Center: 
Barcelona
Discipline(s): 
Political Science
Communications
Course code: 
PO/CM 323
Terms offered: 
Fall
Spring
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
Laura Cervi
Description: 

Politics is as old as humankind, and the electoral campaign – political parties seeking to win voter support in the period preceding an election – is one of the fundamental moments of the democratic life of every society.

Candidates use a variety of techniques to reach voters: the effort to execute or banish Socrates from Athens in the 5th Century BC or the uprising of petty nobility against John of England in the 13th Century, can be considered examples of proto-political campaigns.

But nowadays established democracies seem to be witnessing a decline in vitality in that formal political systems are not able to mobilize the support and engagement of citizens as in the past: we are facing a decline in civic engagement, a decreasing voter turnout during elections and a significant decline in party-membership. To face this situation politicians have to create new ways to get closer to people, such as the application of  marketing principles and procedures in political campaigns.

The main focus of this interdisciplinary course is to provide the student with a complete understanding of both the development of political campaigns through history and the relations between political systems and political campaigns. 

Additional requirements: 

 

 

Attendance policy: 

Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than three classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.

Learning outcomes: 

By the end of the course, students are able to:       

Knowledge

  • Identify the main political actors in Europe;
  • Outline the historical evolution of political campaigns;
  • Differentiate campaigning strategies;
  • Connect campaigns to political systems.

Skills

  • Describe and analyze the different and contradictory dynamics of European political communication;
  • Analyze the relations between different political environment and different communication strategies;
  • Explain contemporary trends in the relationship between politics, marketing and communications;
  • Analyze political implications of new media and new strategies.

Values

  • Compare strategies in different European countries;
  • Assess the differences between Europe and USA; 
Field study: 

CEDOC - Centre Documental de la Comunicació

Required work and form of assessment: 

The course is largely discussion-based. Students are expected to come to class prepared (i.e. not only having done the readings but also having considered them in depth) and participate actively in the discussions. Each student will be appointed to lead the discussion in class for one reading.

Assignments and Grading:

  1. Midterm Exam (20%)
  2. Research paper (20%): Students are asked to prepare a research paper (8-10 pages, Times New Roman 12) on a topic agreed with the instructor
  3. Oral presentation (20%): Students will be asked to present a group research project, on a topic agreed with the instructor, to the class, generating a debate.
  4. Concluding debate (10%): In the second part of the course, students are asked to take part in a Concluding Debate, based on what they have learned, and on specific reading, about differences and similarities between American Presidential Campaigns and European National Campaigns, where they have to show that they can compare and assess differences and similarities.
  5. Class participation (10%): insights and comments about course readings, responsiveness to classmates’ contributions.
  6. Final Exam (20%).
content: 

Session 1: Introduction. From propaganda to political marketing

Session 2: Fascist and Nazi propaganda: Theoretical introduction

Required Readings:

Piero Melograni, “The Cult of the Duce in Mussolini's Italy”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 11, No. 4: pp. 221-237

Jeffrey T. Schnapp, “Fascist Mass Spectacle”, Representations, No. 43 (Summer, 1993): pp. 89-125

Leonard W. Doob Source, “Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda”, The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1950): pp. 419-442

Erwin W. Fellows, “Propaganda: History of a Word”, American Speech, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Oct., 1959): pp. 182-189

Session 3: Nazi: Goebbels and the cinema: Audiovisual presentation

Required Readings:

Linda Schulte-Sasse, “Leni Riefenstahl's Feature Films and the Question of a Fascist Aesthetic”, Cultural Critique, No. 18 (Spring, 1991): pp. 123-148

Session 4: The Cold War: Propaganda in the US and in the Soviet Union

Required Readings:

George H. Bolsover, “Soviet Ideology and Propaganda”, International Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1948): pp. 170-180

John B. Whitton, “Cold War Propaganda”, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 45 (Jan., 1951): pp. 151-153

Stephen White, “The Effectiveness of Political Propaganda in the USSR”, Soviet Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Jul., 1980): pp. 323-348

Session 5: Franco. Political Communication in Spain under Franco’s regime

Required Readings:

Carmen Ortiz, “The Uses of Folklore by the Franco Regime”, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 112, No. 446 (Autumn, 1999): pp. 479-496

Session 6: The end of the cold war and the emergence of the Catch-all parties: Theoretical introduction

Required Readings:

Krouwel, A.P.M., The catch-all party in Western Europe 1945-1990. A study in arrested development, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, (1999, unpublished document).

Wolinetz, Steven B., “Beyond the Catch-All Party: Approaches to the Study of Parties and Party Organization in Contemporary Democracies”, Oxford Monographs, (2002): pp. 140-163.

Session 7: Invited speaker: P.O. Costa, PhD and SpinDoctor. New cleavages and the Americanization of European Politics

Session 8: Pattern of democracy: cleavages and parties. A theoretical framework

Required Readings:

Arendt Lijphart Patterns of democracy: government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. New Haven: Yale UP, (1999): pp 1-41

Rokkan, Stein, Peter Flora, et al. (1999). State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe. Oxford and NY: Oxford UP, pp. 108-121.

Session 9: Hallin and Mancini typology: Atlantic, Center-European and Mediterranean model. A theoretical framework

Required Readings:

Daniel Hallin, Paolo Mancini, Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, (2004): Chapter 1 and 2.

Session 10: Midterm exam

Session 11: Field Trip to CEDOC, Europe’s biggest center of political communications

Session 12: Campaigning in the Atlantic model: USA

Required readings:

James R. McLeod, “The Sociodrama of Presidential Politics: Rhetoric, Ritual, and Power in the Era of Teledemocracy”, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 101, No. 2 (Jun., 1999): pp. 359-371

Session 13: Campaigning in the Center-European model: the case of Belgium

Required readings:

Marc Hooghe, Bart Maddensa and Jo Noppea, “Why parties adapt: Electoral reform, party finance and party strategy in Belgium”, Electoral Studies, Vol. 25, Issue 2, June 2006: pp. 351-368

Session 14: Campaigning in the Mediterranean model: polarized pluralism in Italy

Required readings:

Richard Gunther, “Parties and Electoral Behavior in Southern Europe”, Comparative Politics, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Apr., 2005), pp. 253-275

Elena Semino and Michela Masci, Politics is Football: Metaphor in the Discourse of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Discourse Society 1996; 7; 243

Session 15: Campaigning in the Mediterranean model: SPAIN. Theoretical introduction

Required readings:

Isidre Molas; Oriol Bartomeus, “Structure of Political Competition in Spain (1986-2000)”,

BCN Political Science Debates 2, Barcelona, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, (2003): pp 219

Session 16: Campaigning in the Mediterranean  model: SPAIN. Case study: Terrorism and elections

Required readings:

Ignacio Lago and José Ramón Montero, “The 2004 Election in Spain: Terrorism, Accountability, and Voting”, WP núm. 253, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, Barcelona, (2006).

Session 17: Student Debate. Comparing USA and European campaigns.

Required readings:

Sergio Fabbrini, “American Democracy from a European perspective”, Annu. Rev. Political Science, (1999), pp. 65-91

Session 18: Campaigning in a multi-fractured system: CATALONIA

Required readings:

Joan Font and Francesc Pallarés, The Autonomous elections in Catalonia, Barcelona, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, (1995).

Session 19: Field trip: Visit to a Catalan political party and conference by the Head of Campaign

Session 20: Campaigning in the EU.

Required readings:

Federico Ferrara and J. Timo Weishaupt, “Get Your Act Together. Party Performance in European Parliament Elections”, European Union Politics, Volume 5 (2004): pp. 283–306.

Session 21: Political campaigns and new media: Obama’s revolution.

Required readings:

Brian Stelter, “The Facebooker Who Friended Obama”, The New York Times, July, 7 2008.

Session 22: Paper Presentations and Debate

Session 23: Paper Presentations and Debate

Session 24: Review class 

Required readings: 

George H. Bolsover, “Soviet Ideology and Propaganda”, International Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1948): pp. 170-180

Leonard W. Doob Source, “Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda”, The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1950): pp. 419-442

Sergio Fabbrini, “American Democracy from a European perspective”, Annu. Rev. Political Science, (1999), pp. 65-91

Erwin W. Fellows, “Propaganda: History of a Word”, American Speech, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Oct., 1959): pp. 182-189

Joan Font and Francesc Pallarés, The Autonomous elections in Catalonia, Barcelona, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, (1995).

Federico Ferrara and J. Timo Weishaupt, “Get Your Act Together. Party Performance in European Parliament Elections”, European Union Politics, Volume 5 (2004): pp. 283–306.

Richard Gunther, “Parties and Electoral Behavior in Southern Europe”, Comparative Politics, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Apr., 2005), pp. 253-275

Daniel Hallin, Paolo Mancini, Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, (2004): Chapter 1 and 2.

Marc Hooghe, Bart Maddensa and Jo Noppea, “Why parties adapt: Electoral reform, party finance and party strategy in Belgium”, Electoral Studies, Vol. 25, Issue 2, June 2006: pp. 351-368

Krouwel, A.P.M., The catch-all party in Western Europe 1945-1990. A study in arrested development, Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, (1999, unpublished document).

Ignacio Lago and José Ramón Montero, “The 2004 Election in Spain: Terrorism, Accountability, and Voting”, WP núm. 253, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, Barcelona, (2006).

Arendt Lijphart Patterns of democracy: government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. New Haven: Yale UP, (1999): pp 1-41

Piero Melograni , “The Cult of the Duce in Mussolini's Italy”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 11, No. 4: pp. 221-237

James R. McLeod, “The Sociodrama of Presidential Politics: Rhetoric, Ritual, and Power in the Era of Teledemocracy”, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 101, No. 2 (Jun., 1999): pp. 359-371

Isidre Molas; Oriol Bartomeus, “Structure of Political Competition in Spain (1986-2000)”,

BCN Political Science Debates 2, Barcelona, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, (2003): pp 219

Carmen Ortiz, “The Uses of Folklore by the Franco Regime”, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 112, No. 446 (Autumn, 1999): pp. 479-496

Steven B. Wolinetz, “Beyond the Catch-All Party: Approaches to the Study of Parties and Party Organization in Contemporary Democracies”, Oxford Monographs, (2002): pp. 140-163.

Rokkan, Stein, Peter Flora, et al. (1999). State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe.

Oxford and NY: Oxford UP, pp. 108-121.

Elena Semino and Michela Masci, Politics is Football: Metaphor in the Discourse of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Discourse Society 1996; 7; 243

Jeffrey T. Schnapp, “Fascist Mass Spectacle”, Representations, No. 43 (Summer, 1993): pp. 89-125

Linda Schulte-Sasse, “Leni Riefenstahl's Feature Films and the Question of a Fascist Aesthetic”, Cultural Critique, No. 18 (Spring, 1991): pp. 123-148

Brian Stelter, “The Facebooker Who Friended Obama”, The New York Times, July, 7 2008.

Stephen White, “The Effectiveness of Political Propaganda in the USSR”, Soviet Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Jul., 1980): pp. 323-348.

John B. Whitton, “Cold War Propaganda”, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 45 (Jan., 1951): pp. 151-153