Fall 2013 Poli 630 & Hist.659: European Politics Prof. Filippo Sabetti Office Leacock 518 Tel. 514 398 4812 Fax. 514 398 1770 Office Hrs: M10:00-11:00am; MW 3:00-4:15pm & by appointment e-mail: filippo.sabetti@mcgill.ca Topic for Fall 2013 : The Co-evolution of States and Markets in Western Europe This seminar is devoted to a critical examination of selected themes in the co-evolution of states and markets in Western Europe and, more generally, comparative politics. Focus on this co-evolution can reveal a great deal about established models of European states and markets and the types of explanations that prevail. The aim of the course is to provide a deeper understanding. The problem of cognition is a persistent problem in comparative analysis. There is a great deal of confusion concerning the extent to which political regimes can be understood as ways to facilitate economic cooperation for mutual advantage. Equally, there is a great deal of confusion about how to understand, and recognize, the world of the artifactual, the importance of mechanisms of exchange, the characteristics of life goods and the nature of public administration as implementation. We need to recognize that successive generations of West Europeans have created complex patterns of institutional arrangements to deal with collective action and public affairs. In fact, patterns of diversity and interdependence are such that relying on idealizations and models of pure competition ( market ) and pure hierarchies ( state ) do not take us very far. For these reasons, the readings are designed to remove confusion, to offer clarifications, and to furnish ways that can be used to meet the challenge of understanding how human beings create the world in which they live and what links exist between knowledge and public affairs i.e., the noosphere in Pierre Teilhard de Chardin s conceptualization. The net result will, I hope, be a deeper appreciation of the world of the artifactual, the relationship between knowledge, human creativity and institutions and what methods in social science provide us with ways to get at institutional diversity and multiple levels of analysis. By the time you complete the course, you should be well-oriented in the study of European politics and history, and be equipped to recognize the nature and scope of contemporary debates about how to understand human affairs. We will cover a great deal of material in a relatively short period of time. The good news is that it is an exciting set of readings that will put you in the forefront of the debate about comparative politics and political economy. Please remember that this is a seminar and it will depend on your contributions. Each seminar participant will be expected to lead discussion in at least one seminar meeting; everyone is expected to be prepared to participate at every meeting. You will be expected to be responsible for reading material ranging from 100 to 300 pages each week.
You will be expected to write three analytical papers covering themes from the reading list below. Each paper should be about ten pages, double-spaced. The first paper is to be handed in October 1; the second, on November 4; and the last on December 9. Alternatively, you can choose to write a 25-page paper on a topic chosen from a range of topics I will suggest later, and the paper is to be handed in no later than December 9. I would like to have the opportunity to chat with you as you embark on each project. I will provide more details about these papers in our first meeting. I will also set out my expectations for your seminar presentations. Breakdown of Grade: Seminar participation, 20% Discussion leader, 20% Three papers, (or one paper) 60%. Integrity: McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism, and other academic offenses under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information). I have ordered several books that are available for you at the McGill University Bookstore: Bevilacqua, Piero. 2009. Venice and the Water. A Model for our Planet. Solon, Maine: Polar Bear. Hayek, F.A. [1988] 1991. The Fatal Conceit. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mastropaolo, Alfio. 2012. Is democracy a lost cause? Paradoxes of an imperfect invention. Wivenhoe Park, UK: ECPR Press. Ostrom, Vincent. 2008. The Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration. Third ed. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. Tocqueville, A. de. [1835 &1840] 2012. Democracy in America. 2 vols. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. Tocqueville, A.de. [1856] 1956. the Old Regime and the French Revolution. Garden C City: Doubleday Anchor. Other assigned readings are in the course pack; many of them are also available on line. I also strongly encourage you to make Leoni, Bruno.1991. Freedom and the Law ( 3 rd edition. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund) part of your working library. Seminar Meetings #1 France and England Why Western Europe The making of the modern state Political Economy and Development Governance and Policymaking Representation and Participation 2
Reading: Kesselman, Mark et al. European Politics in Transition, Pp. 151-313. 4 th ed, Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Seminar Meeting # 2 Germany and Italy Kesselman et al, European Politics in Transition, 315-514. Wolfram Kaiser. 2007. Hegemony by Default. Christian Democracy in postwar Europe. Pp. 163-190. In his Christian Democracy and the Origins of the European Union. New York: Cambridge UP. Selected Themes Seminar Meeting # 3 Cultural Evolution, the Noosphere and Problems of Cognition F.A. Hayek [1988] 1991. The Fatal Conceit, pp. 5-28, 66-119. V. Ostrom. 1990. Problems of Cognition as a challenge to policy analysts and democratic societies. Journal of Theoretical Politics 2 (3): 243-262. J. C. Scott. 1998. Thin Simplifications and Practical Knowledge: Metis. Pp. 309-341. In his Seeing Like a State. New Haven: Yale UP. Jonathan Steinberg (1990). The Matrix of Virtue and Vice. Pp. 168-180. In his All or Nothing. The Axis and the Holocaust 1941-43. London: Routledge. Ian Kershaw. 2011. Introduction: Going Down in Flames. Pp. 3-15. In his The End. The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler s Germany, 1944-1945. New York: Penguin. Seminar Meeting # 4 Origins: Law, Politics and Economy Harold Berman.1993. Mercantile Law. Urban Law. Conclusions. Pp. 336-402, 520-558 In his Law and Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard UP. Sidney Tarrow. 2004. From comparative historical analysis to local theory : the Italian city-state route to the modern state. Theory and Society 33: 443-471. Karl Polanyi. [1944]2001. Societies and Economic Systems. Pp. 45-58. In his The Great Transformation. The Political Origins of our Time. Boston: Beacon Press. S. R. Epstein. 2000. Introduction. Pp. 1-11. In his Freedom and Growth. The rise of states and markets in Europe, 1300-1750. London: Routledge. Regina Grafe. 2012. Distant Tyranny. Markets, Power and Backwardness in Spain, 1650-1800. Pp. viii-37. Princeton: Princeton UP. 3
Avner Greif. 2005. Commitment, Coercion and Markets: The Nature and Dynamics of Institutions Supporting Exchange. Pp. 727-786. In C. Menard and M. M. Shapiro, eds, Handbook of Institutional Economics. Springer. Seminar Meeting # 5 Economic Growth, and Industrial and Commercial Transformations Hayek, The Fatal Conceit, pp.29-47, and Appendices. Jan De Vries, 1994. The Industrial Revolution and the Industrious Revolution. Journal of Economic History 54 (2): 249-270. Sophus A. Reinert. 2011. Emulation and Translation. Pp. 13-72. In his Translating Empire. Origins of Political Economy. Cambridge: Harvard UP. Filippo Sabetti. 2010. Public Economy. Pp. 181-211. In his Civilization and Self- Government. The Political Thought of Carlo Cattaneo. Lanham: Lexington. Seminar Meeting # 6 Types of Revolution: do violence and positive changes go together? Alexis de Tocqueville. [1856] 1956. The Old Regime and the French Revolution. Read also with care the appendix on Languedoc. Stephen Pincus. 2009. Rethinking Revolutions. Pp. 397-415. In In C. Boix and S.C. Stokes, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. New York: Oxford UP. Seminar Meeting # 7 Democratic Revolution: looking to the United States to understand Democracy in Europe Alexis de Tocqueville ([1835, 1840] 2010. Democracy in America. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. A week of intensive reading may be not do justice to Tocqueville s method of inquiry and empirical analysis. Still for the time available, I suggest a careful reading of author s introduction, and chapters 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9 in Vol. I, and the chapters in Part IV of vol. II, on the influence that democratic ideas and sentiments exercise on political society. Recall also the article by Vincent Ostrom on the problem of cognition. Seminar Meeting # 8 Democracy as a Lost Cause? Representative Government, Parties and Power in Movement Alfio Mastropaolo. 2012. Is Democracy a Lost Cause? Paradoxes of an imperfect invention. 4
James M. Buchanan [1954] 1960. Individual Choice in Voting and the Market. Pp. 90-104. In his Fiscal Theory and Political Economy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Jytte Klausen. 2005. Europe s New Muslim Political Elite. Pp. 15-49. In The Islamic Challenge. Politics and Religion in Western Europe. New York: Oxford UP. S. Tarrow and C. Tilly. 2007. Contentious Politics and Social Movements. Pp. 435-460. In C. Boix and S.C. Stokes, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. New York: Oxford UP. Seminar Meeting # 9 Rethinking The Bureaucratic Phenomenon Vincent Ostrom. 2008. Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration. C. Thoenig.1978. State Bureaucracies and Local Government in France. Pp. 167-197. In K. Hanf and F. W. Scharpf, eds., Interorganization Policy Making. Limits to Coordination and Control. Beverly Hills: Sage. Wolfgang Wirth. 1991. Responding to Citizens Needs: From Bureaucratic Accountability to Individual Coproduction in the Public Sector. Pp. 69-85. In F.- X. Kaufmann, ed., The Public Sector. New York: de Gruyter. Seminar Meeting #10 Capital, Welfare & Subsidiarity Abram de Swaan.1988. In Care of the State. Health Care, Education, and Welfare in Europe and the USA in the Modern Era. Oxford: Oxford UP (selected chapters). F-X.Kaufmann. 1991. The Blurring of the Distinction State versus Society in the Idea and Practice of the Welfare State. Pp. 151-164. In his The Public Sector. Challenge of Coordination and Learning. New York: Walter de Gruyter. A.Brugnoli and A. Colombo, eds. 2012. Government,Governance and Welfare Reform. Pp. 108-130.Northampton: Edward Elgar. Matthew E. Carnes and Isabella Mares.2007. The Welfare State in Global Perspective. Pp. 868-685. In The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics coed. by Carles Boix and Susan Stokes. New York: Oxford UP. Peter A. Hall and David Soskice, eds. 2001. Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Pp. 145-183. New York: Oxford UP. Seminar Meeting # 11 Time, and the World of the Artifactual Piero Bevilacqua.2009. Venice and the Water. A model for our planet. Yadira Gonzalez de Lara, Avner Greif, and S. Jha..2008. The Administrative Foundations of Self-Enforcing Constitutions. American Economic Review 98 (2): 1105-1109. 5
Elinor Ostrom. 1990. Analyzing Long-Enduring, Self-Organized and Self-Governed CPRs. Pp. 61-81, 88-102. In her Governing the Commons. The evolution of institutions for collective action. New York: Cambridge UP. Louis Simard. 2008. Conducting Projects in Uncertain Times. The Case of Electric Power Lines. Public Works Management and Policy 12: 578-589. Seminar Meeting # 12 Polycentric Governance beyond the Holy Roman Empire Charles Sabel and J. Zietlin.1997. Stories, strategies, structures: rethinking historical alternatives to mass production. Pp.1-36. In their World of Possibilities. Flexibility and Mass Production in Western Industrialization. New York: Cambridge UP. Recall the reading in Hall and Soskice from seminar meeting #10. Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks. 2003. Unravelling the Central State, but how? Types of Multilevel Governance. American Political Science Review 97: 233-243. Elinor Ostrom. 2010. Beyond Markets and States. Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems. American Economic Review 100 (June): 641-672. Michael McGinnis and E. Ostrom. 2011. Reflections on Vincent Ostrom, Public Administration and Polycentricity. Public Administration Review 20: 1-11. Seminar Meeting # 13 Looking to the Past to improve the future 6