West European Politics
Graded Assigments

Weekly Quizzes (5 quizzes; each 10% of your grade)

You will take a weekly quiz using the Tests & Quizzes function in Blackboard (click on button on the left side of screen).  The quizzes will be available each week from Thursday at noon til Friday at noon.  You must take the quiz during this time frame.

Research Paper (50 percent of your grade)
Length:  10 pages
You may choose Norway, Switzerland, any country that is a member of the European Union, any country aspiring to be an EU member. You may NOT do one of the four countries we will cover as a class, i.e., the UK, France, Germany or Sweden.

Your paper MUST have a section on EACH of the following topics:
1.  Political Culture (roughly 2 pages)

What historic events most significantly shape your country's political culture? NOTE: This is the ONLY history that should appear in your paper. Please do not review your country’s entire 5000 year history in the paper.

What are the primary values which animate politics in your country?
What are the most important political cleavages in your country?
How diverse is your country ethnically, linguistically, racially, religiously?
How does class shape your country's politics?

2.  Political Parties and Parliamentary Election System (roughly 2 pages)

Is your country a two-party or multi-party democracy?  Why?
What kind of electoral system does it have?
Describe the ideology and platforms of the parties the 2-5 most significant parties Note:  the number of parties necessary to cover in this section varies by country.
Who are the traditional and current constituencies of each of these parties?  
Have any of these parties undergone a recent radical revamping?  Why?  In response to
what kinds of social, economic, political changes?

3. Design and powers of parliament, prime minister, and president or monarch (roughly 2 pages)
Bi-cameral or unicameral legislature and constituencies and means of selection for each
Powers of Prime Minister
Powers of President of Monarch

4.  The size and scope of its welfare state (roughly 2 pages)
What kinds of social benefits do citizens (and in some cases, non-citizens) residing in your country enjoy? 
Do they pay for health insurance?  
Do they receive family or child allowances, subsidized day-care, paid maternity leave,
free university education and the like?
Is your country trying to scale back its social benefits? 
How successful has it been in undertaking this kind of reform?

6.  How the country is faring in the shift from a nationally-defined, industrial-based economy to a post-industrial, globalized economy? (1 page)
What are your country's traditionally strong industries, economic strengths?
How are these faring today?
What is the unemployment rate in your country?
What sectors of the economy are growing or most successful today?

7.  Your country and Western Europe compared to the US (1 page)
The last section of the paper should compare your country to the US stressing the main political commonalities and differences between them. This section  should emphasize how your country represents the political culture, institutions, and challenges facing West Europe more broadly, drawn from your understanding of these topics from the countries we study in the course, and then compare/contrasting these elements with what we have in the US. 

For example, you should stress what political cultural values your citizens of your country shares with other West Europeans.  Do American's share these values?  To what degree?  Why or why not? 

Research and Sources for your Papers
Click here for a guide on the format of your paper, the style of citation that must be used.

You must use BOTH conventional sources, i.e, books, journal articles, newspaper articles, AND REPUTABLE internet sources. 

Click here to search for books at Foley; click here to search for newspaper articles; click here to search for academic journal articles.

DUE DATE: Your papers must be submitted to the Digital Dropbox in Blackboard by Thursday, June 26, at noon.