SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The course is divided into 3 sections which look at 1) Comparative Politics in Western Modernity; 2) Transitions, Revolutions and 3rd Wave Considerations; and 3) New Directions in Comparative Politics. Over 9 units, we will study 10 countries along a timeline and critically chart out how these states differ and converge in the ways in which they organize power and distribute goods to citizens. In order of appearance, they are Great Britain, Italy, USSR, USA, Chile, the Czech Republic, Congo, Iran, China, and Egypt. Each unit introduces one major Regime Type, Country Example, and Political Idea/Theme. Along the way, the student will learn something about the dominant, enduring topics of study of comparative politics, including liberalism, fascism, communism, democracy, democratic transitions, ethnic politics, civil war, political economies, identity politics, authoritarianisms, electoral systems, political parties and revolution.
|
Course Outline:
Part I. Comparing Politics in Western Modernity
1. Modern Nation-States and the Rise of Political Liberalism
Countries: England (and France)
2. Late Nation-State Builders and Liberalism in Crisis
Countries: Italy (and Germany)
3. Liberalism in Crisis part II.
Country: USSR
4. Liberal Revenge.
Country: USA
Part II. After the End of History: Transitions, Revolutions and 3rd Waves
5. 3rd Wave Transitions:
Countries: Chile and the Czech Republic.
6. Identity Politics, Poverty, Civil War and Failed States
Country: Congo
7. Theocracy and the Return of Religious Politics
Country: Iran
8. Authoritarian Capitalism and Competitive Authoritarianisms
Country: China
Part III. New Directions:
9. Tahrir Square and the Future of Comparative Politics: Dealing with pluralism in the 21st century
Country: Egypt
Course Calendar (Please note that this is not the final syllabus. A finalized schedule of readings, assignments and office hours will be distributed to students at the beginning of the Fall, 2012 semester).
|
3 September
|
Class 1
|
Course Introduction
|
Part I: Comparing Politics in Western Modernity
|
1. Modern Nation-States and the Rise of Political Liberalism: England (and France)
|
5 September
|
Class 2
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapters 1 & 2
|
10 September
|
Class 3
|
|
|
|
Weber, The Protestant Ethic, chapters 1, 2 & 5
|
12 September
|
Class 4
|
|
|
|
Fareed Zakaria, “A Brief History of Human Freedom,” Library Reserves
Fareed Zakaria, “Capitalism, not Culture, Drives Economics,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-capitalism-not-culture-drives-economies/2012/08/01/gJQAKtH9PX_story.html
J. S. Mill, On Liberty, chapters 1 & 2 http://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/one.html
|
17 September
|
Class 5
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapter 5
Magna Carta (skim), http://www.constitution.org/eng/magnacar.pdf
France’s “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/declaration.html
|
2. Late Nation-State Builders and Liberalism in Crisis: Italy (and Germany)
|
19 September
|
Class 6
|
|
|
|
Mussolini, “The Doctrine of Fascism,” http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/reading/germany/mussolini.htm
The Futurist Manifesto, http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html and paintings, http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/20-dynamic-paintings-from-the-italian-futurists/
Hitler, “Triumph des Willens,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9iUaP51CI&feature=topics
|
24 September
|
Class 7
|
|
|
|
Alexander Gershenkron, “Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective,” (introduction) Library Reserves
Michael Mann, “A Political Theory of Nationalism and its Excesses,” in Notions of Nationalism, ed. S. Periwal 1995. Google Scholar.
|
3. Liberalism in Crisis part II: USSR
|
26 September
|
Class 8
|
|
|
|
Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto
|
1 October
|
Class 9
|
|
|
|
Lenin, “What is to be done?” pp.s 1-25, 45-62 http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/download/what-itd.pdf
Stalin, “The Foundations of Leninism: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” chapter IV: http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/foundations-leninism/ch04.htm
|
3 October
|
Class 10
|
|
|
|
O’Neil, chapter 4 pp.s 77-82; 87-96
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago: Part I: ch.s 1&4; part III: ch. 7; part IV: ch.s 1-2; Part VI: ch.s 2&7. [These selections correspond to pages 218-240; 253-273; 294-206 in The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005 (ed.s Ericson, Jr. and Mahoney) available in the Library Reserves]
|
4. Liberal Revenge: USA
|
8 October
|
Class 11
|
|
|
|
Alexis de Tocqueville, “Author’s Introduction” from Democracy in America, http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/preface.htm
Francis Fukuyama, The End of History,” http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm
|
10 October
|
Class 12
|
|
|
|
Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” Journal of Democracy 6(1), 1995. E-journal http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/assoc/bowling.html
Read through Putnam’s survey instrument and data: http://bowlingalone.com/?page_id=8
Sheri Berman, “Understanding Social Democracy,”
http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/conferences/left/left_papers/berman.pdf
|
15 October
|
Class 13
|
|
|
|
O'Neil Chapter 7
|
17 October
|
Class 14
|
Mid-term Exam
|
Part II: After the End of History: Transitions, Revolutions and 3rd Waves
|
5. 3rd Wave Transitions: Chile and the Czech Republic.
|
22 October
|
Class 15
|
|
|
|
Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” sections I-X, XIV-XVI, XXI-XXII; “A Word about Words;” and “New Year’s Address,” all in Open Letters: Selected Writings, 1965-1990
|
24 October
|
Class 16
|
|
|
|
Samuel P. Huntington, “Democracy’s Third Wave,” Journal of Democracy, 2(2), 1991. E-journal
Guillermo O’Donnell, “Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies,” Journal of Democracy 9(3), 1998. E-journal
Pablo Neruda, “A Call for the Destruction of Nixon and Praise for Chilean Revolution,” http://reddiarypk.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/pablo-neruda/
|
29 October
|
Class 17
|
|
|
|
Valerie Bunce, “Rethinking Recent Democratization: Lessons from the Post-Communist Experience,” World Politics, 55, 2003. E-journal
Steven Levitsky and David Collier, “Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research,” World Politics, 49(3), 1997. E-journal
|
6. Identity Politics, Poverty, Civil War and Failed States: Congo
|
31 October
|
Class 18
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapter 9, pp.s 230-247
Frantz Fanon, “Concerning Violence,” chapter 1 from The Wretched of the Earth, Library Reserves
Leopold Senghor, “To New York,” http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/238778
|
5 November
|
Class 19
|
|
|
|
Economist, “Africa’s Great War,” http://www.economist.com/node/1213296?story_id=1213296
Filip Reyntjens, “Rwanda, Ten Years on: From Genocide to Dictatorship,” African Affairs, (103), 2004. Google Scholar
James Fearon, “Why do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer than Others?” Journal of Peace Research (41). 2004. E-journal
|
7 November
|
Class 20
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapter 9, pp.s 247-259
Jeffery Sachs, “The Development Challenge,” Foreign Affairs, March/April, 2005. E-journal
William Easterly, “Was Development Assistance a Mistake?” http://williameasterly.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/50_easterly_wasdevelopmentassistanceamistake_prp.pdf
Good News from Africa:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/05/daily-chart-12
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/02/daily-chart-20
|
7. Theocracy and the Return of Religious Politics: Country: Iran
|
9 November |
Class 21 |
|
(Make-up for 19 November) |
|
The Economist, “In God’s Name,” 2007
O’Neil chapter 10
|
12 November
|
Class 22
|
|
|
|
Michael L. Ross, “Oil, Islam, and Women,” American Political Science Review, 102(1), 2008. E-journal
Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage,” The Atlantic, September (1990). Google
|
14 November
|
Class 23
|
|
|
|
Vali Nasr, “The Rise of ‘Muslim Democracy,’” Journal of Democracy 16(2), 2005. E-journal
Michael Driessen, “Religion, State and Democracy,” Politics and Religion, (3), 2010. Google
Gunes Tezcur, “Democracy Promotion, Authoritarian Resiliency, and Political Unrest in Iran,” Democratization 19(1), 2012. E-journal
|
19 November
|
No Class |
Professor Driessen at Middle East Studies Association Conference
|
|
|
|
8. Authoritarian Capitalism and Competitive Authoritarianisms: China
|
21 November
|
Class 24
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapter 6
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, “The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism,” Journal of Democracy, 12(2), 2002. E-journal
Andrei Illarionov, “The Siloviki in Charge,” The Journal of Democracy, (April), 2009. E-journal
|
26 November
|
Class 25
|
|
|
|
Zheng Bijian, “China’s ‘Peaceful Rise’ to Great-Power Status,” Foreign Affairs (84)5, 2005. E-journal.
Thomas Friedman, “Advice for China,” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05friedman.html
Amnesty International, “Annual Report: China 2011,” http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/annual-report-china-2011?page=show
|
Part III. New Directions:
|
9. Tahrir Square and the Future of Comparative Politics: Egypt
|
28 November
|
Class 26
|
|
|
|
Nader Hashemi, “The Arab Revolution of 2011: Reflections on Religion and Politics,” Insight Turkey, 2011. https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?view=att&th=132aaa5bb70fe5ad&attid=0.3&disp=vah&realattid=f_gt2swo5w2&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_UmVblcA9VRfQedvoT6m6V&sadet=1339577348836&sads=YLAwVLPgTQ_6Xk9E52EbkDYfpEY
Nathan Brown, “Dangers Ahead for Egypt,” http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/05/31/dangers-ahead-for-egypt/b0xx
Amnesty International, “Tunisia: Persepolis Trial Spotlights Attacks on Freedom of Expression,” http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/tunisia-2012-04-18
|
3 December
|
Class 27
|
|
|
|
O’Neil chapter 11
“Indonesia Watches Closely Development of Eurozone Crisis, Hormuz Conflict to Save Economy,” http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_131410067.htm
The Economist, “The Euro-Zone Crisis,” http://www.economist.com/node/21524378
|
5 December
|
Class 28
|
Conclusions and Review
|
|
|
|
|
Final Exam
|
|
|