Topics in Federalism and Decentralization Professor Julia Payson (POL-GA 3300)

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1 New York University Department of Politics Spring 2018 Topics in Federalism and Decentralization Professor Julia Payson (POL-GA 3300) Course Description Do you study political institutions or political economy? The vertical distribution of power almost certainly affects whatever political phenomenon you are interested in. Across the world, states are experimenting with devolving political and administrative authority to regional and local governments. And with the exceptions of democracy, competitive markets, and rule of law, decentralized government is perhaps the government institution that has been theorized to cure the broadest range of political and social problems. At the same time, power is shifting upward in certain contexts---particularly to supranational bodies like the European Union. What explains these trends, and what are the political implications? In this course, you will survey the theoretical and empirical literature on federalism and decentralization. I hope that exposure to this broad and vibrant scholarly agenda will spark ideas for your own research. However, an equally important goal of this seminar is equipping you with professional tools that you will use throughout your political science career. These include learning how to write a referee report, developing your skills as a paper discussant, experimenting with effective writing habits, and working to produce or revise a piece of scholarly work that can be submitted to an academic journal. This means that in addition to weekly readings on topical themes related to federalism and decentralization, we will also be reading excerpts from handbooks like Writing your Journal Article in 12 Weeks and Stylish Academic Writing. 1

2 Logistics Class Meetings: Contact Info: Office Hours: Class Readings: Monday 2pm 3:50pm Room: 212 (19 West 4 th St.) Julia Payson julia.payson@nyu.edu Politics Department 19 West 4 th St Office 220 (2 nd Floor) Available under the Resources tab at NYU Classes Evaluation Attendance and Participation (25%) I expect you to attend class each week prepared to learn and contribute to the seminar. Referee Reports (25%) You will write 3 or 4 short referee reports on the articles we read for class over the course of the semester. These will be 2-3 pages in length and written as though you were reviewing a manuscript for an academic journal. Discussant Role (25%) You will serve as a discussant 3 or 4 times over the course of the semester. This will involve making slides and giving a 5 minute presentation on one of the papers assigned for that week. Final Paper (25%) Your final paper can either be: 1. A full length journal article, 2. A shorter article in the style of a letter or research note, or 3. An NSF style research grant proposal. Your final project will depend on the stage of your 2

3 research and what would be most useful for you. I ll provide more details in class. Class Schedule Mon. 1/22 (JP@ Penn Class To Be Rescheduled): Contextual Overview Rodden, Jonathan (2004) Comparative Federalism and Decentralization: On Meaning and Measurement, Comparative Politics 36 (4): Wibbels, Erik (2006) Madison in Baghdad? Decentralization and Federalism in Comparative Politics, Annual Review of Political Science 9: Treisman, Daniel (2007) The Architecture of Government: Chapter 2 Mon. 1/29: Why Federalism? Introduction to Normative Theory Oates, Wallace (1999) An Essay on Fiscal Federalism, Journal of Economic Literature 37 (3): Rodden, Jonathan (2006) Hamilton s Paradox: Chapter 2 Treisman, Daniel (2007) The Architecture of Government: Chapter 1 Bednar, Jenna (2011) The Political Science of Federalism, Annual Review of Law and Social Science 7: Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 1 Mon. 2/5: Building Positive Theories of Federalism Peterson, Paul (1995) The Price of Federalism: Chapter 2. Stepan, Alfred (1999) Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model, Journal of Democracy 10 (4):

4 Panizza, Ugo (1999) On the Determinants of Fiscal Centralization: Theory and Evidence, Journal of Public Economics 74: Falleti, Tulia G. (2005) A Sequential Theory of Decentralization: Latin American Cases in Comparative Perspective, American Political Science Review 99 (3): Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 2 Mon. 2/12: Decentralization and Institutional Design Azfar et al. (1999) Decentralization, Governance and Public Services: The Impact of Institutional Arrangements, Working Paper No. 255, Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector, University of Maryland, College Park. Cremer, Jacques and Thomas R. Palfrey (1999) Political Confederation, American Political Science Review 93 (1): Elkins, Zachary and John Sides (2007) Can Institutions Build Unity in Multiethnic States? American Political Science Review 101 (4): Treisman, Daniel (2007) The Architecture of Government: Chapter 3 Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 3 Mon. 2/19: Presidents Day (No Class) Mon. 2/26: Market Preserving Federalism and Fiscal Discipline: Part I Weingast, Barry (1995) The Economic Role of Political Institutions: Market- Preserving Federalism and Economic Development, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 11 (1):

5 Treisman, Daniel (1999) Political Decentralization and Economic Reform: A Game-Theoretic Analysis, American Journal of Political Science 43 (2): Wibbels, Erik (2005) Federalism and the Market: Chapters 1 and 2 Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 4 Stylish Academic Writing: TBA Mon. 3/5: Market Preserving Federalism and Fiscal Discipline: Part II Rodden, Jonathan (2002) The Dilemma of Fiscal Federalism: Grants and Fiscal Performance Around the World, American Journal of Political Science 46 (3): Cai, Hongbin, and Daniel Treisman (2004) State corroding federalism, Journal of Public Economics 88 (3-4): Rodden (2006) Hamilton s Paradox: The Promise and Peril of Fiscal Federalism: Chapter TBA Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 5 Stylish Academic Writing: TBA Mon. 3/12: Spring Break! Mon. 3/19: Transfers, Grants, and Distributive Politics in Federations Dixit, Avinash and John Londregan (1998) Fiscal Federalism and Redistributive Politics, Journal of Public Economics 68: Rich, Michael J. (1989) Distributive Politics and the Allocation of Federal Grants, American Political Science Review 83 (1):

6 Sorensen, Rune J. (2003) The Political Economy of Intergovernmental Grants: The Norwegian Case, European Journal of Political Research 42 (2): Dahlberg, Matz and Eva Johansson (2002) On the Vote-Purchasing Behavior of Incumbent Governments, American Political Science Review 96 (1): Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 6 The Professor Is In: The Foolproof Grant Template Mon. 3/26: How Federalism Shapes Partisan Political Strategies and Competition Chhibber, Pradeep and Ken Kollman (2004) The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States: Chapter TBA Desposato, Scott and Ethan Scheiner (2008) Governmental Centralization and Party Affiliation: Legislator Strategies in Brazil and Japan, American Political Science Review 102 (4): Grindle, Merilee S. (2009) Going Local: Decentralization, Democratization, and the Promise of Good Governance: Chapter 3 Brollo and Nannicini (2012) Tying Your Enemy s Hands in Close Races: The Politics of Federal Transfers in Brazil, American Political Science Review 106 (4): Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 7 Mon. 4/2: Elections, Accountability, and Economic Voting in Federal Systems Stein, Robert M. (1990) Economic Voting for Governor and U.S. Senator: Electoral Consequences of Federalism, Journal of Politics 52 (1):

7 Sances, Michael W. (2017) Attribution Errors in Federalist Systems: When Voters Punish the President for Local Tax Increases, Journal of Politics 79 (4): Rodden, Jonathan and Erik Wibbels (2010) Dual accountability and the nationalization of party competition: Evidence from four federations, Party Politics 17 (5): Gelineau, Francois, and Karen L. Remmer (2006) Political Decentralization and Electoral Accountability: The Argentine Experience, , British Journal of Political Science 36 (1): Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 8 Mon. 4/9: Decentralization and Public Service Provision Besley, Timothy and Stephen Coate (2003) Centralized versus Decentralized Provision of Local Public Goods: A Political Economy Approach. Journal of Public Economics 87 (12): West and Wong (1995) Fiscal Decentralization and Growing Regional Disparities in Rural China: Some Evidence in the Provision of Social Services Reinikka, Ritva, and Jakob Svensson (2004) Local Capture: Evidence from a Central Government Transfer Program in Uganda, Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (2): Treisman, Daniel (2002) Decentralization and the Quality of Government, Unpublished Manuscript. Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 9 Mon. 4/16: Intergovernmental Policy and Taxation Besley, Timothy J. and Harvey S. Rosen (1998) Vertical Externalities in Tax Setting: Evidence From Gasoline and Cigarettes, NBER Working Paper

8 Berry, Chris (2009) Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multilevel Governments: Chapter TBA Volden, Craig (2005) Intergovernmental Political Competition in American Federalism, American Journal of Political Science 49 (2): Kelemen, R. Daniel, and Terence K. Teo (2014) Law, Focal Points, and Fiscal Discipline in the United States and the European Union, American Political Science Review 108 (2): Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 10 Mon. 4/23: Intergovernmental Competition, Bargaining, and Lobbying Treisman, Daniel (2007) The Architecture of Government Rethinking Political Decentralization: Chapter 4 Goldstein, Rebecca and Hye Young You (2017) Cities as Lobbyists, American Journal of Political Science 61 (4): Baumgartner, Frank R. (2007) EU Lobbying: A View From The US, Journal of European Public Policy 14 (3): Wibbels, Erik (2005) Federalism and the Market: Chapter 6 Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 11 Mon. 4/30: Re-Centralization and Other Topics Malesky, Nguyen, and Tran (2014) The Impact of Recentralization on Public Services: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Abolition of Elected Councils in Vietnam, American Political Science Review Prud homme, Remy (1995) The Dangers of Decentralization, World Bank Research Observer 10 (2):

9 Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: Chapter 12 Mon. 5/7: Presentations of Final Papers 9