Compared Political Systems in the New World Order

The aim of this module is to provide students with some background in Politics or IR a grasp of the main conceptual approaches, schools, methods, and sub-disciplines in Comparative Politics. Several political systems and institutional alternatives, processes and political actors will be discussed through comparative methods in order to identify differences and qualitatively analyze aspects of international policy. We will study a range of topics like systems of government and political systems, ideologies, political culture, and institutional development. Current controversies regarding the evolution of the new world order will also be examined, as well as the globalization phenomenon and its influence on the governance of the current international system.

Contemporary theories in the study and analysis of International Relations, its concepts, foundations and methodological tools will be explained, as well as the main interpretation trends and the most influential schools. All the course contents are framed and taught with reference to the contemporary geopolitical situation in modern Europe although case studies and comparative analyses will span worldwide. The module gives students the toolkit and ability to problematize and reflect critically on common-sense assumptions and understandings of political institutions and processes, and provides a foundation for the analytical skills they will require in subsequent years of the International Relations, Cultural Studies or the Sociology majors.