Institutions and Political Representation

This course aims to provide a better understanding of the concept of political representation and its related aspects, such as responsiveness, accountabilities, legislative activities, and unequal representation. While the primary focus will be on the crucial role of parliament in representative democracies, the course will also explore some non-electoral forms of political representation.

By the end of the course, students should:

• Have a good theoretical knowledge of the various meanings of political representation and its practical applications
• Understand and synthesize a large scientific literature related to representation and political institutions
• Develop critical thinking, discussion, and writing skills
• Have a good understanding of the functioning of representative democracy in all its aspects
• Be able to analyse debates related to issues of (mis)representation and legislative politics

This course includes both lectures and guest lectures. First, regarding lectures, students are expected to complete the preparatory readings before each session to better understand the theoretical material. These readings will be discussed in groups during the class and then debated with the entire class. Second, depending on availability, several guest lectures will also be organised. These will involve a presentation by the guest lecture, followed by an exchange with students. Students are expected to prepare questions in advance. Some of the guest lectures may be shared with another class; in such cases, the lecture might be conducted in French rather than English. Guest lectures delivered in French will not be included in the exam material.

The course will rely mainly on Compulsory readings, Discussion in class, Powerpoint slides and Guest speaker(s). The compulsory readings will be made available on the UV.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

• Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. Academic dishonesty is a violation of the Department policy and is regarded as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences. Please refer to the rules of the University regarding plagiarism:

• Access to library online resources (EZ proxy)

https://bib.ulb.be/fr/ezproxy

• Training on how to use library resources

https://bib.ulb.be/fr/support/etudiants

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Informations complémentaires

The course is taught in English. The exam and the evaluations for the exercises are in English.

Contacts

Office hours: on Teams by appointment (contact me by mail)

Contact: Awenig.Marie@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Examen écrit
• Autre

Examen écrit

Autre

Details regarding the examination:

· The Final examination (in person) will consist of two components:

o Analytical question. Students will choose one question from a selection of questions and provide a structured analytical response. The questions will present a statement related to political representation that students will be asked to critically assess, considering arguments both in favour of and against the statement. Students are expected to develop a clear and well-supported argument and to mobilise relevant academic readings, theoretical material covered during lectures, examples discussed in class and during guest lectures, and relevant political events. The purpose is to assess students’ ability to critically engage with a challenge related to political representation, draw on relevant literature and concepts, and develop an independent argument. Students will be assessed on their use of relevant concepts and literature as well as on the quality, clarity and coherence of their argument.

o Press article comment. Students will be provided a press article addressing a political event/development related to one or more of the themes covered in the course. Students should 1) summarise the article and identify the main political representation issue raised by the article, 2) analyse it using relevant concepts and theoretical perspectives discussed in the course and 3) explain what the case reveals more broadly about political representation. The purpose is to assess students’ ability to use concepts to interpret and analyse a contemporary political event.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

Students will be assessed as follows :

• Final examination  (100%)
  • Analytical question (12 out of 20)
  • Press article comment (8 out of 20)

Retake session: Students who fail the class (grade below 10/20) may take the retake examination in August. The same assessment composition applies to the retake (90% for the final examination and 10% for weekly reading preparation).

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais