Electoral Studies
Code
722071031
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Estudos Políticos
Credits
10
Teacher in charge
Marco Lisi
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
a) To acquire an advanced knowledge of the main theoretical and methodological developments in elections and electoral behaviour research.
b) To discuss critically the basic concepts related to electoral studies.
c) To develop autonomy in research and oral and writing skills to disseminate research results and outcomes.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
Democracy and elections. The historical development of the electoral process. Characteristics of electoral systems. The consequences of electoral systems. Electoral systems and political representation. Electoral system change and the Portuguese case. Theories of electoral choice. Continuity and change in the patterns of electoral behaviour. Elections and electoral behaviour in Portugal.
Bibliography
ALMEIDA (Pedro Tavares de), Portugal, in Dieter Nöhlen & Philip Stöver, eds., Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook, Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlag, 2010, pp. 1525-1577.
CRUZ (Manuel Braga da), ed., Sistemas Eleitorais: o debate científico, Lisbon, ICS, 1998.
LEDUC (Lawrence) / NIEMI (Richard G.) / NORRIS (Pippa), Comparing Democracies. New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting, Londres, Sage, 2002.
LIJPHART (Arend), Thinking About Democracy. Power sharing and majority rule in theory and practice, London & New York, Routledge, 2008.
NOHLEN (Dieter), Os Sistemas Eleitorais: o contexto faz a diferença, Lisbon, Livros Horizonte, Series Estudos Políticos, 2007.
Teaching method
Lectures, discussion on specific topics and oral presentation of students papers.
Evaluation method
Students attendance and active participation during the course (20%), discussion and presentation of selected readings (30%) and a research paper based on a literature review or an empirical study (50%).