Course Description
Summary
Political institutions are the decision norms and organizations that govern political life. Academic and policy interest in such institutions is flourishing as previously authoritarian states seek to craft democratic constitutions, while established and new democracies contend with non-democratic, illiberal, or populist challenges to their political systems. This course introduces students to major political institutions and the debates about their relative merits. Readings, assignments, case studies, and class discussions and presentations will explore institutional structures and choices in contemporary polities, including parliamentary and presidential systems; federal and unitary arrangements; plurality and proportionality electoral designs; formal and informal political institutions; the nature of 鈥渉ybrid鈥 political systems; and problems of institutional design in transitional political or constitutional contexts.
