IPOL164 — European Politics
This course explores European politics through a broadly comparative perspective. It first addresses the strategic developments of the last few years, starting with the end of the cold war, and the new security frameworks emerging as Europe enters the next century. We then discuss European nationalis, examining this issue in the context of Spain and Yugoslavia. This is followed by lectures on the wider significance of German re-unification. In the second part of the course, we will use a regional framework of analysis. Here we will examine in general the Nordic democracies, the Mediterranean states, the newly established and struggling democracies of central Europe and the smaller European democracies such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg,and Austria. Finally in the last section of the course we will examine some comparative trends: European electoral behaviour, Europe's various distinctive styles of goverance, and the rise of political extremist movements across Europe in the last few years.