POL407 Interest Groups and Social Movements

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2011
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 9 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ing. Ondřej Císař, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Navrátil, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Aneta Pinková, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ing. Ondřej Císař, Ph.D.
Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Timetable
Tue 10:00–11:40 U41
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
At the end of the course the students shall be able to apply the most important theoretical concepts needed for the analysis of organized interests in a broader societal context, and to identify and compare various national and transnational systems of interest groups and social movements. Students shall also be able to describe the patterns of collective action and its key components particularly in the Czech Republic, selected Western European countries, at the EU level and in the US.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Understanding collective action (interest groups and social movements)
  • 3. Collective action regimes (corporatism, pluralism, protest) and their explanation (rationalism, structuralism, culturalism)
  • 4. Corporatism and its transformations - interest politics in Scandinavia
  • 5. Protest and its transformations - interest politics in France and Italy
  • 6. Pluralism and its transformations - interest politics in the UK and the US
  • 7. Transnational collective action regimes - interest politics in the EU
  • 8. Collective action in the CR
  • 9. Reading Week
  • 10. Trade unions and and employers' associations in the CR
  • 11. External lecturer
  • 12. Funding of interest groups in the CR
  • 13. Course Wrap-Up
Literature
  • BALME, Richard and Didier CHABANET. European governance and democracy : power and protest in the EU. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, xvii, 267. ISBN 9780742529359. info
  • CÍSAŘ, Ondřej. Politický aktivismus v České republice: Sociální hnutí a občanská společnost v období transformace a evropeizace (Political Activism in the Czech Republic: Social Movements and Civil Society in the Eras of Transformation and Europeanization). Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2008, 187 pp. Politologická řada, sv. č. 28. ISBN 978-80-7325-168-0. URL info
  • BERRY, Jeffrey M. and Clyde WILCOX. The interest group society. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007, x, 212. ISBN 9780321430151. info
  • Participace a zájmové organizace v České republice. Edited by Zdenka Mansfeldová - Aleš Kroupa. Vyd. 1. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství (SLON), 2005, 244 s. ISBN 8086429539. info
  • HIX, Simon. The political system of the European Union. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, xxii, 490. ISBN 033396182X. URL info
  • CÍSAŘ, Ondřej. Transnacionální politické sítě: Jak mezinárodní instituce ovlivňují činnost nevládních organizací (Transnational Policy Networks: How International Institutions Influence the Activities of Nongovernmental Organizations). Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Mezinárodní politologický ústav, 2004, 181 pp. Monografie, sv. č. 11. ISBN 8021035919. info
  • Pressure groups in british politics. Edited by Bill Coxall. 1st pub. Harlow: Longman, 2001, x, 205. ISBN 0582289947. info
  • OLSON, Mancur. The logic of collective action :public goods and the theory of groups. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971, x, 186 s. ISBN 0-674-53751-3. info
Teaching methods
Teaching methods consist of lectures, and class discussions based on students´presentations.
Assessment methods
The final grade will be based on the evaluation on the final exam (maximum of 40 points, each final-exam question gets between 0 and 10 points).
Evaluation:
A. 40 – 38 points
B. 37 – 34 points
C. 33 – 30 points
D. 29 – 27 points
E. 26 – 24 points
F. 23 points and less
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2000, Spring 2001, Spring 2002, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2011, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2011/POL407