mspol2145  2018-2019  Mons

5 credits
30.0 h
Q2
Teacher(s)
Aoun Elena; Panait Oana;
Language
French
Prerequisites
MSPOL1339 International Politics
MSPOL1340 Theories of International relations
MSPOL2228 Theories of democracy
Main themes
This course tackles contemporary issues relating to international democracy that derive from: the phenomena of governance and globalization, the challenge globalization entails for formal and informal international bodies, and the rise of influential non-state actors operating at the international level and that might be conceived of as constitutive of an international civil society. The course will examine that very notion, analyze its evolutions, the actors it subsumes, and their capacity to influence decision-making processes (in economic, social, environmental, political fields'). The course reflects on the democratic legitimacy of such actors and their ability to affect international outcomes.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

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At the end of this course, the student will be able to analyze the major challenges that pertain to the behavior of both state (States, International organizations) and non-state actors at the international level in terms of democracy, as well as challenges relating to a would-be international civil society, its evolution, its actors and their impact on policy-making processes in a wide variety of domains. The student will be able to understand and criticize the theoretical assertions of a scientific article on such topics. S.he will also be able to identify the theoretical and conceptual tools that seem to be the most appropriate for the examination of a specific topic in the realm of the course.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled ¿Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit¿.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
The course will offer a quick conceptual overview on both democracy and civil society. It will also tackle:
  • the challenges both democracy and civil society entail at the international level
  • the theories developed to grasp these challenges
  • the democratic deficit of international organisations
  • the actors of the international civil society, their legitimacy and their strategies
  • and more thematic issues such as democratisation and institutional engineering; human rights; global justice...
Teaching methods
Mix of lectures, discussions around specific readings, and the oral presentation of a case study based on a limited field inquiry conducted by groups of students.
Evaluation methods
Students will be assessed on the basis of their active participation during the courses + the presentation of their field inquiry + a resulting written research paper.
Bibliography
Keck, Margaret E., Sikkink, Kathryn, Activists beyond borders: advocacy networks in international politics, Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1998
Russet, Bruce and Oneal, John, Triangulating peace. Democracy, interdependence and international organizations, New York: W.W. Norton & Cie, 2001
Scholte, Jan Aart (ed.), Building global democracy: Civil society and accountable global governance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011
Faculty or entity
PSAD


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Political Sciences: International Relations
PRIM2M
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