150138 SE Political Systems in East Asia (2024S)

Note: This class will be capped at 25 students, with priority to those enrolled in the EcoS program. EcoS students must also enroll in the Exercise Course on Political Systems in East Asia (UE 150136). The information provided here is subject to change. The syllabus for the course will be reviewed on the first day of class. It is thus essential that students are present.

East Asia (North and Southeast Asia) encompasses a broad variety of political systems: While some are democratic (e.g., Japan, South Korea and Indonesia), some are authoritarian (e.g., China and Vietnam) and others are mixed (semi-authoritarian or semi-democratic; e.g., Singapore). Applying theoretical approaches from the field of comparative politics and governance research, this seminar will analyze and compare different East Asian political systems. The objective is to emphasize differences and similarities and ask whether there exists a specific Northeast, Southeast or even East Asian type of political system.

A crucial step for this assessment is to classify the political systems according to ideal-typical criteria (e.g., democracy, authoritarianism, parliamentary or presidential republic ...). Subsequently, various criteria to define a political system, i.e., the party, electoral, judicial or media system, will be developed in class. A guiding frame for the seminar will be the three dimensions “polity” (institutions and norms, e.g., constitution, government, parliament, electoral system or political culture), “policy” (material component of politics and governance, e.g., economic, defense, agricultural, media, technology defense policy) and “politics” (formal and informal bargaining processes among actors, e.g., political parties, trade unions, NGOs and lobbying groups).

In the first four units, we will read and discuss texts in order to select common methods and criteria to analyze a political system. Subsequently, students will apply these criteria on a specific East Asian country of their choice, forming a group of 3 -4 students. From week 5 on, the groups will present their findings (60–70 minutes) in class. In the last unit, we will compare the similarities and differences of the various political systems.

Learning aims:
(1) Students will acquire a deeper knowledge of theories, criteria and methods for analyzing a political system
(2) Students learn how to apply these approaches on a specific case study
(3) Students can highlight specific and common features of various political systems in East Asia
(4) Students demonstrate their academic and writing skills gained during this study program in writing three short texts and a seminar paper, all in line with the academic requirements of the EcoS Master program.