Comparative Politics Seminar: Political Violence POL GA Fall 2016 Syllabus

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1 Comparative Politics Seminar: Political Violence POL GA Fall 2016 Syllabus Instructor: Alexandra Scacco Assistant Professor, Wilf Family Department of Politics Office: 19 West 4th Street, Room Seminar: Mondays, 2 3:50 pm Location: 19 West 4th Street, Room 212 Office hours: Mondays 4 5 pm and by appointment Course Description In this course, we will engage with leading contemporary research on political violence, including civil war, ethnic conflict, riots and anti regime protest. The course readings draw primarily from political science and economics, but we will be reading some theoretical and empirical works from other social sciences. The main goal of the course is to think critically about a set of substantive questions about violent conflict. Why do we observe violence at all? What explains the onset and conduct of civil wars? Why do individuals fight? Do different forms of conflict have different causes? Can we use the same theories and empirical strategies to study violent and non violent collective action? A second aim of the course is to examine a range of methodological approaches to the study of violent conflict, including statistical, game theoretic, experimental, historical and ethnographic research. In addition to within country and cross national quantitative studies, we will analyze several conflicts from close range, including communal rioting in India and the Rwandan genocide. Requirements This is a graduate research seminar. Students will be evaluated on the following: (1) Participation (30%) You are expected to actively participate in discussion each week. Emphasis will be placed on quality of participation, including responses to the readings and to other students comments. (2) Two discussant presentations (2 x 5%) You will serve as a lead discussant for two of the course sessions during the semester. Presentations should be approximately 10 minutes in length. Your task is to raise issues about the reading s argument, research design and evidence offered. (3) Research presentation (10%) You will give a formal presentation of the research in your term paper during one of the final two weeks of the seminar. The presentations will give you the opportunity to practice presenting your research in a polished way for a formal audience, and receive critical feedback before the final paper deadline. 1

2 (4) Research paper (50%) The main requirement for the seminar is to write a page paper based on original research that addresses one of the course s main themes. The primary research in the paper does not have to be quantitative, but all papers must include a clear theoretical argument and an appropriate empirical test of that argument. To ensure students get feedback on their research papers: A two page proposal is due in class on Monday, October 24. The proposal will present your research question, a summary of your preliminary argument and research design, and include as much detail as possible on the evidence you will use to test the argument. I also encourage you to come in to discuss your paper ideas with me prior to October 24. Presentations of research will be scheduled for the last two sessions of the seminar (December 12 and 13). Readings Papers are due on Tuesday, December 20. Discussion of the weekly readings is an essential component of the seminar. The expectation is that you will read each of the required readings carefully before class. Active participation means coming to class prepared to discuss the analytical and empirical strengths and weaknesses of each reading on its own terms, and in relation to the other readings for the week. When you read an article, you should consider the following questions: What is the paper s main claim or argument? Is it internally consistent? Is it convincing? What are the strengths and limitations of the evidence offered? How else might we test the argument empirically? We will be reading large portions of the following two books: Roger Petersen, Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, and Resentment in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jeremy Weinstein, Inside Rebellion. New York: Cambridge University Press. I would recommend you purchase them, but copies will be available on reserve at the library. All assigned journal articles are available online using the links provided below, or through NYU library s electronic databases. Required book chapters are available online through the course s NYU Classes page. Guidelines for Discussant Presentations During a typical week, discussants will each be responsible for jump starting the conversation on half of the required readings. Rather than a formal presentation, students should think of themselves as a discussant at a conference or workshop. The goal of a discussant should be to give detailed and constructive feedback on a set of papers with a common theme. The best discussants make readers (and authors!) think about the work in a new way, or think about new implications we can draw from a piece of work for the literature as a whole. 2

3 A good discussant will do the following: (1) Avoid lengthy summaries of the papers under discussion (time is limited) and immediately cut to the core contributions an author is trying to make. (2) Identify the research question as clearly and concisely as possible (for some readings, this will be more challenging than others). (3) Identify the main argument or claim advanced in the paper and any key assumptions necessary for the argument to hold. (4) Assess the plausibility of the argument and key assumptions on the face of things i.e., before considering the evidence offered. Is it convincing? (Many problems arise as early as this stage.) (5) Briefly describe the author s empirical strategy. What is the research design? Is it appropriate? (6) Evaluate the core evidence in the paper. What evidence is used to build the author s case? Is it the right evidence? Is it used in the right way? (7) Leave relatively minor quibbles until the end ( I don t like the graphs is a fair point but shouldn t occupy us for long). (8) Be constructive. The most compelling critique is a sympathetic critique. (9) As a bonus, it is helpful to think about the papers in relation to one another. Are they speaking to each other in some way? If so, how? Syllabus: Week 1: Introduction [September 12] We will discuss the scope and content of the course, course requirements, and student research interests. We will also assign readings for discussant presentations. Week 2: Conceptualizing Violent Conflict [September 19] Jack Hirshleifer, Theorizing about Conflict, Handbook of Defense Economics, Volume 1, Elsevier Science. Christopher Blattman and Edward Miguel, Civil War, Journal of Economic Literature 48(1), Donald Horowitz, The Calculus of Passion, The Deadly Ethnic Riot. Berkeley, University of California Press, chapter 13 (optional: chapter 1). 3

4 Beth Roy, Selections from The Quarrel, The Decision, and The Riot, in Some Trouble with Cows: Making Sense of Social Conflict, Berkeley, University of California Press, chapters 1 3. Stathis Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War. New York, Cambridge University Press, pp Rogers Brubaker and David D. Laitin, 1998, Ethnic and Nationalist Violence, Annual Review of Sociology 24, pp William Reno, The Evolution of Warfare in Africa, Afrika Focus 22 (1), C. Cramer, Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice, and the Political Economy of War, World Development 30 (11), X(02) Charles Tilly, The Politics of Collective Violence. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp Week 3: Why does violent conflict happen at all? [September 26] James D. Fearon, Rationalist Explanations for War, International Organization 49 (3), James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, Explaining Interethnic Cooperation, American Political Science Review 90 (4), Maria J. Stephan and Erica Chenoweth Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. International Security 33 (1), _Stephan_Chenoweth.pdf John Mueller, The Banality of Ethnic War, International Security 25 (1), Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, Sabotaging Peace: The Politics of Extremist Violence, International Organization 56 (2), pp Erik Gartzke, War is in the Error Term, International Organization 53 (3), pp Ron Hassner, To Have and to Hold: Conflicts over Sacred Space and the Problem of Indivisibility, Security Studies 12 (4), pp Robert Jervis, Cooperation under the Security Dilemma, World Politics 30 (2), pp Robert Powell, The Inefficient Use of Power: Costly Conflict with Complete Information, American Political Science Review 98 (2), pp

5 R. Harrison Wagner, Bargaining and War, American Journal of Political Science 44 (3), pp Week 4: Poverty and Violence [October 3] Edward Miguel, Shanker Satyanath and Ernest Sergenti, Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach, Journal of Political Economy 112 (4), Sylvain Chassang and Gerard Padró i Miquel, Economic Shocks and Civil War, working paper, Princeton University. James Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press, introduction, chapter 1 and chapter 7. Blair, Graeme C., Christine Fair, Neil Malhotra and Jacob Shapiro, "Poverty and Support for Militant Politics: Evidence from Pakistan," American Journal of Political Science. istan_ajps.pdf Anjali Thomas Bohlken and Ernest Sergenti, Ethnic Violence and Economic Growth: An Empirical Investigation of Hindu Muslim Riots in India, Journal of Peace Research. Alan B. Krueger and Jitka Maleckova, Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is there a Causal Connection? Journal of Economic Perspectives (17) 4, pp Nicholas Sambanis, Poverty and the Organization of Political Violence: A Review and Some Conjectures, working paper, Yale University. Armin Langer, Horizontal Inequalities and Violent Group Mobilization in Côte d'ivoire, Oxford Development Studies 33 (1), pp Philip Verwimp, The Political Economy of Coffee, Dictatorship and Genocide, European Journal of Political Economy 19, pp ** Note: No class Monday, October 10 Columbus Day** Week 5: Organizing Violence [October 17] Jeremy Weinstein, Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence. New York, Cambridge University Press, chapters 1, 2 and 6. Jean Paul Azam, On Thugs and Heroes: Why Warlords Victimize their Own Civilians, Economics of Governance 7,

6 Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy Weinstein, Handling and Manhandling Civilians in Civil War, American Political Science Review 100 (3), Beber, Bernd and Christopher Blattman The Logic of Child Soldiering and Coercion, International Organization. Stathis N. Kalyvas and Matthew Adam Kocher, The Dynamics of Violence in Vietnam: An Analysis of the Hamlet Evaluation System, Journal of Peace Research 46 (3), pp Elisabeth Wood, Variation in Sexual Violence in Civil War, Politics & Society 34 (3), pp Jacob N. Shapiro, The Terrorist s Challenge: Security, Efficiency, Control, working paper, Stanford University. Week 6: Participation in Violence [October 24] Mark I. Lichbach, What makes Rational Peasants Revolutionary? Dilemma, Paradox, and Irony in Peasant Collective Action, World Politics 46, (3), Elisabeth J. Wood, Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador, New York, Cambridge University Press, chapter 7. Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. New York, Harper Perennial, selections (TBA). Scacco, Alexandra, Anatomy of a Riot: Why Ordinary People Participate in Ethnic Violence, manuscript, chapters 1 4. Ted Gurr, Why Men Rebel, Princeton, Princeton University Press, chapter 2, Humphreys, Macartan and Jeremy M. Weinstein Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil War. American Journal of Political Science 52(2), Roger Petersen, Resistance and Rebellion: Lessons from Eastern Europe, New York, Cambridge University Press, chapters 1 3. Scott Straus, The Order of Genocide: Race, Power and War in Rwanda, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, chapters 4 and 5. Week 7: No class, individual research paper meetings [October 31] 6

7 Week 8: Ethnic Violence [November 7] Roger Petersen, Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, and Resentment in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1, 2 and 10. Rui De Figueiredo and Barry Weingast, The Rationality of Fear, in Civil War, Insecurity and Intervention, Jack Snyder and Barbara Walter, eds., New York, Columbia University Press. Wilkinson, Steven I., Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India, New York, Cambridge University Press, chapters 1 and 2. Anjali Thomas Bohlken and Ernest Sergenti, Economic Growth and Ethnic Violence: An Empirical Investigation of Hindu Muslim Riots in India, Journal of Peace Research. Jason Lyall, Are Coethnics More Effective Counterinsurgents? Evidence from the Second Chechen War, American Political Science Review 104 (1), pp Nicholas Sambanis, Do Ethnic and Non Ethnic Civil Wars Have the Same Causes? Journal of Conflict Resolution 45 (4), pp Stanley J. Tambiah, Leveling Crowds: Ethnonationalist Conflicts and Collective Violence in South Asia. Berkeley, University of California Press, chapters 7 and 8. Bruce Gilley, Against the Concept of Ethnic Conflict, Third World Quarterly 25 (6), Week 9: Case Study Explaining Rwanda s Genocide [November 14] Benjamin Valentino, Final Solutions: The Causes of Mass Killing and Genocide, Security Studies 9 (3), Scott Straus, The Order of Genocide: Race, Power and War in Rwanda, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, chapters 2 and 3 (optional: chapter 6). Yanagizawa Drott, David Propaganda and Conflict: Theory and Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide, Quarterly Journal of Economics 129 (4), pp Davenport, Christian and Allan Stam Rwandan Political Violence in Space and Time, working paper, University of Michigan. 7

8 Alison Desforges, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda, Human Rights Watch Report, introduction, pp Jack Snyder, From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict, New York, W. W. Norton, chapter 2 (pp ) and pp (from chapter 6). Scott Straus, How Many Perpetrators Were There in the Rwandan Genocide? An Estimate, Journal of Genocide Research 6 (1), pp Week 10: Elections and Violence [November 21] Höglund, Kristine Electoral Violence in Conflict Ridden Societies: Concepts, Causes, and Consequences Terrorism and Political Violence 21 (3), pp Daxecker, Ursula E. 2012, The Cost of Exposing Cheating: International Election Monitoring, Electoral Manipulation, and Violence, Journal of Peace Research 49 (4). Mares, Isabela and Boliang Zhu The Production of Electoral Intimidation: Economic and Political Incentives. Comparative Politics 48 (1), pp content/uploads/sites/21421/2015/09/mareszhu CP2015.pdf Kasara, Kimuli Electoral Geography and Conflict in Kenya: Redistricting through Violence in Kenya, working paper, Columbia University. Klopp, Jacqueline M Ethnic Clashes and Winning Elections: The Case of Kenya s Electoral Despotism. Canadian Journal of African Studies 35, Dunning, Thad. Fighting and Voting: Violent Conflict and Electoral Politics, Thad Dunning, Journal of Conflict Resolution 55(3), Week 11: Anti Regime Protest and High Risk Collective Action [November 28] Timur Kuran, Now Out of Never: The Element of Surprise in the East European Revolution of 1989, World Politics 44 (1), Susanne Lohmann, A Signaling Model of Informative and Manipulative Political Action, American Political Science Review 87 (2), Douglas Van Belle, Leadership and Collective Action: The Case of Revolution, International Studies Quarterly 40,

9 Doug McAdam, Recruitment to High Risk Activism: The Case of Freedom Summer, American Journal of Sociology 92 (1), Jason Lyall, Pocket Protests: Rhetorical Coercion and the Micro politics of Collective Action in Semi authoritarian Regimes, World Politics 58 (3), Mark Granovetter, The Strength of Weak Ties," American Journal of Sociology 78, Joshua A. Tucker, Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action Problems, and Post Communist Cultural Revolutions, Perspectives on Politics 5 (3), pp William Macy, Chains of Cooperation: Threshold Effects in Collective Action," American Sociological Review 55, pp Dennis Chong, Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Week 12: Consequences of Violence [December 5] Blattman, Chris and Jeannie Annan "From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda, " The American Political Science Review 103 (2), Bauer, Michael, Alessandra Cassar, Julie Chytilova, and Joseph Henrich "War s Enduring Effects on the Development of Egalitarian Motivations and In Group Biases, Psychological Sciences (25) 1, pp Gould, Eric D., and Esteban F. Klor "Does Terrorism Work?" Quarterly Journal of Economics 125(4), Ted Miguel and Edward Miguel and Gérard Roland "The long run Impact of Bombing Vietnam," Journal of Development Economics 96 (1), Beber, Bernd, Philip Roessler, and Alexandra Scacco Intergroup Violence and Political Attitudes: Evidence from a Dividing Sudan, Journal of Politics. 76 (3), pp Voors, M.J., E.E.M. Nillesen, E.H. Bulte, B.W. Lensink, P. Verwimp, and D.P. van Soest Violent Conflict and Behavior: a Field Experiment in Burundi, American Economic Review. and researchgroups/tsc/news/paperdaan.pdf 9

10 Week 13: Paper Presentations [December 12] Week 14: Paper Presentations [December 13] 10