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Instructors: Dr. phil. Jared Sonnicksen
Event type:
proseminar
Org-unit: Dept. 02 - Institute of Political Science
Displayed in timetable as:
PS2Vergl
Subject:
Crediting for:
Hours per week:
2
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | -
Course Contents:
Vergleich II: North American Government. Comparing Canada and the United States
Literature:
A literature list will be made available in the first session of class. I can highly recommend (at least) the following two books:
Lowi, Theodore/Ginsberg, Benjamin/Shepsle, Kenneth/Ansolabehere, Stephen (2013): American Government. Power and Purpose, 13th Edition, New York: W.W. Norton.
Malcolmson, Patrick/Myers, Richard (2012): The Canadian Regime. An Introduction to Parliamentary Government in Canada, 5th Edition, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Official Course Description:
Canada and the United States have a great deal in common and share a certain North American heritage and identity. With regard to their political systems however, it would seem more difficult to speak of a “North American” type of government, with Canada being a parliamentary system and constitutional monarchy, and the USA a presidential system and a constitutional republic. On the other hand, both countries for example are federations and have (simple) majoritarian electoral systems. As part of this course, we will take a closer look at both countries’ political systems with a comparative approach, examining how power is separated and shared between different levels and institutions. Our goal in studying Canada and the USA is, among other things, to become more familiar with these systems while systematically determining similarities and differences. The course sets out, above all, to provide an opportunity to apply concepts of comparative political science and thus improve our understanding of systems of government and our ability to analyze from a comparative perspective.
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