Download Government and Politics around the World PSCI 3600 Monday and

Government and Politics around the World
PSCI 3600
Monday and Wednesday, 2 to 3:20 p.m.
University of North Texas
General Academic Building 310
Spring 2016
Professor Brandon Stewart
Office: Wooten 173A
Office Hours MW 8:30-10:30
Email: [email protected]
Course Objectives
This course provides a broad overview of the subfield of comparative politics by focusing on
several substantive questions. Comparative politics is concerned with the politics and institutions
of countries outside of the United States. The first question is: what is comparative politics?
Second, what are the social and political consequences of economic modernization? Third, what
are the characteristics of different types of political institutions? Fourth, can political institutions
be used to create peace in societies divided along ethnic or religious lines? Fifth, are some types
of political institutions more likely to produce democratic and political stability?
The study of comparative politics also requires some knowledge of specific cases. We will
therefore discuss several real-world cases in this course when discussing the course material as a
means of illustrating key issues in the comparative politics literature. The cases we will discuss
include Great Britain (specifically Northern Ireland), Egypt, Spain, Nigeria, Armenia, Belarus,
and Zimbabwe. Other countries may also come up in the discussion as I see fit. In most
instances, the cases we discuss are illustrative-they are a way for us to discuss the course
material in a substantive fashion and are meant to help you understand broader concepts in
comparative politics. Given this, I will not usually ask you to demonstrate knowledge about
specific cases on the exams. However, if knowledge of a specific case is required for an exam, I
will let you know prior to discussing the case in class.
Assignments and Evaluation
Your grade in this class will be based on 3 in-class exams, which will be based on both the
assigned readings and the material that I go over in lecture. You must sit for these exams at the
scheduled time, unless you are sick and have a note from your doctor. If something else comes
up (such as a death in the family) it is your responsibility to email me at least 72 hours prior to
the exam to let me know (at [email protected]) that you will be unable to take the
exam on the scheduled date. As long as documentation is provided, you will be allowed to reschedule the exam. However, the exam must be taken within one week of the original exam date.
Each of these exams will consist of 35 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions and a
10 question map section. For each exam, the map section of the exam will cover a different area
of the world and you will have to identify 10 countries that I select for that area. The first exam
will cover Europe, the second will cover sub-Saharan Africa, and the third will cover the Middle
East/Central Asia. In order to help you prepare for the exams, I will hand out a study guide a
week before each exam. Each study guide will include the major concepts that you will need to
know about in order to do well on the exam. Each exam will cover the topics we have gone over
in that section of the course. The final exam is not cumulative, but will only cover the material
that we cover in the last section of the course. Each of these exams will be worth 25 percent of
your final grade. In total, all 3 exams combined are worth 75 percent of your final grade.
One of the primary goals of this class is to promote the analytical skills of the student. Therefore,
in addition to learning about several different countries, students will also have an assignment in
which they apply academic learning to solve real-world problems. Students will be asked to
formulate a constitutional design that would be most appropriate for a fictional country that I
assign you. The “country” that I assign you may have a history of conflict, ethnic divisions, or
authoritarianism. The student should base their suggested constitutional design on what they
have learned about political institutions in class. This constitutional design will take the form of a
written paper which includes the design of executive power, the structure of the legislature, the
electoral system, the territorial division of power and the design of the judiciary. While this may
sound like an intimidating project, this paper will serve as an excellent way to integrate the
material that we discuss in class and apply that knowledge to the real-world. In addition, this
paper is ultimately meant to help improve the writing skills of the student. As a result, there will
be a rough draft of this paper that is due two weeks prior to the final draft. I will get the
rough draft back to you within one week with written comments/suggestions. Your job for
the final draft will be to improve the paper using my comments. The rough draft of your
paper is due April 18th. I will be as involved as you want me to be in the process, if you have
any questions about this paper or anything related to the course material, I strongly encourage
you to stop by my office during my office hours. If my office hours do not work for you, send
me an email and we can work together to find a time to meet that works for you. The paper
should be between 6-7 pages double-spaced (not including the bibliography). I will give you
a handout with detailed instructions on February 29th. I will give you two hypothetical
“countries” that each have unique characteristics and you will choose one of these “countries”
and design a constitution for that country. The final draft will be due the last class session
before the final exam, May 2nd. This paper is worth 25 percent of your final grade; 5
percent of your grade will be based on your rough draft, and the other 20 percent will be
based on your final draft. ALL STUDENTS MUST TURN IN A ROUGH AND FINAL
DRAFT. ANY STUDENT WHO FAILS TO TURN IN EITHER THE ROUGH OR FINAL
DRAFT WILL AUTOMATICALLY FAIL THE COURSE.
EXTRA CREDIT: When we discuss civil society and social protest, you will be required to
watch the film The Square. This film is available on Netflix. As an extra credit assignment, you
can write a 500 word essay on the film and how it connects to this class. This essay will be worth
up to 5 points on your exam 1 grade. Other extra credit opportunities may come up in class as I
see fit, but do not expect to be offered extra credit. Do not ask me if you can do assignments for
extra credit, if there is an extra credit opportunity that arises, I will notify you in class and
explain the assignment. It is best to come to every class session that way you will not miss out on
any extra credit opportunity.
Grades are not negotiable. If you wish to inquire about why you received a certain grade, feel
free to stop by my office during my office hours or schedule an appointment with me. It is
important to stop by my office if you have done poorly on an assignment, that way you will
know what you need to do in order to do better the next time.
Grades for assignments and for the course as a whole will be assigned on the following scale:
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = Below 60%
Required Text
John Ishiyama. 2012. Comparative Politics: Principles of Democracy and Democratization.
Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
All other readings are available on the course blackboard site at learn.unt.edu.
Schedule of Discussion Topics and Assigned Readings
Session 1 (1/20): Course Introduction
No readings.
Sessions 2: (1/25): What is Comparative Politics?
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 1.
Sessions 3 and 4 (1/27 and 2/1): Economic Development, Modernization and Dependency
Theory and Statism
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 3.
Sessions 5 and 6 (2/3 and 2/8): Culture and Ethnic Politics
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 4.
Walker Connor. 1972. “Nation-Building or Nation-Destroying?” World
Politics 24(3): 319-355.
Sessions 7 (2/10): Civil Society
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 5.
Sessions 8 and 9 (2/15 and 2/17): Civil Society and Protest Movements
Watch: The Square
Exam 1 Study Guide Handed Out 2/15
EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY ON THE SQUARE DUE 2/15 AT BEGINNING OF
CLASS
Session 10 (2/22): EXAM 1 ON 2/22
Sessions 11 and 12 (2/24 and 2/29): Democratic and Authoritarian Regimes
Readings: Philippe Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl. 1991. “What Democracy is…and is
not.” Journal of Democracy 2(3): 75-88.
“Belarus: The election that wasn’t.” The Economist, September 27, 2012.
“Zimbabwe’s election: A tarnished victory.” The Economist, August 4, 2013.
CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN ASSIGNMENT HANDED OUT 2/29
Sessions 13 and 14 (3/2 and 3/7): Democratization
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 6.
Session 15 (3/9): Executive and Legislative Institutions I
Readings: Juan Linz. 1990. “The Perils of Presidentialism.” Journal of Democracy 1(1):
51-69.
“Thousands rally In Armenia against Plan to Change Constitution.” Radio
Free Europe. Link to article: http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-protestssarkisian/27401008.html
In class audio clip. “Spain’s Prime Minister Must Build a Coalition to
Stay in Power.”
SPRING BREAK MARCH 14-20
Session 16 (3/21): Executive and Legislative Institutions II
Readings: Adam Przeworski, Michael Alvearez, Jose Antonio Cheibub, and Fernando
Limongi. “What Makes Democracies Endure?” Journal of Democracy 7(1): 39-55.
EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE HANDED OUT 3/21
Sessions 17 and 18 (3/23 and 3/28): Federal Systems, Unitary Systems and Judiciaries
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 9.
Session 19 (3/30): EXAM 2 ON 3/30
Session 20 (4/4): Electoral Systems
Readings: John Ishiyama, Comparative Politics, Chapter 7.
Sessions 21 and 22 and 23 (4/6 and 4/11 and 4/13): Political Institutions and Ethnic Politics
Readings: Arend Lijphart. 1969. “Consociational Democracy.” World Politics 21(2): 207
225.
Cera Murtagh. 2015. “Reaching across: institutional barriers to cross-ethnic
parties in post-conflict societies and the case of Northern Ireland.” Nations and
Nationalism 21(3): 544-565.
Donald L. Horowitz. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict, pp. 628-652.
In-class video. Ethnic Power-Sharing and Democracy: Three Big Problems.
Sessions 24 and 25 (4/18 and 4/20): Political Violence I: Social Conflict
Readings: Idean Salehyan et al. 2012. “Social Conflict in Africa: A New Database.”
International Interactions 38(4): 503-511.
ROUGH DRAFT OF CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN PAPERS DUE 4/18
Sessions 26 and 27 (4/25 and 4/27): Political Violence II: Civil War
Readings: James C. Davies. 1962. “Toward a Theory of Revolution.” American
Sociological Review 27: 5-18.
Mark I. Lichbach. 1994. “Rethinking Rationality and Rebellion: Theories of
Collective Action and Problems of Collective Dissent.” Rationality and
Society 6(1): 8-39.
EXAM 3 STUDY GUIDE HANDED OUT 4/25
Session 28 (5/2): Course Wrap-Up
FINAL DRAFT OF CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN PAPERS DUE 5/2
FINAL EXAM WILL BE MONDAY, MAY 9th, from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
University of North Texas-Statement of ADA Compliance:
The Political Science Department cooperates with the Office of Disability Accommodation to
make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Please present your
written accommodation request on or before the sixth class day (beginning of the second week of
classes).
Cheating and Plagiarism: Any student caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a “0” for
that assignment or exam. According to the UNT catalog, the term “cheating” includes, but is not
limited to: a. use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; b.
dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers,
preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; c. the acquisition,
without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of
the university; d. dual submission of a paper or project, or resubmission of a paper or project to a
different class without express permission from the instructor(s); or e. any other act designed to
give a student an unfair advantage. The term “plagiarism” includes, but is not limited to: a. the
knowing or negligent use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work
of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; and b. the knowing or negligent
unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of
term papers or other academic materials. You can find the University of North Texas’ Policy on
Cheating and Plagiarism using this link:
http://www.unt.edu/policy/UNT_Policy/volume3/18_1_16.pdf)
Acceptable Student Behavior: Student behavior that interferes with an instructor’s ability to
conduct a class or other students' opportunity to learn is unacceptable and disruptive and will not
be tolerated in any instructional forum at UNT. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior will
be directed to leave the classroom and the instructor may refer the student to the Center for
Student Rights and Responsibilities to consider whether the student's conduct violated the Code
of Student Conduct. The university's expectations for student conduct apply to all instructional
forums, including university and electronic classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips,
etc. The Code of Student Conduct can be found at www.unt.edu/csrr