Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po)

The course focuses on the scientific study of elections and voting behavior in modern democracies. It examines in detail the act of voting in contemporary democracies (mostly Western but also non-Western democracies). The topics covered include how voters form preferences for parties/candidates, how they translate these preferences into a vote (or an abstention), and how they react to electoral campaigns and the state of the economy. It also covers how parties decide upon their electoral program, and how this affects their electoral performance. The course develops skills to actively read, fully understand, and critically appraise the scientific literature on elections; mobilize and articulate this scientific literature on elections to form an informed judgement about the state of elections in contemporary democracies and analyze new elections; and independently catch up with the latest developments of the scientific literature about elections. 

While questioning the relevance of the concept of the "Iranian world," this course provides fundamental knowledge in the political sociology of contemporary Iran and Afghanistan, from a comparative perspective. The course considers together the political, economic, and cultural developments of these two states over a long period, from the fall of Isfahan in 1722, under the blows of an Afghan invasion, to the fall of Kabul in 2021, via the Anglo-Persian war of Herat in 1856-1857 and the concomitant upheavals of 1978 and 1979. Methods of comparative politics are combined with those of connected history to better understand the "Iranian world" as a whole, as well as each of its two major components, highlighting their differences as much as their similarities. The comparative study of Islamic currents of thought in the two countries forms an important part of this course. This includes a focus on the Arab world, as well as the Indian subcontinent. Finally, while the course focuses on Iran and Afghanistan, it also includes Tajikistan, the only other state where Persian is the official language. The course includes a visit to the Guimet Museum.

This course covers the development of public administrations during the 18th and 19th centuries. It addresses the ways in which government impresses political will onto the day-to-day lives of ordinary people, and how, inversely, society shapes government. It is both a course in history and public law. The course draws attention to the centuries of social evolution and legal tinkering behind many habitual features of our contemporary “bureaucratic” administrations. It explores several administrative systems across the Atlantic and Europe, namely that of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia. Each session begins with the commentary of a visual document relating to aspects of a period's daily life containing cues to the legal and institutional context. The rest of the session consists of a brief lecture and a primary sources discussion. Sources are provided in a reader and mostly consist of historical legal documents.

This course examines the dynamics of contemporary racism in France through a knowledge of long history. It traces the genealogy of racism as it is expressed, both in the processes at work and in the debates that run through our society. To achieve this, the seminar focuses in particular, but not exclusively, on the legacy of our colonial past in terms of the expression of racism. This focus is directly linked to the lively debates that have arisen since the late 1990s as French society questions its colonial past. The seminar also develops the ability to reflect on the issues raised in a complex and problematized way.

This course focuses on European and Transatlantic security in the context of the Ukraine war and renewed international competition. It discusses how transatlantic security works from both the institutional framework (NATO, EU) and the national policies from the main actors, and investigates the recent evolution of the relationship between the two sides of the Atlantic. The course focuses primarily on security issues but also includes economic aspects (defense industry production capacities, the European Defense Fund). It also considers China in the Transatlantic context. The course utilizes a methodology learning style to develop executive-style presentation skills and media-style debate skills through the weekly exercises.

This course provides an introduction to the major economic issues of our time in order to master conceptual and empirical tools. The teaching style reverses the way economics is traditionally taught; instead of starting with the derivation of models, this course starts with a historical or current question or issue and sheds light on it through the use of economic models and concepts. It covers both the benefits of modeling and the inevitable shortcomings of the models used. The course provides a better understanding of major contemporary debates and issues with a strong political and social dimension, such as inequality, climate change, the sources of prosperity and innovation, economic instability and crises, and economic and public policy. It offers a rigorous theoretical introduction informed by recent empirical research and incorporates recent advances in economics, including strategic interactions, contract and information theory, behavioral economics, and new experimental methods. Microeconomics and macroeconomics are treated jointly.

This course approaches the economics of refugees as a theme in its own right within the economics of migration. It provides a comprehensive overview of the contemporary issues involved in receiving people who are forced to move to developed countries. It considers subjects that the tools of economics can decipher and interconnect to inform public decision-making, such as international law, public policy, the behavior of populations in host countries, the impact on the labor market, and climate change, as well as NGOs, international institutions, and companies in the social economy. 

Relying on a multidisciplinary perspective, this course provides theoretical and empirical tools to understand contemporary Iran. It studies decisive historical events, figures, and ideologies to understand how Iran interacted and interacts with regional and global powers. It analyzes the Iranian political and religious model to understand continuities and discontinuities in Iranian domestic policies (institutional and political structure, state ideology) as well as the evolution of alliances and balances of powers (regionally and internationally). The course encourage reading and familiarization with the global academic literature to develop critical thinking and methodological skills.

This course presents the main principles of International Political Economy (or Global Political Economy), which studies globalization, i.e. the reciprocal interaction between international relations, economics, and politics by gathering knowledge from history, international relations, politics, economics, and sociology in an innovative way. The course provides a broad overview of the frameworks of analysis, actors, institutions, issues, and processes responsible for international relations, the causes of war, inter-state economic competition, and the structural configuration of power in the global context. Therefore, it tries to analyze global affairs into a three-dimensional perspective: statist logic, market logic, and institutional logic. It also provides both academic skills and applies these skills for professional outcomes. The course relies on readings, class debates, and the study of factual cases.

This course studies diplomacy as an instrument, as public policy, and as a form of international social life. The scope and trajectory of the course are determined by the following questions: what is diplomacy and what are its functions? What is a diplomatic actor? How is diplomacy shaped and conducted? What are its limits?