POLb1121 Money and Politics

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Aneta Pinková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Peter Spáč, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Aneta Pinková, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Supplier department: Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 U33
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 28 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course provides an insight into the topic of money in political arena. It shows that money is an inseparable part of power and decision making and it has important role and consequences in politics. The course deals with key aspects of money in politics, i.e. pork barrel politics, corruption, legitimacy of decisions and impact of money distribution on voting behavior. At the end of the course, students will be able to understand fundamental concepts connected to the role of money in politics and discuss their meaning, role and their implications.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- discuss and analyze the role of money in various political processes;
- define pork-barrel politics, political corruption, lobbying and related phenomena;
- understand and critically evaluate the main theoretical approaches to the study of all these phenomena;
- describe and analyze instances of pork-barrel lobbying, political corruption and lobbying;
Syllabus
  • Introduction to the Topic, Course Information, Course Requirements
  • Interest Groups and Lobbying in Politics
  • The Phenomenon of Pork Barrel Politics
  • Pork Barrel Logic of Real Politics
  • Incidence of Pork Barrel Politics and its Consequences
  • Public Response to Pork Barrel Politics
  • The Costs and Benefits of Civic Engagement and Public Participation
  • Interest Groups and Lobbying in Politics
  • Corruption and Related Phenomena
  • Political Corruption
  • Funding Political Parties
  • Public Procurement
Literature
    required literature
  • Rose-Ackerman, Susan. 1999. Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences, and Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 113-126.
  • Hilgers, Tina. 2012. Democratic Processes, Clientelistic Relationships, and the Material Goods Problem, in: Hilgers, Tina (ed.): Clientelism in Everyday Latin American Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3-22.
  • McDermott, R. (2002). EXPERIMENTAL METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE. Annual Review of Political Science, 5(1), 31–61.
  • Golden, M. and Min, B. (2013): Distributive Politics Around the World. Annual Review of Political Science, 16, pp. 73-99.
  • Bøggild, T. (2016). How Politicians’ Reelection Efforts Can Reduce Public Trust, Electoral Support, and Policy Approval. Political Psychology, 37(6), 901–919.
  • Fiva, J. H. and Halse, A. H. (2016): Local favoritism in at-large proportional systems. Journal of Public Economics, 143, pp. 15-26.
  • Hoare, A. G. (1992): Transport investment and the political pork barrel: a review and the case of Nelson, New Zealand. Transport Reviews, 12(2), pp. 133-151.
  • Laboutková, Šárka - Vymětal, Petr. 2018. Measuring the Transparent Lobbying - A Pilot Study for the Czech Republic. 16th International Scientific Conference “Economic Policy in the European Union Member Countries”At: Čeladná, Czech Republic, pp. 184-184.
  • Hopkin, Jonathan. 2003. The Problem With Party Finance: Theoretical Perspectives on the Funding of Party Politics. London School of Economics (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.588.7164&rep=rep1&type=pdf)
  • Lancaster, Thomas D., and Gabriella R. Montinola. "Comparative political corruption: Issues of operationalization and measurement." Studies in Comparative International Development 36.3 (2001): 3-28.
  • Stein, R. M. and Bickers, K. N. (1994): Congressional Elections and the Pork Barrel. The Journal of Politics, 56(2), pp. 377-399.
  • Kurer, Oskar. "Corruption: An alternative approach to its definition and measurement." Political Studies 53.1 (2005): 222-239.
  • Gardiner, John A. 2001. Defining Corruption, in: Heidenheimer, Arnold J. – Johnston, M. (eds.): Political Corruption, Concepts & Contexts. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, pp. 25-40.
  • Spáč, P. (2016): Pork Barrel Politics in a Coalition Government Environment and the Effect of Grants on the Reelection of Local Incumbents: Evidence from Slovakia. Czech Journal of Political Science, 23(3), pp. 251-271.
  • Braidwood, T. (2015). Desirable pork: do voters reward for earmark acquisition? Research & Politics, 2(4).
  • Mulcahy, Suzanne. 2015. Lobbying in Europe: Hidden Influence, Privileged Access. Transparency International, pp. 14-22. (https://www.transparency.cz/wp-content/uploads/Lobbying-in-Europe-Hidden-influence-priviledged-access.pdf)
  • Klemens, Joos. 2011. Lobbying in the new Europe : successful representation of interests after the Treaty of Lisbon, Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co, pp. 15-42. (https://application.wiley-vch.de/books/sample/3527505970_c01.pdf)
  • Evans, D. (2004): Greasing the Wheels. Using Pork Barrel Projects to Build Majority Coalitions in Congress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-25.
  • Bullock, C. S. and Hood, M. V. (2005): When Southern Symbolism Meets the Pork Barrel: Opportunity for Executive Leadership. Social Science Quarterly, 86(1), pp. 69-86.
Teaching methods
Online lectures and discussion seminars via Zoom, reading, essays
Assessment methods
Position papers (2 * 10 points) – students are required to write two position papers during the course (details below) Final examination (40 points) – written examination with multiple-choice questions Active participation for lessons 2-5, 7-11 (10 * 1 point) Minimum for passing the course: 60 points
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
More detailed information is available in the syllabus in the folder "Course-Related Instructions" in Study Materials.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2021/POLb1121