Course syllabus Political Psychology and Crisis Management

Admitted to the Master Program in Politics and War or to the PhD program in Political Science with a focus on crisis and security.

The foundational claim of the course is that knowledge on psychological as well as institutional perspectives are crucial to understand crisis behavior. Crises generally entail rapid, negative change of societal structures with serious consequences for individuals and communities. Processes like these forces difficult and divisive priorities in e.g. resource allocation, collective efforts and political capital. Priorities have to be made by individuals, embedded in organizational structures, drawing on knowledge and experiences that are frequently disparate, sector-specific, and politically contested. The course centers on an academic tradition that locates the individual and her metal capacities inside an institutional setting that both enables and constrains decision-making in crisis. The progression of the course goes from individual political psychological theory, through group behavior into the functioning of organizations as knowledge depositories and instruments of crisis operations. Along that content curve, several analytical tools will be introduced that can help the student to comprehend the interplay between psychological and institutional factors of crisis decision-making. The core literatures broached are leadership studies, collaborative management, decision-making, group dynamics, emotive cognition, sense-making, and policy-oriented learning.

The course consists of lectures and seminars. The student will be required to study single cases of decision processes in order to identify factors and characteristics that contribute to political outcomes.

Type of Instruction

• Seminars
• Lectures

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:

• analyze and discuss important contributions to the literature on crisis management and political psychology;
• assess the value of these approaches in terms of methodology and applicability to empirical problems;
• critically analyze the role of disruptions in societal systems to political and policy processes;
• identify and evaluate theoretical as well as practical problems and practices in the area of crisis management and political psychology;
• independently conduct a brief research project, generated by a theoretical or an empirical problem, in the area of crisis management and/or political psychology.

Assessment is through an on-campus written exam, as well as active participation in mandatory seminars.

The examiner may decide to request supplementary assignments in order to achieve a passing grade on the course. Supplementary assignments must be completed no later than three working days after the notification of any supplementary assignment, unless there are special reasons approved by the examiner.

Grading

The student is graded on a three-point grading scale: Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG). Grading criteria are provided at the start of the course.

To obtain the grade Pass with Distinction (VG) in the course, the student must actively participate in the mandatory seminars and obtain a grade of Pass with Distinction for the on-campus written examination.

To obtain the grade Pass (G) in the course, the student must actively participate in the mandatory seminars and obtain a grade of Pass for the on-campus written examination.

Restrictions in Number of Examinations

There is no limit on the total number of examination opportunities.

When the course is no longer offered or when the course content has changed substantially, the student has the right to be examined once per semester during a three-term period in accordance with this syllabus.