Comparing and contrasting is a common human exercise. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle used comparisons to analyze the city-states of Athens. Comparison helps to make sense of societies that are different from our own, and also to obtain deeper insight into our own system of government. Comparative politics, as a term, has two meanings. It refers to a division of the study of political science as well as to a method of studying politics. This course is intended to help students understand the politics of other countries from a comparative perspective. It will include learning the general concepts used to interpret political relationships and institutions most commonly found in national polities, and then applying this knowledge to six specific countries and their governments. An underlying theme emphasizes the importance of institutions for guiding human actions and influencing the conduct of political activities. Some of the general concepts in comparative politics include the origins of states; the nature of power and political culture; types of political regimes (democracy, theocracy, etc.); political institutions (executive, legislative); causes of revolution, and political development. Common questions concern how power is used in each society and how the struggle between freedom and equality is managed.
The class will consist of a combination of lectures, discussions and group activities to actively engage students in the subject matter. It is essential that students do the reading and written assignments before each class so they can participate in class and group discussions. The course will be Web-Assisted, through Blackboard. Each student will have access to Blackboard via Netscape and will also be assigned a user name, a 4 to 5 person group and a password after the first week of classes. Many group discussions will take place through the Blackboard. We will arrange a class at the Library on using Blackboard for students who are new to this type of course if we have enough demand.
Comparative Politics-03-04, Annual Editions, Dushkin/McGraw Hill
Roskin, Countries and Concepts, the new 8th ed. Prentice-Hall, 2004
OšNeil, Essentials of Comparative Politics, W.W. Norton, 2004
The Course Syllabus and Class Policy Statement are important guides for this course.
COURSE GOALS:
This course is designed to actively engage you in discussing some important political concepts and ways to understand politics/governance in other countries. By the end of the semester you should be able to debate and write about these political concepts and understand relationships between the different countries we study. You will actively participate in many group activities, and you will be challenged to think independently and creatively as we discuss these concepts throughout the semester. Your participation grade will depend on your active contributions to group and class discussions, as you will be constantly encouraged to share your ideas with your classmates. This class stresses active learning because both talking and writing help to clarify thinking. Important goals for this course include learning to express your ideas better while at the same time processing new information about the concepts of comparative politics and about countries around the world. Other goals include using social science theories in oral and written discussions and utilizing the Blackboard Web-based course. In addition to listening to each lecture in class and discussing the various theories in your groups, you will also find information on these topics in the lecture section of the Blackboard course. There will also be announcements listed periodically, and you may post questions or email me through Blackboard as well. After permanent groups form early in the semester, they will be listed under the Bb group icon, and members of each group will be able to communicate with each other via this web assistance and the Blackboard Discussion format.
COURSE FORMAT:
There will be many individual writing and discussion projects throughout the semester. Part of the course will be spent on learning about and discussing the basic concepts of comparative politics and their importance to functioning governments. Questions such as: Who has the power and how is it used, are basic to all societies. All countries have some kind of political culture, and it is important to discuss how this concept applies to the different countries we study. Thus, first you will study topics such as political culture, socialization and political parties, and then you will apply how these (and other) concepts function in specific countries. The study of six countries will be interspersed throughout the semester to illustrate the use of the basic concepts/theories of comparative politics to explain łhow things work˛ in each country. You will study Great Britain, France, Japan, Iran, South Africa and Russia. The semester will be divided by a midterm exam covering the concepts/theories and countries learned up to that point. When you examine individual countries, you will work mostly in permanent groups of about four to five students each to discuss questions I give you. Class discussions of the individual countries will occur mostly in these small groups and through the group format in the Blackboard course, but I will supplement the group discussions with class and Blackboard lectures. There will be in-class quizzes on each country, but I will give you łstudy guides˛ for each country to prepare you for these quizzes and group discussions. You and your group will be responsible for much of what you learn about the six countries and for looking at how the concepts relate to each country. As you apply the concepts to the countries, you are using comparative politics methods.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
10% Attendance and Participation (in both groups and class)
10% Group work and discussions (includes peer review)
20% Country study guides (written and handed in) and quizzes
20% Midterm Exam (part short answer, part essay)
20% 1 paper (6-7 pages): Throughout the semester you will be required to discuss (in writing) issues I post on the Blackboardšs Discussion Board within each Group Section. I will not grade these discussions as they occur, and you may respond more than once to any of the discussions or you may skip one or two. You may use outside sources to back up your ideas if necessary, but be sure to document these sources! For the paper, you will choose 8 or 9 of your best responses to these past Blackboard discussions to discuss and evaluate. You will then discuss how your thinking about comparative politics and its theories has developed and evolved over the course of the semester as demonstrated by your own previously written answers to the various discussion questions. Again, be sure to footnote and cite any outside sources you mention in both, footnotes or internal citations, and a Works Cited section.
20% Final
Exam
Introduction
and written class survey; Equality vs. Freedom
Readings:
OšNeil; Ch. 1 (pp.1-21)
Definitions
and origins of political organization; centralization or decentralization
(federalism or unitary systems), statism
Readings:
Roskin, Ch. 1 and pp. 165-167
(France) and p. 454 (Brazil); OšNeil, Ch. 2 (pp. 22-45). * Sept. 2-Library Session for
Blackboard in the Library at 2:00!
Sept. 9, 11 The
NATION AND THE SOCIAL SOURCES OF POWER: Society and Politics, Social Cleavages,
Ethnic Identity and Quarrels
National
Identity; Nationalism/Patriotism
Political
Culture, Political Socialization, Political Behavior
and how these are linked?
The
Civic Culture study and concept and culture as a political variable.
Readings: Annual Eds, pp. 205-214, Roskin, pp. 53-63
(Britain), pp. 130-145, 154(France) and pp. 367-381 (Japan); OšNeil, Ch. 3 (pp.
46-81)
1.
Questions to discuss in
the Blackboard course
Sept. 16, 18 DEMOCRACY:
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, POLITICAL PARTIES, INTEREST GROUPS AND VOTING
What is democracy? How do citizens
institutionalize democracy?
Who
participates and in what ways? Women in Politics
Parties,
types of interest groups and their bases of support
Different
kinds of Electoral (voting) systems (PR and Direct)
Readings: Annual Editions, pp. 54-77, 93-95; OšNeil,
pp.147-164, Roskin, pp. 50-51 and 66-78 (Britain), 124-126 (France)
2.
Discussion in the Blackboard course
Sept. 23, 25 POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS and POLICY MAKING CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN ADVANCED
DEMOCRACIES
Presidential
vs. Parliamentary forms of Legislative and Executive Power and Quasi Systems
(France, Russia and South Africa), Constitutions, Federalism and Centralization
Readings: OšNeil, pp. 164-175 and Ch. 7 (pp. 176-207); Annual
Eds. pp. 78-92 and 188-204; Roskin, pp. 36-52 (Great Britain), pp. 113-129
(France); pp. 354-366 (Japan)
3. Questions to discuss in the Blackboard
Sept. 30, Oct. 2, 7 ADVANCED
DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN
The Impact of the Past, Institutions,
Political Culture and Patterns of Interaction and Quarrels
Format
for studying the six countries:
I will give lectures on each of the countries and discuss
some issues when the quizzes indicate confusion, but for much of the class
discussions on the individual countries you will be in your small groups and
you will have worksheets to complete.
In general, the first day of each country will be a lecture and the
second and later days will be group discussions. The groups will choose a different recorder for each group
discussion.
Before you begin to study a new country, I will give you a
study guide to complete as you do the readings. Completing the study guide will greatly help you on the
country quizzes (given at the beginning of the 2nd class after you start
a new country).
Readings:
Roskin Chapters on
Britain, pp. 20-93, Annual Editions, pp.1-6, and 12-23. (Remember you have already ready 2 of
the chapters on Britain, so now you have the chance to review.
4.
Discussion questions in the Blackboard
The
Impact of the Past, Institutions, Political Culture and Patterns of Interaction
and Quarrels
Same
format as for the study of Britain
Readings: Roskin
chapter on France, pp. 94-175, Annual Editions, pp.6-7 and pp. 25-38.
5. Questions to discuss on the Blackboard
Oct. 16 MIDTERM EXAM: Covering the course up to this
point.
Oct. 20, 21 Fall
Break
Oct. 23 POLITICAL
ECONOMY
Markets, Liberalism, social
expenditures and social democracy
Readings:
OšNeil, Ch 4 (82-118)
6. Questions to discuss on the Blackboard
Readings:
Roskin, Chapters on
Japan, Annual Editions, pp. 51- 53
7. Discussion questions on the Blackboard
Nov. 4, 6 AUTHORITARIANISM
AND COMMUNISM AND POSTCOMMUNISM (bureaucracy; theories of revolution))
Readings:
OšNeil, Chs. 4 and 8
8. Discussion Questions on the Blackboard
Readings:
Roskin on Iran, pp.
518-549, Annual Eds. pp.181-84
9.
Discussion questions on
the Blackboard
Nov. 18, 20 RUSSIA:
A FORMER COMMUNIST COUNTRY NOW IN TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY
The Impact of the past, institutions, political
culture, interactions, quarrels and obstacles to democratic development
Readings:
Roskin, pp. 260-337; Annual Editions,
pp. 117-133
10. Questions to discuss on the Blackboard
Dr.
Zeff will be out of town this week, but classes will be held.
Nov. 25, 27 RUSSIA
and Transition Challenges (cont,); Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 2, 4 POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT and TRANSITIONING GOVšTS (clientelism and begin SOUTH AFRICA):
Readings: Annual Eds. pp. 134-139, 174-6; OšNeil, Ch 9 (pp.
246-280); Roskin, pp. 412-415 and 459-473 (Brazil, the military in politics and
dependency theory) and pp. 482-517 (South Africa)
11.
Discussion on the Blackboard
Dec. 4, Paper
due (6-7 pages) with both,
footnotes or internal documentation, and a Bibliography. See
requirements
If
you are a First or Second year student, you must take this paper to the writing lab and make some changes to your first draft. Be sure to get a signature, but do not plan to go on the day before your
paper is due. One reason to go to the Writing Lab is
so that you can rewrite your paper and make it better. If you go to the Lab the day before the
paper is due, you do not have enough time to rewrite well. Make an appointment with the Writing
Lab before you go. This paper
should contain 10 of your best and previously written discussion responses,
along with analysis of the responses.
Dec. 9, 11 PROBLEMS
OF DEVELOPMENT: SOUTH AFRICA (cont) CONCLUDING REMARKS AND EXAM REVIEW:
Readings: Roskin on South Africa, pp. 482-517 AND pp. 550-54
Annual Editions: pp. 149-158; OšNeil, Ch. 10 (pp.
281-299)
Dec. 15-19 FINAL
EXAM WEEK