Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies.
Limited places are also open for exchange students. Please note: this course takes place in The Hague.
Description
This course examines political institutions and democracy in North America. It discusses constitutional structures, electoral arrangements, and political parties, with a view to assessing the scope and effectiveness of democracy. While the course concentrates on the recent past, an historical overview furnishes essential context. Most of the course deals with the United States, but discussion of Canada and Mexico provides a comparative element.
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provide a sound understanding of the political systems of the North America, and to enable them to make critical comparisons between them. The course will also help students to assess the political systems of these countries in the context of democracy and democratization as an international phenomenon.
Academic skills to be acquired and developed during the course:
Critical thinking; essay writing; writing under pressure (time management); teamwork; presentation; peer assessment.
Most precisely, as determined in the Course and Examination Regulations of the Bachelors’ Programs of the Faculty of Humanities and particularly of International Studies: 3; 7-11; I.1-5; II.1-2; III.1-3; IV.1-4.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website
Mode of instruction
One two hour lecture per week; tri-weekly tutorials.
Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform the tutor of the course in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent without notification and valid reason or not being present at half or more of the tutorial sessions will mean your assignments will not be assessed, and result in a 1.0 for the tutorial (30% of the final grade).
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 5 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), this equals 140 hours, broken down by:
Atending lectures: 2 hours per week x 12 weeks: 24 hrs
Atending tutorials 2 hours per three weeks: 8 hrs
Assessment hours (midterms and final exam): 4 hrs
Time for studying the compulsory literature: 68 hrs
Time for completing assignments, preparation classes and exams: 36 hrs
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm Exam:
Written examination with short open questions
Written examination with essay questions
Final exam:
Written examination with short open questions
Written examination with essay questions
Weighing
Tutorials 30%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 40 %
To complete the final mark, please take notice of the following: the final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
If the final grade is insufficient (lower than a 6), there is the possibility of retaking the full 70% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier mid- and endterm grades. No resit for the tutorials is possible.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
Reading list
Richard M. Valelly, American Politics: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)
Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller, The Party Decides – Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008)
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable