UCL - Political Egineering and Elections

[SPRI2210]

[30h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 1st semester.

Teacher(s): Lieven De Winter, Pierre Dehez, Benoît Rihoux(coord.)

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

At the end of this specialized course, the student will have acquired a set of technical skills in the matter of insti-tutional design. He will also have developed a capacity of critical and transversal thinking (interdisciplinary) about the political and electoral engineering.

Main themes

The course deals with the question of the institutional "design", both on the level of the institutions (electoral engineering, management of the assemblies, financing of the parties, etc), and on the level of the political or-ganizations (parties, for example). The key topics are approached in three different ways: through politology (light of political science), through legislation (in particular of public law), and through normative point of vew (light of political philosophy and ethics).

Each year, two central topics are selected, according to their importance (current events, etc) and the debates which they can launch. Two possible topics for the first year could be: 1/ electoral engineering (access to the political positions): a specific topic to choose among the following topics: right or obligation to vote, male-female parity, voting rights for the non-Belgian citizens, reforms of the electoral system (system of poll, size of the elec-toral constituency,) ; 2/ the political ethics of the individual agents (civil service): a specific topic to choose among the following topics: political liability, "Permanence sociale" (the interaction citizen-agent-administration),

Content and teaching methods

The course is primarily taught ex cathedra, but constantly in crossed lights, by a team of teachers, between po-litical science, public law, ethics and political philosophy. A set of sessions are given by only one teacher, while others allow confrontations between different point of vews.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Written exam (practical details are to be given later)