Political Science 364, Capitalism and Its Critics Spring Term 2016 SYLLABUS

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1 Political Science 364, Capitalism and Its Critics Spring Term 2016 SYLLABUS Professor: Alfred P. Montero Office: Willis 407 Phone: x4085 (Office) Web Page: Office Hours: Mondays 7:00-9:00 p.m.; Tuesdays 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and by appointment on Skype (Skype username: amontero9601) Course Description This research seminar examines the contemporary institutions, processes, and challenges of modern capitalism in advanced and developing countries. The course begins with a review of the work of several key thinkers on modern capitalism: Marx, Weber, Schumpeter, Hayek, Polanyi, Offe, Tilly, and Piketty. It then proceeds to an analysis of the sweeping debate concerning inequality and democracy. Student work in this course focuses on the research and composition of a page original work on a topic relevant to the questions covered in the seminar. Intense course participation, including classroom discussion and periodic debates, is required. Majors may use their seminar papers as the basis for developing comps projects in the fall trimester. What is Expected of Students Students will be expected to read, think, criticize, and form arguments. That will require keeping up on reading assignments and attending class regularly. Students must be fully prepared at all times to discuss the readings and concepts from previous lectures. The best students will be critical but balanced in their assessments, and will develop coherent arguments that they can defend in their writing and their in-class discussion. Reading Materials Besides the two required books listed below, all of the reading materials for this course are available on Moodle. This includes clippings from periodicals such as The New York Times, the Financial Times, the Economist, and audio and video materials. Students wishing to deepen their quantitative skills will have access to a second Moodle page with podcasts and other materials providing instruction on multiple statistical techniques. Two required books: Ben W. Ansell and David J. Samuels Inequality and Democratization: An Elite-Competition Approach (Cambridge University Press). Carles Boix Democracy and Redistribution (Cambridge University Press). Grading As a true research seminar the assessment of students performance will focus on the preparation and completion of a page research paper due at the end of the course. The first draft of this paper will

2 be graded. Additionally, each student will be called upon during the course of the trimester to participate in numerous debates and to present on the readings in structured critiques that will initiate all seminar discussions on the literature. The grade breakdown follows: Debates 15% First Draft 25% Oral Research Presentation 10% Final Draft 35% Class Participation 15% The Debates This seminar will use a series of adversarial debates (2x2 or 4x4) to address the literature on capitalism, inequality, and democracy. Students will be instructed in how to organize these debates and how to participate with an emphasis on rejoinder and argument development. The Seminar Paper The culmination of student work in this seminar will be the composition of a seminar paper of pages of text (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, paginated) and a research bibliography of a minimum of three pages, single-spaced. All drafts of the work prior to the final as well as the final must be handed in by 5 p.m. on the Courses directory on the due date (see below). All files, except for data files, must be in PDF format. The composition of the seminar paper will be broken down into the following steps: (1) By Monday, April 11, students will have decided upon a research topic in consultation with me. Each student will prepare a preliminary abstract of the project. (2) By Tuesday, April 19, students will hand in a copy of a preliminary research bibliography of no fewer than 3 pages, single-spaced. A handout will define the proper citation and bibliographic reference format for the paper. Weak bibliographies and/or bibliographies that do not follow the required format will generate negative points assessable on the rough draft score. (3) By Friday, May 6, students will hand in a first draft of the argumentative section of their paper (the first seven-eight pages) with an updated abstract and bibliography. (4) On May 25, 30, and June 1, each student will orally present their research for no less than 15 minutes a piece in the research seminar. All colleagues will offer their input. If possible, we will schedule a couple of early presentations to free up the schedule at the end of the course. (5) On Monday, June 6, the final draft of the seminar paper will be due at 5:00 p.m. 2

3 Consultation with me during each of these steps is crucial. We will also discuss the format and direction of paper topics and issues as part of the normal discussion of the research seminar. One of the most important lessons of the seminar is that good research depends upon the input and support of colleagues. Each student will be expected to contribute their share to this effort. Class Participation Typically, I will begin each class session by offering a general overview of the issues to be discussed. I may present you with a set of reading and discussion questions to structure our deliberations. After the overview portion, the seminar will proceed to student-led discussion. I will conclude each class session with a brief review of the authors and readings for the next meeting. Whenever possible, each class will have a break of about 10 minutes. Electronic Equipment Policy For years I have allowed students to use laptops in class to take notes. However, based on much scientific evidence as well as personal experience, it is evident that such practices encourage inattention and multitasking that degrades the ability of students to learn. There is also plenty of scientific evidence that taking pen-and-paper notes is far superior to note-taking on laptops. The use of laptops and tablets in this class will be strongly discouraged unless a student can prove that they absolutely need such a device in the classroom. Preference will be given to students who have an officially sanctioned accommodation (see Special Needs below), but students without such accommodations may also be given permission to use laptops and ipads for approved purposes. Use of such devices in class does not designate any student as having special needs. Global Trigger Warning Many of the materials and ideas presented in this class are intended to make you uncomfortable and to challenge conventional wisdom. The intention is to inspire debate. All students are welcome to participate. If you believe that you are not prepared for this kind of experience, you are free to drop the course during the first two weeks of the term. I will agree to your request with no questions asked. The Grading Scale I will be using the following grading scale in this course: A A A B B B C C C- 67/below D/F 3

4 Academic Misconduct Given the fact that academe relies upon the ethical conduct of scholars, students are held to the same standards in their own work. Any act of academic dishonesty or misconduct will be referred to the Office of the Dean. For further information, see the useful handout on Avoiding Academic Misconduct. Special Needs Carleton College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Disability Services to begin the process. Carleton faculty are strongly encouraged to wait for official notification of accommodations before modifying course requirements for students. NOTE: Readings must be completed for the dates assigned below. Introduction (March 28, Monday) Mohamed A. El-Erian When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change. New York: McGraw Hill, ch. 1. Miles Kahler Economic Crisis and Global Governance: The Stability of a Globalized World. In Politics in the New Hard Times: The Great Recession in Comparative Perspective, Miles Kahler and David A. Lake, eds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp Film: BBC Masters of Money Keynes Session 1: Theoretical Perspectives on the Development and Contradictions of Capitalism Creative Destruction and the Satanic Mill: The Logic of Capitalist Evolution (March 30, Wednesday) Karl Marx (orig. 1887). Das Kapital. New York: Vintage, chapters 6 ( The Sale and Purchase of Labour-Power ), 12 ( The Concept of Relative Surplus-Value ), and 32 ( The Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation ). Joseph A. Schumpter Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper & Row, chapters 7 ( The Process of Creative Destruction ), 11 ( The Civilization of Capitalism ), 12 ( Crumbling Walls ), and 13 ( Growing Hostility to p. 145). Karl Polanyi The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press, chapters 6, 7, and 19. Film: BBC Masters of Money Marx Making the Political Order: The Capitalist State (April 4, Monday) F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, chs

5 Max Weber (orig. trans. 1968). The Disintegration of the Household: The Rise of the Calculative Spirit and of the Modern Capitalist Enterprise (pp ) and Ethnic Groups (pp ), Economy and Society Vol. 1; The Distribution of Power Within the Political Community: Class, Status, Party (pp ), Organizational Structure and the Bases of Legitimate Authority (pp ), Nature and Legitimacy of Territorial Political Organizations (pp ) and The Nation (pp ), Economy and Society Vol. 2. Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (from Karl Mark, Surveys from Exile Vol. 2. London: New Left Review, 1973). Charles Tilly War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. In Bringing the State Back In, Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press. Film: BBC Masters of Money Hayek Globalization and International Crises in Capitalism (April 6, Wednesday) El-Erian When Markets Collide, ch. 4 Friedman The World is Flat, chapter 2, The Ten Forces that Flattened the World. Charles P. Kindleberger Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises. New York: John Wiley, chs. 2-3, 6. Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance. New York: Penguin, ch. 2. Stephan Haggard Politics in Hard Times Revisited: The Financial Crisis in Emerging Markets. In Politics in the New Hard Times: The Great Recession in Comparative Perspective, Miles Kahler and David A. Lake, eds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp RESEARCH TOPIC DEADLINE (April 11, Monday) Wither Labor? Political Erosion and the Ascendance of Creative Workers (April 11, Monday) Claus Offe Two Logics of Collective Action, in Disorganized Capitalism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (ch. 6 recommended). Richard Florida The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books, chapters 5-9. Erik Olin Wright and Rachel E. Dwyer The Patterns of Job Expansions in the USA: A Comparison of the 1960s and 1990s. Socio-Economic Review 1:3 (September): Film: PBS Frontline: Two American Families Capitalism and Growing Inequality (April 13, Wednesday) 5

6 Thomas Piketty Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, chapters 1-2, 5, Session 2: Democracy and Inequality in Capitalism The Unequal Democracy Puzzle: Resolving the Tension Between Democracy and Property (April 18, Monday) A.H. Meltzer and S. F. Richard A Rational Theory of the Size of Government. The Journal of Political Economy 89:5: Adam Przeworski and Michael Wallerstein The Structure of Class Conflict in Democratic Capitalist Societies. American Political Science Review 76:2: Carles Boix Democracy and Redistribution, chs. Intro, 2-3. RESEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE (April 19, Tuesday) The Redistributive Game and Democratization (April 20, Wednesday) Boix Democracy and Redistribution, chs. 5 & 6. Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press, chs The Elite-Competition Approach: A Rejoinder to Redistributive Arguments (1) (April 25, Monday) Barrington Moore Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press, chs Ansell and Samuels, chs K.O. Moene and Michael Wallerstein Inequality, Social Insurance, and Redistribution. American Political Science Review 95: The Elite-Competition Approach: A Rejoinder to Redistributive Arguments (2) (April 27, Wednesday) Ansell and Samuels, chs. 3 and 5 (ch. 4 recommended for those who are interested in the formal models). Joseph E. Stiglitz The Price of Inequality: How Today s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W.W. Norton, chs MIDTERM BREAK (May 2, Monday) Debate #1: (May 4, Wednesday) 6

7 Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens. 1992, Capitalist Developmnt and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, chs FIRST DRAFT OF SEMINAR PAPER DUE (May 6, Friday, 5 p.m. CST) Debate #2: (May 9, Monday) Ansell and Samuels, chs Inequality and American Capitalist Democracy (May 11, Wednesday) Larry M. Bartels Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ch. 1. Martin Gilens Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, chs (ch. 2 recommended for understanding data analysis) (May 16, Monday) Debate #3? Larry M. Bartels Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, chs. 3, 5, and 9. Martin Gilens Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, chs. 5 and 8. Creating Foundations for Redistributive Politics in Unequal Capitalism (May 18, Wednesday) Joseph E. Stiglitz The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them. New York: W.W. Norton, Part VI (pp ). Thomas Piketty Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, chapters 13, 14 or 15. (May 23, Monday) Debate #4? Joseph E. Stiglitz The Price of Inequality: How Today s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W.W. Norton, ch. 10. Session 3: Student Oral Presentations of Research May 25 (Wednesday), 30 (Monday), and June 1 (Wednesday) FINAL DRAFT OF SEMINAR PAPER DUE (June 6, Monday, 5 p.m. CST) 7