Political Science

The course is organized around three major themes: values, voting, and trust. The first theme concerns citizens’ belief systems, notably their political attitudes and values: how are these structured, what explains them, how are they changing? The second theme concerns electoral behavior: why do people vote (or not) at all, and if they do, how do they choose among the parties? Finally, the course covers generalized “political trust” in democratic institutions and processes. Is political trust on the decline, and if so where and why? What are the broader consequences of political trust for politics and society? In all three parts, the course emphasizes the interplay between citizens and political parties: how do  these affect and react to each other? In each part, moreover, the course considers a variety of explanatory factors, including deep-seated explanations connected to social background (e.g. class, education, gender) as well as more short-term explanations (e.g. election campaigns, fluctuating economic interests, and the performance of the incumbent government).

The recent policy reforms launched in the UK National Health System coupled with the challenges faced by health systems globally with the Covid-19 pandemic, emphasize the need for a better understanding of how healthcare systems function, how they are financed, and how strategic policies are developed to ensure the provision of care to the highest quality standards. In this course, students understand how the state and other private and public health-related institutions and processes influence health systems' performance. Moreover, the module explores the demographic and socio-economic challenges faced by healthcare systems, particularly in terms of power and resources contested in the health sector. It is intended to address the gap in health economics that often ignores the developments of the political economy in health systems. This course is relevant for students from several backgrounds, as the focus are both on politics and economics and their interface in terms of health and healthcare.

This course addresses the central problems facing us in the 21st century, which concern access to water, food, energy, shelter, as well as justice, in the context of a destabilizing climate and degradation of environmental resources. The course debates principles, concepts, contexts, issues and applications of sustainable development from the perspective of different disciplines, and helps students situate themselves in these debates as well as reflect on their own stance.