Political Science 350 (sections 1 & 2)
Fall 2009
Dr. Mike Williams
IPJ 220A
Office and Phone: IPJ 286B; 260-4012
Office Hours: MWF: 8 – 9 am; 1:15 – 2:45 pm
E-mail: jmwilliams@sandiego.edu
Website: http://home.sandiego.edu/~jmwilliams/
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the study of comparative politics. It is designed to provide an overview of the most important theoretical approaches to this subject as well as examine the political history of individual countries. The central goal of the course will be to seek an understanding of political development in various regions of the world. Given the global changes since the end of the Cold War, and more recently, the events of September 11, the cou rse focuses on those broad issues which dominate contemporary comparative politics: the ability of the state to govern its citizens, the factors that facilitate or hinder democratization, and the goal of exporting democracy to non-Western societies. Throughout the semester, we will compare how different societies have attempted to deal with these issues. Because we want to cover as many topics as possible, we will be moving quite quickly during the course of the semester and I would encourage you to keep up with the readings to get the most out of the course.
Your daily participation is one of the most important features of this course and accounts for 20% of your grade. Each of us will bring different ideas and bits of knowledge to class and the course is designed for us to share our different opinions in an intense, yet polite, manner. I do not claim to dispense Truth with respect to comparative politics, and it is my hope that we will learn from each other over the course of the semester. Thus, there will be very few traditional lectures given. Instead, each class I will choose - at random - two to three students to lead class discussion for that day. I will ask questions concerning the assigned readings and students will be expected to have read the material closely enough to respond in a thoughtful manner. Because you never know when your number may turn up, it is best to be prepared each class for your turn in the “hot seat.” Your class participation grade will depend on how prepared you are when you are one of the leaders of class discussion. I encourage you to take notes on the assigned readings and use these to help you answer questions, but you will not be allowed to re-read the text during the discussion. You are allowed to decline your role as class leader one time without any penalty, but more than this will negatively affect your class participation grade. While this process may seem intimidating at first, it will become more familiar to you over the course of the semester and will help you learn how to construct, and deconstruct, arguments. This, by the way, will prove to be helpful for the midterm, the writing assignments, and the final exam.
Regular attendance is required for this course and more than one absence will lower your participation. It will be lowered 5% for each subsequent absence unless you provide a verifiable written excuse from a doctor.
Arriving late to class, leaving class during discussions, and receiving cell phone calls during class, is disruptive and rude. Your class participation and attendance grade will be lowered if you consistently come to class late or if you receive calls during class.
The midterm will be on Friday, October 9 and will cover all the material assigned up to that date unless specified differently by the instructor. The midterm will include identification terms, short essays, and a long essay. The date of the final exam will be announced in class. Both the midterm and the final are closed book exams. Students will not be allowed to leave the classroom for any reason during the exam. Under no circumstances, unless serious medical or family emergency, will you be allowed to take the midterm or final at an earlier or later date.
In order for you to apply the concepts learned this semester, you will each complete a country report that will analyze the process of democratization in a particular country. You will choose your country from a list provided by the professor no later than October 21. The outline will be due on November 16. The report will be 7-10 pages in length (double-spaced, one-inch margins, and 12 point font) and will be due on December 11. I will provide more information about the country report during the second week of class.
You are also required to write four reaction papers. These papers will be no more than two pages in length (double-spaced, one-inch margins, and 12 point font). Two of the reaction papers will analyze a newspaper article that relates to class concepts and they will be due on September 25 and November 2. The newspaper article must come from the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal. The other two reaction papers must analyze two different events that take place outside of class. As events are posted at the IPJ during the semester, I will let you know which ones will count for your reaction papers. These reaction papers are due no later than one week after the event has taken place.
Keeping Informed
To get the most from this class, it is crucial that you read a newspaper daily. You can access the following newspapers online for free: The New York Times (www.nytimes.com), The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), and The Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com).
I have established a web page for this course that contains links to many interesting sites related to comparative politics and individual country histories. You can find it at: http://home.sandiego.edu/~jmwilliams
Midterm: 20%
Final: 40%
Participation/Attendance: 20%
Country Report: 10%
Reaction Papers: 10%
All assignments are due in class on the specified due date. You may not email assignments unless I have given you prior permission. Assignments that are not turned in on the specified due date will be graded down one full grade per day and the assignment will not be accepted after three days unless students notify me before and have a written verifiable medical excuse. Those who present me with a verifiable medical excuse will be allowed to take a makeup exam that will be scheduled for the last day of the semester and will be allowed to turn in late assignments without penalty on a date chosen by the professor.
Classroom Etiquette
When class begins, I expect each of you to behave in a responsible and respectful manner. Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of instances where students disrupt class discussions in a variety of ways. For example, it seems to be more common for students to arrive late, to walk out of class during discussions, to receive telephone calls, to receive and send text messages, to receive and send emails, and to surf the net. Obviously, such behavior is not acceptable. Unless there is an emergency, I expect every student to arrive to class on time and to stay for the entire class period. While in class, students should not receive or send any phone calls or text messages. Students will be penalized for any of these infractions. Also, unless a student can provide a letter from Disability Services, laptops will not be allowed during class.
I expect you to comply fully with the standards of academic integrity set forth by the University of San Diego. Any incident of academic dishonesty (as defined in the Undergraduate Bulletin) will be punished to the full extent allowed by the University.
Any form of cheating or academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in a grade of "F" for the course. Further, any academic dishonesty will be reported to the Department Chair. Because it is your responsibility to know and understand University policy regarding academic integrity, “Serious Violations” will be administered for academic dishonesty in this class (“unauthorized assistance on examination, falsification or invention of data, unauthorized collaboration on an academic exercise, plagiarism, misappropriation of resource materials, unauthorized access of an instructor’s files or computer account, other serious violation of academic integrity as established by the instructor”). Be advised that academic dishonesty can lead to academic disqualification. It is rather easy to identify illegitimate assignments, and I do not hesitate to consult USD faculty or colleagues at other institutions nationwide regarding students’ work and I will require each student to submit the country reports to turnitin.com. I encourage you to discuss coursework with classmates and friends, but do your own work and write your own papers. If at any time you need help or would like to talk about an exam or assignment, please come talk to me.
All of these books should be available in the bookstore. The other materials for the course are on E-Reserve and traditional reserve with Copley Library. These materials are designated with an “ER” in the syllabus and the password for this course is: ps350. Please notify me as soon as possible if any of these materials are not available.
Sept. 2: Introduction to course
Sept. 4: Sodaro, Chapters 1-2
Sept. 7: NO CLASS
Section II: State-Building, State-Society Relations, and Democracy
Sept. 9: Sodaro, pages 98-112; Bush, “Iraqi Democracy Will Succeed” [ER]; Wilson, “War Message” [ER]; Freedom House [ER]; HDI Index [ER]
Sept. 11: Sodaro, pages 124-132, 139-42; Migdal, Chapter 1
Sept. 14: Migdal, Chapter 3
Sept. 16: Migdal, Chapter 4
Sept. 18: Migdal, Chapter 5
Sept. 21: Migdal, Chapters 6-7
Sept. 23: Fukuyama, “The Missing Dimensions of Stateness”
Sept. 25: Zakaria, “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy” [ER]; Sodaro, Chapter 7
Reaction Paper #1 Due (at beginning of class)
Sept. 28: Rustow, “Transitions to Democracy”; Haggard and Kaufman, “The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions” [ER]
Sept. 30: Carothers, “The End of the Transition Paradigm”; McFaul, “The Fourth Wave of Democracy and Dictatorship” [ER]
Oct. 2: Sodaro, Chapter 9; Schedler, “What is Democratic Consolidation?” [ER]
Oct. 5: Bratton, “Democratization and state building” [ER]
Oct. 7: Sodaro, Chapter 15; Article on India [ER]
Oct. 9: Midterm
Oct. 12: Sodaro, Chapter 14
Oct. 14: Article on Sweden [ER]
Oct. 16: Sodaro, Chapter 12
Oct. 19: Sodaro, Chapter 8
Oct. 21: Sodaro, Chapter 16 [United Kingdom]
Country Selections Due (at beginning of class)
Oct. 23: NO CLASS
Oct. 26: Markovitz, “Constitutions, Federalist Papers, and the Transition to Democracy”; Dahl, “How well does the constitutional system perform?” [ER]
Oct. 28: Sodaro, Chapter 17 [France]
Oct. 30: Various articles on France, UK, and USA
Nov. 2: Sodaro, Chapter 18 [Germany]
Reaction Paper #2 Due (at beginning of class)
Nov. 4: Sodaro, Chapter 19 [Japan]
Nov. 6: Various articles on Germany and Japan
Nov. 9: Sodaro, Chapter 20 [Russia]
Nov. 11: Sodaro, Chapter 21 [China]
Nov. 13: Various articles on Russia and China
Nov. 16: Sodaro, pages 112-120 [Iran]; Nasr, “Iran’s Peculiar Election” [ER]
Country Report Outline Due (at the beginning of class)
Nov. 18: Nasr, “The Rise of ‘Muslim Democracy’” [ER]; Sodaro, pages 132-39 (Turkey and Pakistan); Various articles on Turkey [ER]
Nov. 20: TBA
Nov. 23: Sodaro, Chapter 10 [Afghanistan and Iraq]; Dodge, “Iraqi Transitions: from regime change to state collapse” [ER]; Tessler, Moaddel, and Inglehart, “What do Iraqis Want?” [ER]
Nov. 25: NO CLASS
Nov. 27: NO CLASS
Nov. 30: Johnson, “Afghanistan’s post-Taliban transition”; Constable, “A wake-up call in Afghanistan” [ER]
Dec. 2: Sodaro, Chapter 22 [Mexico and Brazil]
Dec. 4: Articles on Brazil [ER]
Dec. 7: Sodaro, Chapter 23 [Nigeria and South Africa]
Dec. 9: Articles on South Africa [ER]
Dec. 11: Carothers, “The Backlash Against Democracy Promotion”; Diamond, “Democracy in Retreat” [ER]
Country Report Due (at the beginning of class)
Dec. 14: Zakaria, “The Rise of the Rest” [ER]
Dec. 16: Final Exam (2 pm – 4 pm) [Section 2]
Dec. 18: Final Exam (11 am – 1 pm) [Section 1]