Fundamental courses (CF)

2 hours per week over 12 weeks:

CF1S1 Macro-economics and national accounting (Syllabus)
Fanny Coulomb 

This course in macroeconomics and national accounting aims to shed light on economic phenomena and policies through a macroeconomic approach. It begins by introducing fundamental concepts and elements of the history of economic thought. The thread running through the course is the debate between Keynesianism and liberalism, analyzed theoretically and illustrated by recent economic events. Monetary and fiscal policies are then addressed both conceptually and empirically, to better understand current economic events. The course also introduces the basics of national accounting, inspired by the Keynesian approach, using INSEE data. It concludes with an analysis of the economic globalization that began in the late 1980s, and a reflection on its current limits.

CF1S1 Sociology (Syllabus)
Sidonie Naulin 

This course introduces students to sociological reasoning, introducing them to its methods, theories and specific approach to the social world. Through the study of central themes such as norms, deviance, the economy, inequalities, social stratification, culture, the school, the family, the city, the state and gender, it presents the contributions of the great classic authors of sociology such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Becker and Bourdieu. The aim is to understand how sociology makes it possible to scientifically analyze social dynamics, and to grasp the main results produced by over a century of research in the discipline.

CF1 S1 Comparative politics (Syllabus)
Politists 

This fundamental course introduces students to comparative political science. It focuses on the main political institutions and structures of contemporary democratic and, to a lesser extent, non-democratic regimes. At the end of this course, students should be able to : understand the main methodological tools for analyzing and comparing political systems in different geographical and cultural contexts; distinguish major categories of institutions, organizations or policies (e.g., authoritarian regimes, or types of voting systems); know the main theoretical and conceptual principles that explain how contemporary political regimes function; have a factual knowledge of the political institutions and structures in place in several major Western democracies that are systematically covered in the course - Germany, the United States, France, India and Switzerland. 

CF1S1 Comparative Political Economy (Syllabus)
Sophie Panel

Why are there so many states today? Do parliamentary regimes produce better results than presidential ones? Why are hereditary monarchies more stable than military dictatorships? Is there any point in voting? This course addresses twelve major themes of comparative political economy and the many questions they raise. Comparative political economy studies political institutions using tools borrowed from economics. This means that, from a theoretical point of view, the unit of analysis is the individual, motivated by objectives but constrained by political institutions. The main aim of this discipline is therefore to understand how institutions influence individual behaviour and produce certain outcomes. Methodologically, knowledge of the origins and effects of political institutions is based on statistical or experimental analysis. No prerequisites are necessary to take this course, but it is recommended that you be comfortable in English (for example, for taking notes).

CF1S1 Political and Administrative Institutions (Syllabus)
Pr Blaquière

This course explores the legal framework that structures French political and administrative institutions. It begins with an introduction to the foundations of constitutional law: sovereignty, constituent powers, the role of judges, and the relationship between national and European law. It then sheds light on the specific features of the Fifth Republic, in particular the presidentialization of the regime and the predominant role of the executive. The course also looks at French administrative organization through key concepts such as decentralization, deconcentration, independent administrative authorities and new public management. After setting out the fundamental points of reference (difference between public and private law, jurisdictional structure), it examines the mechanisms for controlling political power, in particular constitutionalism and sovereignty. The evolution of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic is analyzed, as is the strengthening of the executive. Finally, particular attention is paid to the Conseil d'État and the Défenseur des droits.

2 hours per week over 12 weeks:

CF1S2 Transnational history of Europe in the 19th-20th centuries (Syllabus)
A. Lignereux 

This course offers an introduction to the history of Europe from the XIXᵉ to the XXᵉ century through the prism of transnational studies. It focuses on the role of popular movements in the construction of the European idea and international institutions, in connection with subaltern studies and transnational networks. Structured in four parts, the course begins with a reflection on the differences between international lived experience and transnational analysis. It then explores European geographies, the cultural construction of Europe, social and environmental issues linked to capitalism, and finally the contribution of networks of marginalized actors (women, youth, LGBTQ+ movements) to the emergence of European projects. Breaking with a purely institutional approach focused on the post-1951 period, the book emphasizes a history "from below", and the circulations of ideas and people that give shape to a specific European space.

CF1S2 Microeconomics and Industrial Organization (Syllabus)
S. Varaine

The aim of this CF is to introduce the basic concepts of microeconomics and some useful tools for analyzing how markets function and how governments intervene (market equilibrium, surplus, etc.). The course begins by examining the behavior of consumers and producers in a situation of perfect competition, followed by the main market failures (public goods, information asymmetries and externalities) and finally the different forms of industrial organization (monopoly, oligopoly, etc.).

CF1S2 Sociology of International Relations (Syllabus)
Franck Petiteville 

This course provides an introduction to the sociology of international relations. Following an introduction to the main currents in international relations theory (realism, liberalism, transnationalism), the first part of the course looks at the fundamentals of the international system and how they are currently evolving: state sovereignty, power, diplomacy, international organizations. In the second part, the course examines the changes in violence in international relations since the end of the Cold War: inter-state wars, civil wars, terrorism and the status of nuclear weapons. In this respect, it raises the debate on "just war" and the legitimization of the use of violence. The third part of the course looks at three major issues in contemporary international cooperation: the protection of human rights, the environment and the regulation of migration.

2 hours per week over 12 weeks:

Economic Policies (Syllabus)
Yann Echinard 

Since the 1980s, the idea that institutions play a central role in economics has gained widespread acceptance. This course builds on this recognition to analyze different institutionalist approaches, exploring how institutions influence individual behavior, organizational forms such as the firm, coordination mechanisms such as the market, and the role of the state. As systems of formal or informal rules, institutions structure economic action at several levels. The course aims to situate, compare and critique the main economic theories of coordination and governance. It offers conceptual tools for questioning fundamental notions such as the market, money, the actor and the firm, and seeks to foster dialogue between economics and the other social sciences around major contemporary controversies.

CF3S1 Public policy (Syllabus)
Hélène Caune, Marine Bourgeois

The Fundamental Course in Public Policy enables us to understand public action as a fundamental component of political power, and therefore of change in contemporary states. Part of the trilogy that defines political science - polity (the political system and its rules), politics (the political game and its elections) - public policies refer more generally to what the state does in society, and under what conditions.

CF3S1 Contemporary sociology (Syllabus)
Gilles Bastin 

The aim of this course is to approach the study of contemporary sociology through theoretical questioning of research traditions, concepts and methods that are the subject of discussion in the discipline as it is practiced today. The aim of this course is both to describe the changes taking place in contemporary societies, and to examine the tensions that these changes provoke in the discipline of sociology. In the course of the course, we will examine these tensions as an exercise in "sociological imagination": a reflection on the tools we can all use to try to understand the social world in which we live, and thereby act upon it. These questions will serve as a thread running through the course, and will enable us to make gradual progress towards formulating the great secret of contemporary societies: the existence, maintenance and reproduction of inequalities.
 

2 hours per week over 12 weeks:

CF3S2 Global history of the contemporary world (19th-20th centuries) (Syllabus)
Claire Marynower 

This course explores the social and political history of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from the end of the XIXᵉ to the beginning of the XXIᵉ century, on the eve of the Arab Springs. It adopts a global and connected history perspective, as well as a postcolonial gaze, to analyze a modernity that is not limited to the European point of view. The course highlights the internal processes of modernization in regions outside the direct domination of European empires, such as the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, drawing on movements such as the Nahda, Islamism and Arabism. It also examines the impact of European colonialism and imperialism in the region. Finally, it addresses issues relating to ethnic and religious minorities, the role of religions, ideologies and social dynamics.

CF3S2 European Union Law (Syllabus)
Fabien Terpan 

Against a backdrop of economic and political crisis (Euroscepticism, Brexit), is the European Union increasingly influenced by states, and particularly by the most powerful states? Has the "Community method", which made the European model of regional integration original, given way to modes of operation that are more respectful of state sovereignty? On the contrary, is the expansion of competences transforming the Union into a quasi-federal organization? Although not a state, can the Union be a democracy and an international power? The aim of this course is to provide an analytical framework for answering these and other questions. The aim is not only to describe the European Union, but also and above all to analyze it, to explain its transformations, and to grasp its main driving forces, beyond the caricatured debates between supporters of integration and sovereigntists, defenders and critics of neo-liberalism.