14 short questions(paragraph or so each) comparative poltics 1. First, a somewhat philosophical question: why is studying democracy important? Is it an unfettered/unlimited good? (You dont need to go crazy with this questionI just want everyone to think about the concept of democracy a bit more intensely). 2. How did parliamentary democracy emerge in Britain? What role did the Industrial Revolution play in altering the system? 3. Post-War Britain remade itself into a system where the state played a major role in rebuilding the economywhy and how did this consensus era change under Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Party? How did Brown and Blairs Labour Party refashion itself to once again capture the state? 4. The reading picks up the theme of social disjuncture and inequality in three different areasin Section 2, 4 and 5. Discuss how economic, class, cultural and other divisions within society are affected by and in turn affect the British state. 5. Great Britain lacks a formal, written constitution. Why is this, and what do they have instead? Given Britains more-or-less unbroken democratic history, why do you suppose, then, that for nearly every other modern state (even many non-democracies), a written constitution is considered necessary? 6. How is power distributed within the Westminster model of government? How has this changed recently? Can you think of pros and cons for this system versus the Presidential system? 7. The elections of May, 2010 resulted in a hung Parliament, which ended with the Liberal Democrats-Conservatives coalition. Google recent British politicsis the coalition working politically and economically, do you think? Will Britain's system of government change as a result of the third party, the Liberal Democrats? 8. How did the absolutist state under the Louis kings lead to the waves of revolution that swept across France for ten years and then into the rule of Napoleon? The French Revolution was many revolutions within onewhat were some of the outcomes of this era for political life in France and the role of the state? 9. What were some of the weaknesses and constraints that reduced Frances empire and its power in the world after the fall of Napoleon in 1815 up to the Gaullist victory and the beginning of the Fifth Republic? How did de Gaulle resurrect the power of the executive? 10. What is dirigisme, and why did France adopt it under de Gaulle, and later Mitterrand? How was this different from the welfare state constructed in Postwar Britain? 11. Like Britain (and much of the developed world), France turned to the right in the 1980s. What impact did this have on French society? Do a little googling of the new French President Franois Hollandewhy do you think there has been a swing back to the left? 12. France is both a unitary and a semi-presidential systemwhat is this, how is power distributed and what do you think are some strengths and weaknesses of such a system? Be sure to consider the shifting context of unified control and cohabitation. 13. The French have a long tradition of public protest against the state, which seems odd in a country with a set of consolidated legislative institutions. Why do French people take the path of protest and resistance to pressure the state to change instead of working through the electoral and legislative system in general? Given this, why is it that electoral turnout is very high, and French political parties remain strong, active players within the political realm? 14. Frances mix of peoples and ideals comes into conflict often with its idea of itself as a nation. Discuss some of the more recent political, economic, and cultural shifts that put pressure on both state and society to redefine themselves in an un French world.

14 short questions(paragraph or so each) comparative poltics 1. First, a somewhat philosophical question: why is studying democracy important? Is it an unfettered/unlimited good? (You dont need to go crazy with this questionI just want everyone to think about the concept of democracy a bit more intensely). 2. How did parliamentary democracy emerge in Britain? What role did the Industrial Revolution play in altering the system? 3. Post-War Britain remade itself into a system where the state played a major role in rebuilding the economywhy and how did this consensus era change under Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Party? How did Brown and Blairs Labour Party refashion itself to once again capture the state? 4. The reading picks up the theme of social disjuncture and inequality in three different areasin Section 2, 4 and 5. Discuss how economic, class, cultural and other divisions within society are affected by and in turn affect the British state. 5. Great Britain lacks a formal, written constitution. Why is this, and what do they have instead? Given Britains more-or-less unbroken democratic history, why do you suppose, then, that for nearly every other modern state (even many non-democracies), a written constitution is considered necessary? 6. How is power distributed within the Westminster model of government? How has this changed recently? Can you think of pros and cons for this system versus the Presidential system? 7. The elections of May, 2010 resulted in a hung Parliament, which ended with the Liberal Democrats-Conservatives coalition. Google recent British politicsis the coalition working politically and economically, do you think? Will Britain's system of government change as a result of the third party, the Liberal Democrats? 8. How did the absolutist state under the Louis kings lead to the waves of revolution that swept across France for ten years and then into the rule of Napoleon? The French Revolution was many revolutions within onewhat were some of the outcomes of this era for political life in France and the role of the state? 9. What were some of the weaknesses and constraints that reduced Frances empire and its power in the world after the fall of Napoleon in 1815 up to the Gaullist victory and the beginning of the Fifth Republic? How did de Gaulle resurrect the power of the executive? 10. What is dirigisme, and why did France adopt it under de Gaulle, and later Mitterrand? How was this different from the welfare state constructed in Postwar Britain? 11. Like Britain (and much of the developed world), France turned to the right in the 1980s. What impact did this have on French society? Do a little googling of the new French President Franois Hollandewhy do you think there has been a swing back to the left? 12. France is both a unitary and a semi-presidential systemwhat is this, how is power distributed and what do you think are some strengths and weaknesses of such a system? Be sure to consider the shifting context of unified control and cohabitation. 13. The French have a long tradition of public protest against the state, which seems odd in a country with a set of consolidated legislative institutions. Why do French people take the path of protest and resistance to pressure the state to change instead of working through the electoral and legislative system in general? Given this, why is it that electoral turnout is very high, and French political parties remain strong, active players within the political realm? 14. Frances mix of peoples and ideals comes into conflict often with its idea of itself as a nation. Discuss some of the more recent political, economic, and cultural shifts that put pressure on both state and society to redefine themselves in an un French world.