Political Science 260 Introduction to Comparative Politics Fall 2004 Kelly M McMann Case Western Reserve University Department of Political Science Office Address 218 Mather House Email Address kelly mcmann case edu Phone Number 216 368 5565 Office Hours Tuesdays 6 6 45 Wednesdays 4 4 45 and by appointment How did Saddam Hussein take control of Iraq in 1979 Why is Britain more democratic than Russia Why did Hutus kill an estimated half a million Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 Puzzles such as these are the focus of comparative politics Comparative politics is the study of processes and institutions within countries whereas international relations is the study of interactions among countries Prompted by real world puzzles comparativists investigate broader more theoretical questions What constitutes a revolution and why do revolutions occur How does one country become more democratic than another Why do relations between some ethnic groups turn violent This course introduces students to some of the central puzzles and theories of comparative politics in order to help them better understand world events We will explore the following political phenomena types of governance revolutionary movements and revolutions democratization participation and activism poverty and its alleviation ethnic conflict and peace and state failure For each of the topics we will spend one week examining explanations of the phenomenon and a second week evaluating the explanations against real world examples Are the existing explanations satisfactory and if not what alternative explanations can we suggest The examples are drawn from most regions of the world including the Middle East Africa Asia Europe the former Soviet Union North America and South America Course Materials To evaluate the explanations we will read scholarly works as well as journalistic accounts travelogues and policy pieces Political novels are suggested for further reading The course also incorporates film clips slides and policy exercises Books and Articles Three works are available for purchase at the bookstore The Reckoning The Magic Lantern and We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Unless otherwise noted other required materials are included in the coursepack which is also at the bookstore The books are on regular reserve at Kelvin Smith Library and the coursepack is available through e reserves at http catalog cwru edu screens reserve html News Students are strongly encouraged to follow world events These sources offer some of the best foreign coverage The New York Times http www nytimes com provides daily news for free on its website once you register Also see the website for details about a student subscription discount The Economist is available for free online through EuclidPLUS and in print at Kelvin Smith Periodicals For information about a student subscription rate call 1 800 456 6086 National Public Radio WCPN 90 3 FM broadcasts brief news updates at the top of the hour and news analyses throughout the day on programs like Morning Edition Talk of the Nation All Things Considered and Marketplace See http www wcpn org schedule for the schedule Course Requirements Participation The focus of each class will be on discussion and students are strongly encouraged to take notes on the readings in order to be prepared to integrate and critique the materials and to pose questions for discussion Readings should be completed by the first day of the week they are assigned Because participation is critical to understanding the material students are expected to attend all classes Except under extraordinary circumstances absenteeism will negatively affect students final grades Reading Responses In addition to reading course materials and participating in class students will write a reading response for three of the seven Explanations weeks The purpose of the reading responses is to help students understand critique and integrate the readings and prepare to pose questions for discussion in class Students should develop an argument based on an analytical question such as How are the explanations similar and how are they different What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different explanations If the author provides evidence how well does the evidence support the argument Students are encouraged to ask and answer alternative questions as long as these questions elicit an analysis of the assigned materials For the reading responses informal citations phrases like as Goodwin argues are acceptable Reading responses should be between one and a half to two pages double spaced They must be submitted at the beginning of the first class of the week the analyzed materials are assigned Evaluation of the responses will take into account the degree of independent thinking use of assigned materials and quality of writing Short Essays Students will write a short essay for three of the seven Examples weeks The purpose of the essays is to help students evaluate the readings and prepare to pose questions for discussion in class For these essays the students should apply the explanations from the previous week to the real world examples found in the course materials The essays should present an argument that evaluates how well the explanations account for the events Students may choose which three weeks to write the essays however they may not write on the same topics as they covered in the reading responses For example if a student writes a reading response on democratization he or she cannot write a short essay on democratization The essays should be between two and two and a half pages double spaced They must be submitted at the beginning of the first class of the week the evaluated materials are assigned Grading of the responses will take into account the degree of independent thinking use of assigned materials and quality of writing Final Assignment Students will complete a final take home assignment for which they can use notes and readings but cannot confer with others The assignment will include a series of essay questions Assignments will be distributed at the end of class Thursday December 2 and must be turned in at 218 Mather House Wednesday December 8 no later than 10 am Students should plan their schedules accordingly and organize and review their notes in advance All written work should be carefully structured and grammatically correct To avoid plagiarism students should review Plagiarism What It is and How to