Is Global Democracy Possible?
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PSC 760R Proseminar in Comparative Politics Fall 2016
PSC 760R Proseminar in Comparative Politics Fall 2016 Professor: Office: Office Phone: Office Hours: Email: Course Description and Learning Outcomes Comparative politics is perhaps the broadest field of political science. This course will introduce students to the major theoretical approaches employed in comparative politics. The major debates and controversies in the field will be examined. Although some associate comparative politics with “the comparative method,” those conducting research in the area of comparative politics use a multitude of methodologies and pursue diverse topics. In this course, students will analyze and discuss the theoretical approaches and methods used in comparative politics. Course Requirements Class participation and attendance. Students must come to class prepared, having completed all of the required reading, and ready to actively discuss the material at hand. Each student must submit comments/questions on the assigned readings for six classes (not including the class you help facilitate). Please e-mail them to me by noon on the day of class. Students are expected to attend each class. Missing classes will have a deleterious effect on this portion of the grade. Arriving late, leaving early, or interrupting class with a phone or other electronic device will also result in a drop in the student’s grade. Students are not allowed to sleep, read newspapers or anything else, listen to headphones, TEXT, or talk to others during class. You must turn off all electronic devices during class. Any exceptions must be cleared with me in advance. Laptop computers and iPads are allowed for taking notes ONLY. I reserve the right to ban laptops, iPads, and so forth. -
Phd in Political Science Comprehensive Examination Guidebook
Department of Political Science __________________________________________________________ PhD in Political Science Comprehensive Examination Guidebook Contents Pages 2-3: Examination Overview and General Directions Pages 4-10: Reading Lists Page 4- Methodology Page 5- American Government Page 6- Comparative Politics Page 7- International Relations Page 9- Public Policy Page 11-13: Sample Questions for Written Examination Page 11- Methodology Page 12- American Government Page 12- Comparative Politics Page 12- International Relations Page 13- Public Policy EXAMINATION OVERVIEW AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS Doctoral students sit For the comprehensive examination at the conclusion of all required coursework, or during their last semester of coursework. Students will ideally take their exams during the fifth semester in the program, but no later than their sixth semester. Advanced Entry students are strongly encouraged to take their exams during their Fourth semester, but no later than their FiFth semester. The comprehensive examination is a written exam based on the literature and research in the relevant Field of study and on the student’s completed coursework in that field. Petitioning to Sit for the Examination Your First step is to petition to participate in the examination. Use the Department’s graduate petition form and include the following information: 1) general statement of intent to sit For a comprehensive examination, 2) proposed primary and secondary Fields areas (see below), and 3) a list or table listing all graduate courses completed along with the Faculty instructor For the course and the grade earned This petition should be completed early in the registration period For when the student plans to sit For the exam. -
Toward a More Democratic Congress?
TOWARD A MORE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS? OUR IMPERFECT DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION: THE CRITICS EXAMINED STEPHEN MACEDO* INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 609 I. SENATE MALAPPORTIONMENT AND POLITICAL EQUALITY................. 611 II. IN DEFENSE OF THE SENATE................................................................ 618 III. CONSENT AS A DEMOCRATIC VIRTUE ................................................. 620 IV. REDISTRICTING AND THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE REFORM? ................ 620 V. THE PROBLEM OF GRIDLOCK, MINORITY VETOES, AND STATUS- QUO BIAS: UNCLOGGING THE CHANNELS OF POLITICAL CHANGE?.... 622 CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 627 INTRODUCTION There is much to admire in the work of those recent scholars of constitutional reform – including Sanford Levinson, Larry Sabato, and prior to them, Robert Dahl – who propose to reinvigorate our democracy by “correcting” and “revitalizing” our Constitution. They are right to warn that “Constitution worship” should not supplant critical thinking and sober assessment. There is no doubt that our 220-year-old founding charter – itself the product of compromise and consensus, and not only scholarly musing – could be improved upon. Dahl points out that in 1787, “[h]istory had produced no truly relevant models of representative government on the scale the United States had already attained, not to mention the scale it would reach in years to come.”1 Political science has since progressed; as Dahl also observes, none of us “would hire an electrician equipped only with Franklin’s knowledge to do our wiring.”2 But our political plumbing is just as archaic. I, too, have participated in efforts to assess the state of our democracy, and co-authored a work that offers recommendations, some of which overlap with * Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values; Director of the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University. -
Sovereignty, International Law and Democracy Downloaded from by Guest on 23 September 2021 Samantha Besson*
The European Journal of International Law Vol. 22 no. 2 © EJIL 2011; all rights reserved .......................................................................................... Sovereignty, International Law and Democracy Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/22/2/373/540688 by guest on 23 September 2021 Samantha Besson* Abstract In my reply to Jeremy Waldron’s article ‘Are Sovereigns Entitled to the Benefit of the Inter- national Rule of Law?’, I draw upon and in some ways expand Waldron’s important con- tribution to our understanding of the international rule of law. First of all, I suggest that Waldron’s argument about the international rule of law can be used to illuminate how we should understand the legitimate authority of international law over sovereign states, but also how some of sovereign states’ residual independence ought to be protected from legit- imate international law. Secondly, I argue that the democratic pedigree of the international rule of law plays a role when assessing how international law binds democratic sovereign states and whether the international rule of law can and ought to benefit their individual sub- jects. Finally, I emphasize how Waldron’s argument that the international rule of law ought to benefit individuals in priority has implications for the sources of international law and for what sources can be regarded as sources of valid law. 1 Introduction In his article ‘Are Sovereigns Entitled to the Benefit of the International Rule of Law?’, Jeremy Waldron focuses ‘on some of the theoretical issues that arise when we consider the [rule of law] in light of the absence of an international sovereign and the extent to which individual national sovereigns have to fulfil governmental functions in the [international law] regime’ (at 316). -
Measuring the Research Productivity of Political Science Departments Using Google Scholar
The Profession ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Measuring the Research Productivity of Political Science Departments Using Google Scholar Michael Peress, SUNY–Stony Brook ABSTRACT This article develops a number of measures of the research productivity of politi- cal science departments using data collected from Google Scholar. Departments are ranked in terms of citations to articles published by faculty, citations to articles recently published by faculty, impact factors of journals in which faculty published, and number of top pub- lications in which faculty published. Results are presented in aggregate terms and on a per-faculty basis. he most widely used measure of the quality of of search results, from which I identified publications authored political science departments is the US News and by that faculty member, the journal in which the publication World Report ranking. It is based on a survey sent appeared (if applicable), and the number of citations to that to political science department heads and direc- article or book. tors of graduate studies. Respondents are asked to I constructed four measures for each faculty member. First, Trate other political science departments on a 1-to-5 scale; their I calculated the total number of citations. This can be -
Varieties of American Popular Nationalism.” American Sociological Review 81(5):949-980
Bonikowski, Bart, and Paul DiMaggio. 2016. “Varieties of American Popular Nationalism.” American Sociological Review 81(5):949-980. Publisher’s version: http://asr.sagepub.com/content/81/5/949 Varieties of American Popular Nationalism Bart Bonikowski Harvard University Paul DiMaggio New York University Abstract Despite the relevance of nationalism for politics and intergroup relations, sociologists have devoted surprisingly little attention to the phenomenon in the United States, and historians and political psychologists who do study the United States have limited their focus to specific forms of nationalist sentiment: ethnocultural or civic nationalism, patriotism, or national pride. This article innovates, first, by examining an unusually broad set of measures (from the 2004 GSS) tapping national identification, ethnocultural and civic criteria for national membership, domain- specific national pride, and invidious comparisons to other nations, thus providing a fuller depiction of Americans’ national self-understanding. Second, we use latent class analysis to explore heterogeneity, partitioning the sample into classes characterized by distinctive patterns of attitudes. Conventional distinctions between ethnocultural and civic nationalism describe just about half of the U.S. population and do not account for the unexpectedly low levels of national pride found among respondents who hold restrictive definitions of American nationhood. A subset of primarily younger and well-educated Americans lacks any strong form of patriotic sentiment; a larger class, primarily older and less well educated, embraces every form of nationalist sentiment. Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and partisan identification, these classes vary significantly in attitudes toward ethnic minorities, immigration, and national sovereignty. Finally, using comparable data from 1996 and 2012, we find structural continuity and distributional change in national sentiments over a period marked by terrorist attacks, war, economic crisis, and political contention. -
Achieving Cooperating Under Anarchy,” by Robert Axelrod and Robert Keohane, 1985
Devarati Ghosh “Achieving Cooperating Under Anarchy,” by Robert Axelrod and Robert Keohane, 1985 · Definitions: remember that for cooperation to occur, there must be some combination of conflicting and shared interests. Cooperation is distinct from harmony, where there is a total identity of interests between states. Anarchy is the absence of common world government, but it does not imply that the world is devoid of organizational forms. · Three dimensions of structure impact the incentives for states to cooperate: the mutuality of interests, the shadow of the future, and the number of players. The mutuality of interests—is determined by an objective structure of material payoffs, as well as upon actors’ perceptions of that structure. Changes in beliefs about other players, as well as about the most optimal policy, may cause state leaders to prefer unilateral action. This is true of both political-economic and security issues. · The longer the shadow of the future, the more the costs of defection offset the short-term incentive to defect. This is more true of political-economic issues, where there is a greater likelihood of extended interaction, than of security issues, where a successful preemptive war would seriously advantage one of the players. Also important is the ability of states to identifying defection, which Axelrod and Keohane believe does not distinguish political-economic issues from security ones. · Once defection has been identified, the next problem is sanctioning the cheater. This becomes significantly more difficult when there is a large number of actors. Defection can be costly, so there must be enough incentive for states to punish defectors. -
Government 2010. Strategies of Political Inquiry, G2010
Government 2010. Strategies of Political Inquiry, G2010 Gary King, Robert Putnam, and Sidney Verba Thursdays 12-2pm, Littauer M-17 Gary King [email protected], http://GKing.Harvard.edu Phone: 617-495-2027 Office: 34 Kirkland Street Robert Putnam [email protected] Phone: 617-495-0539 Office: 79 JFK Street, T376 Sidney Verba [email protected] Phone: 617-495-4421 Office: Littauer Center, M18 Prerequisite or corequisite: Gov1000 Overview If you could learn only one thing in graduate school, it should be how to do scholarly research. You should be able to assess the state of a scholarly literature, identify interesting questions, formulate strategies for answering them, have the methodological tools with which to conduct the research, and understand how to write up the results so they can be published. Although most graduate level courses address these issues indirectly, we provide an explicit analysis of each. We do this in the context of a variety of strategies of empirical political inquiry. Our examples cover American politics, international relations, compara- tive politics, and other subfields of political science that rely on empirical evidence. We do not address certain research in political theory for which empirical evidence is not central, but our methodological emphases will be as varied as our substantive examples. We take empirical evidence to be historical, quantitative, or anthropological. Specific methodolo- gies include survey research, experiments, non-experiments, intensive interviews, statistical analyses, case studies, and participant observation. Assignments Weekly reading assignments are listed below. Since our classes are largely participatory, be sure to complete the readings prior to the class for which they are as- signed. -
Late Classic Maya Political Structure, Polity Size, and Warfare Arenas
LATE CLASSIC MAYA POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POLITY SIZE, AND WARFARE ARENAS Arlen F. CHASE and Diane Z. CHASE Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Central Florida Studies of the ancient Maya have moved forward at an exceedingly rapid rate. New sites have been discovered and long-term excavations in a series of sites and regions have provided a substantial data base for interpreting ancient Maya civili- zation. New hieroglyphic texts have been found and greater numbers of texts can be read. These data have amplified our understanding of the relationships among subsistence systems, economy, and settlement to such an extent that ancient Maya social and political organization can no longer be viewed as a simple dichoto- mous priest-peasant (elite-commoner) model. Likewise, monumental Maya archi- tecture is no longer viewed as being indicative of an unoccupied ceremonial center, but rather is seen as the locus of substantial economic and political activity. In spite of these advances, substantial discussion still exists concerning the size of Maya polities, whether these polities were centralized or uncentralized, and over the kinds of secular interactions that existed among them. This is espe- cially evident in studies of aggression among Maya political units. The Maya are no longer considered a peaceful people; however, among some modern Maya scholars, the idea still exists that the Maya did not practice real war, that there was little destruction associated with military activity, and that there were no spoils of economic consequence. Instead, the Maya elite are portrayed as engaging predo- minantly in raids or ritual battles (Freidel 1986; Schele and Mathews 1991). -
Robert O. Keohane: the Study of International Relations*
Robert O. Keohane: The Study of International Relations* Peter A. Gourevitch, University of California, San Diego n electing Robert Keohane APSA I president, members have made an interesting intellectual statement about the study of international rela- tions. Keohane has been the major theoretical challenger in the past quarter century of a previous Asso- ciation president, Kenneth Waltz, whose work dominated the debates in the field for many years. Keo- hane's writings, his debate with Waltz, his ideas about institutions, cooperation under anarchy, transna- tional relations, complex interdepen- dence, ideas, and domestic politics now stand as fundamental reference points for current discussions in this field.1 Theorizing, methodology, exten- sion, and integration: these nouns make a start of characterizing the Robert O. Keohane contributions Robert Keohane has made to the study of international relations. Methodology —Keohane places concepts, techniques, and ap- Theorizing— Keohane challenges the study of the strategic interac- proaches as the broader discpline. the realist analysis that anarchy tion among states onto the foun- and the security dilemma inevita- dations of economics, game The field of international relations bly lead states into conflict, first theory, and methodological indi- has been quite transformed between with the concept of transnational vidualism and encourages the ap- the early 1960s, when Keohane en- relations, which undermines the plication of positivist techniques tered it, and the late 1990s, when his centrality -
International Institutions
Political Science International Institutions Yukari Iwanami 330 Harkness Hall [email protected] Office Hours: TBA Course Description This course will address questions such as why international organizations exist, whether they affect the behavior of states, how members’ domestic factors affect the decision-making process of an organization, and how power differences among states influence policy implementation of an international organization. The ultimate goal is to help students form their own opinions on the roles of formal organizations in international politics, the influence of major powers on interna- tional organizations, and their problems and limitations. We will read existing literature ranging from traditional approaches to empirical analyses, and focus on the problem of cooperation under anarchy, availability of outside options and lack of enforcement power, the issues of delegation, and the effects of voting rules and organizational membership on the decision-making process. Required Books • Robert Keohane, After Hegemony, Princeton University Press, 1984 • Lisa Martin and Beth Simmons eds. International Institutions. MIT Press, 2001 1 Introduction • J. Martin Rochester. 1986. “The Rise and Fall of International Organization as a Field of Study,” International Organization 40(4), 777-813 • Cheryl Shanks, Harold K. Jocobson, and Jeffrey H. Kaplan, Inertia and Change in the Con- stellation of International Governmental Organizations, 1981-1992, in Martin and Simmons 1 2 Problems under Anarchy This section addresses problems inherent in world politics. We discuss issues such as collective action problem, availability of outside options, power differences among states, and lack of en- forcement power. • Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action, chapter 1 and 2 • Garrett Hardin, 1968, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162, 1243-48 • Eric Voeten, 2001, “Outside Options and the Logic of Security Council Action”, American Political Science Review, 95, 845-858 • James D. -
Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, Sidney Verba Designing Social Inquiry
Designing Social Inquiry Designing Social Inquiry SCIENTIFIC INFERENCE IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Gary King Robert O. Keohane Sidney Verba PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY Copyright 1994 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In The United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data King, Gary. Designing social inquiry : scientific inference in qualitiative research / Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, Sidney Verba. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 0-691-03470-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-691-03471-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Social sciences—Methodology. 2. Social sciences— Research. 3. Inference I. Keohane, Robert Owen. II. Verba, Sidney. III. Title. H61.K5437 1994 93-39283 300′.72—dc20 CIP This book has been composed in Adobe Palatino Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Printed in the United States of America 109876543 Third printing, with corrections and expanded index, 1995 Contents Preface ix 1 The Science in Social Science 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.1.1 Two Styles of Research, One Logic of Inference 3 1.1.2 Defining Scientific Research in Social Sciences 7 1.1.3 Science and Complexity 9 1.2 Major Components of Research Design 12 1.2.1 Improving Research Questions