Political Systems

Teacher(s)

Duez Denis;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The objective of the course is twofold. First, it aims to provide students with basic knowledge of the characteristics and operating methods of the major contemporary political regimes, whether democratic or non-democratic. At the end of the course, the students will have been introduced to the study of institutional aspects, but also to the social and political regimes studied. Second, the course aims to arouse a critical reflection on the ideological and moral foundations that typically underlies the attempts to classify the political regimes.

Content

The terms "dictatorship", "democracy", "monarchy", "republic" or "totalitarian regime" have today entered everyday language. However, their precise contours are often poorly understood by those who use them. These familiar terms also have a very long history in which merge an effort to describe the political systems they refer to and value judgments on them. For some categories, such as "totalitarianism", their very relevance can be questioned from a political science point of view. The course intends to provide students with a critical analysis of the various types of political regimes, from Plato to the present day, while developing in greater depth some case studies.The first lessons are devoted to a general introduction aimed at clarifying the many definitions of the concept of "political regime’" and briefly tracing its genesis. The following lessons are then devoted to liberal democracies. After examining the main electoral systems and party systems, the course takes a closer look at four regimes that can be likened to ideal-types: 1) the presidential system in the United States, 2) the parliamentary system in the United Kingdom, 3) the semi-presidential system in France and 4) rationalised parliamentarianism in Germany. The final lessons are devoted to authoritarian and "totalitarian" regimes. In this part of the course, the main ways of analysing authoritarian regimes are presented: populist, Bonapartist, fascist, etc. regimes. Depending on the number of sessions available, the course may focus on a specific case.

Teaching methods

Course description:

The course will present theoretical and empirical works (legal, political and socio-political) on each of the themes. PowerPoint presentations, including the structure of lectures, tables, charts, images and links to videos or websites presented during the course, will be made available in Moodle.

Learning activities description:
Firstly, students are required to follow political news related to the course topic in a country identified at the beginning of the term. Secondly, students may be invited to attend one or two events (conferences, seminars, etc.) or to follow televised debates, podcasts or webcasts. These events are directly related to the course material. They are identified in due time. These events are offered among the activities organised on the Saint-Louis site, on the sites of other universities or institutions in Brussels, or can be followed remotely by the student. Each event will be introduced in advance by the lecturer during one of the course sessions. The events will be discussed with students during the following session. Thirdly, students may be asked to complete one or more compulsory readings.

Evaluation methods

The assessment takes the form of a written examination.
The examination aims to verify the student's mastery of the notions and concepts studied during the course. The questions presuppose a very good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. The student could, for example, be asked to comment on a current topic by adequately mobilizing the concepts, theories or typologies presented during the course. One or more exam questions relate to learning activities (+/- 25% of the final grade).
The use of artificial intelligence in the assessment tests for this course is governed by the rules set out in the university Academic regulations and procedures, which is available on the university's website. Unless explicitly instructed otherwise by the course teacher, the use of AI by students is forbidden in assessment tests.

Bibliography

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• Baloge M., La politique en Allemagne, Paris, La Découverte, 2024.
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• Baehr P., Richter M. (eds), Dictatorship in History and Theory: Bonapartism, Caesarism, and Totalitarianism, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
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• Schnapper P., La politique au Royaume-Uni, Paris, La Découverte, 2022.
• Schumpeter J., Capitalisme, socialisme et démocratie, Paris, Bibliothèque historique Payot, 1990.

Faculty or entity

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