Comparative Politics PSCI 3600 University of North Texas Fall 2013

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1 Comparative Politics PSCI 3600 University of North Texas Fall 2013 Professor Jae Jae Spoon Office: 136 Wooten Hall Web: Phone: Office Hours: Mon. and Weds. 3:30 5pm or by appointment in 136 WH Course Description In this course, you will be introduced to many of the key questions and themes in the study of comparative politics. We will look at political culture, institutions and behavior in both democracies and non democracies. Examples will be drawn from authoritarian states, and developing and developed democracies. This course will be a useful foundation for all future courses you take in comparative politics at the University of North Texas. Reading Materials 1) There is one required book for this course, which is available at the university bookstore. If you choose to purchase the text on line, be sure to buy the 6 th edition. Rod Hague and Martin Harrop Political Science: A Comparative Introduction. 6 th ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2) You will also be required to read articles and other book chapters throughout the semester, all of which will be available on the Blackboard Learn site, denoted [BB] below. 3) Finally, you will be required to follow international current events throughout the course. We will be discussing relevant world events and they will appear on the quizzes. To this end, you should read articles from at least one of the following on a fairly regular basis: New York Times Economist BBC Der Spiegel (in English) The Japan Times Feel free to check out non English language sources as well. Some of these have a limit on the number of free articles you can browse, but you can access them through the UNT library by logging in with your EUID and password. 1

2 Evaluation Your grade in this course will be comprised of the following. Grades will be calculated on a scale of A F ( =A; =B; =C; =D; below 59.5=F) Midterm exam 20% Final exam 25% Constitution Assignment 20% Quizzes (6) 25% (4.2% each) Participation 10% *All work will be weighted according to the break down above. Your final grade will thus be out of 100 possible points. 1) Exams. There will be two in class exams (see below for dates). The exams will be a combination of multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay. The midterm will cover all of the material from the first half of the class. The final exam will be cumulative. 2) Constitution Assignment. During the second half of the class, you will be working on a constitution drafting project. This will be a 6 7 page paper (plus bibliography) and will be due on Dec. 2 nd. More details to come. 3) Quizzes. There will be 7 unannounced quizzes. I will drop the lowest one (so, only 6 will be counted). These quizzes will cover material from readings and lecture from the previous and current class as well as current events. They are a way for me to check in and see if you are doing the readings, coming to class, understanding things, and keeping up with the news. There will be no make ups. 4) Participation. Participation will take two forms posting on BB and in class participation. As part of your participation grade, you are required to post on BB a comment or question on the discussion readings/topic once per week (before Friday). You may respond to a post of another student, pose a question or comment, or post a relevant article about a current event and comment on it. All posts for a given week must relate to that week s topic. You will have many opportunities for in class participation as well. Class Policies Attendance. You are allowed 3 unexcused absences. After this, I will deduct 2 pts. off of your final grade for each additional absence. Remember that your final grade is out of 100 points. If you come in to class MORE THAN 10 minutes late, I will count this as an absence. If you know you will be missing class beyond the 3 allowed, please provide me with documentation as soon as you can, and I will consider whether to count these as excused absences. Should you miss 2

3 class for a medical emergency, you will need to provide documentation from your medical provider. In Class Expectations. When you re in class, I expect you to be fully engaged. This means no texting, Facebook, Twitter, surfing the web, etc. You may use your laptop, but if you are using it for something other than taking notes, I may not allow you to continue using it. I expect you to come to class having read the material and prepared to participate. If you plan to come to class to do something else, I suggest that you not come. . Please make sure you check your UNT regularly. I will send messages to the class periodically and will use your official UNT address. If you want to contact me, please use my UNT address above and do not me through BB. Blackboard Learn. All materials handed out in lecture will be posted here (syllabus, in class worksheets, assignments, etc.) I will also post announcements, links, graphs/tables shown in class, and other useful information. So, check BB often! Extensions and Alternate Dates. In general, I will not allow extensions on assignments or alternate exam dates. However, should you find yourself in a situation where you will not be able to turn an assignment in on time or be present for an exam, please advise me of this as soon as you can, and not the day the assignment is due or the day of the exam or afterwards. We will work together to come up with a solution. Late policy. A late assignment will be penalized 1/3 of a grade for each day it is late. After 1 week, I will no longer accept it. Grade Appeals. Should you want to appeal a grade you ve received, it must be in writing. You will need to explain why you believe you deserve a grade that is different than the one you received. Other. Should you need any special accommodations, please let me know ASAP. Syllabus Aug. 28: Introduction and Preliminaries No readings. Sept. 2 Labor Day No class. 3

4 Sept. 4 & Sept. 9 : What is comparative politics and how do we study it? READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 1 3 DISCUSS: Where Money Seems to Talk. The Economist. July 14, Pgs [BB] Sept. 11: Democracies READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 5 DISCUSS: Robert Dahl What Institutions Does Large Scale Democracy Require? Political Science Quarterly : [BB] DISCUSS: Philippe Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl What Democracy Is... and Is Not. Journal of Democracy. 2.3: [BB] Sept. 16 No class. Prof. Spoon in UK. Sept. 18: Democracies Cont d READ/LECTURE: Arend Lijphart Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in 36 Countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Ch. 1. Pgs [BB] Sept. 23 & Sept. 25: Authoritarian Regimes and Transitions to Democracy READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 6 and pgs DISCUSS: Guillermo O Donnell Delegative Democracy. Journal of Democracy. 5.1: [BB] Sept. 24: Evening showing of Persepolis Time and location TBA. READ: Joel Krieger, ed The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, 2 nd ed. Pgs [BB] 4

5 EXTRA CREDIT: Persepolis essay due Sept. 30 th on BB and hard copy in class. Sept. 30 & Oct. 2: Political Culture READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 7 DISCUSS: Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris The True Clash of Civilizations. Foreign Policy. March/April. Pgs [BB] Oct. 7 & Oct. 9: Civil Society and Participation READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 9 DISCUSS: Sheri Berman Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic. World Politics. 49 (April). Pgs [BB] DISCUSS: The March of Protest. The Economist. June 29, [BB] DISCUSS: Ayse Bugra. Aug. 6, Turkey: What Lies Behind the Nationwide Protests? [BB] **Oct. 14: Midterm** Oct. 16: Assign Paper, Discuss Research and Writing in Political Science Henry Farrell Good Writing in Political Science: An Undergraduate Studentʹs Short Illustrated Primer. [BB] Oct. 21 & Oct. 23: Multi Level Governance (Federal v. Unitary) READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 14 and pgs DISCUSS: Montserrat Guibernau Spain: Catalonia and the Basque Country. Parliamentary Affairs. 53.1: [BB] DISCUSS: Spain and Catalonia: The Trials of Keeping a Country Together. The Economist. Nov. 24, [BB] 5

6 DISCUSS: Xavier Solano A Scottish Referendum for Catalonia. In Liz Castro, ed. What s Up with Catalonia? Pgs Ashfield, MA: Catalonia Press. [BB] Oct. 28 & Oct. 30: Legislatures (One House or Two?) READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 15 DISCUSS: Meg Russell What are Second Chambers for? Parliamentary Affairs. 54: DISCUSS: Half Measure: Stephen Harper Tries Reform by Stealth. The Economist. Oct. 8, [BB]. DISCUSS: Steve Lambert Layton Urges Referendum on Abolishing the Senate. Toronto Start. [BB] Nov. 4 & Nov. 6: Executive I: Presidential and Semi Presidential Systems READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 16 (pgs ; ; ) DISCUSS: Juan Linz The Perils of Presidentialism. Journal of Democracy. 1.1: [BB] DISCUSS: The French President: The Waterproof Mr. Hollande. The Economist. May 19, [BB] Nov. 11 & Nov. 13: Executive II: Parliamentary Systems & Government Formation READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 16 (pgs ) WATCH/DISCUSS IN CLASS: British Prime Minister s Question Time ( type/prime ministers questions) DISCUSS: Koen Abts, et al The Federal Elections in Belgium, June Electoral Studies Pgs [BB] DISCUSS: Article TBA on Germany s government formation 6

7 Nov. 18 & Nov. 20: Elections and Electoral Systems READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 10 DISCUSS: David Denemark Choosing MMP in New Zealand: Explaining the 1993 Electoral Reform. In Mixed Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? M.S. Shugart and M.P. Wattenberg, eds. New York: Oxford UP. Pgs [BB] DISCUSS: MMP Referendum to be Held at 2011 Election. Press Release from New Zealand Government. Oct. 20, [BB] Nov. 25, Nov. 27, & Dec. 2: Political Parties and Party Systems READ/LECTURE: Hague and Harrop, ch. 11 (pgs ) DISCUSS: Empty Vessels? The Economist. July 24, Pgs [BB] DISCUSS: Melissa Eddy Upstarts Continue to Hijack Votes in Germany. New York Times. May 8. [BB] DISCUSS: Liquid Democracy : Pirate Party Sinks amid Chaos and Bickering. Der Spiegel. Feb. 21, Dec. 4: Constitutional Design Discussion and Wrap Up No readings. Constitutional Design Paper due. FINAL EXAM WILL BE MONDAY DEC. 9 TH FROM 1:30 3:30 PM. FULL EXAM SCHEDULE CAN BE IS LOCATED AT Additional Important Information The Political Science Department adheres to and enforces UNT s policy on academic integrity (cheating, plagiarism, forgery, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and sabotage). Students should review the policy (UNT Policy Manual Section ), which is located at Student_Affairs-Academic_Integrity.pdf. Violations of academic integrity in this course will be addressed in compliance with the penalties and procedures laid out in this policy. The Political Science Department cooperates with the Office of Disability Accommodation to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Further information can be found at Please present your written accommodation request on or before the sixth class day (beginning of the second week of classes). 7