Contemporary Politics in Central Europe: Populism and Beyond - JTB287

• Title: Contemporary Politics in Central Europe: Populism and Beyond
• Guaranteed by: Department of Russian and East European Studies (23-KRVS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2022
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (24)
• Min. number of students: 5
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Andrzej Sadecki
• Class: Courses for incoming students
• Pre-requisite : JTB007, JTB010, JTB015

Annotation

The course explores the latest developments in Central European politics and engages with the current scholarly debates around this topic. It focuses primarily on the politics of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with possible excursions into other countries of the wider Central European region (eg. the Balkans and the Baltics). The course looks into variety of topics - it attempts at identifying the main political trends in the region, laying a broad political, economic and cultural context for the current developments. It applies in particular the concept of populism, in order to show its usefulness, but also some shortcomings in explaining the developments in the region.

Last update: Sadecki Andrzej, Mgr. (25.01.2021)

Aim of the course

The aim of the course is to get an in-depth understanding of the key political developments in the Central European countries of today. This aim is pursued by familiarizing the students with the current political situation in the countries of the region and the main scholarly debates on the topic. The students will also get acquainted with the key indexes (eg. on democracy, freedom, corruption), in order to be able to situate the Central European developments in the broader international context. 

Last update: Sadecki Andrzej, Mgr. (25.01.2021)

Literature

The readings will be indicated in the detailed syllabus, distributed to students in the beginning of the course and available on Moddle 2.

Last update: Sadecki Andrzej, Mgr. (03.02.2022)

Syllabus

1. Introduction. Analysing politics in Central Europe: definitions, milestones, universality vs. particularity

2. Democracy three decades after regime change: regression/backsliding?

3. Populist turn: elitism, pluralism, populism

4. Evolving party politics: innovative right, declining left

5. Party-state relationship: corruption, oligarchy, state capture

6. Economic discontent: social inequalities and insecurities, regional disparities

7. Cultural anxieties: emigration & immigration, identity politics

8. Central Europe and the West: imitation thesis and its critique

9. Central Europe in the world: Foreign Policy dilemmas

10. No class (National Holiday)

11-14. Case studies: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia (possibly other CEE countries)

Last update: Sadecki Andrzej, Mgr. (13.02.2022)