MCCCD Program Description

Comparative Government

Course: POS140

First Term: 2011 Fall

Lecture 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s) 3 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S

Description: Overview and evaluation of the sub-field of comparative politics. Covers various national governments from around the world: their structure, system, method of governance. Examines methods of assessing these governments

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. List four of the comparative methodologies developed to compare various political systems of government. (I) 2. Define the chief characteristics of a nation-state. (II) 3. Compare the election practices in a selected democratic or open society with those of a non-democratic or closed society. (III) 4. Distinguish between unitary, federal, and confederal governmental models. (IV) 5. Contrast open and closed nations relative to the organization of their executive systems. (V) 6. Compare selected open and closed nations relative to the operational characteristics of their representative assemblies. (V) 7. List major components of justice found in open societies, and state how they differ from practices of justice in closed societies. (V) 8. State common characteristics of the bureaucratic model common to all nations in the set. (V) 9. Depict how a selected nation-state arrives at its policy choice decisions. (VI) 10. Explain the major governmental operational techniques of a select nation-state relative to a given management area. (VII)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Comparative techniques and methodologies in political science II. The common components of nation-states A. The concept of sovereignty B. Geographical, demographic, social, economic aspects of the nation-state III. Political parties in selected nation-states A. Election processes in open societies B. Non-open societies` methods of leadership attainment IV. Types of nation-state governments A. Unitary, federal, confederal types B. Checks and balances and parliamentary types V. Nation-state organizational systems A. Executive systems B. Legislative systems C. Judicial systems D. Bureaucratic systems VI. Nation-state policy processes VII. Governmental operations of the nation-state A. Defense B. Finance C. Welfare

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: 5/24/1994

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.