SIS 802 Comparative Politics
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Analyzing Change in International Politics: the New Institutionalism and the Interpretative Approach
Analyzing Change in International Politics: The New Institutionalism and the Interpretative Approach - Guest Lecture - Peter J. Katzenstein* 90/10 This discussion paper was presented as a guest lecture at the MPI für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln, on April 5, 1990 Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Lothringer Str. 78 D-5000 Köln 1 Federal Republic of Germany MPIFG Discussion Paper 90/10 Telephone 0221/ 336050 ISSN 0933-5668 Fax 0221/ 3360555 November 1990 * Prof. Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University, Department of Government, McGraw Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, USA 2 MPIFG Discussion Paper 90/10 Abstract This paper argues that realism misinterprets change in the international system. Realism conceives of states as actors and international regimes as variables that affect national strategies. Alternatively, we can think of states as structures and regimes as part of the overall context in which interests are defined. States conceived as structures offer rich insights into the causes and consequences of international politics. And regimes conceived as a context in which interests are defined offer a broad perspective of the interaction between norms and interests in international politics. The paper concludes by suggesting that it may be time to forego an exclusive reliance on the Euro-centric, Western state system for the derivation of analytical categories. Instead we may benefit also from studying the historical experi- ence of Asian empires while developing analytical categories which may be useful for the analysis of current international developments. ***** In diesem Aufsatz wird argumentiert, daß der "realistische" Ansatz außenpo- litischer Theorie Wandel im internationalen System fehlinterpretiere. Dieser versteht Staaten als Akteure und internationale Regime als Variablen, die nationale Strategien beeinflussen. -
Managing Meritocracy in Clientelistic Democracies∗
Managing Meritocracy in Clientelistic Democracies∗ Sarah Brierleyy Washington University in St Louis May 8, 2018 Abstract Competitive recruitment for certain public-sector positions can co-exist with partisan hiring for others. Menial positions are valuable for sustaining party machines. Manipulating profes- sional positions, on the other hand, can undermine the functioning of the state. Accordingly, politicians will interfere in hiring partisans to menial position but select professional bureau- crats on meritocratic criteria. I test my argument using novel bureaucrat-level data from Ghana (N=18,778) and leverage an exogenous change in the governing party to investigate hiring pat- terns. The results suggest that partisan bias is confined to menial jobs. The findings shed light on the mixed findings regarding the effect of electoral competition on patronage; competition may dissuade politicians from interfering in hiring to top-rank positions while encouraging them to recruit partisans to lower-ranked positions [123 words]. ∗I thank Brian Crisp, Stefano Fiorin, Barbara Geddes, Mai Hassan, George Ofosu, Dan Posner, Margit Tavits, Mike Thies and Daniel Triesman, as well as participants at the African Studies Association Annual Conference (2017) for their comments. I also thank Gangyi Sun for excellent research assistance. yAssistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Email: [email protected]. 1 Whether civil servants are hired by merit or on partisan criteria has broad implications for state capacity and the overall health of democracy (O’Dwyer, 2006; Grzymala-Busse, 2007; Geddes, 1994). When politicians exchange jobs with partisans, then these jobs may not be essential to the running of the state. -
Theda Skocpol
NAMING THE PROBLEM What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight against Global Warming Theda Skocpol Harvard University January 2013 Prepared for the Symposium on THE POLITICS OF AMERICA’S FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING Co-sponsored by the Columbia School of Journalism and the Scholars Strategy Network February 14, 2013, 4-6 pm Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University CONTENTS Making Sense of the Cap and Trade Failure Beyond Easy Answers Did the Economic Downturn Do It? Did Obama Fail to Lead? An Anatomy of Two Reform Campaigns A Regulated Market Approach to Health Reform Harnessing Market Forces to Mitigate Global Warming New Investments in Coalition-Building and Political Capabilities HCAN on the Left Edge of the Possible Climate Reformers Invest in Insider Bargains and Media Ads Outflanked by Extremists The Roots of GOP Opposition Climate Change Denial The Pivotal Battle for Public Opinion in 2006 and 2007 The Tea Party Seals the Deal ii What Can Be Learned? Environmentalists Diagnose the Causes of Death Where Should Philanthropic Money Go? The Politics Next Time Yearning for an Easy Way New Kinds of Insider Deals? Are Market Forces Enough? What Kind of Politics? Using Policy Goals to Build a Broader Coalition The Challenge Named iii “I can’t work on a problem if I cannot name it.” The complaint was registered gently, almost as a musing after-thought at the end of a June 2012 interview I conducted by telephone with one of the nation’s prominent environmental leaders. My interlocutor had played a major role in efforts to get Congress to pass “cap and trade” legislation during 2009 and 2010. -
7972-1 Comparative Political Institutions (Clark)
COMPARATIVE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS Political Science 7972 Prof Wm A Clark Thursdays 9:00-12:00 213 Stubbs Hall 210 Stubbs Hall [email protected] Fall 2013 COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is dedicated to the comparative analysis of political institutions, which in comparative politics are viewed as either formal rules or organizations. The primary orientation of the course material lies in state governmental institutions, although some social institutions will also be examined. The course focuses on what has come to be called the "new institutionalism," which adopts a more decidedly structural or state-centric approach to politics. It emphasizes the relative autonomy of political institutions, and thus seeks to present a counterweight to the predominant view of politics as merely a reflection of the aggregation of individual preferences and behaviors. If it can be argued that individuals and institutions impact each other, the new institutionalism focuses primary attention on how relatively autonomous political institutions (i.e., rules and organizations) affect individual political behavior. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Each student’s semester grade will be determined on the basis of four tasks, detailed below. [1] Research paper: weighted at 35% of the course grade. This paper is to be modeled on a typical conference paper. The paper should focus on the downstream consequence(s) of a national or sub-national institutional variable; that is, it should adopt an institutional factor (or factors) as the independent variable(s). It should focus on any country other than the USA, and may adopt any traditional form of institutional analysis. It must be fully cited and written to professional standards. -
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 -
Theda Skocpol | Mershon Center for International Security Studies | the Ohio State Univ
Theda Skocpol | Mershon Center for International Security Studies | The Ohio State Univ... Page 1 of 2 The Ohio State University www.osu.edu Help Campus map Find people Webmail Search home > events calendar > september 2006 > theda skocpol September Citizenship Lecture Series October Theda Skocpol November December "Voice and Inequality: The Transformation of American Civic Democracy" January Theda Skocpol Professor of Government February Monday, Sept. 25, 2006 and Sociology March Noon Dean of the Graduate Mershon Center for International Security Studies April School of Arts and 1501 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43201 Sciences May Harvard University 2007-08 See a streaming video of this lecture. This streaming video requires RealPlayer. If you do not have RealPlayer, you can download it free. Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. She has also served as Director of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard from 1999 to 2006. The author of nine books, nine edited collections, and more than seven dozen articles, Skocpol is one of the most cited and widely influential scholars in the modern social sciences. Her work has contributed to the study of comparative politics, American politics, comparative and historical sociology, U.S. history, and the study of public policy. Her first book, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China (Cambridge, 1979), won the 1979 C. Wright Mills Award and the 1980 American Sociological Association Award for a Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship. Her Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Harvard, 1992), won five scholarly awards. -
Political Science 2 Introduction to Comparative Politics 3 Units; 3
Political Science 2 Introduction to Comparative Politics 3 units; 3 hours lecture Recommended Preparation: Political Science 1 and eligibility for English 1A Credit, degree applicable Transfer CSU, UC In this course students will analyze political systems of different countries in a comparative context. Emphasis will be placed on studying the differences and similarities of governmental systems found in developed democratic nation-states. Developing countries, regional systems, and new democracies will also be analyzed to illustrate the complex nature of creating and maintaining a functioning nation-state system. Course Objectives: 1. Identify and assess the basic theory of comparative political analysis and the commonly applied methodology. 2. Identify and evaluate the structures and functions common to all political systems. 3. Analyze the geopolitical, cultural, and historical antecedents of nation-states for comparative analysis. 4. Evaluate cultural-political systems in developing non-democratic nation-states. 5. Assess procedures used in democratic political systems in the determination of policy and legislation. 6. Evaluate and examine the major institutions that contribute to the political process. 7. Describe and analyze the European Union as a model of regional integration. 8. Identify and evaluate current government systems. 9. Assess the ways in which political parties, interest groups, and public opinion effect the political process. Student Learning Outcomes: SLO#1 Political Systems- In a written essay, the students will discuss and critically analyze both differences and similarities found among different political systems as they pertain to the functions that their institutions perform. SLO#2 Institutional Choices- In a written essay, students will demonstrate knowledge and analyze the difference between presidential and parliamentary system and the impact they have one the policymaking process. -
Rewriting the Epic of America
One Rewriting the Epic of America IRA KATZNELSON “Is the traditional distinction between international relations and domes- tic politics dead?” Peter Gourevitch inquired at the start of his seminal 1978 article, “The Second Image Reversed.” His diagnosis—“perhaps”—was mo- tivated by the observation that while “we all understand that international politics and domestic structures affect each other,” the terms of trade across the domestic and international relations divide had been uneven: “reason- ing from international system to domestic structure” had been downplayed. Gourevitch’s review of the literature demonstrated that long-standing efforts by international relations scholars to trace the domestic roots of foreign pol- icy to the interplay of group interests, class dynamics, or national goals1 had not been matched by scholarship analyzing how domestic “structure itself derives from the exigencies of the international system.”2 Gourevitch counseled scholars to turn their attention to the international system as a cause as well as a consequence of domestic politics. He also cautioned that this reversal of the causal arrow must recognize that interna- tional forces exert pressures rather than determine outcomes. “The interna- tional system, be it in an economic or politico-military form, is underdeter- mining. The environment may exert strong pulls but short of actual occupation, some leeway in the response to that environment remains.”3 A decade later, Robert Putnam turned to two-level games to transcend the question as to “whether -
Elector System Design and Ethnic Separatism: a Rationalist Approach to Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe
Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Honors Projects Political Science Department Spring 2000 Elector System Design and Ethnic Separatism: A Rationalist Approach to Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe Eric Wesselkamper '00 Illinois Wesleyan University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/polisci_honproj Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Wesselkamper '00, Eric, "Elector System Design and Ethnic Separatism: A Rationalist Approach to Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe" (2000). Honors Projects. 7. https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/polisci_honproj/7 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ©Copyright is owned by the author of this document. • Electoral System Design and Ethnic Separatism A Rationalist Approach to Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe Eric Wesselkamper Spring 2000 The resurgence ofnationalism taking place throughout Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union raises important questions with respect to ethnic political mobilization, particularly with respect to the potentialfor ethnic separatism. Moreover, the region provides scholars an excellent setting in which to study the political effects ofconstitutional choices. -
Global Best Practices: a Model Annual State of the Parliament Report*
GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES: A MODEL ANNUAL STATE OF THE PARLIAMENT REPORT* A Strategic Monitoring and Reporting Tool for Promoting Democratic Parliaments Worldwide (2005) • Contact: Professor Keith Henderson, [email protected]; [email protected] or [email protected] A number of experts from other regions made significant contributions to developing this framework, including Sandra Elena from Argentina, Violaine Autheman from France and Rosie Zigormo from Zimbabwe, as well as the Canadian Parliamentary Centre. IFES Parliamentary Tool Kit Model State of Parliament Report: Framework TABLE OF CONTENTS IFES Parliamentary Toolkit: Multiple Uses of the Annual State of Parliament Report 3 IFES Parliamentary Toolkit: Parliamentary Transparency and Accountability Standards 4 Abstract 5 1. Overview: Country Context and Methodology 6 a. The Functions of Parliament in the Country Context 6 b. Scope of the State of Parliament Report: the IFES Parliamentary Transparency and Accountability Standards, PTAS 8 c. Multifaceted Methodology 9 2. Relevant International and Domestic Legal and Institutional Framework 11 a. International and Regional Obligations 11 b. Constitutional Standards 12 c. Country Legal Framework 12 d. Country Institutional Framework 12 3. Assessment of the Level of Compliance with the PTAS 13 PTAS.1: Independence of Parliament 13 PTAS.2: Free and Fair Parliamentary Elections 14 PTAS.3: Transparent, Adequate Political Financing and Compensation 14 PTAS.4: Representative Parliament 16 PTAS.5: Security of Tenure 16 PTAS.6: -
Government 601: Methods of Political Analysis I Fall 2003, Tueday 7:00–10:00P (WE 104)
Government 601: Methods of Political Analysis I Fall 2003, Tueday 7:00–10:00p (WE 104) Professors: Walter R. Mebane, Jr. Jonas Pontusson 217 White Hall 205 White Hall 255-3868 255-6764 [email protected] [email protected] office hours: T 3–5, W 2–3 office hours: MW 10–11 Assignment Due Dates due date description TBA one weekly discussion paper as assigned (weeks 3–10, 12) October 28 “explanations” paper November 11 research pre-proposal November 18 Boolean exercise December 15 research proposal Reading Availability We will be reading large proportions of most of the following books, and most are worth having on the shelf, so you may want to buy them. On the other hand, several are expensive. Most of the books should also soon appear on reserve in the Government Reading Room in Olin (room 405). Photocopies of other required reading should also be available in the Reading Room. Browning, Christopher R. 2000. Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers. New York: Cam- bridge UP. Browning, Christopher R. 1998. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. New York: HarperCollins. Campbell, Donald T., and Julian C. Stanley. 1966. Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research. Chicago: Rand McNally. Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. 1996. Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holo- caust. New York: Knopf. Golden, Miriam. 1997. Heroic Defeats. New York: Cambridge UP. Hedstr¨om,Peter, and Richard Swedborg, eds. 1998. Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory. New York: Cambridge UP. King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane and Sidney Verba. -
The Analytical Narrative Project
The Analytical Narrative Project The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Bates, Robert H., Avner Greif, Margaret Levi, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry R. Weingast. 2000. The Analytical Narrative Project. American Political Science Review 94(3): 696-702. Published Version http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2585843 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3710302 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Analytic Narratives September 2000 TheAnalytic Narrative Project ROBERT H. BATES Harvard University AVNER GREIF Stanford University MARGARET LEVI Universityof Washington JEAN-LAURENT ROSENTHAL Universityof California, Los Angeles BARRY R. WEINGAST Stanford University In Analytic Narratives,we attempt to address several bounded rationality. We believe that each of these issues. First, many of us are engaged in in-depth perspectives brings something of value, and to different case studies, but we also seek to contribute to, and degrees the essays in our book represent an integration to make use of, theory. How might we best proceed? of perspectives. By explicitly outlining an approach that Second, the historian, the anthropologist, and the area relies on rational choice and mathematical models, we specialist possess knowledge of a place and time. They do not mean to imply that other approaches lack rigor have an understanding of the particular.