Political Science

This course examines what is public opinion; how does public opinion influence politics; and can political elites manipulate public opinion. Specifically, it examines how citizens form opinions, how public opinion may influence policymaking and political selection, and how politicians and the media may shape public opinion.

This course focuses on understanding the relationship between terrorism and urban space. It traces the impact of terrorist attacks on cities and urban, cultural, political, religious, public, and economic areas in the strategies of terrorist organizations. The course discusses the method of terrorism to manipulate and change urban spaces and the counter-terrorism strategies and policies aimed at rehabilitating the damage. Three cities will be the primary examples in this course, among others: New York, Paris, and Mosul. The course provides an introduction to global digital governance and highlights the importance of understanding how internet technology functions, is evolving, and being governed. It examines how the digitization of the world is impacting our societies and economies, and what rules this trend may imply.

This course analyzes the role of mass media and other channels of communication in local and international political processes. It examines the way in which governments communicate through the media, and the role the media play as either independent watchdogs or as tools of the political system. 

This course reacts to the last developments in the Central European space in the dynamic process of the European integration. The migration situation since 2015, the threats of terrorism, the decision of the Great Britain to leave the European Union within two years are largely influencing also the political atmosphere in Central European countries. The course explains the interdependence of both the developments of five Central European countries (Czech republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary) after the historical changes in 1989, as well as those developments inside the EU caused by the enlargement of the EU into Central Europe.

This course focuses on governance in Hong Kong, political change since being returned to China, political party system and operation, electoral system and operation, legislative council system and operation, government governance and public policy, honest and upright government system, district council system and operation. It also covers the political development process, political party system, and electoral system in Taiwan. It compares Hong Kong and Taiwan, with special attention to the political structure and government administration, the political party and electoral system, the political development process, and the mission of “One Country, Two Systems” in the reunification of the motherland.

Affective polarization has grown dramatically. Partisans increasingly avoid, distrust, and hate one another to the point where they even condone violence against the other side. Affective polarization is widely seen as a destabilizing force that erodes democracy, but what explains this phenomenon? This course grapples with different definitions of polarization, alternative approaches to explaining its causes, political and non-political consequences of affective polarization, how to compare different countries in regard to their polarization, and mitigating factors. In group work sessions students apply this knowledge by analyzing real world data.

This course studies key aspects of contemporary French culture and civilization. The course covers topics that are pertinent to the functions of French society such as state organization, the educational system, the press and media, and demographics.

This course studies the relationship between economic crises and the cluster of policy solutions known as austerity. It explores why austerity is often seen as the most efficacious solution to economic downturn, and considers whether resorting to austerity in the present repeats errors of the past in light of the history of crises of capitalism. The course reviews the intellectual roots of austerity and examines the institutional and ideational factors that explain its widespread use by policy-makers in the present period. It considers whether austerity as a policy package is either compatible with or sustainable under democratic politics. The course examines the social impact of austerity budgeting in areas such as public health and discusses the emergent politics of anti-austerity on both sides of the political spectrum. It draws mostly on literature from the political science subfields of comparative and international economy, as well as the fields of macroeconomics, economic history, sociology and public health.