two theses on political systems (help)
Hello,
I am a student teacher from Germany, and next Wednesday I will have my final oral exam in political science. For this exam, I have to develop six theses in total. Two each on political theory, political systems, and international relations.
Since my examiner is not allowed to give me feedback on the theses, I wanted to ask whether you could provide some feedback on two of them. In particular, it would help me to know:
- whether the wording and level of emphasis are appropriate,
- whether the theses are generally plausible,
- which typical follow-up questions might come up in an oral exam,
- and which arguments could support or challenge the theses.
I have already worked out quite a lot myself, but including everything here would probably go beyond the scope of this post.
Here are my two theses on political systems:
Thesis 1 – The French system of government
“The fragmented parliamentary majority after the snap elections of 2024 has led to a structural governmental deadlock within the French semi-presidential system, visible in the succession of failed prime ministers (Barnier 2024, Bayrou 2025, Lecornu 2025).”
Thesis 2 – Pluralism in Germany
“The erosion of the traditional catch-all parties (CDU/CSU 28.6%, SPD 16.4% in the 2025 federal election) and the simultaneous strengthening of political extremes (AfD 20.8%, Die Linke 8.8%) are leading, in Sartori’s sense, to polarized pluralism, increasingly undermining the formation of stable majorities in the political center.”