Sample longer essay questions.
[Hauss; Wiarda; Magstadt; Magstadt & Schotten] What types of
comparative
analysis are feasible between national politics? How can we classify
types
of nation state? What difficulties
are there in making such analyses?
[Wiarda 1-5] How have approaches to comparison -- and
to the nature of development and
democratization changed
over time?
[Magstadt, Wiarda, Hauss, Steiner]. How can we approach the problem
of classifying the many governments around the world? What approaches
are
most useful in guiding us to understanding the variety of nation states?
[Steiner 1, 2] Explain how European parties and elections differ
from those in the US, and how parties are changing.
[Steiner 1-3, Commons Question Time video] Is the powerful party
leader /prime minister system common in Europe -- and is it compatible
with democracy? In your answer, discuss with examples the qualities
of European monarchical and presidential forms of head of state.
Explain the nature of cabinets in western Europe and contrast them
with the US.
[Steiner 3] Discuss with examples the qualities of European monarchical
and republican forms of
head of state. What is the long term trend
in heads of state?
[Steiner 3] Explain the nature of cabinets in western Europe
and contrast them with the US. Is the British model typical?
[Steiner 3] Discuss with examples the qualities of European monarchical
and presidential forms of head of state. Explain the nature of cabinets
in
western Europe and contrast them with the US. Is the British model really
typical of western Europe -- or really untypical?
[Steiner 4] Is Europe likely to accept or reject American style judicial
review, or the use of the
referendum -- and why is it even experimenting
with such processes?
[Steiner 4-5] Why is Europe experimenting with American style judicial
review, or the use of the
referendum -- and are these institutions
democratic or anti-democratic in nature? [Don't forget to contrast European
with American courts and deliberation in parliaments with direct democracy
via referenda (or "plebiscites").]
[Steiner 6] Should the State cooperate with economic interest
groups, or keep them at arm's length? Explain the argument in Europe
between corporatists and pluralists (or anti-corporatists).
[Steiner 6] Explain the argument in Europe between corporatists and
pluralists
or
anti-corporatists. Is the role of the State really different in
West Europe than in the US?
[Steiner 7] Discuss the recent social and religious movements
in western Europe. Which trends have gone further than the US and which
have run behind?
[Steiner 7, 9-12] Explain how in the 1990s European communism
and nationalism yielded to
democracy, market forces
and regional or ethnic identity. What institutions such as
power
sharing (consociational democracy) or devolution have been used
to ease this shift?
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] Explain the development of
the European Economic community and its metamorphasis into the EC and eventually
the EU. To what degree is this dependent on building (in the 1950s) narrowly
functional,
(in the 1960s) general economic or (in the 1990s)
monetary
and
political
integration?
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] Describe the composition, powers
and roles of the
institutions
of the European Union. Is it generally
true that the executive, legislative or judicial branch is the most
powerful? Is the EU a supra-national
governmental system, or more
of a confederation?
[New Europeans, Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] In what ways
has the EU attempted to create a trans-national economy, polity and
culture? Is this process threatened by the rediscovery of regional
identities within its nation states? Discuss with examples.
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] To what degree is the United
Kingdom a polity of similar politico-cultural
traditions to
the US but with contradictory
institutions? Examine the political
parties, elections, the legislature, the cabinet, the monarchy and the
power of the Treasury.
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] Compare and contrast the development
of Italian
and
German
government from 1945 to 1989, and
from 1989 onwards.
[Steiner, Wilson] Italy and Germany were both fascist states in the
1930s and 1940s, but have been democracies since 1947. They both became
different democracies in the 1990s than they had been for fifty years.
Compare and contrast the development of Italian and German
government
from 1945 to 1989, and from 1989 onwards.
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] Describe the composition, powers
and roles of the
institutions
of French government, and the historical
traditions
that gave rise to the Fifth Republic. Is the system closer
in design to the British
or to the American?
[New Europeans, Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] It used to
be said that the
European Union was founded upon French farming
interests and the German Bundesbank interest. One wasted money lavishly
and the other conserved it too carefully. With the recent expansion
of interests (new countries, new social movements), and policy changes
(monetary, environmental, social welfare) in the EU, which tendency
would you predict will predominate in the next century, and
why?
[Steiner, Hancock /Wilson /Lectures] To what degree is the United
Kingdom a polity of similar politico-cultural
traditions to
the US but with contradictory institutions -- whereas Sweden
has similar institutions but different culture?
[Curtis] To what degree can an American understand the influences on
European politics via the
classic theorists excerpted by Curtis?
Are they most helpful in understanding socialism, monarchism, or some other
influence that is "un-American". Explain your answer in the light of at
least five European theorists.
[De Gaulle: A Vision of France, Steiner, Wilson] Describe the
composition, powers and roles of the institutions of French government,
and the historical traditions -- and De Gaulle's leadership that
gave rise to the Fifth Republic. Is the system closer in design and traditions
to the
British or to the American? Did De Gaulle succeed
in making France "marry her century?"
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