GOVERNMENT 1190: THE POLITICS OF EUROPE

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1 Spring 2018 Government 1190 Harvard University Professor Daniel Ziblatt Office: 27 Kirkland Street GOVERNMENT 1190: THE POLITICS OF EUROPE Course Time: 11 am-12 pm, Tuesdays/Thursdays Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 1-2 pm (sign up ahead of time appoint.ly on my website: Is liberal democracy in crisis in Europe? Until recently, democracy was largely taken for granted in the west at large and in Europe in particular. And many viewed Europe s experiments with innovative post-national modes of governance (the EU) as the wave of the future. But over the last decade, a political earthquake has shaken the very foundations of politics in Europe. Far right parties have gained ground in many countries. Great Britain has voted to leave the EU (Brexit), and similar movements are growing across Europe, exposing fissures and challenging the democratic legitimacy of the EU and European states. This course places these current developments in a broader perspective, tracing the evolution of European political systems from their predemocratic origins to the present crises. We begin with an overview of Europe s distinctive political legacies of feudalism, state-building, absolutism and revolution that provide key background to contemporary Europe. We then trace the difficult rise of democracy in the 19 th century and fascism in the 1930s. Next we explore the post-war rescue of Europe through the creation of the European Union and postwar European welfare states. We examine the postcommunist experience in eastern Europe. And, finally, we turn to study why populist, anti-immigrant, and Euroskeptic movements and parties have surged across Europe exploring what this means for European democracy today. Throughout we trace the evolution of democracy and its populist authoritarianism critics. We will study a range of countries, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the low countries, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. After taking this course, students will possess a knowledge of the political currents running through contemporary Europe, providing students with historical and analytical context for understanding contemporary European politics. The course is especially recommended for students who plan to do further work on European politics. Requirements (and weighting in final grade) 1. Exam #1, (In-Class) Thursday February 22: 20% 2. Exam #2, (Take-Home), Due Tuesday April 3: 30% 3. Final Exam, covering the material from the entire course: 30% 4. Participation in weekly sections: 20% Readings: -Most readings are available on course website

2 Books for purchase: Gianfranco Poggi, The Development of the Modern State (1978) Daniel Ziblatt, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy in Europe (2017) Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe s Twentieth Century (1998) PART I: The Early History of Representative Government in Europe Week 1: January 23/25: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. The State and the Problem of Order Max Weber, Politics as Vocation from Gerth and Mills Essays in Sociology (1958), Week 2: Jan. 30/February 1: Theoretical Foundations and Deep History of Representative Government in Europe 3. Theories and Methods In search of Reality 4. Feudalism as the Modern State s Precursor in Europe Daniel Ziblatt, Why do We Read Barrington Moore? American Political Science Association Comparative Politics Newsletter 2013 William Sewell, Marc Bloch and the Logic of Comparative History History and Theory volume 6, number 2 (1967), pp Gianfranco Poggi, The Feudal System of Rule and The Staendestaat from The Development of the Modern State (1978), pp Marc Bloch, Disorder and the Efforts to Combat It and Towards the Reconstruction of States from Feudal Society, Volume 2, pp Week 3: February 6/8: The Exit from Feudalism and the Rise of the State, Part I 5. Defining States, Defining Absolutism 6. Religion, Shifts in the International System, and the Rise of Absolutism Gianfranco Poggi, The Absolutist System of Rule, from The Development of the Modern State (1978), pp Richard Dunn, Calvinism and Catholicism in Western Europe and Political Disintegration in Central and Eastern Europe in The Age of Religious Wars (1978), pp

3 Week 4: Feb 13/15: The Exit from Feudalism and the Rise of the State, Part II 7. Economic and Military Transformations and the Rise of Absolutism 8. A Fiscal Military Model of the State Hendrik Spruyt, The Economic Renaissance of the Late Middle Ages The Sovereign State and its Competitors, (1994), p Brian Downing, The Military Revolution, Brandenburg-Prussia, Poland in The Military Revolution (1992) pp ; pp ; pp Charles Tilly, War Making and State-Making as Organized Crime in Theda Skocpol et al (eds) Bringing the State Back In (1985), pp Week 5: February 20/22: The Limits of Absolutism: Revolution 9. The Destruction of Absolutism: French and English Revolutions Compared Brian Downing, France and England The Military Revolution (1992) pp , pp Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Regime and the French Revolution, Chapters 9 and 10, pp (1856) [1955] Barrington Moore, The Democratic Route to Modern Society Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (1966), p MIDTERM #1 (in Class): Thursday February 22 PART II: The Rise of Mass Democracy: Settled and Unsettled Paths Week 6: February 27/March 1: Industrialization and Democratization in Britain 10. Industrialization: The Engine of Democratization? 11. Gradual Democratization in Nineteenth Century Britain E.J. Hobsbawm, The Industrial Revolution (Chapter 2) in The Age of Revolution, pp [Course Reader] Stephen J. Lee Aspects of British Political History (1994), ( The 1832 Reform Act and Parliamentary Reform: 1867 and beyond and The Rise of the Labour Party ), pp ; ; Thomas Ertman, The Great Reform Act of 1832 and British Democratization Comparative Political Studies 2010: Recommended: Daniel Ziblatt, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, Chapters 3, 4 and 5.

4 Week 7: March 6/8: 1848 Revolutions and Unsettled Democratization: Germany, France, and Beyond 12. The Failed Revolutions of 1848: Napoleon III and the Birth of Populism 13. Bismarck and Germany s Stalled Democratization John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, chapter 16 ( The Revolutions of 1848 ) Gordon Wright, France in Modern Times (5 th edition), pp (Chapters 11 and 12) Hans Ulrich Wehler, The German Empire (Berg, 1985), pp , Daniel Ziblatt, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, Chapters 6 and 7 Sheri Berman, Modernization in Historical Perspective: The Case of Imperial Germany, World Politics, 53, 3, April Spring Break March 13/15: No Class Week 8: March 20/22: Democratic Breakthrough and Breakdown: Weimar Germany 14. World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Difficult Birth of German Democracy 15. The Collapse of Weimar and the Rise of Nazism Mark Mazower, The Dark Continent, The Deserted Temple (Chapter 1), pp Richard Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich, Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 Lion Feuchtwanger, The Oppermanns: a Novel [1934] (2001), Book 3, Chapter 12, pp Recommended: Daniel Ziblatt, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, Chapters 8 and 9 (pp ). Week 9: March 27/29: Broad Perspectives on Interwar Europe: What is Fascism? 16. What is Fascism? 17. Broader Patterns of Interwar Regime Outcomes: from Belgium to Spain Robert Paxton, The Five Stages of Fascism Journal of Modern History 1998 Gregory Luebbert, Social Foundations of Political Order in Interwar Europe, World Politics 34, no. 4 (July 1987), pp Nancy Bermeo, Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times, Chapter 2 Giovanni Capoccia, Defending Democracy (2001) European Journal of Political Research, pp

5 MIDTERM #2: TAKE-HOME MIDTERM (Due at the Beginning of Lecture April 3) PART III: Rebuilding European Democracy: An Unfinished Project Week 10: April 3/5: Rebuilding European Democracy 18. The European Union 19: Taming the Market: The Rise of European Welfare States T. R. Reid, The United States of Europe (Penguin 2005), chapter 2. Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union (Lynne Riener, 2005), chapter 1. James Caparoso, The European Union and Forms of State: Westphalian, Regulatory, Post-Modern, Journal of Common Market Studies, 34, 1, Mark Mazower, Dark Continent, Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 Week 11: April 10/12: The End of History? 1989 as Turning Point 20: Communism s Rise and Collapse and Democratization of Eastern Europe 21: Globalization and Dismantling European Welfare States Mark Mazower, Dark Continent, Chapters 8, 10, and 11. Andrew Janos, East Central Europe in the Modern World, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp Ken Jowitt, The Leninist Legacy, New World Disorder (1993) p Week 12: April 17/19: The Resurgence of Authoritarian Populism 22. Populist Backlash in western and eastern Europe 23. Causes? The Eurocrisis, Collapse of Social Democracy, Immigration, Cultural Change, etc. Cas Mudde, Europe s Populist Surge Foreign Affairs (2016) Europe s Leaders Struggle to Contain Populist Wave Financial Times (2017) Yascha Mounk, European Disunion The New Republic July 19, 2017 Martin Eiermann, The Austrian Election Showed Populists Yet Another Path to Power The New Statesman October 25, 2017 Sarah Wildman, Meet the Far Right Party That s Bringing Racism and Xenophobia Back to Germany Vox September 26, 2017

6 Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump and the Populist Authoritarian Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse Perspectives on Politics 2017: April 24: Review/Conclusion