University of Virginia Department of Politics Fall 2002 PLCP 101: INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS MW: 12-12:50 301 Wilson Hall 1 Professor David Waldner 146A Cabell Hall 4-6931 Office hours: Mondays, 3-5:00 Teaching Assistants: Rocio Cardiel, Abhishek Chatterjee, Yaprak Gursoy, and Karl Pfefferkorn Website: http://toolkit.virginia.edu/plcp101-1 Comparative politics is both a subject and a method. As a subject, we study the structures, processes, and outcomes of domestic politics. Methodologically, we hope to learn not simply by studying other countries, but rather by systematically comparing and contrasting their political processes and structures with the goal of deriving more general knowledge. This course is an introduction to both themes. We will not focus exclusively on any particular countries. Instead, we will range widely in time and space, taking a macro-perspective on the study of politics. In contrast to the popular view that differences in political practices across countries can be explained by different cultural values, we will explore the hypothesis that core features of political systems are instead shaped by divergent patterns in the generation and organization of power, and that these patterns themselves have a strong influence on culture. More specifically, we will look at how broad differences in the process of state formation affect the prospects for domestic order and democracy and the opportunities for economic prosperity. Requirements: Attendance at lectures and weekly discussion sections is mandatory. Reading assignments should be completed by the date listed on the syllabus. I expect you to participate in discussion sections; your participation should be informed by readings and lectures. To facilitate your informed participation, there is a weekly writing assignment. You are required to write a brief (about one page) summary of the readings marked below with an asterisk. These summaries should be tightly compressed, concise summaries of the main arguments of the readings. In your own words, you should state the main claim of the reading: what is the phenomenon being discussed?; what are the main concepts employed? and what are the main hypotheses proposed by the author? I think you will find that writing these short papers is excellent exercise: it will force you to concentrate while reading, and you will find that, with practice, you can distinguish between central and peripheral material and focus on the former, even while reading difficult articles. As a bonus, you will enter the discussion section with the arguments firmly in mind, making your participation that much easier. And, if all that were not enough, when it comes time to study for examinations, you will have summaries of many of the readings at your fingertips. Note, finally, that these papers will not be graded: as long as you make a good faith effort to capture the essence of difficult readings, you will receive full credit. Your teaching assistants will talk to you more about the mechanics of these papers. Keep in mind for now that each paper is due before the start of the lecture that is just prior to your discussion section: if your section meets on Tuesdays, your papers will be due on Monday (with the first paper due on September 9th); if your sections meet on Thursdays or Fridays, the papers will be due on Wednesday (with the first paper due on September 11th). Grading: Your grade for the discussion section will count towards 10% of your final grade. There will be four other assignments: a quiz on September 23rd (contributing 10% to your final grade); a midterm examination on October 16th (worth 20% of your final grade); a five-page paper due on
2 November 20th (25% of your final grade); and a final examination on Wednesday, December 11th, from 2-5:00 (35% of your final grade). Permission to reschedule an exam or for an extension on the paper must be received prior to the scheduled due date. Readings: All of the required readings are contained in one book and a reader. Walter C. Opello and Stephen J. Rosow, The Nation-State and Global Order: A Historical Introduction to Contemporary Politics is available in the university bookstore. A course packet available at Brillig Books on Elliewood Avenue contains all of the remaining readings. Because that reader is not yet available for purchase, I will place the first few readings on the course website (see above for the address) Office Hours: I hold office hours every Monday from 3 to 5:00 in 146A Cabell. You are all welcome-- even encouraged--to stop by, introduce yourselves, discuss any problems you might be having, talk about course material, and even, hopefully, argue about course material. I will also address specific questions sent to me by email. Please keep in mind, however, that I cannot summarize in an email the lecture that you missed. ********************************************************************************** August 28: Introduction. Schedule of Lecture Topics and Readings Part I: Basic Concepts and Approaches September 2: Comparative Politics and Political Science Daniel Lieberman, Upending the Expectations of Science, New York Times July 14, 2002, 4/15. Robin Dunbar, The Trouble with Science, 12-27 Todd Landman, Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics, 4-14, 22-34. September 4: Thinking about Power *John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. 3-32. Thomas Wartenberg, Situated Social Power, in T. Wartenberg, ed., Rethinking Power, 79-101. September 9: Generating, Organizing, and Deploying Power *Michael Mann, The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms, and Results, European Archive of Sociology 25 (1984): 185-212. September 11: Early Forms of Political Organization *Robert Bates, Prosperity & Violence: The Political Economy of Violence, 30-49. Walter Opello and Stephen Rosow, The Nation-State and Global Order: A Historical Introduction to Contemporary Politics, 13-25, 29-top of 43, 47-top of 57.
Part II: Capitalism and Democracy in Europe 3 September 16: Formation of the Modern State *Bates, Prosperity & Violence, 50-69. Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order, 69-87. Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, 329-36, 341-52. September 18: Modern States and the Rise of Capitalism Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order, 91-99. *Linda Weiss and John M. Hobson, States and Economic Development, 55-92. September 23: Deploying Power and Forming Citizens ***Quiz---25 minutes--quiz*** Martin Van Creveld, The Rise and Decline of the State, 143-170, 205-222. September 25: State Building and Nationalism Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order, 181-191 (middle). *Rogers Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany, 1-17. Michael Hechter, Containing Nationalism, 24-33, 56-69. September 30: Taming Power: Social Movements *Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, in Robert Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader, 473-83. Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics, 10-23, 54-67. October 2: Taming Power: Political Inclusion Theodore Hamerow, The Birth of a New Europe, 285-309. John Markoff, Waves of Democracy 43-52, 60-67. *Evelyne Huber, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and John D. Stephens, The Impact of Economic Develoment on Democracy, Journal of Economic Perspectives 7 (Summer 1993): 71-78. October 7: Reading Holiday: No Class!! October 9: Power Unleashed: Fascism and Communism Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order 116 (bottom) -130. Robert Tucker, The Marxian Revolutionary Idea, 122-29, 134-38. *A. James Gregor, Interpretations of Fascism, xviii-xxx.
October 14: Power Redeployed: Welfare States Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order, 133-56. Christopher Pierson, Beyond the Welfare State, 6-37. 4 October 16: MIDTERM EXAMINATION Part III: Comparative Politics and the Post-Colonial World October 21: Power, Culture, and Rationality Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization,112-123, 324-29. *James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance, 1-16. October 23 Culture and the Study of Comparative Politics: Modernization Theory Daniel Lerner, The Passing of Traditional Society, 19-42. *B.C. Smith, Understanding Third World Politics, 61-87. October 28 Power and the Study of Comparative Politics, Part I: Dependency Theory *J. Samuel Valenzuela and Arturo Valenzuela, Modernization and Dependency: Alternative Perspectives in the Study of Latin American Underdevelopment, in Heraldo Munoz, ed., From Dependency to Development, 15-35 Smith, Understanding Third World Politics, 120-132, 142-167. October 30: Power and the Study of Comparative Politics, Part II: The State *Tony Smith, The Underdevelopment of Development Literature: The Case of Dependency Theory, World Politics 31 (January 1979): 247-88. Peter Evans, Embedded Autonomy: States & Industrial Transformation, 43-73. November 4: State Building in the Post-Colonial World: Causes Opello and Rosow, Nation-State and Global Order, 191-99, 201-220. Mohammed Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament: State Making, Regional Conflict, and the International System, 28-41, 93-102. *Barbara Geddes, Building State Autonomy in Brazil, Comparative Politics 22 (January 1990): 217-233. November 6: State Building in the Post-Colonial World: Economic Consequences. Chalmers Johnson, Political Institutions and Economic Performance, in Frederic Deyo, ed., The Political Economy of the New Asian Industrialism, 136-164. *Thomas Callaghy, The State and the Development of Capitalism in Africa, in Donald Rothchild and Naomi Chazan, eds., The Precarious Balance: State & Society in Africa, 67-92.
November 11: State Building in the Post-Colonial World: Consequences for Democracy. Charles Tilly, Coercion, Capital, and European States, 192-227. *Ghassan Salame, The Oil Rent, the Fiscal Crisis of the State, and Democratization, in Salame, ed., Democracy without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, 130-52. 5 November 13: State Building and Revolutions *Jeff Goodwin, No Other Way Out: States and Revolutionary Movements, 1945-1991, 3-31, 35-50. ***The paper topic will be distributed at the end of this class session.*** November 18: State Building and Economic Development, Part II. *Thomas Callaghy, Toward State Capability and Embedded Liberalism in the Third World, in Joan Nelson, ed., Fragile Coalitions: The Politics of Economic Adjustment, 115-138. Giovanni Arrighi, The African Crisis: World Systemic and Regional Aspects, New Left Review 15 (May-June 2002): 5-36. November 20: State Building and Democracy, Part II. *Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation, 24-63. November 25: Class Cancelled November 27: No Class, Thanksgiving Holiday ***Papers are due, 12:00*** December 2: State Collapse and Ethnic Conflict Ted C. Fishman, Making a Killing, Harper s Magazine (August 2002): 33-41. John Bowen, The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict, Journal of Democracy 7 (1996): 3-14. *Ted Robert Gurr, Peoples Versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century, 65-95. December 4: Conclusion: Power, Culture, and Rationality *Michael Ignatieff, The Narcissism of Minor Difference, in The Warrior s Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience, 34-71. December 11: Final Examination (301 Minor) 2-5:00