CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Unit 2

Some resources for the rest of the term:

• The course syllabus and The High Point University Honor Code. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns your ability to meet the basic requirements of either of these documents.

• A handout on how your class participation grade will be assigned 

• A handout on how your tests will be graded (grading criteria for the short essay items).

• Citation instructions for papers in Setzler courses (on-line handout). Just familiarize yourself with this so that you are aware of what will be expected of you in papers. For example, as you are taking notes on reading or summarizing readings for future use in papers, you should note page numbers for ideas since you will be asked to include page-specific citations in papers (but not on tests, of course).

• Paper grading criteria for Setzler lower-division classes and the rubric grade sheet that is used for all of your papers. If you receive feedback on an essay that you should work on your writing's organization, make sure to read this handout before you write your next paper. The last thing I want to do is surprise you in a negative way with your paper grades. These guides tell you what you should be aiming for in different elements of your writing, and they provide strategies to improve your performance. If you seek assistance from a writing tutor or the university's writing center, take a copy of the rubric with you.  

Topic 6 -What does globalization mean for us? Should we embrace or fear it?

February 14, 17 (F, M) - How did power come to be organized around states, and what will globalization mean for that structure?

Reading for Friday:

• W. Phillips Shively, "The Modern State" (30 pp) 

• Two engaging lectures by John Green

• Globalization I (the upsides): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnR-e0S6Ic 

• Globalization II (the downside; start at 11:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_iwrt7D5OA

• Steven Radelet, "The Success of Global Development-and How to Keep It Going" (Foreign Affairs 2015, 8pp).

• A five-minute video summarizing how globalization has changed the global economy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

• Ian Bremmer, "The World is More Fragmented, but Interdependence Still Rules" (Foreign Affairs, 2023, 8pp) 

February 19 (W) - What does globalization mean for the future look of the international political system and America's central role in it? Are we going to walk away from the international institutions, norms, and alliances we built even if it makes us relatively less powerful and the world more dangerous? 

• Rebecca Friedman Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper, "The Liberal Order Is More Than a Myth, but It Must Adapt to the New Balance of Power" (Foreign Affairs, 2018, 5pp)

• Two takes on President's past comments on NATO (Wall Street Journal; NY Times). For the most part, I'm am purposefully assigning readings that are not specific to this moment. That said, you do need to be aware that President Trump's multiple announcements on seizing the Panama Canal and Greenland, removing Palestinians from Gaza, and facilitating the handing over of Ukrainian territory to Russia are all departures from longstanding US leadership in the world and are understood by our allies as a retreat.
  

• How foreign countries read America's changing commitments to international norms and institutions:
  https://www.gzeromedia.com/gzero-north/trumps-empire-state-of-mind
  https://www.gzeromedia.com/gzero-north/trump-through-the-looking-glass
  

February 21 (F)- Discussion seminar 4:  Are America's best days behind her?

• No new writing topics will be posted until after mid-term. Everyone will be required to write a self-assessment report as their next essay. After that has been submitted, you will choose one more discussion week question for your last paper of the term.
  

• The argument that the US is in decline has been a recurring topic in American politics going back to the 1970s. Read a summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_decline

• Why liberal hegemons fail and what the US can do about it: Fareed Zakaria. "The Future of American Power: How America Can Survive the Rise of the Rest" (Foreign Affairs, 2008, 14pp).

• Elbridge Colby and Paul Lettow, "Have We Hit Peak America?" (Foreign Policy, 2014, 11pp)

• Fareed Zakaria, "The Self-Doubting Superpower" (Foreign Affairs, 2023, 10pp)

• Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth, "The Myth of Multipolarity: American Power’s Staying Power" (Foreign Affairs, 2023, 12pp)

Maybe this time is different?: 

• Claire Cain Miller, "The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation" (New York Times, 2016, 3pp)

• Francis Fukuyama, "One Single Day. That’s All It Took for the World to Look Away From Us." (NY Times, 2pp)

Topic 7 -To what extent do non-democracies pose a threat to our way of life?

March 3 (M)-Why are most people willing to put up with non-democratic governments in some instances?

• Read this outtake from a textbook chapter on what forms of social control are typically implemented by non-democratic regimes and for what purposes.

• Read this outtake from a textbook chapter that explains distinctive characteristics of totalitarian regimes.
  

• Read quickly for the big picture: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule (Freedom House 2022, 5pp or so).

March 5 (W)-What is daily life like in a non-democracy? How does the government maintain control without using much force?

Start working on your self-assessment essay. It will be do this coming Wednesday.

• For homework, watch the first 84 minutes (i.e., up to "Rules of the Game) of this two-hour documentary on life in contemporary Iran: https://www.pbs.org/video/our-man-in-tehran-part-one-p9eu3w/. Please watch the remainder (of the 84 clip) that we don't finish in class later in the day.
  
  Pro tip: You can save yourself 40 min. if watch at 1.5x speed, which won't speed things up so much that it's not easy to follow. The main thing you should try to understand is how Iran's authoritarian (sometimes incorrectly labeled as totalitarian) regime acts in practice and how everyday people respond to this. What does it mean, as the film's intro puts it: "Everything is forbidden, but everything is possible"? How do undemocratic regimes exercise control over their people? When and how does the Iranian government use force, who uses it, and what are the alternatives the Iranian state uses to resist change? In what ways are the Iranian people relatively free, and where is state repression extreme? How is life different and in many ways the same in a non-democratic regime? Is there any evidence that change will come to Iran? Why do the regime’s supporters resist this change?

March 7 (F) How undemocratic is today's Iran?

• Watch this 15-minute film by the Economist on the history of Iranian-US relations: https://www.economist.com/films/2021/02/27/the-history-of-irans-and-americas-troubled-relationship. If the link doesn't work, open the link in a different browser or use this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEQdZuxIWlA.
  

• Max Fisher, "How Iran Became an Undemocratic Democracy" (New York Times 2017, 7pp)

• PBS, "The Structure of Power in Iran" (3pp; provides an overview of how power is divided among Iran's major political and religious institutions). 
  

• The Economist, "Iran has rigged its election to favour Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner" (2021, 3pp). If the link directly to the Economist will not work for you, try this link.

• The Economist, "A reformer wanting a nuclear deal with America wins Iran’s election" (2 pages). President Raisi was killed in a plane crash in 2024, triggering an election; the outcome was surprising.
  

March 10 (M)- Discussion seminar 4: What is the problem with undemocratic countries like Iran having weapons of mass destruction when several of the leading democracies do, too?

• Note, you need to write three papers this term. You already have written one discussion topic paper. This week, you will be writing a self-assessment paper. Your last paper will be another discussion topic essay. The self-assessment essay is due electronically and in hard paper copy at the start of the Wednesday's class (March 12).
  
  The paper topic and instruction's for this discussion topic are linked: here. If you choose to write on this topic, your paper will be due on Wednesday, March 26. The reason why the due date is later than usual is so that you can write your paper after you have finished your self-assessment essay and the Unit 2 test.
  
  There are a lot of readings listed below, but notice they add up to only about a single textbook chapter's length in total. I've selected these particular article because they are short, while still providing a range of perspectives:
  

• The Economist, "The Long, Long Half Life" (6 pp). It looks like there is a lot of reading for this day, but notice that these are all pretty shorty. In each case, use the focus questions to guide your reading. Each selection is assigned to give you background on a specific piece of the puzzle for why countries are being treated so differently under international law if they pursue nuclear weapons. In this first assignment, focus on the key elements of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the different obligations they put on the US and Iran.  

• The Economist, "The Unkicked Addition" (2015, 4pp)

• W.J. Hennigan, "The New Nuclear Poker" (Time 2018, 5pp)

• Why Obama Should Learn to Love the Nuclear Bomb (Newsweek, 2009, 5pp)

• Eric S. Edelman, et al., "The Dangers of a Nuclear Iran" (Foreign Affairs, 2011, 8pp)

• Kenneth N. Waltz. "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb" (Foreign Affairs, 2012, 4pp)

• A three-minute video summary of the Iran Nuclear deal (This is the 7-country agreement that the US has decided to walk away from; the US administration is pressuring allies to do the same and threatening to sue European companies that continue to do business in Iran in ways that are permitted under the deal). 

• Council on Foreign Relations, "What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? (2023, 3pp)

  Optional only because of its foul language, but well worth your time (skip the first three minutes): John Oliver provides a humorous, but fact-filled look at US-Iranian relations (he is critical of both sides) and the Iran nuclear deal. Jon Gambrell, "The head of UN’s nuclear watchdog warns Iran is ‘not entirely transparent’ on its atomic program" (February 2024, 2pp).

Topic 8: Why do some leaders succeed while others fail in the US and elsewhere?

March 12 (W)- Making sense of the idiosyncratic attributes leaders (Can we generalize about leadership qualities or all leaders unique to their place and time?)

• Your self-assessment essay is due electronically and in hard paper copy at the start of class on Wednesday, March 12.  Follow the directions very closely. The assignment sheet is in the PPTs/Assignments folder on the course homepage.

• Joseph Nye, "When Do President's Steer Foreign Policy?" (Atlantic Monthly, 3pp)

• Gautam Mukunda, A brief selection from Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter. Read this quickly, focusing on the main points.

• Kurt Weyland, "Why Latin America Is Becoming Less Democratic" (Atlantic 2013, 13pp). As you read this article, pay close attention to what populism is, what it looks like in practice, and why it is a real threat to democracy once deeply entrenched by either populist leaders or a party they have captured. Why does Weyland see leftist populists as ultimately more of a problem than right-wing populists (i.e., how/why do the former typically come to power, who is their base, and what economic policies do they pursue that strengthen/undermine their hold on society over time).

March 14, 17 (F, M)- Why do American Presidents do what they, do and how much control do they actually have in shaping the way the country heads?

• Who are the great, average, and lousy presidents, and how can we measure this?: Nate Silver, "Contemplating Obama's Place in History, Statistically" (FiveThirtyEight, 2013, 7pp). The most commonly cited ranking--C-Span's survey of presidential historians--placed President Obama at #12 in 2017; his lowest performance areas were "Relations with Congress" (#39 out of 44) and "International Relations" (#24/44).

  How did President Trump rate in different areas? How do you think Biden will rank? Again, try putting away your partisan hat and think about what makes some presidents more effective than others along with the determinants that presidents can and can’t control by themselves.

• What relationship is there between popularity and presidential greatness? Hint: Very little. Look at the average popularity ratings (both approval and disapproval rates) and patterns of popular support over time for Biden so far: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/ (Compare them to other presidents look at the bottom and use the 8-year settings).
  
  Notice how the ratings for Trump and Biden differ from what is typical (the normal pattern is very popular -> serious bumps -> and then quite popular at the very end. Compare Biden to: Obama (top quartile), Reagan (a top-ten president), B. Clinton (an average president), Truman (top-ten), and Trump (who historians rank in the bottom 5). Why is the popularity of recent presidents lower but more stable than what was the case for the previous several decades?
  

• What, if any, relationship is there between political experience and presidential performance? (Hint: not what you'd think):
  Julia Azari, "Our Worst Presidents Came in With a Lot of Experience" (FiveThirtyEight, 2016, 5pp).

• Bert A. Rockman, "The Obama Presidency: Hope, Change, and Reality" (Social Sciences Quarterly, 2012, 16pp. This article focuses on the reality of checks and balances in limiting presidential leadership.
  

• Julia Azeri, "Why Republicans Can't Govern" (FiveThirtyEight 2017, 3pp). This article was written when Republicans nominally controlled all branches of government. The reasons for President Trump's difficulties after the 2018 election are different. This article offers good insights into why President Biden also has serious problems fulfilling most of the big policy promises he made as a candidate.