Political Institutions

5

Political Institutions

Fall 2007, PPOL-G 740

Thursday 1-3:30PM; McCormack 03-0415

Public Policy Ph.D Program

University of Massachusetts/Boston

Prof. Ramón Borges-Méndez

Dept. of Public Policy

McCormack Hall 03-0419

(617) 287-6935

Course Objectives

This course has several objectives. First, it will introduce graduate students in public policy to analytical debates on the development of political institutions from the 19th Century to the present; how political institutions are conceptualized or created to address problems of citizenship, property rights, representation, modernity, power, authority, and rational maximization. The discussion of such debates will be historical and comparative, encompassing material about industrialized Western countries and other parts of the world. Secondly, the course will address the development, collapse and restructuring of political institutions especially in connection to restructuring of American and European welfare states and neo-liberal reforms in developing economies and emerging democracies. The course further elaborates on the types of policy responses that such processes of restructuring have generated: privatization, government decentralization, fiscal federalism, institutional re-engineering. Thirdly, the course will discuss the interaction between political institutions and civil society, emphasizing problems of social capital formation, governance, civic participation, and the role of new political intermediaries in policy making. Finally, we will discuss the role of political institutions in (local) economic development.

Requirements

Students are expected to do the readings and participate in class discussions. Class lectures will not be a faithful summary of readings. The class grade will be based on:

(1) class participation (10%)

(2) two 3-page memoranda about readings which students will prepare throughout the semester and that will be presented in class sessions (15%)

(3) a mid-term take-home examination of 8-10 pages in length (20%)

(4) a final research paper 20 pages in length (35%).

(5) a presentation on the final paper (20%).

The topic of the research paper will be discussed with the professor for approval. There are no textbooks for the class. Readings will be available in electronic files at a location yet to be determined.

Other Resources

Below there is a very partial list of Websites with valuable and diverse resources on political institutions, governance and related matters. I encourage you to use them and browse through them since they would give you a good idea about the scope of activities in the field.

·  www.unesco.org/most: The web site of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST). It contains materials and information (mostly from developing countries) on various sub-programs addressing problems ranging from multiculturalism to democratization and local autonomy, religious rights, and sustainability, among other things.

·  www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu: The web site of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Materials and case studies about innovation in government: concerned with institutional and local-state-regional government innovation; public management; and performance and productivity. Historically funded by the Ford Foundation.

·  www.undp.org: Great website (one of my favorites) with all sorts of comparative material on governance and other relevant topics. Very interesting publications with balanced and relatively progressive perspectives on policy, ( especially for a multi-lateral organization.)

·  www.worldbank.org: The web site of The World Bank. All sorts of resource materials on various topics related to governmental reform. See special subsections under Topics & Sectors, and Research: public sector management; social development; urban development, participation.

·  www.urban.org: The website of the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. Research and data base related to the Assessing The New Federalism Project. Mostly about the USA.

·  www.oecd.org.: The website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Information and research of all kinds on broad range of issues ranging from governance to economic development. Material is not only about Europe.

·  www.unhabitat.org: The website of the UN-Habitat Program. Material related to living conditions in cities, with emphasis on the challenge of meeting the Millenium Development Goals. Institutional development is very part of such development agenda.

·  www.brookings.org: The website of The Brookings Institution. Numerous materials on public policy including governance, both in the USA and abroad.

Lectures and Readings

I Classical Challenges in Political Institution Building in the West

Week 2-Sept. 13 : The Challenges of Citizenship, Property Rights, and Representation

Carnoy, Martin. (1984).The State & Political Theory. Princeton University Press. Princeton: NJ. Chapter 1. (pp.3-43).

Tocqueville, Alexis De. (1945). Democracy in America.Vol.1. Vintage Books. N.Y.:NY. Chapter 5 (pp.61-101).

Wooton, David. (ed.) (2003). The Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis/Cambridge. (pp.225-254—James Madison Essays: 39,47,48,49,51)

Week 3-Sept. 20: The Challenges of Modernity, Power, and Authority

Durkheim, Emile.(1993). Section on Emile Durkheim. In Social Theory: The Multicultural & Classic Readings. Charles Lemert, (ed.). Westview Press. Boulder: CO. 1993. pp.77-108.

Marx, Karl. (1993). Section on Karl Marx. In Social Theory: The Multicultural & Classic Readings. Charles Lemert, (ed.). Westview Press. Boulder:CO. 1993. pp. 35-73.

Weber, Max. (1993). Section on Max Weber. In Social Theory: The Multicultural & Classic Readings. Charles Lemert, (ed.). Westview Press. Boulder:CO. 1993. pp. 109-135.

II Political Institutions Building in a Comparative Perspective

Week 4-Sept. 27: Comparative and Historical Perspectives on the State, and the New Rationalism.

Hagopian, Frances. (2000). “Political Development, Revisited.” Comparative Political Studies,Vol.33, No.6/7, August/September, 2000. pp. 880-911.

Immergut, Ellen. (1998). “The theoretical core of the new institutionalism.” Politics & Society. 26. No.1. March 1998. 5(30).

Miller, Gary J. “The Impact of Economics on Contemporary Political Science.” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol.XXXV (September 1997), pp.1173-1204.

Skocpol, Theda.(1985). “ Bringing the State Back In: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research.” In Bringing the State Back In. Theda Skocpol; Peter Evans; Dietrich Rueschemeyer. Eds. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge: UK.

Week 5-Oct. 4: Comparative Cases of Political Institutional Development

Rubin, Jeffrey W. (1996). “Decentering the regime: culture and regional politics in Mexico.” Latin American Research Review. Vol.31.No.3. pp.85-126.

Samuels, Richard J. (2003). Machiavelli’s Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan. Cornell University Press. Ithaca: NY. Introduction & Chapter 1. (pp. 1-40).

Sinha, Aseema. The Regional Roots of Developmental Politics in India: A Divided Leviathan. Indiana University Press. Bloomington: IN. Chapter 6: 160-211.

III Collapse and Restructuring of Political Institutions

Week 6-Oct.11: The Rise and Demise of the Welfare State in Industrialized Societies.

Esping-Andersen. (1999). Social Foundations of Post-Industrial Economies. Oxford University Press. Oxford: UK. pp.1-72.

Jones-Correa, Michael. (ed.). (2001). “Structural Shifts and Institutional Capacity: Possibilities for Ethnic Cooperation and Conflict in Urban Settings.” In Governing American Cities: Inter-Ethnic Coalitions, Competition and Conflict. Michael Jones-Correa, ed. Russell Foundation. NY:NY. (pp.183-209).

Orloff, Ann Shola. (1988). “The Political Origins of America’s Belated Welfare State.” In The Politics of Social Policy in the United States. Margaret Weir, Ann Shola Orloff, and Theda Skocpol. (Eds.). Princeton University Press. Princeton:NJ. 1988.

Colburn, David R. (2001). “ Running for Office: African-American Mayors from 1967 to 1996.” In Colburn, David R. & Jeffrey Adler. (eds.).African American Mayors: Race, Politics and the American City. University of Illinois Press. Urbana-Champaign: IL. 2001.

Week 7-Oct. 18: The Collapse of Political Institutions and Neoliberal Reformism

Gilpin, Robert. (2000). The Challenge of Global Capitalism: The World Economy in the 21st Century. Princeton University Press. Princeton: NJ. Chapter 2. (pp.52-87).

Rodrik, Dani.(1996). “ Understanding Economic Policy Reform.” Journal of Economic Literature. Vol. 34, No.1 9 (March,1996).(pp.9-41).

Stiglitz, Joseph E..(2002). Globalization and its Discontents. WW Norton. NY:NY. (Ch.2, pp.23-52; Ch.5, pp.133-165)

Mamdani, Mahmood. (1996). Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton University Press. Princeton: NJ. (Sections to be assigned).

Week 8-Oct. 25: Dilemmas of Collective Action in the Governance of Public Goods and Common Pool Resources.

Dolsak Nives & Elinor Ostrom. (2003). “The Challenges of the Common.” In The Commons in the Millenium: Challenges and Adaptation. MIT Press. Cambridge: MA.

Feeny, David, Fikret Berkes, Bonnie J. McCay, & James M. Acheson. (1998). “ The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later.” In Managing the Commons (2nd edition). John A. Baden & Douglas S. Noonan, Eds. Indiana University Press. Bloomington: IN. 1998.

Hardin, Garrett (1968) (reprint) “The Tragedy of the Commons.” In Managing the Commons (2nd edition). John A. Baden & Douglas S. Noonan, Eds. Indiana University Press. Bloomington: IN. 1998.

Olson, Mancur. (1965). The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard University Press. Cambridge:MA. pp.1-66.

Week 9-Nov.1: Public Finance and Political Institutions: Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization

Bardhan, Pranab. (2002). “Decentralization of Governance and Development.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 16, No.4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 185-205.

Oates, Wallace E. (1999). “An Essay on Fiscal Federalism.” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Sept. 1999), pp. 1120-1149.

Week 10-Nov. 8: Governance and Reinventing Government

Osborne, David and Gaebler, Ted. (1992). Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Reading: MA. Chapter 1 (pp.25-48): “Catalytic Government: Steering Rather than Rowing”; Chapter 2 (pp.49-75): “Community-Owned Government”; Chapter 3 (pp.76-107): “Competitive Government: Empowering Rather than Serving”; Chapter 6 (pp.166-194): “Customer-Driven Government: Meetings the Needs of the Customer, Not Bureaucracy.”

Salamon, Lester. (2002). “The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: An Introduction.” In The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance. Lester Salamon, (ed.). Oxford University Press. Oxford: UK. 2002. (pp. 1-47).

V Political Institutions and Civil Society

Week 11-Nov.15: Political Institutions and Social Capital

Dasgupta, Partha. (1999). “ Economic progress and the idea of social capital”. In Social Capital: A Multifaceted Perspective. Partha Dasgupta & Ismail Serageldin, (eds.) The World Bank. Washington, DC. 1999.

Evans, Peter. (1996). “Government Action, Social Capital, and Development: Reviewing the Evidence on Synergy.” World Development. Vol, 24. No.6.pp.1119-1132.

Putnam, Robert D. (1996). “The Strange Disappearance of Civic America.” The American Prospect, no.24 (Winter 1996)

Woolkock, Michael & Deepa Narayan. (2000). “Social Capital: Implications for development theory, research and policy. The World Bank Research Observer, vol.15,no.2. (pp.225-249).

Skocpol, Theda & Morris P. Fiorina. (1999). “Making Sense of the Civic Engagement Debate.” In Civic Engagement in American Democracy. Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina, (eds.). Brookings Institution Press. Washington, DC. 1999.

Week 12-Nov.29: Political Institutions and the Tools of Civic Renewal

Abers, Rebecca. (1996). “From Ideas to Practice: The Partido dos Trabalhadores and Participatory Governance in Brazil.” Latin American Perspectives, Vol.23, No.4. The Urban Question in Latin America (Autumn 1996). Pp.35-53.

Betancur, John J. & Douglas C. Gills. (2004). “Community Development in Chicago: From Harold Washington to Richard M. Daley.” In The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Volume 594. July 2004. Race, Politics, and Community Development in U.S. Cities. James Jennings, Special Editor. (pp.92-108).

Rathgreb, Steven & Helen Ingram. (2002). “Policy Tools and Democracy”. In The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance. Lester Salamon, (ed.). Oxford University Press. Oxford: UK. 2002. (pp.565-584).

Siriani, Carmen & Lewis Friedland. (2001). Civic Innovation in America: Community Empowerment, Public Policy and the Movement for Civic Renewal. University of California Press. Berkeley: CA. (pp.1-34).

Week 13-Dec. 6: Political Institutions and New Intermediaries

Chalmers, Douglas A.; Martin, Scott B.; Piester, Keriane. ( 1997). “Associative Networks: New Structures of Representation for Popular Sectors?” In The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America: Rethinking Participation and Representation. Douglas Chalmers, et.al. (eds.). Oxford University Press. Oxford: U.K. 1997.

Hall, Peter Dobkin. (1992). Inventing the Non-Profit Sector. The Johns Hopkins University Press. BA: MD. Chapter 1: Reinventing the Non-Profit Sector .pp. 13-85.

Hollingsworth, J. Rogers and Boyer, Robert. (1997). “Coordination of Economic Actors and Social Systems of Production.” In Contemporary Capitalism: The Embeddedness of Institutions. J. Rogers and Robert Boyer, (eds.). Cambridge University Press. Cambridge:UK. 1997.

Mendelson, Sarah E. & John K Glenn. (2002). “ Introduction: Transnational Networks and NGOs in Postcommunist Societies.” In The Power and Limits of NGOs. Sarah E. Mendelson & John K Glenn, eds. Columbia University Press. NY:NY.

Pearsons, Georgia A. “National Politics and Charitable Choice as Urban Policy for Community Development.” In The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Volume 594. July 2004. Race, Politics, and Community Development in U.S. Cities. James Jennings, Special Editor. (pp.65-78)

Week 14-Dec. 13- Paper Presentations

Week 15–Day of Final Exam—Paper Presentations