Curricular Unit:			Code:
Contemporary Systems and Trends in Political Studies			1153STCE
Year:	Level:	Course:	Credits:
1	Doctorate	Political and Humanitarian Studies	6 ects
Learning Period:		Language of Instruction:	Total Hours:
Winter Semester		Portuguese/English	78
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
a) To know the evolutionary political process of contemporary societies and their corresponding political regimes; b) To encourage a global understanding of the importance of studying socio-political ecosystems and the main relationships with economic development, social structures, heterogeneous political cultures, and ideological values; c) To recognize the process of political massification in contemporary societies; d) To critically analyze the main contemporary forms of government, taking into account the order of normative principles, and the social and humanitarian values and practices; e) To encourage scientific research and to promote the ability for autonomous selection of sources of scientific information in the process of building knowledge; f) To develop scientific communication skills through the presentation and debate of research studies, within the in the classroom, susceptible of prompting scientific specialized meetings.
Syllabus:
1. Contemporary Political Systems: theorization, structure, functioning, a. Presidentialism b. Parliamentarism c. Semi-presidentialism d. Political systems in the developing world 2. Development models, trajectories, and challenges a. Dimensions, models, and trajectories of development b. New challenges, new peripheries? 3. New trends in Political Science a. Main currents of political thought: individualism vs. collectivism b. Analytical perspectives: positivist, materialist, historical-descriptive, behavioralist, institutionalist, and others.
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
The syllabus corresponds to the learning objectives, in the sense that it provides theoretical and conceptual tools that establish the indispensable link between the classifying terms and the empirical referential. The program aims to establish a comparative analysis of the socio-political contexts of the current political regimes, how they work, and how they relate to the respective State's commitment to policies for the promotion and defense of Human Rights. The subject aims to comparatively study the constitutional profiles of political regimes and their articulation with political praxis. The current trends in political studies on an international scale are also analyzed, with a focus on the comparative study of research results. Finally, the course builds upon the acquired knowledge, it promotes scientific questioning, and addresses topics through autonomous research.
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Teaching sessions will include theoretical presentations of the main topics, under the form of conferences and/or work sessions, reading and discussion of specialized bibliography, open discussion of major topics, as well as analysis of documents available through in CANVAS plataform. The assessment is based on the student completing and presenting a working paper in class (60% written component + 40% oral presentation).
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
The teaching and learning methodologies aim the integrated development of the knowledge included in the syllabus and the achievement of the established objectives and competences. The combined method of theoretical presentation of the topics, combined with the promotion of debates, sustained by previous research and readings of scientific content, backed by tutorial support, aim, in a specialized perspective, to highlight the different levels of analysis, promoting the development different strategies for studying contemporary political systems.
Reading:
Berstein, S. (2013). Los regímenes políticos del siglo XX. Una historia política comparada del mundo contemporáneo, Madrid: Ariel. Balaam, D. e Dillman, B. (2019). Introduction to International Political Economy. 7th ed. New York: Pearson. Freitas, J. A. G. de (2020). O Conselho de Estado no Antigo Regime e no Liberalismo. Portugal, Espanha e França. Lisboa: Edições Alêtheia/CEPESE. Powell Jr., G. B., Dalton, R. J. et al. (2014). Comparative Politics Today: A World View. Londres: Pearson. Sartori, G. (2018). Ensaios de Política Comparada. Lisboa: Livros Horizonte. Schumpeter, J. A. (2008). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. NY: Harper. Wilson, M. Ch. (2017). “Trends in Political Science Research...”, Political Science & Politics, Volume 50, Issue 4, pp. 979-984. Yom, Sean (2019). Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa. 9th ed., Londres: Routledge.
Lecturer (* Responsible):
Ana Campina (acampina@ufp.edu.pt) Judite Freitas (jfreitas@ufp.edu.pt) Luísa Vasconcelos (lvasc@ufp.edu.pt)