The course aims to present the key elements to understand French politics.

Why has the election of Macron in 2017 been considered as a cataclysm for the French political class? What happened in 1981 that radically changed the country? Why do we consider the French parliament as a weak legislature? What is the relationship between the president and the prime minister?

The objective of this course is to introduce the students to the politics of France from the foundation of the Fifth Republic in 1958 to the new political class in 2017. This course will thus discuss concepts such as semi-presidentialism, weak legislature, two-party system and many others. The first part of the course will discuss the institutions and actors in French politics. The second part will focus on the main events that shaped the country. Every concept will be discussed in a comparative perspective to highlight the similarities of the French political system with other countries such as Romania, Portugal and, to a certain extent, Finland.

Email registration to the teacher essential by 3 January, 2018.

This course will adopt a flipped classroom. The teacher delivers instructional content outside of the classroom. Research is conducted at home and students will engage in concepts and applications in the classroom with the guidance of the instructor. The evaluations of students will be based on multiple-choice question tests that will take place every week (answers will be randomly collected) and on the involvement in teamwork during the working sessions.