Course description:
Elections are the central democratic process by which citizens elect their representatives to public office. This seminar deals with elections and voting behavior in the European Union. In addition to the interaction between political parties and voters, we focus on citizens as political actors and the factors that influence voting behavior at the national and European level. The seminar will be conducted as an online block seminar with an introductory session in December and two full-day blocks in January.
In the first block, we start by focusing on the sociological approach to explaining voting behavior. Based on the cleavage theory, we discuss the historical emergence and recent developments of European party systems. We then examine the relationship between social cleavages such as class and education for voting behavior in multiparty competition. Next, we discuss the role of changing value orientations for voting behavior in the light of the recent rise of populist parties in Europe.
In the second block, we focus on social-psychological and rational approaches to explaining voting behavior. We start by discussing the causes and nature of partisanship as well as recent developments of affective polarization in Europe. Then, we analyze the impact of the recent economic crisis on voting behavior. Finally, we look at the role of issues and ideological positions for voting behavior considering the topic of European integration.
Requirements:
In order to pass the seminar, students are required to read and prepare the required literature, actively participate in the discussions and group work, prepare and present a group presentation, and write a term paper based on the results.
Literature:
Arzheimer, Kai, Jocelyn Evans, and Michael S. Lewis-Beck, eds. 2017. The SAGE Handbook of Electoral Behaviour. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Dalton, Russell J. 2020. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. 7th ed. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press.
Dalton, Russell J., and Hans‐Dieter Klingemann, eds. 2009. The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fisher, Justin, Edward Fieldhouse, Mark N. Franklin, Rachel Gibson, Marta Cantijoch, and Christopher Wlezien, eds. 2017. The Routledge Handbook of Elections, Voting Behavior and Public Opinion. London: Routledge.
- Lehrende/r: Carsten Wegscheider