84
ÅboAkademiUniversity2014/2015
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
3. PesonenP andRiihinenO. Dynamic Finland. Thepolitical
systemand thewelfarestate. Finnish literaturesociety,2002.
Political Institutions in theEuropeanUnion
370161.0
5credits (PoliticalScienceandPublicAdministration)
Intermediate level
Lecturedcourse
Offered:Autumn2014
Lecturer: PDHenrikSerupChristensen ( hchriste[a]abo.fi)
Aimandcontents:TheEuropeanUniontoday isan important
and controversial actor in the system of governance in Eu-
rope, and there is simultaneouslydeep scepticismandgreat
expectations fortheprospectsoftheunion.Atthesametime,
it isanovel andcomplexpolitical system,whichdoesnot fit
easily intothetraditionalconceptswithinpoliticalscience.For
this reason, there is good reason to examine inmore detail
how thebeast functions. This course introduceshow theEU
functions and some issues that havebeenproblematicdur-
ingtheEuropean integrationprocess.Topicscoveredarethe
historical development of the EU; main institutional actors;
decision-making intheEU; importantpolicyareas;and future
challenges for theEU.
Learningoutcomes:Aftercompleting thecourse thestudent
shouldbeable to
1.
summarise thehistorical developmentof theEU
2.
identifycentral conceptsandactors in theEU
3.
explain the role of these concepts and actors in the
EU
4.
differentiatebetween thevariousdecision-makingpro-
ceduresusedby theEU
5.
distinguish central differences betweenpolicy areas in
theEU
6.
show how the institutions of the EU affect democracy
anddecision-making.
Teachingmethods:Lectures (15h)andreadings. Ifyou intend
to take the course, please signup viaMoodle since thiswill
be themain channel of communication during the course:
Entry requirements: Basic or intermediate studies in Public
Administration
Target group: a) exchange students, b) undergraduate and
graduate studentsatÅboAkademi
Formof assessment:Homeexamand/or essay
Course literature:
1.Peterson, John.,Shackleton,Michael:The Institutionsofthe
EuropeanUnion.OxfordUniversityPress, 2006
2.Sourander,Dag:EU-Lexikon-Deneuropeiska integrationen
frånA tillÖ. Liber, 2006
Forother languages thanSwedish, see:
3. Bomberg, Elizabeth, John Peterson and Richard Corbett:
The European Union. How does it work? Oxford university
Press, Thirdedition2012
4. Nugent, N: TheGovernment andPolitics of the European
Union. PalgraveMacMillan, 7. ed. 2010
5. Selectionof articles (will beavailable inMoodle)
ComparativeDemocratisation
375115.0
5credits (Political science)
Intermediate level
Lecturedcourse
Offered:
4QSJOH
201
Lecturer:D.Phil IngaSaikkonen (
Aim:Thecourseaims togive thestudentsagoodknowledge
of comparative theoriesondemocratisationsand thepersis-
tenceof non-democratic regimes in theworld.
Thiscourse introducesstudentstocomparativetheoriesabout
democratic transitions and democratic consolidation. The
coursebeginsbyevaluatingdifferentways toconceptualise
andmeasuredemocracyandnon-democraticregimes.Wewill
thendiscuss various theories ondemocratic transitions and
(non)consolidation, suchas theeffectof economicdevelop-
ment,elitestrategies,political institutions, the 'resourcecurse'
and international influences.Theory isdiscussedtogetherwith
empirical examples fromnewlydemocratisedcountriesand
cross-national comparativedata.
Teachingmethods:Lectures (15h), readings, seminardiscus-
sion
Entry requirements: Basicknowledge in social sciences
Formof assessment:Writtenexam, activeparticipation
Readings:
1.Teorell, J. (2010)DeterminantsofDemocratization,Explain-
ingRegimeChange intheWorld1972-2006 (Cambridge:CUP)
2. Geddes, B. (2009) 'WhatCausesDemocratization?' Boix, C.
& Stokes, S.C., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Comparative
Politics (Oxford:OUP)Ch. 14.
3. Boix,C. andStokes, S.C.(July2003) 'EndogenousDemocra-
tization',WorldPolitics, 55(4), 517-549
4. Levitsky, S. andWayL.A. (July2005) 'International Linkage
andDemocratization', Journal ofDemocracy, 16(3), 20-34
5. Schedler,A. (January2010) 'Authoritarianism'sLastLineof
Defense', Journal ofDemocracy, 21(1), 69-80
6.Gandhi, J. andLust-Okar, E. (2009) 'ElectionsunderAutho-
riatarianism', Annual Reviewof Political Science, 12, 403-422
7. Ross,M.L. (2001)'DoesOilHinderDemocracy?'WorldPoli-
tics, 53(3), 325-361
CorruptionandDevelopment
5PCFDPOGJSNFE
375113.0
5credits (PoliticalScience)
Intermediate level
Virtual course
Offered:Autumn2014
Lecturer: PDCatharinaGroop (
Introduction: The report "Our Common Future" by the
BruntlandCommissiondefined sustainabledevelopment as
"Development thatmeets theneeds of thepresentwithout
compromising theabilityof futuregenerations tomeet their
ownneeds".Corruptionshouldbe regardedas theantithesis
ofsustainabledevelopment. Inacorruptsociety, fundsaredi-
verted fromthedevelopmentprocessandchanneled intothe
handsof the few (whooftenalreadyarewell off). Asa result,
childrendonotreceivetheeducationtheyareentitledto, the
sick donot receive the health care they sobadly need, and
theeconomydoesnotdevelop, amongother things. Itgoes
without saying that such a state of affairs erodes capacities
and compromises abilities to achieve short-term as well as
long-termdevelopmentgoals.Combatingcorruptionshould
thereforebeakeypriority for all actors.
Aim: The proposed course introduces participants to the
linkagesbetweencorruptionanddevelopment. Participants
arefirst introduced tocorruptionasaphenomenon (module
1). The course then proceeds to discussingwhy corruption
shouldbe regarded as aproblem inneedof solution (mod-
ule2). Thefinalmoduleof thecourse (module3) introduces
participants to tools forcombatingcorruption. At theendof
thecourse studentswill beconversantwith:
t
Different definitionsof corruptionand the implications
of choosingone rather thananother
t
Thedifferent facesof corruption inpractice
