POLITICAL CULTURE
Political Science 210 Stanford University Spring 2001 David Laitin and Barry Weingast, Instructors Mondays, 3:15-6PM
Purpose of Course
This course will introduce an approach to political culture that is an alternative to the standard political science and anthropology accounts, both of which focus on the values and attitudes embedded in such institutions as language, the family, and religion. The approach taken in this course will be one derived from economics, and will focus on culture as an equilibrium. Drawing out the observable implications of this approach will be the fundamental purpose of this course. Students will be expected to read the assigned texts, participate in seminar discussion, and write a paper that addresses a problem from the perspective of culture developed in this course. The paper will be due on Friday of examination week.
Books to Purchase
Robert Ellickson Order Without Law Harvard University Press (paper) Timur Kuran Private Truth, Public Lies Harvard University Press (paper) David Laitin Identity in Formation Cornell University Press (paper) Pierre Bourdieu Outline of a Theory of Practice Cambridge University Press (paper) Roy D’Andrade The Development of Cognitive Anthropology Cambridge University Press (paper)
Background Reading
Students who are interested in the classic texts in political science and anthropology where notions of political culture are central might want to peruse the following texts:
Max Weber The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba The Civic Culture Clifford Geertz The Interpretation of Cultures Laitin and Weingast Political Culture, PS210, Spring 2001, p. 2
Clifford Geertz Negara Ruth Benedict The Chrysanthemum and the Sword David Laitin Politics, Language and Thought: The Somali Experience
An excellent “bridge” article from the classic tradition to the economistic approach we take in this course is John Ferejohn “Rationality and Interpretation” in Kristen Monroe, ed. The Economic Approach to Politics (1991).
Schedule
• Week 1 (April 9): Introduction to the Course
Read:
Laitin/Weingast Notes, “Prolegomenon for a New Theory of Culture” [available on course website]. These are “rough” notes, written in code between Laitin and Weingast. Students should see this as a source for ideas rather than a finished statement on culture.
Assignment:
From the Laitin/Weingast “Prolegomenon”, propose a “problem to be solved” that has the potential to be addressed in the context of a seminar paper for this course. This assignment should be written up in about 1000 words. Students should send their assignments by email to the instructors by Monday morning April 9, at 10AM.
• Week 2 (April 16): Culture, Heuristics, Mental Models
Read:
Roy D’Andrade The Development of Cognitive Anthropology Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman “Judgment Under uncertainty: heuristics and biases”, pp. 3-20 in Kahneman, Slovic and Tversky Judgment Under Uncertainty, Cambridge University Press, 1982. David Laitin “Identity Choice under conditions of Uncertainty” in James Alt, Margaret Levi and Elinor Ostrom Competition and Cooperation, Russell Sage Foundation, 1999. Laitin and Weingast Political Culture, PS210, Spring 2001, p. 3
• Week 3 (April 23): Culture as an Equilibrium
Michael Chwe Rational Ritual [book in press] Avner Greif (1994) “Cultural Beliefs and the Organization of Society” Journal of Political Economy Paul Milgrom, Douglass North and Barry Weingast “The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs” Economics and Politics v2, n1 (March 1990): 1-23 David Laitin “Tower and Babel as a Coordination Game” APSR (September 1994), pp. 622-34. Pierre Bourdieu Outline of a Theory of Practice Barry Weingast “Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of Law” APSR 1997. Sugden, Robert (1997) “Spontaneous Order” in Mark Casson (ed.), Culture, Social Norms And Economics. Volume 2. Economic performance: 90-102
• Week 4 (April 30): Mechanisms of Cultural Production
Readings:
Thomas Schelling The Strategy of Conflict, Harvard University Press, 1980, chapter 3. Ann Swidler “Culture in Action” American Sociological Review (April 1986), pp. 273-86. Robert Boyd and Peter Richerson Culture and the Evolutionary Process, University of Chicago Press, 1995, chapters 1, 3. Andrew Apter “The Subvention of Tradition” in George Steinmetz, State/Culture , Cornell Univ. Press 1994. John Meyer “The Changing Cultural Content of the Nation-State” in George Steinmetz, State/Culture Cornell Univ. Press 1994. Robert Bates, Rui de Figueiredo and Barry Weingast “The Politics of Interpretation: Rationality, Culture and Transition Politics & Society (December 1998), pp 603-642. Robert Axelrod “Disseminating Culture” in Journal of Conflict Resolution 1997, pp. 203-26.
Laitin and Weingast Political Culture, PS210, Spring 2001, p. 4
• Week 5 (Week of May 7, time to be arranged): Mechanisms of Cultural Enforcement
Ellickson Order without Law Fearon/Laitin “Explaining Ethnic Cooperation” APSR 1996 Mathew McCubbins and Thomas Schwartz (1984) “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms” David Laitin Hegemony and Culture, University of Chicago Press, 1986, pp. 97-169 David Laitin “Marginality: A Micro Perspective” Rationality and Society (January 1995), pp. 31-57.
• Week 6 (May 14): Discussions of Student Projects
Assignment:
On Friday, May 11 by 3PM, students should distribute to all members of the seminar progress reports on their research projects. These reports should be about 2000 words and should reflect both work that has been accomplished and work that remains to be done.
• Week 7 (May 21): Cultural Persistence and Change
Readings:
Laitin Identity in Formation Timur Kuran Private Truths, Public Lies Avner Greif manuscript chapters from Historical (and Comparative) Institutional Analysis: Self-enforcing and Self-reinforcing Economic Institutions Gerry Mackie (1996) “Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account” American Sociological Review 61, 6.
• Week 8 (May 28): Domain of Culture
Read:
Rise of the West and Changing Domain of Culture:
Laitin and Weingast Political Culture, PS210, Spring 2001, p. 5
Randall Collins and Michael Makowsky The discovery of society on Durkheim, Random House, 1978, pp. 103-09 Marshall Sahlins Culture and Practical Reason, University of Chicago Press 1976, chapter 4 Avner Greif, “Trading Institutions and the Commercial Revolution in Medieval Europe” in Economics in a Changing World Vol. 1 (Proceedings of the Tenth World Congress of the International Economic Association). Edited by Abel Aganbegyan, Oleg Bogomolov, and Michael Kaser. London: Macmillan, 1994.
On the Nation:
Ernest Gellner Thought and Change, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964, chapter 7.
On Congress:
Richard Fenno The power of the purse; appropriations politics in Congress, Little, Brown, 1966, chapter 2.
On Political Parties:
Myron Aronoff Power and ritual in the Israel Labor Party, Assen, Amsterdam: Van Gorcum, 1977.
On Corporations:
David Kreps, “Corporate Culture and Economic Theory” in James Alt and Kenneth Shepsle Perspectives on Positive Political Economy, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 90-143.
• Week 9 (June 4): Culture and Conflict
Read:
Samuel Huntington “Clash of Civilizations” Foreign Affairs 1993, pp. 22-49. Donald Horowitz The Deadly Ethnic Riot, University of California Press, 2001, chapter 6 Laitin and Weingast Political Culture, PS210, Spring 2001, p. 6
Paul Brass Theft of an Idol, Princeton University Press, 1997, chapter with same title as book. James Fearon and David Laitin “Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity” International Organization Autumn 2000, pp. 845-77. David Laitin “Language Conflict and Violence” Archives Européennes de Sociologie no. 1 (2000), pp. 97-137.