Topic 4 (9/4)—What
is globalization and why is it making so many people unhappy in the advanced industrial democracies?
-
O’Neil, Essentials, “Advanced
Democracies.” The link on the temporary file was incorrect for the day
this was assigned, so we will
need to cover its main ideas in class and as we discuss Britain and
Germany. You may find the
chapter summary helpful as you complete the other readings. If you are
especially interested in this topic, I also have posted
the correct version of the original assignment.
-
O’Neil, Essentials, Chapter 11, “Globalization
and the Future of Comparative Politics” Temporary
link until our textbook's arrive; remember to use the password to open
-
Henry Kissinger on the Assembly of a New World Order, Wall
Street Journal, 2014, <5pp)
-
The Democratic Distemper (The Economist, 2014, <3pp). Just
read the identified section rather than the whole document.
-
Not brilliant, but a nice summary of some of
the same ideas covered in the longer article by Pharr et al.:
Ten Reasons Why Democracy is in Crisis, 2014
-
Read very quickly, focusing on what Pharr and Putnam
see as the causes behind the issues that seem to be impacting all
advanced democracies:
Susan
J. Pharr, Robert Putnam, and Russell Dalton, "A Quarter-Century of
Declining Confidence" (Journal of Democracy, 2000, 21pp)
Topic 5 (9/9)—Thinking
comparatively: Can we better understand or even improve America's democracy if we compare it to other
advanced industrial democracies?
-
O’Neil,
et al. Cases, “United States.” If you have recently completed a
college-level American government class, skim this chapter; if not, please
read it closely, concentrating on what makes the US different from other
democracies..
-
Ishaan
Tharoor, American Exceptionalism Has Become Exceptionally Stale
(Time, 2012, 4pp)
-
http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com:
Most of the data on this site obviously has no relevance to our course,
but please take a look at please take a look at the various charts related
educational performance, economic freedom, economic inequality, happiness,
healthcare, and other issues that are important when comparing the performance
of governments around the world. In what areas is the US a model of
excellence? Are there areas where we might consider exploring how other
countries do things?
-
Louis
M. Seidman, "Let's Give Up on the Constitution" (New York
Times, 2012, 4pp)
-
Norm Ornstein, "Worst. Congress. Ever"
(Foreign Policy 2012, 8pp)
Topic 6
(9/11)—How and
why
is power so centralized in Britain's democracy?
Topic 8 (9/16)—Does
Great Britain
need a constitutional revolution...
or even devolution... to better deal
with today's challenges?
-
Vernon Bogdanor, "The
Historic Legacy of Tony Blair" (Current History, 2007, 7pp). Focus on
the first few pages that outline changes to Britain's "constitution" during the period in which Labour
was in power.
-
James
Cronin, Converging at the Center in Britain (Current History, 2009,
7pp)
-
Matthias Matthijs, "Britain and Europe" (Current History 2014, 7pp)
-
Stephen Tierney and Katie Boyle, "Yes or No, 2014's Scotland Referendum
Carries Significant Constitutional Implications" (Democratic Audit 2014,
4pp)
-
Optional only because it was just
published:
The Economist, "UK RIP?" (Economist, 2014)
-
Optional:
The Blair: Inside
Story, Part One (59 min.);
Part Two (59 min)
-
And for the few folks who are still spending
most of our class meetings staring and muttering at their laptop screens:
(1) a research
study showing why taking notes on laptops typically leads to lower
college grades (although most of the laptop usage in class to date
doesn't appear to be course related, which is even more damaging to grades)
(2)
a short summary about what we know from empirical research about the type of
faculty and student behavior in a class that is most likely to lead to
high-level student learning
(3) Key course materials on grading in this class, including
the
syllabus and the course
participation grading rubric, with special attention paid to the
comments on participation grades and their rationale.
Topic 9
(9/18)—Why
did democracy come so late to Germany?
What's
so special about its democratic choices and system?
Topic 10
(9/23)—Is
Germany's approach to globalization a model of success that should be
emulated?
Thursday,
September 25—Unit
1 Examination
Thursday, October
2—Unit
1 Essay due in
hard copy and by e-mail at the start of class.
Make sure to read through the topic
and instructions very carefully. You also should review
the grading criteria for
papers in this class before you start. To help you in self-assessing
your work, you may want to download
my essay grading rubric
so that you can pre-grade your own work.
UNIT
II: TOTALITARIAN AND AUTHORITARIAN STATES
Topic 1
(9/30): Topic 1—How do nondemocratic regimes vary, and why is it getting harder
over time for tyrants to cling to power?
Topic 2 (10/2): What is communism and why did so many non-democratic governments
pursue this type of government in the 20th century even as democracies
flourished?
-
Reminder: Monday, October 6 (moved
from original due date of 10/2)—Unit
1 Essay due in hard copy
and by e-mail at the start of class.
Make sure to read through the topic
and instructions very carefully. You also should review
the grading criteria for
papers in this class before you start. To help you in self-assessing
your work, you may want to download
my essay grading rubric
so that you can pre-grade your own work.
-
O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative
Politics, Chapter 8, “Communism and Post-Communism”
-
Optional:
The
Economist, “The Strange Case of Karl and Adolf”
(1999, 6pp)
Topic 3
(10/7)—The Russian political system:
How did socialist ideals lead to totalitarianism "communism" and then
authoritarianism?
Topic 4 (10/9)—How authoritarian is
post-Soviet
Russia? How does its "illiberal democracy" work and how sustainable is its soft
authoritarianism?
Topic 5 (10/14)—How
and why has Chinese socialism, totalitarianism, and authoritarianism differed
from the Russian experience?
Topic 6 (10/16)—Can
the CCP hold on to power over the long run? Will continued economic growth
and more international power end up making China democratic?
Fall
Break—No
class on 10/21 or 10/23
Catch up courses (10/28, 10/30 )
Thursday,
November 4—Unit
1 Examination
Thursday, November 11—Unit
2 Essay due in hard copy
and by e-mail at the start of class.
Make sure to read through the topic
and instructions very carefully. You also should review
the grading criteria for
papers in this class before you start. To help you in self-assessing
your work, you may want to download
my essay grading rubric
so that you can pre-grade your own work.
Topic 7 (11/6)—Institutionalizing a
revolutionary theocracy: Iran's political system
Topic 8 (11/11, 11/13, 11-18)
—Iran:
A model for Middle-Eastern democracy or a political dead end for reform?
UNIT
III:
THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATIZATION
Topic 1 (11/20): Why
do some countries stay poor when others do not? Domestic theories of
development and underdevelopment
Topic 2
(12/2):
Why do some countries become and stay democratic?
What is the
relationship between
economic development and democratization?
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and George W. Downs, "Development and Democracy"
(Foreign Affairs, 2005, 5pp)
Topic 3
(12/4, 12/9)—India's
Democracy and Development
Tuesday,
December 9—Op-ed
essay due in hard copy and by e-mail at the
start of class.
Make sure to read through
the instructions for this topic very
carefully. You also should review
the grading criteria for
papers in this class before you start. For this assignment, the content
and analysis grades will reflect your coverage and analysis of at least
five, high-quality sources that you have reviewed outside of your regularly
class readings. To help you in self-assessing your work, you may want to
download
my essay grading rubric
so that you can pre-grade your own work.
Tuesday, December 15, 8am: Final exam. You will
be taking a two-part final exam. The first is NOT comprehensive and will be
identical in structure to your other two tests earlier in the term.
Specifically, you will have 11 true-false questions that collectively will
be worth 25% of your Part 1 grade. Assessments of your responses to at least
5 short essay questions will make up remainder of the Part I grade. As part
of your preparation, please review
the criteria that is used to
grade the short essay answers. You will also find it helpful to
carefully review the unit's focus
question set, which is on a handout in the in-line PPTs file. Plan on
taking around an hour to complete this part of the test.
The second part of the test is a long-essay response to a question that you
are being given in advance. Please
read carefully through the handout that on this assignment I have placed in
the PPT/Handouts and Assignments file that is linked from our course website.
You should plan on taking at least an hour to write this part of the exam,
and I will provide lined paper for you.
Together, these two exam parts are quite a lot of writing, so
please bring a pen or pencil (your choice) that is comfortable for you to
use.