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Political Science 9600 Readings in Comparative Politics Course

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Political Science 9600 Readings in Comparative Politics Course Political Science 9600 Readings in Comparative Politics Course Description This course is a graduate-level introduction to comparative politics. The objective is to expose you to the range of research questions asked in comparative politics, the different theoretical approaches that underlie those questions, and the methodological tools used to answer them. We begin by examining different scholars’ perspectives on the subfield and how it became what it is today. We then examine some of the major theoretical approaches to the study of comparative politics, including political culture, rational choice, and structuralism. We continue with an examination of the diverse methodological approaches used in comparative politics, evaluating the merits and drawbacks of each. The bulk of the course will be an investigation of key substantive topics in comparative politics, such as democratization, political economy, and institutions. By the end of the course, you should have a solid grasp of the major theories and methods of comparative politics, understand how scholars apply them to different research areas within comparative politics, and be able to use those theories and methods in your own comparative research. For those of you seeking a Ph.D. and selecting comparative politics as your major or minor field, this course will give you a considerable head start when preparing for your comprehensive exams. Course Requirements Your grade in this course will be based on three requirements: participation (20%), weekly analysis papers (50%), and a final exam (30%). Participation Like almost all graduate-level courses in political science, class sessions in this course are student-led rather than professor-led. This means that all students are responsible for bringing to class thoughts about the readings, and all students must be prepared to respond to these thoughts posed by other students, such that we collectively reflect on and debate the merits of the readings. My role will be to interject where necessary to ensure that discussion stays on track. To achieve this type of class environment, your attendance, preparedness, and extensive participation in this course are mandatory. I expect a 100% attendance rate from each student. You must complete the readings assigned prior to each class session and come to class every week fully prepared to participate actively in class discussions. Though I have no expectation that discussion will ever wane, you should fully expect to be called on whether you are volunteering or not. I will not accept passive attendance. To facilitate class discussion and your comprehension of the material, you should take notes on each reading, make record of your critical comments (both positive and negative), and reflect on the relationships among readings in a given week and across weeks. In addition, you should bring to class at least three critical comments or critical questions about the readings to spur class discussion. I do not plan to collect these from you but will institute a policy to do so if it appears that you are not fully prepared for class each week. The types of issues that you should raise are about the theories, methods, and topics of the week, and not questions about things in the readings that you did not understand. The goal of class discussion is to debate the strengths and weaknesses of the week’s topic and the literature on that topic and to formulate independent evaluations of the research area. This level of preparedness will be necessary to sustain the intellectual level of discussion I anticipate for each class session. Class participation will comprise 20% of your final grade. Weekly analysis papers Each week you will need to write a 2-3 page analysis of the week’s readings. This is not simply a summary of each reading but a discussion of how the readings relate to one another, what problems or concerns you have with them, and what they tell us about the particular subset of comparative politics they represent. You should look at the last page of this syllabus, on THINKING about political science, as you do the readings and develop your analysis: Be sure that your analysis is a coherent whole. In other words, you should not haphazardly offer a range of speculative ideas but rather develop a single original argument. You should have an introduction that sets out the thesis or primary argument of your analysis paper, a body that develops your thesis/argument citing the readings as needed to support your points, and a conclusion that rounds out your analysis paper. This is an opportunity to go beyond restating key points from the readings and think intelligently and originally about what they mean, what they tell us about comparative politics, and what concerns you about them. The paper should cite specific texts and page numbers, such that you are wrestling with meaningful content from the texts. The best papers will be those that take up a single point and develop a thoughtful analysis of that point that integrates or compares readings. Do not try to cover too much in the paper. You should write analysis papers for each week; however, I will only collect six of them on six unannounced dates. I will grade all six, and at the end of the semester, I will drop the lowest grade such that five papers will count toward your final grade. Each graded analysis paper will be worth 10% such that the graded five will comprise 50% of your course grade. The primary goal of the papers is not to earn grades but to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on the readings and develop critical thinking and writing skills. Bring your analysis papers to class each week and feel free to use them as an aid in generating class discussion. Please note that late analysis papers will not be accepted. Final Exam Most of you will be taking comprehensive exams at the end of your third year. To prepare you for this format, and to make sure you have mastered some of the classics in comparative politics, we will have a written exam on the final class session (Dec. 17). To best mimic the comprehensive exams, there will be 2 questions (giving you about as much time per question as during comps). Good answers will draw upon a wide range of course readings and tie them together coherently in a way which advances an answer to the assigned question. Materials on Reserve Readings will either be available on Blackboard or Ellis library (online). In addition, the next page of this syllabus lists some books which we will read some of and which you may wish to purchase. Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. In this course, you are expected to submit original work and behave in a respectful manner toward both the professor and other students in the class. Breaches of the academic integrity rules are extremely serious matters. Sanctions for such a breach range from instructor-imposed academic sanctions, such as a failing grade for the course, to University-imposed disciplinary sanctions, such as probation or expulsion. If you have questions, please consult the University's academic integrity website, http:// academicintegrity.missouri.edu/, and the University M-book, www.missouri.edu/~mbook. ADA Statement If you need accommodations because of a disability, please inform the professor immediately. In addition, students must register with the Office of Disability Services (http://disabilityservices.missouri.edu), S5 Memorial Union, 882-4696, to request academic accommodations for a disability. It is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students requesting academic accommodations, and for accommodations planning in cooperation with students and instructors, as needed and consistent with course requirements. For other MU resources for students with disabilities, click on "Disability Resources" on the MU homepage. If you have any questions about any of these policies, please feel free to ask me. Books you should strongly consider buying While all the readings are available in other formats, any serious student of comparative politics prefers to have these books in her or his hands. You can order these books from Amazon.com or other places. Books from which we will read at least half of the chapters Mancur Olson, 1965, The Logic of Collective Action Theda Skocpol, 1979, States and Social Revolutions Shugart, Matthew Soberg and John M. Carey, 1992, Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John Stephens, 1992, Capitalist Development and Democracy Books from which we will only read a chapter or so, but which are fundamental books in the field and well worth reading, including for comprehensive exams Huntington, S. H. (1968). Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, Yale University Press, chapter 1, 1-92. Samuel P. Huntington, 1993, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century S. Steinmo, K. Thelen and F. Longstreth, eds. Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy Przeworski, A., M. E. Alvarez, et al. (2000). Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990. Scott, James C., 1985, Weapons of the Weak * Asterisk implies the text is on blackboard + The plus symbol implies the text is on JSTOR ^ The hat symbol implies the text is a paper copy that I will loan out for copying Week 1 (8/24) - Course Introduction Read the syllabus closely and let me know if you have any questions.
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