Welcome to Week 5, friends! After digging in to variations in legislative structures (and electoral and party systems!), now it’s time to look at the executive branch. While most countries (regardless of their democratic or authoritarian status) have a legislatures, ALL countries (regardless of regime type) have some kind of executive, and a bureaucracy to go with it. This universality makes the executive branch an ideal area for comparative study- what (if anything) is consistent across all executives, regardless of system? How do different types of executive arrangements function in democracies and non-democracies, and what are the advantages (and disadvantages) of each type? What does the word “bureaucracy” really mean, and how does it function (or not) in different countries? We’ll also be doing a bit of collaborative comparative work in class, so make sure you arrive on time and ready to work!

As for blogging, there is some great work happening! There are also a lot of people who have yet to start. Merely sitting in class once per week is not enough to learn much of anything (it’s also not enough to get a passing grade in the class). You need to prepare, engage, and work outside of class time as well. The best time to start that was during Week 1. The next best time is NOW, so get to it. You can only get learning and grades out of this class that are proportionate to the efforts you are putting into it, so get to work- you’ve got this!