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Course Description
Course Objectives
Course Requirements
Grading Scale
Required Texts
Reading Assignments and Schedule
This course examines various theoretical, historical and contemporary perspectives on world politics. Topics include international peace and security, international political economy, and global economic and social issues such as the environment, human rights, international migration, poverty, and international public health. Throughout the course, we will focus on several overarching questions: How do both states and non-state actors shape world politics? To what extent are relations among states in the international system characterized by conflict and rivalry? Why do disagreements sometimes escalate to the point of war? What conditions impede cooperation among states, and what factors foster global cooperation? To what extent do non-state actors challenge the power and effectiveness of states in world politics? What are the primary obstacles to promote peace, cooperation, prosperity and human well-being in contemporary world politics?
The Department of Politics and International Relations seeks to induct students into the community of liberally educated individuals who are capable of understanding government and politics in terms of the theories, concepts, and tools of sophisticated political analysis which characterize the discipline of political science. The liberal-arts dimension of our mission stems from our belief that all people are embedded in a political environment which acts upon them in ways they must understand if they are to function effectively as active participants in a democratic society. Our goal, therefore, is not to train professional political scientists, but rather to produce the liberally educated citizen who is fluent in the language of politics and political analysis and thereby has a foundation for both citizenship in a democratic society and successful training in a job, in a graduate school, or in a professional school. Such a person has the capacity to recognize and evaluate assumptions, implications, and causal relationships pertaining to government and politics and, by extension, to other realms of human experience. Go to the home page of the Department of Politics and International Relations for more information on the basic objectives of the general program and introductory courses in the department.
Additional course-specific objectives include the following:
1. To introduce students to the main features of the global political system and to basic concepts that shape the study of world politics
2. To encourage students to think independently and analytically about world politics
3. To help students develop their ability to use important sources of information about world politics, including traditional media sources as well as the Internet
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Three exams (25 points each): Students will take two exams during the semester and a final exam at the end of the semester. These exams will consist of short answer as well as essay questions. Both the short answer and essay questions will require students to think analytically about the course material and to integrate information from readings, lectures, classroom discussions, and where relevant, current events. Each of these exams will be worth approximately twenty-five percent of your final grade. Exams will be graded for content, grammar, and style. I also will expect you to incorporate explicit references to the required readings. Excellent exams will include references to current events that are relevant to the essay questions. The final exam will be cumulative.
**Make-up exams will be given only in the case of family emergencies and serious illness, and I will require you to document your illness or emergency. In order to take a make-up exam, you must have a legitimate, verifiable family emergency or illness, and you must contact me in advance of the exam. Make-up exams must be taken within five days of the original exam date unless exceptional circumstances warrant a longer extension.
2. Three current events analytical papers (10 points each): At the end of each section of the course, I will require you to turn in a 4-5 page (typed, double-spaced with standard margins) paper in which you highlight the major news events that have unfolded during that section of the course and in which you analyze these current events in light of the course material we have covered. To this end, you should comment on whether major news events provide any insight into the current state of world politics. It will be especially useful if you look for evidence that either supports or contradicts the arguments we are reading in class. This assignment, then, is designed to encourage you to make connections between "real-world" events and the scholarly arguments we are reading in class. You will have to complete three analyses of current events, each at the end of a section of the course. Each current events analytical paper will be worth approximately 10% of your final course grade. Grades on late current events papers will be lowered by one percentage point of your final course grade per day.
3. Class attendance and participation: Class attendance and participation will not be formally graded. Nevertheless, active student participation is an essential part of this course. I will use class attendance and participation in making judgements about final grades when students are on the border between letter grades. Students should come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings in a thoughtful, productive, and civil manner. You should be ready to ask and answer questions on the assigned readings. You need to participate actively in the class, but you should not attempt to dominate class discussion. I expect that students often will disagree with each other and with me. I will encourage an atmosphere in which we are free to challenge and criticize each other's arguments, but I expect all of us to be respectful and civil in our disagreements. We also will participate in simulations or debates during each section of the course. Effective participation will require that you are ready to be active participants in these simulations or debates.
This course will stress active student learning. I expect that your consistent attendance and participation will facilitate your understanding of the course material. Moreover, because you will be required to integrate information from readings, lectures, and classroom discussions on the midterm and the final, and in the current events papers, your performance on the exams should benefit from consistent attendance and participation.
4. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is the act of trying to pass off someone else's ideas, words, thoughts or inventions as one's own. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional, but it is a violation of academic integrity in either case. You must acknowledge your use of other's work when you quote them word for word (you must use quotation marks in the case of direct quotations), paraphrase, borrow ideas, incorporate factual information from someone else's work, or rely on another person's organization of material. You do not need to provide citations for common knowledge, but it is better to err on the side of caution if you have any doubts. If your paper includes uncited information and/or I suspect plagiarism, I will not grade your paper until you provide satisfactory documentation of your sources. If I discover a case of cheating or plagiarism, I will impose the most serious penalty allowed under university regulations and contingent on the nature of the violation. In cases of egregious plagiarism or cheating, I will give you a failing grade for the course and may recommend additional penalties at the college or university level, including suspension or expulsion. See the statement on Academic Honesty and Integrity at the Department of Politics and IR homepage for further details. Also, see me if you still have questions about academic dishonesty.
A 90-100%/ 94.5-105 points out of the available 105 points
(Excellent)
B 80-89%/ 84-94.4 points out of the available 105 points (Good)
C 70-79%/ 73.5-83.9 points out of the available 105 points (Satisfactory)
D 60-69%/ 63-73.4 points out of the available 105 points (Poor)
F 0-59%/ 0-62.9 out of the available 105 points (Failure)
See my statement on Basic Grading Standards under the Course Documents tab on the Blackboard course website.
1. Karen Mingst, Essentials of International Relations Third Edition(New York: W.W. Norton & Company)
2. Richard W. Mansbach and Edward Rhodes, eds., Global Politics in a Changing World: a Reader Third Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company)
3. Kendall W. Stiles, Case Histories in International Politics Fifth Edition (New York: Longman Publishers)
4. Dan Smith, The State of War and Peace Atlas (Penguin Reference)
5. Your understanding of world politics will be enhanced if you keep abreast of current events. I will not require you to subscribe to a specific newspaper. However, you should follow current international events through the media of your choice. Note: certain choices are likely to be wiser than others. National daily newspapers, such as The New York Times or The Christian Science Monitor, provide far more thorough international coverage than local dailes. You also can obtain at least basic information in some weekly newsmagazines or by following CNN. In addition to these examples, most national newspapers and television networks maintain on-line sources of news. Finally, you can access a variety of resources on world politics, including full text newspaper articles, legal resources, and reference information on specific countries, on the Resources and Reference Page of Cowles Library.
READING ASSIGNMENTS AND SCHEDULE
Part I An Introduction to the Study of World Politics: Basic Concepts, Actors, and Theories
8/27 Introduction to the class
8/29 Mingst, Chapter 1; Mansbach, Chapter 1; Melian Dialogue Simulation
9/3 Labor Day, no class
9/5 Mingst, Chapter 2; Stiles: Cases 1 and 8; War and Peace Atlas: Chapters 4-8
9/10 Mingst, Chapter 3; Mansbach, Chapter 14.1
9/12 Mingst, Chapters 5 and 6
9/17 Stiles: Cases 4, 6, 7, 10
9/19 Mansbach, Chapters 5 and 13
9/24 Mingst, Chapter 4; Stiles: Cases 2 and 3
9/26 Mingst, Chapter 7; Mansbach, Chapter 6.1, 6.4-6.7 and Chapter 7; Stiles: Cases and 17 and 18
10/1 Simulation: Coalitions (Power)
10/3 Simulation: Coalitions (Wealth); Written analysis of current events #1 due
10/8 EXAM #1
Part II War and Peace in World Politics
10/10 Mingst, Chapter 8; Stiles: Case 5; War and Peace Atlas: Chapter 1 and Chapter 3
10/15 Fall break, no class
10/17 Mansbach, Chapter 2.1-2.3; Gregg Easterbrook, "Explaining 15 Years of Diminishing Violence," The New Republic online, May 24, 2005.
10/22 Guest Speaker: Ambassador H.E. Yashar T. Alivyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan
10/24 Mingst, Chapter 7; Mansbach, Chapter 6.2-6.3; War and Peace Atlas: Chapter 9
10/29 Mansbach, Chapter 3; Arms race simulation; War and Peace Atlas: Chapter 2; The New Republic article on deterrence (will be distributed in class)
10/31 Mansbach, Chapter 2.4-2.6; Stiles: Case 9; War and Peace Atlas, Map 11; Sean Wilentz, "Homegrown Terrorist"
11/5 Terrorism Simulation; Andrew Sullivan, "Atrocities in Plain Sight"
11/7 Case Study: Iraq
11/12 Case Study: Iraq; ; Written analysis of current events #2 due
11/14 EXAM #2
Part III Economic and Social Issues in World Politics
11/19 American Model UN in Chicago, no class
11/21 Thanksgiving break, no class
11/26 Mingst, Chapter 9; Mansbach, Chapter 10; PIT simulation
11/28 Mingst, Chapter 10; Mansbach, Chapter 15; Stiles, Case 12
12/3 Mansbach, Chapters 8, 14.2, 14.3, and 14.5; Stiles: Cases 13 and 14
12/5 Mansbach, Chapters 9 and 12; Stiles, Cases 15 and 19
12/10 Mansbach, Chapters 11, 14.4; Stiles, Case 16; Inequality simulation
12/12 Written analysis of current events #3 due; class evaluations
The final exam is scheduled for Thursday, December 20 from 9:30-11:20.