The Political Systems in Spain and the European Union

General Description
The aim of this course is to teach the basic foundations of contemporary politics and
history in Spain while also describing the main elements which constitute the political system
of the European Union. Starting with a basic method for interpreting the political reality, a
dynamic understanding of the current workings of both Spain and the European Union as a
whole is provided.

Activities
An essential part of the course is the presentation of the main themes by the teacher
with the active participation of the student in the debates raised. The teacher will hand out
or indicate the didactic materials needed to follow and prepare for each of the classes.
Likewise, various films and documentaries about the different elements of the Spanish and
European Union political systems will be shown. Lastly, and in addition to continued class
attendance and the corresponding exams on the dates indicated by the CLM, the student will
have to present a weekly commentary, reflecting on news items about Spanish and European
current events, which will be provided by the teacher.

Evaluation
The final student evaluation of the course "THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN SPAIN AND
THE EUROPEAN UNION", within the framework of the Spanish Language and Culture study
programme, will take in to account the four following basic factors:
1) Attendance: In order to qualify, the student must attend at least 80% of
the course sessions
2) Participation during classes
3) The weekly presentation of the text and video commentary
4) The results of the TWO tests that will be administered during the course, on
the dates indicated by the CLM management.

Required Readings
- ALCÁNTARA SÁEZ, Manuel (ed.), Sistemas Políticos de la Unión Europea, Tirant lo
Blanch, Valencia, 2000.
- ALCÁNTARA, Manuel y MARTÍNEZ, Antonia, eds., Política y Gobierno en España, Tirant lo
blanch, Valencia, 2001.
- AUBET, M. J., Democracias Desiguales, Serbal, 1995.
- BADÍA, F., Regímenes Políticos Actuales, Tecnos, Madrid, 1995.
- BERICAT, E. (ed.) El conflicto cultural en España: acuerdos y desacuerdos entre los
españoles. CIS. Madrid, 2003.
- BERSTEIN, S. Los Regímenes Políticos del Siglo XX, Ariel, Barcelona, 1996.
- GARCÍA MORILLO, J., La democracia en España. Alianza editorial. Madrid, 1996.
- GALLAGHER, M. LAVER, M. Y MAIR, P. Representative Government in Modern Europe.
Institutions, Parties, and Governments. McGraw-Hill. Boston. 2005
- GIBBONS, J., Spanish Politics Today. Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1999.
- GONZÁLEZ, J.J y REQUENA, M. (eds.) Tres décadas de cambio social en España. Alianza
editorial. 2005
- GUNTHER, R., MONTERO, J. R and Botella, J. Democracy in Modern Spain. Yale
University Press. New Haven, 2004.
- JIMENEZ DE PARGA, M., Regímenes Políticos Contemporáneos, Tecnos, 1998.
- ALVAREZ JUNCO, J. y SHUBERT, A. (ed.) Spanish History since 1808. Arnold, London,
2000.
- LIPJHART, Arend, Modelos de Democracia. Formas de gobierno y resultados electorales
en Treinta seis países, Ariel, Barcelona, 2000.
- MAGONE, J. M. Contemporary Spanish Politics. Routledge. New York, 2004.
- MURILLO DE LA CUEVA, Pablo Lucas y BLAS GUERRERO, Andrés de, Sistemas Políticos
Contemporáneos, Teide, Barcelona, 1988.
- PANIAGUA, J. L (ed.) En torno a la democracia en España: temas abiertos del sistema
político español. Tecnos. Madrid, 1999.
- ROMÁN, P. (coord.) (2001) Sistema Político Español. McGraw-Hill. Madrid, 2001.
- SARTORI, G., Ingeniería Constitucional Comparada, Fondo de Cultura Económica,
México, 1994.
- SÁNCHEZ GONZALEZ, S. y P. MELLADO PRADO, Sistemas Políticos Actuales, Centro de
Estudios Ramón Areces, Madrid, 1995.