Introduction to Comparative Politics:
Governance in the 21st Century
INTS 4501
Syllabus
Fall 2000
Instructor: Timothy D. Sisk, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate, GSIS
Ben M. Cherrington Hall, Room 212
Tel: (303) 871-2998; tsisk@du.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, Noon to 2pm, or by appointment
Class Meets: Thursdays, 6:00-9:00pm, Olin
September 12-November 16
Internet Module: http://du.blackboard.com
Synopsis
Introduction to Comparative Politics: Governance in the 21st Century is a core course in the GSIS curriculum. The course explores theories, approaches and methods for analyzing political processes in countries and societies around the globe. How important are states for governance today? How do social forces affect governance and policy making? What types of political institutions promote stability? How important are classes and elites in determining political outcomes? Does regime type affect economic performance? What is democracy and democratization, and is democracy a legitimate and efficient form of governance? Through readings, lectures, guided discussion, and multimedia sources, students will acquire skills to interpret political systems and events in comparative contexts. The course focuses on new concepts of governance -- a term that refers to how governments and societies relate and interact -- and the changing nature of politics in the 21st century's era of globalization.
Comparative politics is one of a five major subfields of political science (others include international relations, public policy, methodology, and American and other country-specific politics). Is comparative politics relevant to the world today? The principal criticism leveled against the subfield is that the literature is overly complex, abstract and highly theoretical -- devoid of "real-world" uses. This criticism is grossly misguided. To refute this oft-heard concern, the course emphasizes the linkages between cutting-edge theory in comparative politics and practical policy applications. Encouraging students to bridge the theory to practice gap in an innovative manner is a central objective of the course. Students will learn how theoretical concepts translate into practical knowledge in a wide variety of professional settings and they will apply comparative theory to current events or policy problems in several exercises.
Rationale, Scope & Objectives
Comparative politics -- the study of authoritative public decisions in various countries and societies -- is increasingly relevant to the modern era. Rapid globalization of the international economy means that the domestic political systems of states are increasingly constrained by factors beyond national boundaries; central governments have much less control over what occurs within their domain than previously. At the same time, many countries have implemented systematic programs of decentralization. Has the central, national state begun to wither away as the locus of political power?
Domestic politics also affects international relations. To understand international relations in today’s complex world, businesspersons, government officials, policy analysts, and scholars alike must have a toolkit of intellectual skills to interpret domestic politics in other countries and societies. The course opens and categorizes this toolkit by providing an overview of the theoretical approaches that explain the domestic politics of states in a comparative perspective and methods for applying concepts to policy problems in specific countries and regions. We will focus on crosscutting themes as well as specific case studies.
An objective of this course is to introduce key issues and controversies in comparative politics, and to enhance the student's ability to evaluate critically work in the field and current events in the global arena. Among the specific theoretical approaches we analyze are state-society relations, political institutions, class and elite dominance, political culture and participation, and political economy. The course is structured to outline a theoretical approach to comparative politics and then to illustrate this approach with reference to a specific case; theories and cases are paired throughout the term. The course moves on to an in-depth look at a topics that continues to be central in this field: democracy and democratization.
This course is designed in conjunction with a second, companion course in Advanced Comparative Politics (INTS 4504) that examines mainstream theories in greater depth, evaluates other theoretical orientations (such as rational choice and post-modernism), and explores topics in comparative politics such as political parties, electoral systems, and identity and politics. Students preparing for comprehensive doctoral exams in comparative politics should be familiar with the required and suggested readings in this syllabus and they should be prepared to consult additional readings referenced in the texts (especially the classic works in the field). Ph.D. students should consult the course instructor on how this course curriculum prepares them for the examinations.
All students should delve deeply into additional readings on the theories, methods, and topics they find especially interesting. They should familiarize themselves with the major scholarly journals in the sub-field such as the American Political Science Review, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, the Journal of Democracy, the Journal of Political Economy, and World Politics, along with area-specific journals. Finally, students are encouraged to develop a particular region or country-specific focus and each student should be prepared to relate the theories, approaches, and methods covered in this course to the study of their area or country.
Course Requirements & Evaluation of Student Performance
ü Class preparedness and participation, 10% of the grade. Student attendance and active participation in class is strongly encouraged. Evidence of a student having read the assigned material will feature heavily, and favorably, in this portion of the grade. To facilitate student contributions, each course participant should be ready to specify an approach, topic, region or country on which they will be occasionally called upon as a "specialist" in class.
ü Written assignments, which together total 55% of the grade. Two writing assignments are required. Specific instructions for the writing assignments will be handed out over the course of the term. Please consult the course schedule for due dates for the assignments. Students should be aware that the degree of professionalism these papers reflect is a component of their evaluation by the course instructor.
¨ Review Essay: 25% of the grade. The first writing assignment is a review essay of three seminal or recent journal articles on a particular theme of comparative politics. In the essay, students are to reflect on a unifying or integrative theme that occurs in the three articles and weigh the merits of demerits of various theoretical approaches. Students will wish to browse scholarly journals in the field for book review essays for an indication of the style and substance of a paper of this nature. This paper should be between five and seven pages long.
¨ Position Paper: 30% of the grade. The second writing assignment is a position paper of approximately 15 pages that adopts a theory of comparative politics through which to explain a suitable topic, event, or series of events.
Under no circumstances will late papers earn the maximum score. Papers more than three days late will not be accepted. Plagiarism is a serious ethical breech and students should refer to the GSIS policy on this matter.
ü Final Examination, 35% of the grade. The final examination will consist of ten identifiers of specific concepts raised in the course readings and discussions, and a bonus question. Students can maximize their final examination score by taking copious notes on lectures and discussion, reading carefully the assigned readings, and thinking creatively about the applicability of comparative politics to contemporary international events.
Course Materials
The following books listed below are course texts and these titles are recommended for purchase. They are available at the DU bookstore located in the Driscoll Center. Other required readings will be made available to students on reserve at the library and through other means.
Harris, Peter, and Ben Reilly, eds. 1998. Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators. Stockholm: International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance).
Peters, B. Guy. 1998. Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods. New York: New York University Press.
Sorensen, Georg. 1998. Democracy and Democratization: Processes and Prospects in a Changing World. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Class Schedule
Sep 14 Unit 1:Course Introduction & Overview
Sep 21 Unit 2: Trends, Theories, Topics, and Methods
Peters, Comparative Politics, Chapters 1-7; be familiar with chapters 8-9.
George, Alexander. 1979. “Case Studies and Theory Development: The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison.” In Diplomacy: New Approaches in History, Theory, and Policy. Paul Gorden Lauren, ed. (New York: The Free Press): 43-68.
Suggested
Lijphart, Arend. 1971. "Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method," American Political Science Review 65: 682-693.
Chilcote, Ronald. R. 1994. Theories of Comparative Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Part II: Studies in Democracy and Democratization
Sep 28 Unit 3: The State, State-Society Relations in China
Sorensen, Democracy and Democratization, Chapters 1-4.
Be familiar with the principal themes in Chapter 5.
Migdal, Kohli, and Shue, Introduction and Chapter 1 (pp. 1-36), “The State in Society: An Approach to Struggles for Domination,” and Chapter 11, “State Power and Social Forces: On Political Contention and Accommodation in the Third World,” in Joel Migdal, ed. State Power and Social Forces (pp. 293-326).
Pan Wei, "Democracy or Rule of Law: China's Political Future" (unpublished ms.)
(Be familiar with the principal arguments).
Oct 5 Unit 4: Political Institutions in South Africa
Harris and Reilly, eds. "Democratic Levers for Conflict Management," (pp. 133-233).
Sisk, Timothy D. 1995. “Electoral System Choice in South Africa: Implications for Intergroup Moderation,” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 1 (2): 178-204.
Suggested:
March, James G. and Johan P. Olsen. 1984. “The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life,” The American Political Science Review 78: 734-79.
Koeble, Thomas. 1995. “The New Institutionalism in Political Science and Sociology,” Comparative Politics 27 (2): 231-243.
Oct 12 Unit 5:Classes and Elites in Georgia
Higley, John, and Michael G. Burton. 1989. “The Elite Variable in Democratic Transitions and Breakdowns,” American Sociological Review 54: 17-32.
Readings on Georgia will be announced.
Chilcote, Chapter 8 (pp. 284-337), “Theories of Class: From Pluralist Elite to Ruling Class and Mass” in Theories of Comparative Politics: The Search for a Paradigm (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994).
Oct 19 Unit 6:Political Culture in Germany
Bill, James A. and Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. "Political Culture and Socialization" in Comparative Politics: The Quest for Theory. (pp. 85-116).
McAdams, James. 1997. "Germany after Unification: Normal at Last?" World Politics 49: 282-308.
Part III: Democracy in Divided Societies
Oct 26 Unit 7: The Political Economy of Ethnic Conflict in Indonesia
Harris and Reilly, eds., Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators.
(Be familiar with the principal themes in each of the chapters).
Diamond, Larry. 1992. "Economic Development and Democracy Reconsidered." American Behavioral Scientist 35 (4/5): 450-499.
Liddle, R. William. 1997. "Coercion, Co-optation, and the Management of Ethnic Relations in Indonesia," in Michael E. Brown and Sumit Ganguly, eds., Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Nov 2 Unit 8: Democracy in India
Lijphart, Arend. 1996. “The Puzzle of Indian Democracy,” American Political Science Review 90 (2): 258-268.
Nov 9 Guest Lecturer
Readings to be announced.
Nov 16 Course Overview