The Politcal System of Germany

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The course introduces participants to the basics of Germany's political system in the anniversary year "75 Years of the Basic Law" and is aimed at foreign students who want to gain knowledge of the political science discipline and technical language -level at least B2. The focus is on vocabulary work and speaking about political contexts. We will familiarize ourselves with several topics and get to know different perspectives in role plays. In terms of content, we address the fundamental principles of the German Basic Law - parliamentary democracy, constitutional/federal/welfare state - as well as the interaction of political institutions and actors, particularly parties. While the focus in the first part of the course is on theoretical work, we will then look at concrete events such as upcoming elections - local elections in Baden-Wurttemberg and European elections in June, state elections in autumn - and some in these election campaigns and debates analyze policy areas such as refugee, climate and social policy in detail.