Westminster College Dr. Michael E. Aleprete Department of Political Science Phone: 946-7254 Office: 304 Patterson Hall E-Mail: [email protected] Summer 2016 Office Hours: by appointment
International Politics
PS 104 Online/Hybrid Course
This course introduces students to the study of international politics. Students will be exposed to the concepts and theories used by political scientists and will examine the major institutions that comprise the contemporary international system. The objective of this course is to prepare students for further study in the area of international relations by enhancing their knowledge about the development of the international system, and by emphasizing the application of International Relations theories to the issues and problems of contemporary international affairs. A requirement for political science majors, the course is appropriate for anyone interested in better understanding the dynamics that drive international politics.
Readings:
The following books are required for the course,
Mingst, Karen and Ivan Arreguin-Toft (2014) Essentials of International Relations. 6th edition, New York, W.W. Norton and Company.
Mingst, Karen and Jack L. (2014) Essential Readings in International Relations. 5th edition, New York, W.W. Norton and Company.
All additional course readings will be available through the Desire to Learn (D2L) course management system. These readings will be found in the corresponding weekly module in which they are due. Students must familiarize themselves with the D2L course as soon as possible.
Expectations:
Readings It is the students' responsibility to remain informed about all class activities. Students are expected to complete all readings within the time frame of each Module. Assigned readings should be completed during the week of the module. Students are expected to participate in the forums each week, so it is very important that the readings are completed in advance.
Quizzes At midnight on Wednesday of each week a quiz will be available. Students may take the quiz at any time before Sunday at midnight. At midnight on Sunday the quiz will no longer be available. Students must decide when they are ready to take the quiz, as you can only attempt the quiz one time. Each quiz will cover the material from that week’s module.
Forum Participation It is through the online forums that we will engage with one another in substantive discussions about the course material and readings. You will be expected to participate in the forums throughout the semester. You are expected to contribute to the forums in three ways.
You are expected to make one longer initial post (250-300 words). An initial post should be a thoughtful response to one of the discussion questions. You should indicate that this is your weekly initial post. An initial post should not be a reaction to another post, but rather an expression of your initial ideas. It should not reference other students’ comments or ideas. Each student is expected to make one initial post per week. An initial post must be made before the module expires on Sunday evening. Initial posts will be graded separately by the instructor for content, use of the readings, and style.
Students are strongly encouraged to read all the initial posts made by their classmates. Besides these initial posts, students may respond to any initial posts, or other responses. Students will be awarded additional class participation points for their responses. Students may continue to post responses throughout the semester. These discussions do not have to end with the module but may continue until July 20th.
Not all responses will be awarded “CP” points. The instructor will award points (at his discretion) for substantive contributions. All posts will remain available for view until the end of the term. The average score will constitute an 85%; the top score will equal a 100%. The other raw scores will be translated into participation points based on their distance from this average. This % will constitute the response portion of the Forum Participation grade.
Initial posts are worth 60% of the Forum Participation grade, responses are worth 40%.
In addition to the forum topics discussing substantive issues related to the readings, a separate forum topic exists where you can ask for help with concepts or other questions about the readings. Nothing posted in this Questions and Review forum will be graded. This forum will also be used for questions about the final exam.
Final Exam The format of the Final exam will be short answer with some multiple choice and true/false questions. The Final Exam is cumulative.
Since the weekly Quizzes will be only multiple choice/ true & false, a set of short answer practice questions will be included in each module. These questions will provide you with an idea about the types of short answer questions you are likely to see on the final exam.
Topic Report (5-7 pages) Students should apply some of the concepts found in the readings to analyze some issue relevant to contemporary international politics. Students should e-mail the instructor with their topic ideas. These papers should average 5 pages, use a commonly accepted format for citations, incorporate insights from the course readings and be on a topic mutually agreed on between the instructor and the student. Students should bring these reports with them to the final exam.
Academic Integrity:
This course is covered by all College policies on academic integrity. No forms of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will be tolerated. The instructor will insist as a minimum punishment that students determined to have cheated on any exam or assignment receive an “F” in the course. Be advised that more serious actions may be taken by the administration, as the instructor will report all instances of academic dishonesty to the appropriate college officials and will vigorously pursue all such cases though the College disciplinary procedures.
Grading: Course grades will be calculated according to the following formula. Quizzes 25% Forum Participation 30% Final Exam 30% Topic Report 15% +/- Grades will be issued
93% and up=A 77-79% = C+ 60-62% = D- 90-92% = A- 73-76% = C 59% & less = F 87-89% = B+ 70-72% = C- 83-86% = B 67-69% = D+ 80-82% = B- 63-66% = D
Topics and Course Readings for International Politics
June 13th- 19th Module 1: The Idea of the State, and the Evolution of the International System
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch1, 2 & 5 Woodrow Wilson “The Fourteen Points,” p.14 George Kennan “The Sources of Soviet Conduct p.17 Samuel Huntington “The Clash of Civilizations,” p. 256 Francis Fukuyama, “The Future of History,” p.23
June 20th-26st Module 2: The Realist Liberal Debate
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch 3, 4 Jack Snyder, “One World, Rival Theories,” p.2 John Mearsheimer “Anarchy and the Struggle for Power,” p. 37 Morgenthau, Hans J. “A Realist Theory of International Politics…” p32 Michael W. Doyle “Liberalism and World Politics,” p.57 Robert Jervis, “Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma” p410 Articles 13, 14 & 17 (on my.westminster)
June 27th-July 3rd Module 3: Modernization, Society and the Critical Theory Traditions
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch 6 Alexander Wendt “Anarchy is What States Make of It:” p 73 Robert D. Putnam, “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The logic of two level games” p 174 G. John Ikenberry et al “ Unipolarity, State Behavior and Systemic Consequences” p106 Martha Finnemore “Legitimancy, Hypocrisy and the Social Structure of Unipolarity” p 153 Articles: 53, and Marxist readings #1 & #2 (on my.westminster)
June 4th- July 10th Module 4: International Institutions and Globalization
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch 7 & 10 John Mearshimer “The False Promise of International Institutions” p.355 Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink “Transnational Advocacy Networks…” p 382 Samatha Power Bystanders to Genocide…” p 317 Virgina Page Fortna “From: Does Peacekeeping Work?” p 308 Amartya Sen, “Human Rights and Capabilities” p.660 Jack Donnelly “Human Rights and Cultural Relativism” p 672 Article: Globalizatin #1
July 11th-July 17th Module 5: The World Economy
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch9 Robert Gilpin “The Nature of Political Economy” p 523 Robert Keohane “ From After Hegemony:..” p.338 Helen V. Milner “Globalization, Development and International Institutions” p537 Daniel W. Drezner “ The Irony of Global Economic Governance” p 560 Lloyd Gruber “ Globalization with Growth and Equity” p 581 Yotam Margalit, “Lost in Globlaization” p 603 Michael Ross “Oil, Economic Growth and Political Institutions”, p 631
July 18th-24th Module 6: War, Violence and the Use of Force
Readings: Mingst and Arreguin-Toft Ch 8 Clausewitz, Carl Von “War as an Instrument of Policy” p396 Schelling, Thomas “The Diplomacy of Violence” p. 401 James Fearon “Rationalist Explanations for War” 425 Robert Jervis “Hypotheses on Misperception”, p 264
Barry Posen “A Nuclear-Armed Iran:…” p 451 Kenneth Waltz “ Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” p.467 Robert Lieber and Amatzia Baram “Containment Breach” p390 Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter “The Strategies of Terrorism” p 471 Articles 55 (on my.westminster)
July 26th Final Exam - Patterson Hall, RM 107, 2:00- 4:00pm
The instructor reserves the right to modify this syllabus at any time. All changes to the syllabus will be posted on My.Westminster.