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| Semester | fall semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Clint Claessen (clint.claessen@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | What will be the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and why? The American presidential elections always receive much international attention and speculation. In this seminar we delve deeper into the nuts and bolts of the upcoming elections. How does the electoral process work? What campaign strategies do both campaign teams use? How trustworthy are political polls? The seminar is structured according to the different players and aspects in the election cycle: the parties, the primaries, the party members, the candidates, the campaigns, the media, the polls, the voters, the electoral system and ultimately, the office of the newly elected president. The seminar consists of theoretical sessions (+-70%) and applied sessions (+-30%) where we will work in the R environment. The goal is that you can make your own election prediction in R on the basis of your newfound knowledge about the different factors that play a role in the electoral process. |
| Learning objectives | At the end of the seminar: - The students can put forward predictions and explanations of election outcomes on the basis of newfound knowledge of the electoral process and political campaigning. - They can analyse political campaigns on the basis of campaign strategies and interpret the predictive power of political polls. - They understand the competencies of the U.S. president in comparison to at least two political leaders from European democracies. - They can perform basic statistical operations (OLS/Logit) with election data in R. |
| Bibliography | Maisel, S. L. (2007) American Political Parties and Elections. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Polsby, N. W., Wildavsky, A. B., & Hopkins, D. A. (2008). Presidential elections: Strategies and structures of American politics. Rowman & Littlefield. Stromer-Galley, Jennifer (2014) Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age. Oxford University Press. Taylor, S. L., M.S. Shugart, A. Lijphart,, & B. Grofman (2014) A Different Democracy: A Systematic Comparison of the American System with Thirty Other Democracies. New Haven: Yale University Press. Asher, Herb (2017) Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know. CQ Press. |
| Comments | Attention: All Seminars will be graded in the Department of Political Science. Grading scale 6.0 to 1.0, whereupon 4.0 is a pass. The number of participants is limited to 30 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to students of Political Science. |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited to 30 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to students of Political Science, preferably those who have successfully completed the lecture "Einführung in Quantitative Methoden". Please note that this course will be given online and that therefore participation will require a working microphone, a webcam and a reliable internet connection. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Regionaler Fokus B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Vertiefung Politikwissenschaft B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Active participation and bi-weekly response papers (900-1100 words each) There will be at least one assignment that includes working with R Attention: All Seminars will be graded in the Department of Political Science. Grading scale 6.0 to 1.0, whereupon 4.0 is a pass. |
| 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 |