PLCP 4990 Comparative Politics: Honors Seminar Fall 2014
Instructor: John Echeverri-Gent
Gibson 462
Office Hours: Monday 5:30-6:30 PM; Wednesday 4:00 to 6:00 PM or by appointment
Phone: 924-3968 Email:
We live in exciting times: an era of vital political change. China’s economy, the fastest growing in the world, has been transformed and will soon be the world’s largest. Popular movements have cast off authoritarian governments in the Middle East,in some cases, only to have new but different authoritarian regimes re-imposed. The welfare state and old institutions of social solidarity are under attack in Europe. Economic reform and democratization have transformed the political economies of Latin America. In this course, we will read about many of the important political changes that are transforming our world. Our objective will be to understand these changes and develop more general analytical explanations for the politics of continuity and change.
There is a large volume of literature in each of the areas covered by this course. The readings provide a survey that serves as an introduction. The selection of readings is designed to expose students to key ideas and in comparative politics. In some places, I have suggested extra resources. I encourage students to consult with me if they would like more readings on a particular topic.
Requirements: Students will be required to complete each week’s readings and come to class ready to actively participate in class discussions. They will write a 4-6 page critical review essay on each week’s assignment. Essay topics will be distributed by Tuesday of each weak. They will be due no later than 12:00 Noon on the Sunday before the class. Essays should be circulated to all students as well to the instructor. Over the course of the semester, students may take two “passes” which excuse them for the essay assignment that week. Students will also make a ten minute class presentation. Their presentation topic should be based on an issue related to a class topic. Students can choose any topic of interest as long as it is placed in the perspective of comparative politics. They may consider the resource list of readings as possible materials to base their readings on or they may select their own readings. Topics and dates must be selected by the third week of class. During the week of a student’s presentation, they will write a 4-6 page paper on their presentation topic rather than on the question distributed for class.
Course Readings: All required books are available for purchase and are on reserve at Clemons library. Articles not in these books are available in the materials section of the course collab webpage. Required books include:
Boone, Catherine. Property and Political Order in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2014.
Geerth, H.H. and C Wright Mills. From Max Weber. Oxford University Press.
Hsueh, Roselyn. China’s Regulatory State. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012.
Levitsky Steven and Lucan Way. Competitive Authoritarianism. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2010.
Lynch, MarcThe Arab Uprising. New York: Public Affairs, 2012.
Mahoney, James. Colonialism and Postcolonial Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2010.
Ross, Michael.The Oil Curse. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Pitcher, Anne.Party Politics and Economic Reform in Africa’s Democracies. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Schneider, Ben Ross. Hierarchical Capitalism in Latin America: Business, Labor, and the
Challenges of Equitable Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Skocpol, Theda.States and Social Revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Thelen, Kathleen. Varieties of Liberalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Tucker, Robert W.The Marx-Engels Reader. New York: WW Norton, 1978.
Assignments
- September 1 Marx, Weber, and the Making of the Modernity
Max Weber, Social and Economic Organization pp. 115-43; 181-91; 324-86.
Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation,” and “Class, Status, and Power,” in From Max Weber edited by H.H. Geerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press, 1946. pp. 77-128, 180-195.
Karl Marx, “”Preface to A Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy”; “Theses on Feuerbach”; “German Ideology: Part I”, “On the Jewish Question,” “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts,” “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” in Tucker pp. 3-6; 26-52.; 66-125; 143-200; 594-617.
Shallini Satkunanandan, “Max Weber and the Ethos of Politics beyond Calculation,” American Political Science Review Vol. 108:1 (February 2014) pp. 169-81
- September 8Great Revolutions and a Comparative Approach to Revolutionary Change
Theda Skocpol.States and Social Revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Resources: Henry E. Hale, “Regime Change Cascades: What We Have Learned from the 1848 Revolutions to the 2011 Arab Uprisings,” Annual Review of Political Science Vol. 16: 331-353, 2013
- September 15 Colonial Institutions and Their Enduring Legacies
James Mahoney, Colonialism and Postcolonial Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
- September 22 Explaining Democratization
Seymour M. Lipset, “Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy,” American Political Science Review 53 (March 1959) pp. 69-105.
Robert Dahl. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971, pp. 1-16, 33-47.
Carles Boix. Democracy and Redistribution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 1-18.
James A. Robinson. Economic Development and Democracy,” Annual Review of Political Science 2006. vol 9 503-27.
Dan Slater, Benjamin Smith and Gautam Nair, “Economic Origins of Democratic Breakdown? The Redistributive Model and the Postcolonial State Perspectives on Politics 12;2 June 2014 pp. 353-74.
David Soifer Hillel, “State Power and the Economic Origins of Democracy,” Studies in Comparative International Development 48:1 (March 2014) pp. 1-22.
- September 29 Property Rights, Power, and Patterns of Politics
Catherine Boone, Property and Political Order in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
- October 6 Institutions, Party Competition, and Economic Reform
Anne Pitcher.Party Politics and Economic Reform in Africa’s Democracies. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
October 13 Fall Break. Enjoy!
- October 20Institutions, Development, and Inequality in Latin America
Benn Ross Schneider. Hierarchical Capitalism in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- October 27 Why Abundant Resources Can Cause Bad Governance
Michael Ross.The Oil Curse. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Resources: Yu-Ming Liou andPaul Musgrave, “Refining the Oil Curse: Country-Level Evidence From Exogenous Variations in Resource Income,” Comparative Political Studies September 2014 47: 1584-1610.
Jorgen J. Andersen andMichael L. Ross, “The Big Oil Change: A Closer Look at the Haber–Menaldo Analysis Comparative Political Studies June 2014 47: 993-1021.
Kevin M. Morrison, “Whither the Resource Curse?” Perspectives on Politics 11:4 (December 2013) pp 1117 – 1125.
- November 3 Varieties of Authoritarian Regimes and Their Dynamics
Barbara Geddes, Erica Frantz, and Joseph G. Wright, “Military Rule” Annual Review of Political Science Vol. 17: 147-162.
Dawn Brancati, “Democratic Authoritarianism: Origins and Effects,” Annual Review of Political Science Vol. 17: 313-326
Beatriz Magaloni and Ruth Kricheli, “Political Order and One-Party Rule,” Annual Review of Political Science 2010 vol. 13 pp. 123-43.
Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik, “Defeating Dictators: Electoral Change and Stability in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes,” World Politics 61 (2009) pp. 623-669.
Steven R. Levitsky and Lucan A. Way, “Beyond Patronage: Violent Struggle, Ruling Party Cohesion, and Authoritarian Durability,” Perspectives on Politics 10:4 (December 2012) pp. 869-99.
Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright and Erica Frantz, “Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions: A New Data Set,” Perspectives on Politics 12:2 (June 2014) pp. 313-331
- November 10 International and Domestic Causes of Competitive Authoritarianism
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way. Competitive Authoritarianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
- November 17 Arab Spring and Political Change
Marc Lynch.The Arab Uprising. New York: Public Affairs, 2012.
Resources:Marc Lynch (ed.) Arab Uprising Explained. Columbia University Press, forthcoming, 2014.
Marc Morjé Howard and Meir R. Walters, “Explaining the Unexpected: Political Science and the Surprises of 1989 and 2011,“12:2(June 2014) pp. 394-408. Also brief responses by Bellin, Lust, Lynch, and rejoinder by Howard and Walters.
Melani Cammett1 and Pauline Jones Luong, “Is There an Islamist Political Advantage?” Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 17: 187-
- November 23 China’s Economic Success: Liberalization and Re-regulation
Roselyn Hsueh.China’s Regulatory State. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012.
- December 1The Liberalization, Solidarity, and Equality in Western Europe
Kathleen Thelen. Varieties of Liberalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.