POL 320 Comparative Politics Fall 2016-17 Instructor Room No. Office Hours Email Telephone Secretary/TA TA Office Hours Course URL (if any) Yunas Samad COURSE BASICS Credit Hours 4 Lecture(s) 2 Per Week Duration 1:50 hours Recitation/Lab (per None Duration week) Tutorial (per week) None Duration COURSE DESCRIPTION This course deals with a significant sub-discipline of political science, which relates to understanding the political dynamics of countries across the globe in a comparative perspective. It seeks to enhance the knowledge about both theoretical formulation and empirical reality of politics. The course includes discussion about conceptual and methodological issues of comparative politics, dynamics of state and its relations with social forces and multiple approaches to contemporary politics including modernization, neo-institutionalism, civil society and collective action as well as the democratic theory and practice. It includes a wide range of topics from ethnic politics at the sub-national level to globalization at large. COURSE OBJECTIVES The course seeks to achieve the following goals: 1. Introduce students to the key concepts, theories and debates within the discipline 2. Training the students to critically evaluate various theories and frameworks 3. Enabling the students to develop causal understanding of various processes essential to the functioning of domestic political systems. GRADING Attendance 10% Group Presentation 10% Mid-Term 20% Assignment 20% Final Examination 40%
COURSE OUTLINE Session 1: Introduction: Introducing comparative politics Session 2 Perspectives On Comparative Politics Mair, Peter, Comparative Politics: An Overview, Robert E. Goodin and Hans-Dieter eds, A New Handbook of Political Science, Oxford University Press, 1998, 309-335 Kohli, Atul, et al. 1995. The Role of Theory in Comparative Politics, World Politics, 48 (1), pp. 1-49. Session 3 Method in Comparative Politics Hopkins, J. (2002) Comparative Method in D Marsh and G Stoker (eds.) Theory and Methods in Political Science p.249-267 Lijphart, A (1971) Comparative Politics and Comparative Method American Political Science Review, vol. 45 (3) p.682-93 Session 4 Political Institutions: Nation State Skocpol, Theda, Bringing The State Back In: Strategies Of Analysis In Current Research. In Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer And Theda Skocpol, Eds, Bringing The State Back In, London: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1 Poggi, G (2008) The nation-state in D Caramani Comparative Politics, Oxford University Press: Oxford Session 5 Nationalism and National Identity Greenfield, L and Eastwood National identity in C Boix and S Stokes (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics Anderson, B Imagined Communities inj. Hutchinson & A. D. Smith (eds) Nationalism, Oxford University Press, 1994, pp.89-95 Session 6: Democracy Mair, P (2008) Democracies D Caramani Comparative Politics, Oxford University Press: Oxford Schmitter, Philippe, And Terry Lynn Karl, 1991, What Democracy Is...And Is Not, Journal Of Democracy Session 7: Democratisation Tilly, C. (2000) Processes and Mechanisms of democratisation, Sociological Theory 18(1) p.1-16 Remmer, Karen, 1995, New Theoretical Perspectives On Democratization, Comparative Politics, 28: 103-122 Session 8: Authoritarian Regimes Levitsky, Steven, And Lucan A. Way, 2002, Competitive Authoritarianism In The Post-Cold War Era, Journal Of Democracy, Vol 13, No. 2, 51-65, G. Erdmann and U. Engel, 2006 Neopatrimonialism Revisited Beyond a Catch-All Concept, GIGA Working Papers No 16
Session 9: Group 1 presentations Session 10: Group 2 presentations: Session 11: Democracy: The Sequencing Debate Dahl, Robert A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 17-46. Carothers, Thomas. 2007. The Sequencing Fallacy, Journal of Democracy, 18 (1), pp. 12-27. Session 12: Institutions- I: The New Institutionalism Thelen, Kathleen, 1999. Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 2, pp. 369-404. Hall, Peter A. 1996. Political Science and the Three New Institutionalism, Political Studies, Vol. XLIV, pp. 936-957. Session 13: Mid-term Exam Session 14: Institutions -II: Presidential and Parliamentary Forms of Government Cheibub, Jose and Limongi, Fernando. 2002. Democratic Institutions and Regime Survival: Parliamentarism and Presidentialism Revisited, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 5, pp. 151-179. Elgie, Robert. 2004. From Linz to Tsebelis: Three Waves of Presidential/Parliamentary Studies, Center for International Studies: Dublin City University. Session 15: Institutions-III: Elections and Electoral Systems Cox, Gary W. 1997. Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World s Electoral Systems, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 37-68. Lijphart, Arendt and Grofman, Bernard. 1984. Choosing an Electoral System: Issues and Alternatives, New York: Praeger, pp. 3-12. Session 16: Institutions-IV: Political Parties Stokes, Susan C. 1999. Political Parties and Democracy, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 2, pp. 243-267. Strom, Kaare. 1990. A Behavioral Theory of Competitive Political Parties, American Journal of Political Science, 34 (2), pp. 565-598. Session 17: Social Heterogeneity Lijphart, Arend. 1969. Consociational Democracy, World Politics, 21 (2), pp. 207-225. Rabushka, Alvin and Shepsle, Kenneth A. 1972. Politics in Plural Societies: A Theory of Democratic Instability, Columbus, OH: Merrill. pp. 62-92. Session 18: Citizens and Citizenship Sassen, S. (2003) The Repositioning of Citizenship: emergent subjects and spaces for politics, CR: The New Centennial Review p.41-66 Putnam, R (1995) Bowling Alone: America s Declining Social Capital, Journal of Democracy, Vol 6 (1) p.65-78
Session 19: Social Movements Tarrow, S. & Tilly, C. Contentious Politics and Social Movements, C Boix and S Stokes (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics (2007) pp.435-460 Jenkins, J. Craig, Resource Mobilization Theory And The Study Of Social Movements, Annual Review Of Sociology, Vol. 9, 1983, 527-553 Session 20: New Social Movements Crossley, N (2002)Making Sense of Social Movements, chapter 3 Porta, D.D. and Diani, M. (2006) Social Movements: An Introduction, Blackwell Publishing, pp1-29 Session 21: Political Instability: Revolutions Pincus, S Revolutions in C Boix and S Stokes (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics Snyder, Robert S., The End Of Revolution? The Review Of Politics, Vol. 61, No.1 (Winter 1999), 5-28 Session 22: Ethnic Conflict-I Chandra, Kanchan. 2006. Ethnic Parties and Democratic Stability, Perspectives on Politics, 3 (2), pp. 235-52. Madrid, Raul. 2008. The Rise of Ethnopopulism in Latin America, World Politics, 60 (3), pp. 475-508. Session 23: Ethnic Conflict-II: Ethnic Violence Brubaker Rogers and Laitin, David D. 1998. Ethnic and Nationalist Violence, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 24, pp. 423-52. Rui, JP de Fiqueiredo and Weingast, Barry R., 1997. The Rationality of Fear: Political Opportunism and Ethnic Conflict, Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University. Session24: Ethnic Conflict-III: Conflict Management Lake and Rothchild, 1996. Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict, International Security, 21 (2), pp. 41-75. Lustick, Ian. 1979. Stability in Deeply Divided Societies: Consociationalism vs. Control, World Politics, 31 (3), pp. 325-44. Session 25: Religion In Contemporary Politics Samuel S, Mushi 2006, Conceptual And Historical Perspectives On Religion- Politics Relations, In Mukandala, Rwekaza, Saida Yahya-Othman, Samwel S. Mushi And Laurian Ndumbaro Eds, Justice, Rights And Worship: Religion And Politics In Tanzania, Redet, University Of Dar Es Salaam, 18-56 Waseem, Mohammad, 2007, Islam And The West: A Perspective From Pakistan, In Peacock, James L, Patricia M. Thornton And Patrick B. Inman Eds, Identity Matters, Berghahn Books, New York, 190-204 Session 26 Globalization Evans, Peter, 1997, The Eclipse Of The State? Reflection On The Stateness In An Era Of Globalization, World Politics 50: 62-87 Gelinas, Jacques B., 2003, Juggernaut Politics: Understanding Predatory Globalization, Zed Books, New York, 98-112
Session 27 Diaspora and Transnationalism Portes, A et al (1999). The study of transnationalism: pitfalls and promise of an emergent research field. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22(2), 217233 Samad. Y (2012) Diaspora in the Global City, in Transnationalism in the global city, edited by Gerry Boucher, Annette Grinsted and Trinidad L. Vicente Session 28: Review of the major themes in Comparative Politics