School of Social and Political Studies

School of Social and Political Studies

University of Edinburgh

Comparative Politics

Session 2011-2012

Course code: PLIT10061

Course convenor: Dr Pontus Odmalm

Room: ChrystalMacmillanBuilding 3.20

E-mail:

Office hour: Monday, 2-4pm

Course Tutor:Martin Booker ()

Office hour: tba

1. Introduction

Why does democracy work in some countries but not in others? Does low voter turnout signal the death of democracy? Conversely, why does voter turnout differ between countries? How are governing powers in “divided societies” arranged? These are some of the questions students will explore in this course. By invoking comparison as a method for analysing political processes and events, and drawing on a wide range of cases and themes, this course will enable students to better understand debates surrounding key political institutions.

2.Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

a) Demonstrate knowledge of the comparative method and its application;

b) Show familiarity with core texts in the field of comparative politics;

c) Critically analyse key political processes and institutions in a comparative perspective,

d) Articulate an informed view about current debates and questions surrounding comparative politics.

3.Teaching Methods

The course is taught in the Autumn Semester and the teaching format is 1 lecture per week for 10 weeks and 1 tutorial per week for 10 weeks. Detailed reading accompanies each week's topic (see below). Each topic has two or more tutorial questions which constitute the main framework of the tutorial

Lectures will take place on Wednesdays, 11.10 – 12.00, Lec Th 1, 7 Bristo Sq

Thefirst lecture is on 21st September 2011

Tutorials start in Week 1– please sign up on WebCT.

Please note that students who have not signed up for tutorials by the end of week 2 will be deemed to have dropped the course.

4.Student Activities

What students get out of the tutorials depends on what they put in. Students are expected to not only to attend but also to prepare for and participate actively during the tutorial.

Students are furthermore expected to have readall of the core readings as well as being able to answer each week’s tutorial question. The course is a group enterprise and should be treated as such. This means that everyone is expected to participate and will be given an opportunity to do so and engage in the tutorial discussion.

The tutorials are your opportunity to develop your ideas, question the ideas of your peers, and be questioned by them in return. It cannot be emphasised enough how important it is that you try and participate fully in the tutorials. Through discussing the questions, probing difficult subjects, and challenging assumptions, students will learn a great deal. The tutor is there to guide and shape the discussion, and not to provide it.

Students are expected to read all of the core readings for each week.

The core readings and other information relating to the course are available on Web-CT (accessed through MyED).

5.Assessment

The course is assessed by a combination of A) one essay (40%), B) a two hour examination (50%) and C) atutorial exercise (10%). The examination will take place during the examination period (December 2011)

Generalised exam feedback will be posted on Web-CT early January, 2011.

Deadline for submission of essays is Friday28th October, 12 Noon.

The late penalty takes effect immediately after 12 Noon.

Penalties for late submission

The penalties are set by College, and are as follows:

Five marks per working day (i.e. excluding weekends) for up to 5 days;

Coursework handed in more than 5 days late will receive a zero.

Penalty for over-long essays are as follows - essays more than 5% over the word limit will lose 5 marks.

PLEASE NOTE that Failure to submit an electronic version along with the hard copy of your coursework will be treated as failure to submit, and subject to the same lateness penalties set out above.

Observe that there are NEW RULES ON LATE SUBMISSION (see Politics and Internationals Relations Honours Handbooks and below for more details)

Tutorial exercise

This assessment consists of a weekly group exercise where each group answers a number of set questions relating to two of the readings (one Core and one Further) (please see Web-CT for the relevant document). A hard-copy from each group is handed to the tutor and the answers are then discussed during the tutorials (starting in Week 3). Each fully completed answer is worth 2 points (Weeks 3-5) and 1 point (6-9).

Essay

Essays should be no longer than 3000 words. The upper limit must be observed since anythingmore than 5% over the word limit will receive a penalty of 5 marks. Essays should be typed using Times New Roman, font 12 and one-and-a-half spaced.

Essays are marked anonymously and will come with written feedback.

One copy will be returned to you, the other will be kept so that it is available for the external examiner, who may amend the mark you receive from your tutor.

Essay questions (choose one)

1. ‘Large n comparisons: good for theory building, bad for everything else’. Do you agree?

2. What, if anything, should determine your case selection when conducting comparative research?

3. Choose a dependent variable (e.g. varying/similar levels of democratisation; voter turn-out, institutional stability; state survival, etc) and discuss the ways in which a comparative approach may help you to answer the question.

4.Discuss the relative merits of structuralist, modernist and transition approaches for our understanding of 'democratisation'.

5. Discuss, and critically address, the issues that political scientists should be ‘aware’ of when conducting comparative research.

Submitting the hard copy

Please note: All course work must be submitted as hard copiesANDelectronically.

Submitting the hard copy

Students must deposit two hard copies of their essay in the Politics and IR Honours Essay Box, located in the wall outside room 1.11, ChrystalMacmillanBuilding. When doing so, students must complete a Politics/IR Honours coversheet (available outside room 1.11 ), indicating their examination number and tutor’s name, and signing a plagiarism form (see below).

Guidelines to Note

Submit two copies of the essay.
Put only your Exam number on each copy of the essay.
Complete ONE Essay Front Coversheet and be sure you complete the Plagiarism Statement at the bottom of it.
Staple the first copy of the essay to the front cover sheet and paperclip the
second to both of them.
Post the completed essays into the Politics essay box situated outside room 1.11, ChrystalMacmillanBuilding by 12 NOON on the day of deadline.

NOTE: All students should pay particular attention when completing the Plagiarism segment of the Essay Front Coversheet. If it is not completed correctly, coursework will not be marked until the student returns to the office to complete/correct the section.

Electronic Submission

All honours courses now require that students submit their work electronically IN ADDITION TO submitting the hard copies.

SUBMISSION OF COURSEWORK TO WEBCT

1) In addition to the two hard copies, you must, by the same deadline, submit an electronic version via WebCT. The instructions for doing so are as follows.

2) Before submitting your coursework, please ensure that you SAVE YOUR ESSAY WITH A FILE NAME THAT INCLUDES YOUR EXAM NUMBER. To ensure anonymity, do not include your name anywhere on the essay.

3) Do not submit your bibliography separately from the essay. Our internal checks make sure the bibliography will not count as ‘plagiarised’ material.

4) Failure to follow these instructions will cause delays in getting your work marked and returned to you.

FILE FORMAT

1) Files must be in Word (.doc), rich text (.rtf), text (.txt) or PDF format. Microsoft Publisher, Open Office and Microsoft Works files will not be accepted.

UPLOADING AND SUBMITTING YOUR ESSAY

1) At the Course Home Page click on the Assignments tab situated on the Course Tools bar at the left hand side of the page.

2) Click on the relevant essay title in the middle of the screen (It will be called ‘Course essay’ or such) and then either:

3) Click on Add Attachment and locate your essay on your computer and attach it. Or you can copy and paste your essay into the window provided.

4) Click on Submit to finish.

LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSED COURSEWORK

Managing deadlines is a basic life skill and you are expected to have mastered this skill by the time you reach Honours. Timely submission of all assessed items (coursework, essays, dissertations, etc.) is a vitally important responsibility at Honours level. Unexcused lateness can put at risk your prospects of proceeding to Senior Honours, and can damage your final degree grade.

Work submitted late is subject to a 'lateness penalty' of 5 marks deducted per working day after the deadline, and will receive a mark of ‘0’ (without being marked) if submitted after five working days.

Please note: Failure to submit an electronic version along with the hard copy of your coursework will be treated as failure to submit, and subject to the same lateness penalties set out above.

If there are factors beyond your control which make it essential for you to submit work after the deadline you must fill in a ‘Lateness Penalty Waiver’ (LPW) form, copies of which can be found outside room 1.11, CMB, stating the reason for the request. You should submit requests as soon as possible, preferably before the deadline in question. But you should always submit an LPW form when work is late, even if you are unable to submit the form until after the missed deadline.

In cases where there is clear evidence and/or appropriate documentation, the form shall be submitted directly to the Student Support Officer (Susan Orr) in room 1.11, who will sign the form to acknowledge receipt and forward it to the course convenor. Your DoS will be notified for more serious
and/or ongoing problems, or when you have made repeated applications on
different occasion and if the circumstances are more likely to have academic implications.

Please DO NOT ask the Student Support Officer about whether your request is likely to be approved, and DO NOTapply for a penalty waiver on non-legitimate grounds such as having a heavy workload or computer problems. Your Student Support Officer may decide your request does not meet the criteria above and refuse to receive the form.

Please note: Course convenors should not be approached directly with requests for an extension. The formal process outlined above of requesting a Late Penalty Waiver must always be followed.

Please also note: Signing the LPW form by the Student Support Officer only indicates acknowledgment of the request, not the waiving of lateness penalties.

A provisional decision may be made by the Course Convenor, but final decisionson all marks rest with the Politics exam board. However, you can be reasonably confident that if your request provides good reasons, is well documented and the degree of lateness is proportionate to the reasons for the delay, then lateness penalties will be lifted.

At their discretion, course convenors may partially waive lateness penalties if they feel the reason for late submission is legitimate, but they believe that the length of the delay in submitting the work is disproportionate to the reasons for the late submission).

A word of warning about plagiarism!

Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgement, of the intellectual work of other people, and the act of representing the ideas or discoveries of another as one’s own in written work submitted for assessment. To copy sentences, phrases or even striking expressions without acknowledgment of the source (either by inadequate citation or failure to indicate verbatim quotations), is plagiarism; to paraphrase without acknowledgement is likewise plagiarism. Where such copying or paraphrase has occurred the mere mention of the source in the bibliography shall not be deemed sufficient acknowledgement; each such instance must be referred specifically to its source. Verbatim quotations must be either in inverted commas, or indented, and directly acknowledged.

Although discussion between students is encouraged, all essays, dissertations and all other types of coursework are accepted on the understanding that they are, in the end, the student's own work.

Copying passages from books, articles, documents or electronic resources without putting these passages into quotation marks must be avoided. Furthermore, copying from other students' essays will not be condoned. Cases of plagiarism will normally lead to automatic failure on the whole course, and may also lead to action under the University's Code of Discipline.

Please also refer to the Politics Honours Handbook. This year's version has further sections on plagiarism that you should make sure you read.

Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities

SSPS welcomes students with disabilities (including those with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia) and is working to make all its courses accessible.If you have special needs which may require adjustments to be made to ensure access to such settings as lectures, tutorials or exams, you should discuss these with your Director of Studies who will advise on the appropriate procedures.

You can also contact the Student Disability Service, (Main Library in George Square alongside the Student Counselling and Careers Services), (telephone 0131 650 6828) and an Advisor will be happy to meet with you.The Advisor can discuss possible adjustments and specific examination arrangements with you, assist you with an application for Disabled Students' Allowance, give you information about available technology and personal assistance such as note takers, proof readers or dyslexia tutors, and prepare a Learning Profile for your School which outlines recommended adjustments.You will be expected to provide the Student Disability Service with evidence of disability - either a letter from your GP or specialist, or evidence of a specific learning difficulty.For dyslexia or dyspraxia this evidence must be a recent Chartered Educational Psychologist's assessment.If you do not have this, Student Disability Service can put you in touch with an independent Educational Psychologist.

Students should contact - in advance of coursework deadlines - the Disability Service for further information: see the Student Disability Service’s website.

Course schedule

Textbooks (available for purchase at Blackwells or Amazon.co.uk):

Lim, T.C. (2006), Doing Comparative Politics: An Introduction to Approaches and Issues (Boulder: Lynne Riener).

Hague, R. and Harrop, M. (2004), Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave).

Calvert, P. (2002) Comparative Politics: An Introduction (Hemel Hempstead: Longman).

Peters, B.G. (1998) Comparative Politics. Theory and Methods, (New York: New YorkUniversity Press).

Lijphart, A. (1999) Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries (New Haven: YaleUniversity Press).

Week 1: The Comparative Method (Pontus Odmalm)

This first lecture will provide an introduction to comparative politics as a sub-discipline of political science. A comparative approach to analysing politics can be divided into a method of study and a subject of study. While the former is concerned with what comparison can tell us about internal or domestic dynamics, the latter focuses on understanding and explaining political processes within a state, society, country or political system. The lecture will also cover the nature of comparative politics, how it can further our understanding of political phenomena and the different ways to compare.

Core Readings

Biezen van, I. and Caramani, D. (2006) ‘(Non)comparative politics in Britain’, Politics, 26(1): 29-37.

Hague, R. and Harrop, M. (2004) Comparative Government and Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave/MacMillan(Ch. 5.).

Lijphart, A (1971) 'Comparative politics and the comparative method', American Political Science Review 65(3): 682-693

Hopkin, J. (2002) ‘Comparative Methods’ in Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. (eds), Theory and Methods in Political Science, Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, p. 249-267.