Political Science Field Survey (2018)

Transcription

1 Political Science Field Survey (2018) Kerim Can Kavaklı 1 Course overview This course offers an in-depth overview of many of the central debates in contemporary political science. I have three main goals: (1) familiarize students with the theories and empirical approaches that are most widely-used in published research currently, (2) familiarize students with Bocconi professors and their research interests, (3) enable students to actively contribute to the literature. The choice of readings emphasizes recent work, but some more dated classics are also included because of their paradigm-defining importance. To avoid duplication with the material you might read in political economics courses, priority has been given to work that can be characterized as political science proper either because it was published in a political science journal or because it was authored by political scientists (or both). In some cases, contributions that could be classified as political economics (i.e., published by economists in economics journals) are included because of their influence on the political science discipline. In the class meetings, we will unpack each of the readings, put their claims in context, discuss the shortcomings, and explore directions in which the discipline can and should move. By the end of the course, students will be able to think like a political scientist. Given that a knowledge of political systems at the undergrad level is assumed by most of the readings, students should consult an undergrad comparative politics textbook (e.g., the Clark, Golder and Golder one) if they have specific holes in their knowledge. Needless to say, such a textbook is not a substitute for the assigned readings. 2 Grading 60%: term paper. This should be the first draft of a substantive publishable research paper. Writing a paper like this requires asking a meaningful research question, placing it in the context of the literature, and providing an answer of reasonable quality using either deduction (e.g., a formal model) or evidence (e.g., statistical or historical analysis). Paper topics are to be discussed with the instructor by the third week of the course. Deadline: to be announced. 10% each: two short in-class presentations. Starting from week 3 ( Autocracies ) we will feature one or two short presentations (with slides) lasting no more than 10 minutes each. The presentation will be timed (exactly like a research seminar) and interrupted after 10 minutes. The presentation will introduce the setting, content, and main findings of one or two of the assigned readings. 20%: course participation. This is a Ph.D. level seminar: fast-paced and in-depth at the same time. Students are going to be doing most of the talking: the instructor will mostly 1

2 ask questions to give the discussion some degree of direction. Needless to say, this is not going to be a set of brainstorming sessions: students are expected to carefully read all the assigned material before the seminar meeting. In particular, students are expected to be able to summarize the main points and describe the methodological approach of any of the assigned pieces marked with [study]. The instructor might also ask a student to defend the argument in a paper, or to discuss its shortcomings: in this case, students do not get to choose whether they argue in favor or against an argument/paper. Students are also expected to actively contribute to the discussion of the papers marked with [read]. When reading the papers marked with [study], students are encouraged to take extensive notes of the most important points made. Papers marked with [read] must be read, but extensive note-taking is not required. 3 Topics and readings 1. The state, institutions, governance, state formation. Olson (1993) [study] Tilly (1992) ch. 3 [read] Mann (1984) [study] Sanchez de la Sierra (2014)[read] Nunn and Wantchekon (2011)[read] 2. Regimes: democracy vs. autocracy; regime transitions Linz and Stepan (2011), ch.4 [study] Przeworski et al. (2000) ch. 1 and 2 [study] Brancati (2014)[study] Acemoglu and Robinson (2005) ch. 6[read] Marinov and Goemans (2014)[read] 3. Autocracies Linz and Stepan (2011) ch.3 [study] Gandhi and Przeworski (2007) [study] Boix and Svolik (2013) [study] 2

3 Cheibub, Gandhi and Vreeland (2010) [read] Malesky and Schuler (2010) [read] Wright (2008)[read] 4. Elections and their consequences Huber and Powell (1994) [study] Cox (1997), chapters 3-5,11 [study] Somer-Topcu (2009)[read] Gagliarducci, Nannicini and Naticchioni (2011)[read] [Bocconi prof.] Bhavnani (2009)[read] 5. Representation: accountability; redistribution; special interests; vote-buying Fearon (1999) [study] Olson (2008), ch 2-3[study] Ferraz and Finan (2008) [read] Paler (2013) [read] Stanig (2013) [read] [Bocconi prof.] 6. Legislatures: why parties; varieties of parties and party systems; polarization; party discipline Aldrich (1995), ch.2 [study] Tsebelis (1999) [study] Carey (2007) [study] Dewan and Myatt (2007) [read] Heller and Mershon (2008) [read] 7. Executives: types of executive head; coalitions; delegation to bureaucrats Stepan and Skach (1993) [study] Huber (1996)[study] 3

4 Huber and McCarty (2004) [study] O Brien (2015)[read] Martin and Vanberg (2015) [read] [Bocconi prof.] 8. Far-right parties; media capture; social media Golder (2016)[study] Egorov, Guriev and Sonin (2009) [study] Prat and Strömberg (2013)[study] King, Pan and Roberts (2013) [read] Munger (2017)[read] Colantone and Stanig (2018)[read] [Bocconi prof.] 9. Bargaining and interstate conflict Fearon (1999)[study] Jackson and Morelli (2011)[study] [Bocconi prof.] Dafoe, Renshon and Huth (2014)[study] Caselli, Morelli and Rohner (2015)[read] [Bocconi prof.] McManus (2018)[read] Kavaklı, Chatagnier and Hatipoglu (2017)[read] [Bocconi prof.] 10. Civil conflict Fearon and Laitin (2003)[study] Kalyvas (2006)[study] Blattman and Miguel (2010)[study] Cederman, Wimmer and Min (2010)[read] Yanagizawa-Drott (2014)[read] 11. To be determined 4

5 References Acemoglu, Daron and James A Robinson Economic origins of dictatorship and democracy. Cambridge University Press. Aldrich, John Herbert Why Parties?: The Origin and Tansformation of Party Politics in America. University of Chicago Press. Bhavnani, Rikhil R Do electoral quotas work after they are withdrawn? Evidence from a natural experiment in India. American Political Science Review 103(1): Blattman, Christopher and Edward Miguel (1):3 57. Civil war. Journal of Economic literature Boix, Carles and Milan W Svolik The Foundations of Limited Authoritarian Government: Institutions, Commitment, and Power-Sharing in Dictatorships. The Journal of Politics 75(02): Brancati, Dawn Democratic authoritarianism: Origins and effects. Annual Review of Political Science 17: Carey, John M Competing principals, political institutions, and party unity in legislative voting. American Journal of Political Science 51(1): Caselli, Francesco, Massimo Morelli and Dominic Rohner The geography of interstate resource wars. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 130(1): Cederman, Lars-Erik, Andreas Wimmer and Brian Min Why do ethnic groups rebel? New data and analysis. World Politics 62(1): Cheibub, José Antonio, Jennifer Gandhi and James Raymond Vreeland Democracy and dictatorship revisited. Public Choice 143(1-2): Colantone, Italo and Piero Stanig The trade origins of economic nationalism: Import competition and voting behavior in Western Europe. American Journal of Political Science 62(4): Cox, Gary W Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World s Electoral Systems. Cambridge University Press. Dafoe, Allan, Jonathan Renshon and Paul Huth Reputation and status as motives for war. Annual Review of Political Science 17: Dewan, Torun and David P Myatt Leading the party: Coordination, direction, and communication. American Political Science Review 101(04): Egorov, Georgy, Sergei Guriev and Konstantin Sonin Why resource-poor dictators allow freer media: A theory and evidence from panel data. American Political Science Review 103(04): Fearon, James D Electoral accountability and the control of politicians: selecting good types versus sanctioning poor performance. In Democracy, accountability, and representation, ed. Adam Przeworski, Susan C Stokes and Bernard Manin. Cambridge University Press pp

6 Fearon, James D and David D Laitin political science review 97(1): Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. American Ferraz, Claudio and Frederico Finan Exposing corrupt politicians: the effects of Brazil s publicly released audits on electoral outcomes. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 123(2): Gagliarducci, Stefano, Tommaso Nannicini and Paolo Naticchioni Electoral rules and politicians behavior: a micro test. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 3(3): Gandhi, Jennifer and Adam Przeworski Authoritarian institutions and the survival of autocrats. Comparative Political Studies 40(11): Golder, Matt Far-right parties in Europe. Annual Review of Political Science 19: Heller, William B and Carol Mershon Dealing in discipline: party switching and legislative voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, American Journal of Political Science 52(4): Huber, John D The vote of confidence in parliamentary democracies. American Political Science Review pp Huber, John D and G Bingham Powell Congruence between citizens and policymakers in two visions of liberal democracy. World Politics 46(3): Huber, John D and Nolan McCarty Bureaucratic capacity, delegation, and political reform. American Political Science Review 98(03): Jackson, Matthew O and Massimo Morelli The reasons for wars: an updated survey. The handbook on the political economy of war 34. Kalyvas, Stathis N The logic of violence in civil war. Cambridge University Press. Kavaklı, Kerim Can, J Tyson Chatagnier and Emre Hatipoglu The Power to Hurt and the Effectiveness of International Sanctions.. King, Gary, Jennifer Pan and Margaret E Roberts How censorship in China allows government criticism but silences collective expression. American Political Science Review 107(02): Linz, Juan J and Alfred Stepan Problems of democratic transition and consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and post-communist Europe. JHU Press. Malesky, Edmund and Paul Schuler Nodding or needling: Analyzing delegate responsiveness in an authoritarian parliament. American Political Science Review 104(03): Mann, Michael The autonomous power of the state: its origins, mechanisms and results. European Journal of Sociology 25(02): Marinov, Nikolay and Hein Goemans Coups and democracy. British Journal of Political Science 44(4): Martin, Lanny W and Georg Vanberg Coalition Formation and Policymaking in Parliamentary Democracies. Routledge Handbook of Comparative Political Institutions. 6

7 McManus, Roseanne W Making it personal: The role of leader-specific signals in extended deterrence. The Journal of Politics 80(3): Meltzer, Allan H and Scott F Richard A Rational Theory of the Size of Government. The Journal of Political Economy 89(5): Munger, Kevin Tweetment effects on the tweeted: Experimentally reducing racist harassment. Political Behavior 39(3): Nunn, Nathan and Leonard Wantchekon The slave trade and the origins of mistrust in Africa. American Economic Review 101(7): O Brien, Diana Z Rising to the top: Gender, political performance, and party leadership in parliamentary democracies. American Journal of Political Science 59(4): Olson, Mancur Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development. American Political Science Review 87(03): Olson, Mancur The rise and decline of nations: Economic growth, stagflation, and social rigidities. Yale University Press. Paler, Laura Keeping the public purse: An experiment in windfalls, taxes, and the incentives to restrain government. American Political Science Review 107(04): Prat, Andrea and David Strömberg The political economy of mass media. Advances in economics and econometrics 2:135. Przeworski, Adam, Michael Alvarez, Jose Cheibub and Fernando Limongi Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Material Well Being in the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sanchez de la Sierra, Raul On the Origin of States: Stationary Bandits and Taxation in Eastern Congo. Technical report Department of Economics,Columbia University. Somer-Topcu, Zeynep Timely decisions: The effects of past national elections on party policy change. The Journal of Politics 71(1): Stanig, Piero Political polarization in retrospective economic evaluations during recessions and recoveries. Electoral Studies 32(4): Stepan, Alfred and Cindy Skach Constitutional frameworks and democratic consolidation: Parliamentarianism versus presidentialism. World Politics pp Tilly, Charles Coercion, capital, and European states, AD Blackwell Oxford. Tsebelis, George Veto players and law production in parliamentary democracies: An empirical analysis. American Political Science Review pp Wright, Joseph Do authoritarian institutions constrain? How legislatures affect economic growth and investment. American Journal of Political Science 52(2): Yanagizawa-Drott, David Propaganda and conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan genocide. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 129(4):