies and develop and conduct their own case study using primarily qualitative methods.
118 - The Design and Evolution of International Economic Institutions (Dr. M. Sampson)
Following the global financial crisis, euro crisis, and COVID-19 the role of global economic institutions in facilitating and sustaining international economic cooperation in areas such as financial regulation, monetary policy, and international trade has become more important than ever. At the same time, these institutions increasingly constrain the domestic economic and political policies available to states. This bachelor’s project will begin by exploring and evaluating broad analytical approaches to international economic cooperation, as well as questioning the role of power, timing, and ideas in shaping global economic institutions. Related questions focusing on the distributional consequences of particular institutions will also be addressed. In this project global economic institutions are broadly defined to include not only organizations such as the WTO, IMF, and World Bank but also governance arrangements, regulations, and international agreements.
Research Methods:
The focus of this BAP will be on qualitative methodological approaches.
119 - (Dr. T. Swalve)