Introduction to U.S. Politics
This course offers a general introduction to the politics of the United States of America. It covers its foundations, main institutions, actors and processes. The course is uses a comparative approach, contrasting the U.S. political system with other political systems in Latin America, particularly Chile's.
Student Politics in Comparative Perspective
This course seeks to explain student social mobilization in Chile, Latin America and the rest of the world using political and sociological theories. It examines the role of higher education policy in student mobilization.
Political Parties and Electoral Systems
The course covers the main theories and explanations on political parties and electoral systems. It examines different party and electoral systems in comparative and historical perspectives, at the Chilean, Latin American and global levels of analysis.
Democracy
The course provides the foundation for understanding democracy from a conceptual and empirical perspective. This analysis of democracy is divided in three sections: concepts and measurements; causes; and emerging issues in the study of democracy.
Introduction to Research Methods
This course presents and discusses the methodological, epistemological, theoretical and technical foundations of research in the social sciences.
Participation and Representation
The course covers the concept of political participation, its different manifestations and causes. It also focuses on both electoral and protest behavior, and the factors that affect the decision to mobilize.