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80853-01 - Seminar: Comparative Political Parties: Organization, Competition, and Government (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Mohamed Nasr (mohamed.nasr@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | A FIRST INTRODUCTORY SESSION WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 12.15 to 1:00 PM VIA ZOOM Political parties are central actors in representative democracy. They compete for electoral support, respond to changing social and political environments, and seek to translate electoral success into political influence and government power. But how do parties compete? Why do voters support particular parties? How do parties respond to new challengers? And what happens to party promises and strategies once parties enter government? This seminar introduces students to major approaches in the comparative study of political parties by focusing on these questions. It begins by examining the foundations of electoral choice, known to connecting parties and citizens, contrasting rational-choice approaches to party competition with sociological explanations based on social cleavages and political alignments. It then turns to party strategies, examining why parties change—or maintain—their ideological positions and how they compete through issue ownership and issue emphasis. The seminar then discusses contemporary challenges to democracy represented in the emergence of challenger and niche parties. It asks how new – especially radical – competitors disrupt established patterns of competition and how established parties respond. Next, we moves from electoral competition to government, examining whether parties – after they win elections – fulfil their electoral pledges and how coalition politics shapes party behaviour. The seminar concludes by returning to the relationship between parties and citizens. After studying how parties behave during campaigns, compete with each other, and form governments, we will ask: do voters actually understand what parties stand for? How much information do citizens have about party positions, and how do party cues and political heuristics shape their perceptions? The course combines short lectures with discussions, group exercises, and empirical examples. Students are expected to engage actively with the assigned readings and to apply theoretical arguments to concrete cases of party competition. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Explain major theoretical approaches to party competition and electoral choice. 2. Distinguish between rational-choice and sociological explanations of voting behaviour. 3. Explain why and how political parties change their policy positions and issue strategies. 4. Understand the emergence of challenger and niche parties and the strategic responses of established parties. 5. Explain major approaches to coalition formation and government behaviour. 6. Assess whether and why parties fulfil or break their electoral promises. 7. Discuss how citizens perceive, understand, and evaluate the policy positions of political parties |
| Bibliography | The seminar does not rely on a single textbook. Each session is based on selected peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Key works combine both classical works, such as Downs’ “An Economy Theory of Democracy” and Lipset and Rokkan on cleavage structures and party systems; with more contemporary literature such as Meguid on party competition and De Vries and Hobolt on political entrepreneurs. |
| Comments | Die Teilnehmer:innenzahl ist aus Gründen der Qualitätssicherung der Lehre auf 25 Teilnehmer:innen beschränkt. Bei Überbuchung haben Bachelor-Studierende der Politikwissenschaft ab dem 4. Fachsemester Vorrang. |
| Admission requirements | A FIRST INTRODUCTORY SESSION WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 12.15 to 1:00 PM VIA ZOOM This course examines contemporary literature on voting behaviour and party strategies, with a focus on quantitative empirical studies. Students should have a solid understanding of analytical research design and quantitative statistical methods. |
| Course application | |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.197 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 04.11.2026 | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.197 |
| Wednesday 11.11.2026 | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum 02.073 |
| Wednesday 18.11.2026 | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.197 |
| Wednesday 25.11.2026 | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.197 |
| Wednesday 02.12.2026 | 12.15-16.30 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.197 |
| Modules |
Module: Extension Political Science (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) Module: Extension Social Sciences BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) Module: Specialization in Comparative Politics (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Active participation in the class is a must. Students will also write a response paper and write a term paper. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,5 |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Politikwissenschaft |