Politics and Policies of Development Aid

Course Level: 
Master’s
Course Open to: 
Students on-site
Academic Year: 
2023-2024
Term: 
Winter
US Credits: 
2
ECTS Credits: 
4
Course Code: 
DOPP5429
Course Description: 

Elective course

Mandatory Elective for MAIPA

Development Specialization for DPP

The course examines development aid from the perspective of the donor countries. The international system of development aid has undergone major changes in recent years. New and influential donor countries have joined the policy field and South-South cooperation has become important pillar of the system. The course provides a brief historical overview of the international development system, discusses the public policies, motives and strategies of the most important donor countries and examines changes that new players and increased South-South cooperation have brought about. The aim of the course is to provide students with a sound insight into public policy of development cooperation.

Learning Outcomes: 

The students get familiar with the history and basic structure of the international development system. They are able to identify key challenges, to identify them as policy problems and to develop solutions with the help of policy theories. In addition, students learn to formulate relevant research questions in this policy field and to analyse them using scientific methods.

Assessment: 

Students are expected to attend seminars regularly, to prepare the required readings, to participate actively in the seminar discussions, participate in group assignments, to present an outline of the research paper and to write a final research paper. Grading is based on group assignments (30%) and a final research paper (70%). The final research paper comprises 3000 words.