Course Catalogue

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This course examines the history, institutions, and key issues facing countries in Southern Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Turkey. The course includes an analysis of recent periods of authoritarian rule in these countries, their transitions to democracy, the phenomena of weak party systems and strong executives, problems of regional separatism, corruption, immigration, the role of EU membership in the political development of these countries, and the causes and effects of the on-going economic crisis.

One hour lecture, one hour seminar once a week over eleven weeks

Open to postgraduate students only

None

None

■ One 3,000 words essay (70%)

■ One 500 words case summary (20%)

■ Class Participation - (10%) based on class participation, preparation, level of understanding/analysis and clarity of delivery 

This course examines the history, institutions, and key issues facing countries in Southern Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Turkey. The course begins with an analysis of the recent periods of authoritarian rule and then analyses differences in their democratisation experiences. The course then turns to a discussion of key institutions in these countries, particularly their electoral systems and party systems, including the prevalence of populist parties in this region, and executive-legislative relations. The course also examines regionalism and separatism (where relevant) and also discusses the various solutions to these problems adopted in Southern European countries. In addition, the course analyses the causes and consequences of some of the other key problems that Southern European countries share, particularly corruption and political and economic issues that prompted the economic crisis in the Eurozone, as well as the problem of the 'black-market economy' and immigration in this particular region. Finally, the course analyses the impact of association with the European Union on this set of countries.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Map and evaluate the periods of authoritarian rule in Southern Europe;

■ Critically evaluate why some countries in Southern Europe have had more successful transitions to democracy than others;

■ Assess the nature of party systems and executive-legislative relations in Southern Europe;

■ Map and evaluate the responses to nationalism and separatism within Southern European countries;

■ Critically evaluate how South European countries manage migration, corruption and key economic challenges

■ Evaluate the impact of EU membership on countries in Southern Europe

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components of the course's summative assessment.