Registration ends 07.4.2026 at 23:59 h

You will register automatically for this course if you register for one of the following courses:
Introduction to Comparative Politics - B (Sarah Engler),
Introduction to Comparative Politics - A (Sarah Engler)

Why are some states democratic and others not? How do institutions differ across democracies, and does it matter whether a president, a prime minister, or both rule a country? How do political parties organize societal conflicts? These and many more questions are at the core of the introductory class of comparative politics. The lecture introduces students to the field of comparative politics, which analyses domestic politics from various perspectives and historically relies on comparisons of political systems to learn about how states work. We start with a broad view on different types of regimes and regime change, and then move our focus to institutions, actors, and voters in established democracies.

The accompanying seminar deepens the students’ knowledge about the content of the lecture, provides additional material to better understand how research in comparative politics works (e.g. measurement of concepts, application of comparative methods) and gives students the opportunity to apply the learned concepts and theories in group exercises and case studies.

By the end of this course, students are familiar with the core concepts and theories of comparative politics. Furthermore, they have a better overview of the cross-national variation in institutions, party systems, and policy outcomes among established democracies. They have learned to critically engage with the literature and to contrast different perspectives and approaches with each other.

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