The Quality of Government in a Comparative Perspective
Summary
Corruption and corruption related problems have devastating effects on society's overall social structure. In this course you learn about the importance of the quality of government (QoG) for economic and democratic development as well as social and environmental sustainability.
The course is offered as a semi-elective course within the Master's programme in Political Science, and as a single subject course.
About
The course addresses problems related to the quality of governance (QoG) and corruption in a comparative perspective. Today, there is consensus among social science researchers about the importance of high-quality government for economic and democratic development as well as for social and environmental sustainability. Government organisations that are trustworthy, reliable, impartial, uncorrupted and competent are currently seen as one of the most important factors of human well-being.
Corruption is seen as having detrimental effects on economic growth, the public goods provision, the democratic processes and trust among citizens. The quality of governance is not a problem for developing countries only, but exists also in economically developed democracies where trust in government institutions and the sustainability of welfare programs has been questioned. The central issues that we address in the course are: What is QoG? How can QoG be defined and measured? What explains the great variation between the countries in QoG? What do you get from high QoG and what are the mechanisms that give high/low QoG?
Prerequisites and selection
Requirements
Admission to the course requires the successful completion of a minimum of 15 credits from courses at the second cycle in Political Science or a minimum of the successful completion of 15 credits from courses in one of the programmes Master's Programme in European Studies or Master's Programme in International Administration and Global Governance or equivalent knowledge. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.
Selection
Selection is based upon the number of credits from previous university studies, maximum 285 credits
After graduation
The course can be combined with other in-depth courses in political science as well as method and thesis courses on the advanced level.
Facilities
The Department of Political Science is located in Campus Haga, which lies right in the centre of the city of Gothenburg
More information about facilities
