/ Dr. Jeffrey Dixon
Office: Founder’s Hall 217A
Email:
Phone:(254) 501-5871 (email preferred)
Office Hours: 4-5:40 PM MTR
PLSK506-110:
Comparative Politics
(Fall2014 / W 2:00-4:45 / FH 303)

Course Description (from TAMU-CT Catalog)

This core graduate seminar examines basic approaches to the study of comparative politics and government, including major works and recent research on the topic.

Course Objectives and Outcomes

This class is a broad overview of the major questions in comparative politics. It has three primary objectives:

  1. It aims to provide you with tools to examine government and politics around the world and make recommendations for the achievement and preservation of prosperity, democracy, and civil peace. The class will revolve around how different states can achieve these three goals.

Learning Outcome 1: Students should be able to describe the causes of cross-national prosperity and poverty.

Learning Outcome 2: Students should be able to describe the causes of democracy, regime change, and autocracy.

Learning Outcome 3: Students should be able to describe the causes of civil war, terrorism, social mobilization, and civil peace.

  1. Another objective is to develop critical thinking skills in the area of politics. Many of the exercises, lectures, and homework assignments are structured as puzzles, where you must evaluate competing explanations and weigh fragmentary or uncertain evidence to reach a conclusion and defend it as the best solution given the available evidence.

Learning Outcome4: Students should be able to critically assess the evidence for and against proposed answers to the questions embedded in Learning Outcomes 1-3.

Learning Outcome 5: Students should be able to integrate evidence on culture, identity, and gender to answer the questions embedded in Learning Outcomes 1-3.

  1. A final goal, somewhat less important than the other two, is to provide you with some concrete information about people and politics in other areas of the world. All too often debate about politics is based on a smattering of US history and a few stereotypes about foreigners and their governments. I hope that you leave this course with more accurate and detailed information about other countries to which you can refer when discussing culture, politics, or life choices.

Learning Outcome 6: Students should demonstrate understanding of the variety of ways in which societies and states are constructed, are structured, and function.

Required Readings

The following bookis required and will be available for purchase at the bookstore. You are under no obligation to purchase a textbook from a university-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

Samuels, David. 2013. Comparative Politics. Boston, MA: Pearson. ISBN 978-0-321-44974-0

Additional readings are available on Blackboard.

Course Technologies

Mode of instruction and course access:This course is a lecture with online components and uses the TAMU-CT Blackboard Learn system ( You will use the Blackboard username and password communicated to you separately to logon to this system. See below for details.

Technology Requirements:

Blackboard Learn: This course will use the new TAMU-CT Blackboard Learn learning management system for class communications, content distribution, and assessments.

Logon to to access the course.

Username and Password: Use your MyCT account credentials.

Equipment and Services Required

For this course, you will need reliable and frequent access to a computer (iPads may not work for all elements of the course) and to the Internet. If you do not have frequent and reliable access to a computer with Internet connection, please consider dropping this course or contact me at to discuss your situation.

Software Required

Blackboard supports the most common operating systems:

PC: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000

Mac: Mac OS 10.6 “Snow Leopard®”, Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard®”, Mac OS 10.4

“Tiger®”

Check browser and computer compatibility by following the “Browser Check” link on the TAMU-CT Blackboard logon page. (tamuct.blackboard.com)

Statement on Student Responsibility: Technology issues are not an excuse for missing a course requirement – make sure your computer is configured correctly and address issues well in advance of deadlines.

Technology Support

For technological or computer issues, students should contact the TAMU-CT Blackboard Support Services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

Support Portal:

Online chat through the support portal at:

Phone: (855)-661-7965

Grading: The grading scale is 90/80/70/60.

  • Academic Integrity Exercise (30 points): Students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Exercise, which can be found on the course Blackboard page. Any students who have previously completed it in another one of my courses are exempt from taking it again.
  • Description: It consists of watching a brief lecture, taking a quiz, seeing where any mistakes on the quiz came from, and signing a statement. Once you successfully complete this exercise, you will no longer need to do so in future political science courses. Completing the Academic Integrity Exercise is a prerequisite to passing this course. It must be completed before you hand in Assignment 1 or by September 3, whichever comes first.
  • Rubric: You will automatically fail the course if you have not completed the Academic Integrity exercise on or before September 3. Completion of this exercise (signing the statement) will grant you 30 points in the class.
  • Homework (50%): There are 14homework assignments, collectively worth 1400 points. Most assignments take the form of questions you must address within a two page (600 word) essay. Your essays should connect to the assigned readings for the week; you may also draw evidence from the lectures. For some questions, you will also need to draw from previous weeks’ readings. Use proper APSA citations (see Assignment Resources on Blackboard), complete with a works cited page.

No. / Question/Assignment / Rubric
1 / What is one of the major unresolved questions in comparative politics and how should we study it? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
2 / What is the collective action problem and how does it apply to state formation and functions? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
3 / Attached at end of syllabus / The grade will be based on the quality of the explanations provided for each factor, and the completion/noncompletion of every other element of the assignment.
4 / What causes democracy and/or autocracy? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
5 / Attached at end of syllabus / Lesser of: PLSK 506 Writing Rubric or a content grade, based on how good the evidence is for each one of the seven “key arguments” discussed
6 / What are the causes of economic growth? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
7 / Attached at end of syllabus / The grade will be based on the completion of each element in the assignment, and the quality of analysis in the final two paragraphs.
8 / Why are the people of some states poor? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
9 / What strategy for dealing with “underdevelopment” is best? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
10 / What are culture, ethnicity and nationalism – and how might they be measured? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
11 / What are the consequences of ethnic, linguistic, and/or religious heterogeneity? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
12 / Attached at end of syllabus / The grade will be based on the successful completion of each element in the assignment.
13 / Which of the assigned articles is most important and valid? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric
14 / What are do the causes of democracy, stability, and prosperity have in common? / PLSK 506 Writing Rubric

PLSK 506 Writing Rubric

  1. Failure to cite the assigned readings properly (APSA format) will cause an automatic deduction of up to 20 points (if no citations/works cited are present). You don’t have to formally cite my lectures. But of course failure to cite other sources used is plagiarism (see Academic Integrity below).
  2. Assuming the citations are correct, your essay will be graded against the following rubric.

Grade / Thesis / Argument Structure / Evidence / Syntax, Usage, Grammar, Spelling
100 / Answers the question and drives the rest of the piece / The thesis is proven using arguments about each element of the question, each with its own support / Each element of the argument is supported by evidence from the assigned readings and/or lectures. If research is required, the research is reliable. In general, theory-based and consistent statistical findings are better evidence than isolated examples, where such evidence is available. No major source of evidence is ignored. / No errors.
95 / Answers the question, but some of the piece ignores it / Most of the support for thethesis is built up from arguments about each element of the question, each with its own support / Each element of the argument is supported by evidence from the assigned readings and/or lectures. If research is required, the research is reliable but missing a datum or two. Anecdotes predominate over general theoretical findings. / Up to one error per 200 words.
85 / Answers the question, but most of the piece ignores it / Some elements of the thesis do not correspond to sections of the answer, or vice versa / Each element of the argument is supported by evidence from the course, but major sources of evidence are ignored. OR The evidence used is insufficient to support one or more of the claims in the piece. OR Much of the support consists of direct quotes or naked claims, unsupported by research. / Between one error per 100 words and one error per 200 words.
75 / Does not match up with every element of the question / The essay is a set of arguments that proceed without logical order / The evidence, when taken as a whole, fails to support the thesis, with necessary steps in the argument being assumed instead of demonstrated. Much relevant evidence is omitted and irrelevant evidence may be present. References to evidence from the course lack specificity. / Between one error per two sentences and one error per 100 words.
65 / Does not match up with most elements of the question / Most of the essay is devoid of actual argument, instead following a stream-of-consciousness or “data dump” strategy / At least one major element of the essay’s argument has substantial evidence from the course that supports it. However, other references are generally vague or irrelevant. Research is unreliable. / One error per two sentences.
0-59 depending on deficiency / None or unrelated to question / The essay is essentially (50) or utterly (0) devoid of structure. / Little if any evidence from the course is used in the answer. It fails to demonstrate a grasp of what the authors and lectures say. There is no research. Depending on what was expected in the description of the writing assignment, this could be between 25-59. / One error per sentence, on average (40). Lower scores are possible.
  • Regrades: You have one week from when I return an assignment to request a re-grade of some or all of the exercise. Just attach a note specifying the section you want regraded.
  • Final Exam (30%): The final exam will consist of two essay questions loosely based on two of the first three learning outcomes in the class. Notes and class handouts – but not readings -- will be permitted on the final. The three possible questions are:
  • What are the causes of cross-national prosperity and poverty?
  • What are the causes of democracy, autocracy, and shifts between them?
  • What are the causes of civil wars, terrorism, coups, and state failure?

You should not “divide and conquer” these questions with classmates, but research and study them all independently.

  • Participation (19%): This grade is based on your participation during our small-group in-class exercises. Everyone who shows up promptly for class and then discusses the exercise with their group members will receive a perfect participation grade. If you are late or silent or leave early during a group participation exercise, you will lose credit for the exercise in proportion to how much you missed or for how much of the assignment you were silent. If you are absent, you will receive a zero for the exercise.

Points Rubric for Determining Your Course Grade

Points Possible / % Of Your Final Grade
Academic Integrity Exercise / 30 / 1 (but required to pass)
Assignments / 1400 (100 each) / 50
Participation Exercises / 530 (divided evenly between exercises) / 19
Final Exam / 840 / 30
TOTAL / 2800 / 100%

A = 895 and above (90%-100%) B = 795-894 (80%-89%)

C = 695-794 (70%-79%) D = 595-694 (60%-69%) F = 594 and below (0%-59%)

Course Policies

Late/Incomplete Policies for PLSK 405

  • There will be no incompletes in this class, barring actual hospitalization after the withdrawal deadline has passed.
  • Late work will receive zero credit.

University Drop Policy

If you discover that you need to drop this class, you must go to the Records Office and ask for the necessary paperwork. Professors cannot drop students; this is always the responsibility of the student. The Records Office will provide a deadline by which the form must be returned -- completed and signed. Once you return the signed form to the records office and wait 24 hours, you must go into WarriorWeb and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. Should you still be enrolled, FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately! You are to attend class until the procedure is complete to avoid any penalty for absences. Should you miss the deadline or fail to follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course.

Academic Integrity

University Code of Academic Honesty: Texas A&M University - Central Texas expects all students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. The faculty member is responsible for initiating action for each case of academic dishonesty. More information can be found at

Specific guidelines for this course, which supplement and do not replace University policy:

  • Violations: There are plenty of ways to cheat, all of which are listed by the Student Handbook. Some violations of academic integrity that I have observed while teaching this class at TAMUCT are
  • Plagiarism, in one of its two main forms:
  • Use of direct quotes without quotation marks. Even if you are just using three- or four-word phrases, you need to surround them with quotation marks if you didn’t create them yourself. This is true even if you cite the source! Remember that changing a few words in a sentence does not transform a direct quote into a paraphrase; instead, it transforms one long direct quote into several shorter direct quotes with a word of your own between each. A true paraphrase is the expression of the cited source’s ideas in your own words.
  • Paraphrasing another person’s words without citing the source
  • Receiving assistance or answers on any coursework from anyone other than the instructor. If you hand your work to someone else and they proceed to copy part or all of it, both of you will be deemed to have violated the policy. A single copied answer on a worksheet is sufficient to trigger the policy
  • Using prohibited resources on exams. You are permitted to use your personally-prepared notes, class handouts, and the exam itself. That is all. No readings or other online resources are to be used.
  • Penalties:
  • The normal penalty for a violation of academic integrity (whether or not it is specifically listed above) in any of my classes is a grade of zero for the work or a deduction of 20% (two letter grades) from your course grade, whichever is greater. The infraction will be reported to the TAMUCT administration, with a recommendation for probation in the case of deliberate violation or no further action in the case of clearly inadvertent violation.
  • The (a) outright purchase, download, or completion by others of an exam or assignment, or (b) second or subsequent violations of academic integrity (in this course or other courses) display such serious disregard for academic integrity that either one of them will result in course failure and recommendation for expulsion to the TAMUCT administration.

Student Resources

  • UNILERT (Emergency Warning System for Texas A&M University – Central Texas): UNILERT is an emergency notification service that gives Texas A&M University-Central Texas the ability to communicate health and safety emergency information quickly via email and text message. By enrolling in UNILERT, university officials can quickly pass on safety-related information, regardless of your location. Please enroll today at
  • Library Services: Information Literacy focuses on research skills that prepare individuals to live and work in an information-centered society. Librarians will work with students in the development of critical reasoning, ethical use of information, and the appropriate use of secondary research techniques. These techniques include: exploring information resources such as library collections and services; identifying sources such as subject databases and scholarly journals; executing effective search strategies; retrieving, recording and citing relevant results correctly; and interpreting search results and deciding whether to expand the search. Library Resources are outlined and accessed through the web page:
  • Disability Support and Access: If you have or believe you have a disability and wish to self-identify, you can do so by providing documentation to the Disability Support Coordinator. Students are encouraged to seek information about accommodations to help assure success in their courses. Please call (254) 501-5831 or visit Founder's Hall 114. Additional information can be found at
  • Tutoring: Tutoring is available to all TAMUCT students, both on-campus and online. Subjects tutored include Accounting, Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, and Writing. Tutors are available at the Tutoring Center in Warrior Hall, Room 111. Visit and click "Tutoring Support" for tutor schedules and contact info. If you have questions, need to schedule a tutoring session, or if you're interested in becoming a tutor, contact Academic Support Programs at 254-501-5830 or by emailing
  • Chat live with a tutor 24/7 for almost any subject on your computer! Tutor.com is an online tutoring platform that enables TAMU-CT students to log-in and receive FREE online tutoring and writing support. This tool provides tutoring in Mathematics, Writing, Career Writing, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Spanish, Calculus, and Statistics. To access Tutor.com, log into your Blackboard account and click "Online Tutoring.".
  • WARRIOR Link: This online job database connects employers with students by posting internships, part-time, and full-time jobs. All students will receive an email with their username and password the first week of school with access information. WARRIOR Link allows students the opportunity to search for a job, post a resume, and remain informed on any career services events for up to one year after graduation. Access Warrior Link by using the link at

Amendments