European Political Systems

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Taught at a host instituion. The objective of the course is to give, using a multidisciplinary approach, an outline of the main European political models and to identify, through an historic approach, the process of building a new institutional model, the European Union. Starting from very different national political traditions (we will essentially study the French, British, Italian and German models), how do we build an institutional architecture which is not a synthesis but really a historical creation. We will particularly take an interest, using a comparative perspective, in both institutional traditions and political practices of the main European nations and thus identifying the main models of organization and the global structure of the political balance of power in Europe. Using the angle of political science, we will also try to characterize all the political actors (citizens, political professionals, the media.) in France and in Europe and investigate the presence of a common base of values and representations from the divergent national political cultures.