Tommaso Pavone

Qualitative Methods for Political Research

University of Toronto, graduate course, fall 2024

This course introduces a selection of qualitative methods that are frequently used to conduct political science research. After briefly reviewing key debates about research ethics and how to ask good research questions, the course covers both the theoretical development and practical use of specific qualitative methods, including ethnography, interviewing, discourse analysis, digital fieldwork, process tracing, case studies, and multi-method research designs. Recurrent themes include debating the promises and pitfalls of a given method, better from poorer applications of a method, the trade-offs in selecting one method or type of evidence over its alternatives, and the value of iterating back-and-forth between methodological scholarship and substantive research. Because mastering qualitative research requires learning by doing, this course engages numerous applied examples of qualitative research and invites students to get hands-on experience with a qualitative method of their choosing. Download the syllabus here.

European Union: Politics, Institutions, and Society

University of Toronto, undergraduate course, spring 2024, 2025

This course provides an in-depth understanding of the history, institutions, laws, and policies of the European Union (EU). We will debate alternative explanations for the political development of the EU, unearth the events and actors that have shaped European integration, and place the EU in a broader comparative perspective. We will also grapple with key social and political debates facing the EU today, such as debates concerning the democratic legitimacy of the EU, immigration and the EU’s handling of the refugee crisis, the rise of Euroskepticism and Brexit, the rule of law crisis and autocratization of some EU member states, and how the war in Ukraine has impacted the trajectory of European integration. Download the syllabus here.

Law and Political Development

University of Toronto, undergraduate course, fall 2023, 2024

This course illuminates how political authority is constructed and contested, alongside the role that law and legal actors play in this process. Focusing on the historical development of territorial states, but also considering empires, we will debate how these polities emerge, how they project their power and legitimate their authority, how people challenge and resist their rule, and how laws, lawyers, and judges impact these processes of political development. Throughout we will animate our discussions with an array of comparative examples – such as the rise and resilience of imperial China, the medieval origins of the rule of law in Europe, the territorial expansion of the US federal state, and the political role that courts play in democratic and authoritarian states today. Download the syllabus here.

Judicial Politics

University of Toronto, upper-level undergraduate-graduate course, fall 2023, spring 2025

This course provides an in-depth understanding of the social and political origins of judicial power and the growing role that courts play in democracies and autocracies. Adopting a comparative perspective, we will probe when and why citizens, social movements, and policymakers turn to the courts and support judicial power, what factors shape how judges make decisions, when judicial decisions beget compliance and defiance, and how courts shape regime politics like democratization, democratic backsliding, and autocratic consolidation. Throughout we will bring cutting-edge research to life with concrete examples: from domestic courts like the US Supreme Court to international courts like the European Court of Justice; from judicial politics in liberal democracies like Canada, to backsliding regimes like Hungary, to consolidated autocracies like Egypt. Download the syllabus here.

Law and Social Change

University of Arizona, undergraduate writing-emphasis course, fall 2021 & 2022; spring 2022 & 2023

The motivating question for this course is whether or not significant social, political, and/or economic change can be achieved through the courts. We will ask: When, why, and how do individuals and interest groups turn to the courts to advocate for social change – and what change are they looking for? Under what conditions is litigation most likely to prove successful – and how should we define ‘success’? What kinds of backlashes and unintended consequences might beset these litigation efforts? And are courts ultimately a ‘hollow hope’ destined to serve the ‘haves,’ or can judges level the odds in favor of the ‘have nots’? Download the syllabus here.

Law and Political Development

University of Arizona, undergraduate course, spring 2022 & 2023

This course illuminates how political authority is constructed and contested, alongside the role that law and legal actors play in this process. Focusing on the development of territorial states, but also considering empires and international organizations, we will peel back how these polities emerge, how they legitimate their authority and project their power, how people challenge and resist their rule, and how laws, lawyers, and judges impact these processes of political development. Download the syllabus here.

Constitutional Difficulties in the Age of Trump

Princeton University, undergraduate course, spring 2019, under Prof. Keith Whittington

A smorgasbord of constitutional law and politics. The unexpected election of Donald Trump in the fall of 2016 has ushered in a host of debates about less familiar features of the U.S. Constitution. A political outsider and populist, President Trump has pushed on inherited constitutional practices and assumptions. In an era of highly polarized politics, his opponents have likewise made innovative use of constitutional institutions and powers. The Trump presidency has generated unusual concerns about the stability and robustness of the American constitutional system. This course will try to make sense of those concerns and the constitutional debates of the past two years. Download the syllabus here.

Judicial Politics

Princeton University, undergraduate course, spring 2016, under Prof. John Kastellec

This course provides an introduction to the political science of law and courts. Topics typically include: bargaining and decision making on the U.S. Supreme Court; political struggles over doctrine within the judicial hierarchy; the politics of Supreme Court nominations; juries as political institutions; court packing, jurisdiction stripping and judicial intimidation. Download the syllabus here.