POLS 335- Pro-seminar in Comparative Politics

Fall 2002

Tuesday 1.30-4 HRM 112

 

Lyle Scruggs                                                                                                                             Office: 112 Monteith

Email: lyle.scruggs@uconn.edu                                                                                                   Phone: 486-0409

 

 

Overview

This course is an overview of major approaches and topics in comparative politics.  The class is designed to introduce you to scholarly work in the subfield as well as helping prepare you for exams.  The reading load is reasonably heavy: 250-400 pages a week.  The additional readings in each week that accompany the required material provide a more complete (but by no means exhaustive) reading list that you may find useful. 

 

Assignments and Evaluation:

Preparation/Discussion (20%): The class is a student-oriented seminar.  Students are thus expected to come prepared to critically discuss and evaluate the material. You are required to complete the reading and writing assignments on time and to actively participate in seminar discussion each week.

In doing the reading, it will always be useful to identify:

1)      Problem: what is the main question the author wants to answer, and why is it important?

2)      “Model”: what is the dependent variable (what the author wants to explain) and what explains it

3)      Theoretical explanation: what are the causal mechanisms in the story “explaining” the dependent variable.

4)      Research Design: What type of evidence does the author use to test their explanation and how did they obtain their evidence

It will probably be impossible to read everything assigned closely every week.  Learning to skim for answers to the above questions is an important professional skill you will develop in this course.

 

Critical papers:  Students will sign-up for two “required reading” and two “additional reading” assignments.  Sign-up sheets will be distributed on the second week of class.  The first group of papers, etc. will be for Week 3. 

 

--All written assignments should be distributed to the entire class by email no later than noon on the Monday before class.

--All students are expected to have read these papers before class. 

-- My evaluations of these papers will be returned to you on two dates: mid-semester and the last day of class.

2 “Required reading ” assignments: (10% each, 20% total ) You should prepare a synthetic review of the required readings for the week (approximately 4-5 double-spaced pages) and come to class prepared to lead discussion on this material.

 

2 “Additional reading” assignments (10% each, 20% total) Those signed up for supplementary reading on a given week will provide a critical review of one starred (*) book on the “Additional” list for that week, and present that review in class.  The review should summarize/critique the book and discuss its relationship to the theme for that week. (You may also choose readings that are not on the list, but please clear them with me at least a week ahead.)  Your presentation should be 5-10 minutes, and you should be prepared to address questions from students about the book and how it fits into the themes in the course. (You might use the suggestions in the preparation section above as a guide.) Please do not read your paper; think of it as a very concise lecture.

 

 

Exam: (40%)  A final take home exam will include questions similar to those you might see on a comparative politics field exam.  You will have three days to answer the questions.  The exam will be given out on the last day of class.

 

Books

We will read most or all of the following books.  They are not  in the Co-op, but can be purchased elsewhere (e.g., on line).[1] 

* books are read in their entirety by only part of the class (see Week  5 for details) 

+ books are also available on reserve in Babbidge Library.

 

+Tilly, 1993. Coercion Capital and European States ($38 new/$30 used) (week 3)

*+Luebbert, 1991. Liberalism, Fascism or Social Democracy: Social Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in Interwar Europe.  Oxford. (30/20) (week 5)

*+ Moore, 1968. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Beacon (25/19) (week 5)

Diamond and Plattner, eds. 2001. Global Divergence of Democracies. JHopkins. (19/15) (week 6)

+Putnam, Making Democracy Work. Princeton (21/15) (week 8)

+Hirschman, 1970. Exit Voice and Loyalty. Harvard (17/13) (Note: only 162 pages) (week 9)

LeDuc, Niemi and Norris, eds. 2002. Comparing Democracies. Second Edition. Sage (32/--) (week 11)

+Lijphart, 1999 Patterns of Democracy, Yale. (18/15) (week 14)

Bates, 2001. Prosperity and Violence. The Political Economy of Development (17/12) (Note: only 140 pages) (week 15)

 

Though we do not read most of it, those interested in European politics or political parties more generally are encouraged to purchase the following, which contains excerpts from some classics.

+Mair, 1990. The West European Party System Oxford. (25/15) (week 11)

 

Other readings

Most other readings from books can be found on reserve in the library.  Most journal articles are available on-line (e.g., JSTOR or Infotrac); others are available in the stacks.  If an item is not available in the library or on-line, I will arrange to have the material in the lounge, and you can make copies in the office. 

Please remember that others also need the materials you copy, so please return items to their appropriate places after use (lounge, stacks, shelves, etc.). 

 

All students are encouraged to obtain readings well ahead of time. 

 

Another valuable resource for becoming and keeping up-to-date on some central issues in comparative politics is the newsletter of the comparative politics section of the American Political Science Association. Archives are available at:     http://www.shelley.polisci.ucla.edu/apsacp/

 

 

 

Course Outline.

 

Week 1 (9/3) Introduction:   Overview

Sartori, "Comparing and Miscomparing" Journal of Theoretical Politics, 3 (3) 1991, 243-57

 

Week 2 (9/10) Comparative Theory and Method

Lijphart, “Comparative Politics and Comparative Method," APSR , 65 (3) 1971, 682-93. (JSTOR)

Eckstein, 1975 "Case Study and Theory in Political Science" in Greenstein and Polsby, eds. Handbook of Political Science,  79-130 (vol 7).

Ragin, Comparative Method, Princeton, 1987, Ch. 3 and 4.

Przeworski and Tuene, The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry, pp.17-30.

Tilly, 1984. Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. Sage. (about 140 pages)

 

Additional Reading

Overview

Barry, Sociologists, Economists and Democracy.

Brown and Macridis, ed. Comparative Politics: Notes and Readings. 8th Edition. Prentice Hall.

Chilcote,  Theories of Comparative Politics, Westview, 1994.

Kohli, et al. "The Role of Theory in Comparative Politics", World Politics  48, 1995: 1-49.

Lapalombra "Macrotheories and Microapplications in Comparative Politics: A Widening Chasm" Comparative Politics 1(1), 1968, 52-78.

Rogowski, "Comparative Politics" in Finifter, ed. Political Science: The State of the Discipline II, APSA, 1993.

Sartori, "From the Sociology of Politics to Political Sociology" in Lipset, ed. Politics and the Social Sciences.

Peters, Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods. NYU Press, 1998.

 

                Comparative Method

Collier, 'New Perspectives on the Comparative Method" in Rustow and Erikson, Comparative Political Dynamics. Harper Collins, 1991.

Przeworski and Tuene, The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry, Krieger.

Pennings, Keman and Kleinnijenhuis, Doing Research in Political Science: AN Introduction to Comparative Methods and Statistics. Sage, 1999.

Ragin, Comparative Method, Princeton, 1987.

Sartori, "Comparing and Miscomparing" Journal of Theoretical Politics, 3 (3) 1991, 243-57

 

                Explanation in Comparative Politics (and social science more generally)

Almond and Genco, “Clouds, Clocks and the Study of Politics,” World Politics 28(4), 1977.

Bartonlini, "On Time and Comparative Research," Journal of Theoretical Politics, 5 (2), 1993, 131-67.

*Elster, Explaining Technical Change, Cambridge, 1991, pp. 1-88.

Elster, "Marxism, Functionalism and Game Theory: the Case for Methodological Individualism," Theory and Society, 453-82 (plus extended comments that follow)

Fearon, "Counterfactuals and Hypothesis-testing in Political Science" World Politics, 43 (Jan.), 1991, 169-95.

Gourevitch, "The Second Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics" International Organization 32(4), 1978, 881-911

*King-Keohane and Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry, Princeton

Lakatos, "Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programs" in Lakatos and Musgrave, Criticism and the growth of Knowledge, 1970, pp.91-196

Miller, Fact and Method Princeton, 1987, esp. 15-155

Review Symposium: The Qualitative-Quantitative Disputation", APSR, 89 (2), 1995, 454-81.

 

 

 

Week 3 (9/17) States and Regimes

Olson, 1993. “Dictatorship, Democracy and Development” APSR. 87 567-76.

Almond, “The Return to the State” and rejoinders, APSR. 82 (Sept), 1988, 853-901.

Tilly, Coercion Capital and European States, Basil Blackwell, 1990.

Weber, Economy and Society, 901-40  (vol. 2, U. of Cal Press edition)

 

Additional

*Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State, New Left Books, 1974.

Bendix, Kings or People, California, 1978

Ertman, Birth of Leviathan. Cambridge

*Levi, 1997. Consent, Dissent and Patriotism. Cambridge.

*Silberman, 1993. Cages of Reason: The Rise of the Rational State in France, Japan, the United States and Great Britain. U of Chicago Press.

Strange. 1996. The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the Global Economy. Cambridge UP

*Tilly, States and Economic Development: A Comparative Historical Analysis

Tilly, 1986 The Formation of States in Western Europe,  Princeton, esp. Ch.1

 

Week 4 (9/24) Modernization and Political Development

Deutsch, Social Mobilization and Political Development, APSR, 55:493-514 (JSTOR)

Inglehart, Modernization and Post-Modernization, ch. 1-3 (3-107)

Huntington, "Political Development and Political Decay" World Politics, 17 (1965): 486-530. (JSTOR)

Lerner, The Passing of Traditional Society. Glencoe Press. Ch 1.

Lipset, Political Man. Ch, 2

Przeworksi and Limongi, 1997. “Modernization: Theories and Facts” World Politics. 49. (JSTOR)

 

Additional

Almond and Coleman, Politics of the Developing Areas

*Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies Harvard, 1968

*Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth:  A Non-communist Manifesto. Cambridge, 1960.

*Lipset, Political Man. Johns Hopkins (reissued edition)

Finkle and Gable, eds. Political Development and Social Change. Esp. chapters by Gusfield, Black, and Pye.

Bates, ed. 1988. Towards a Political Economy of Development: A Rational Choice Perspective.  80-130, 239-44

Additional Reading: Dependency Theory and Radical Critiques

Frank, "The Development of Underdevelopment" in Latin America: Underdevelopment of Revolution. 1969, pp. 103-113.

Wallerstein, "The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System"  Comparative Studies in Society and History.  16(1974): 387-415.

Chilcote, in Theories of Comparative Politics, pp. 215-84

*Chase-Dunn, Global Formation: Structures of the World Economy, Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.

Chirot and Hall, "World Systems Theory" Annual Review of Sociology, 8 (1982): 81-106.

Evans, Dependent Development, Princeton, 1979

Packingham. 1992. The Dependency Movement: Scholarship and Politics in Development Studies. Harvard.

Palma, "Dependency: A Formal Theory or a Methodology…", World Development, 6 (1978): 881-924.

Valenzuela and Valenzuela. 1978 “Modernization and Dependency: Alternative Perspectives in the Study of Latin American Underdevelopment.” Comparative Politics. 10. 535-52.

Wallerstein, The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century. Academic Press, 1974.

Wallerstein, "The Concept of National Development, 1917-1989 Eligy and Requiem" American Behavioral Scientist. 35 (1992): 517-29.

 

Week 5 (10/1) Democracy and Society 

Luebbert, Liberalism, Fascism, or Social Democracy, Oxford, 1991 (all read 1-11, 306-315, half read all)

Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. (all read 413-508, half read all)

 

Additional:

*Collier. 2000. Paths toward Democracy: The Working Class and Elites in Western Europe and South America. Cambridge.

Skocpol, 1973. “A critical review of Barrington Moore…” Politics and Society. 4:1-34.

*Rueschemeyer, Huber and Stephens. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. (Chicago)

Rothman. 1970. “Barrington Moore and the Dialectics of Revolution.” APSR. 64: 61-85 (include reply and rejoinder)

Laitin and Fearon, 1996. “Explaining Ethnic Cooperation.” APSR. 90: 715-35.

 

Week 6 (10/8) Political Regimes and the Transition to Democracy

Schmitter and Karl, “What Democracy Is … and Is not” J. or Democracy. 2:75-88.

Diamond and Plattner, eds., 2001 Global Divergence of Democracies. Johns Hopkins.

Geddes, "What Do We Know About Democratization?" mimeo of 1998 APSA paper.

 

Additional

Burkhart and Lewis-Beck, "Comparative Democracy: The Economic Development Thesis" APSR, 88(1994):903-10.

*Collier, Paths to Democracy. Cambridge, 1999

Gasiorowski, "Economic Crisis and Political Regime Change: An Event History Analysis" APSR, 89 (4) 1995, 882-97.

*Huntington, The Third Wave. Oklahoma, 1991.

O’Donnell, Schmitter, and Whitehead, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule.

*Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens, Capitalist Development and Democracy, Chicago, 1992

*Przeworski, Democracy and the Market, Cambridge, 1991

*Przeworski, et al., 2000. Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World: 1950-1990. Cambridge

 

Week 7 (10/15)  Political Violence and Revolution

Goldstone, Revolutions in the Late 20th Century, 20-36.

Gurr, “The Revolution-Social Change Nexus” Comparative Politics. 5: 359-92

Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions. 3-42, 161-171, and chapter 4, 5, or 6.

Motyl, 1992. “Concepts and Skocpol: Ambiguity and Vagueness in the Study of Revolution” J. of Theoretical Politics. 4:93-112.

Popkin, Rational Peasant, Ch. 1-2, 6

Scott, Moral Economy of the Peasant. Ch. 1-2, 7

 

Additional

Brinton, Anatomy of a Revolution. Prentice Hall. 1952.

*DeNardo, Power in Numbers.

*Fish, Democracy from Scratch: Opposition and Regime in the New Russian Revolution. (Princeton, 1996)

Goldstone. 1991. Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World. California.

Gurr, 1970. Why Men Rebel? Princeton.

Hibbs. 1973. Mass Political Violence.

Horowitz. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. California.

Kimmel, Revolution.

*Lichbach, 1995.  The Rebel’s Dilemma. Michigan

Paige, Agrarian Revolution Free Press, 1975

*Parsa, States Ideologies and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of Iran, Nicaragua and the Philippines. Cambridge University Press (2000).

*Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution

Wolf. 1969. Peasant Wars in the Twentieth Century. Harper and Row

 

Week 8 (10/22)           Political Attitudes and Political Culture

Putnam, 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton. 1993.

Levi, "Social and Unsocial Capital…", Politics and Society, 24 (1), 1996, 44-55.

Granato, et al. 1996 "The Effect of Cultural Values on Economic Development" AJPS 40 (3), 607-716 (read all of the articles). (JSTOR)

Elkins and Simeon, 1979. "A Cause in Search of an Effect, or What Does Political Culture Explain," Comparative Politics, Jan. 127-145.

 

 Additional

* Almond and Verba, The Civic Culture.  All but pay particular attention to Ch. 1,5,6,13 (or 1,6,7,15 in hardback)

*_______________, 1980. The Civic Culture Revisited.

Banfield, 1958. The Moral Basis of Backward Society. Free Press.

*Barry, Sociologists, Economists and Democracy.

Chilcote, Theories of Comparative Politics, 177-214

Eckstein, "A Cultural Theory of Political Change," APSR, 82 (3), 1988, 789-804.

Eckstein, "Culture as a Foundation Concept for the Social Sciences" Journal of Theoretical Politics, 8 (1996): 471-97

*Geertz, 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. Harper and Row.

*Inglehart, 1999. Modernization and Postmodernization, Princeton, (Ch 4-end)

*Inglehart and Jackman, et al.  exchange in "The Renaissance of Political Culture" APSR 82 (4) 1988, 1203-29

Laitin, 1997. “The Cultural Identities of a European State” Politics and Society. 25: 277-302.

Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. Yale, 1976.

Thompson, Ellis and Wildavsky, Cultural Theory Westview, 1990.

*Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

"Choosing Preferences by Constituting Institutions; A Cultural Theory of Preference formation," APSR, 81, 1987, 3-21.)

 

Week 9 (10/29) Collective Action and Social Movements

Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution, pp12-51.

Hirschman, Exit Voice and Loyalty

Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations, Ch.1, (summary of Logic of Collective Action)

Other readings TBA.

 

Additional

*McAdam, et al., Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements. Cambridge, 1996.

Piven and Cloward, Poor People's Movements.

*Tarrow, Democracy and Disorder

 

 

Week 10 (11/12) Comparative Public Policy

Peters, 1977. “Types of Democratic Systems and Types of Public Policy.” Comparative Politics. 9:327-55.

Steinmo and Swank, 2002. “The New Political Economy of Taxation” AJPS 46: 642

Steinmo, 1989. “Political Institutions and Tax Policy Choices in Britain, Sweden and the United States.” World Politics 41: 500.

Cameron, 1978. “The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis” APSR. 72: 1243-61

 

Additional

Adolino and Blake, 2001. Comparing Public Policies Congressional Quarterly Press.

*Baldwin, 1990. Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Basis of the European Welfare State.  Cambridge

*De Swann, 1988. In Care of the State: Healthcare, Education and Welfare in Europe and the USA, , Oxford

*Esping-Andersen, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism

*Hall, 1986. Governing the Economy.

*Hall, ed. The Political Power of Economic Ideas.

*Hicks. 1999.  Social Democracy and Welfare Capitalism: A Century of Income Security. Cornell.

Peters. The Politics of Bureaucracy (5th edition) Longman

*Pierson, 1995. New Politics of the Welfare State.

*Skocpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States.

Castles, Comparative Public Policy

*Huber and Stephens. 2001 Development and Crisis of the Welfare State. Chicago

*Vogel, Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries.  Cornell.
 
Week 11 (11/19)  Political Parties and Elections

Mair, The West European Party System. Ch. 3,5,9,11, 13, 16, 19, 20, 24 (about 200 pages)

LeDuc, Niemi, and Norris, Comparing Democracies 2, Ch. TBA

 

Additional

*Kalyvas, 1996. The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe. Cornell.

*Przeworski and Sprague, 1986. Paper Stones: A History of Electoral Socialism

*Kitschelt, 1999. Post-Communist Party Systems:  Competition, Representation and Inter-party Cooperation. Cambridge.

*Downs, 1957 An Economic Theory of Democracy

*Cox, 1997. Making Votes Count. Strategic Coordination in the World’s Electoral Systems

*Powell, Elections as Institutions of Democracy. Yale

 

Week 12 (11/26): No Class (Classes follow a Friday Schedule)

 

Week 13 (12/3)  Institutions: Types of Regimes

Linz, 1975. “Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. In Greenstein and Polsby, eds. Handbook of Political Science Addison Wesley, Vol. 3, pp. 191-357. (much of this can be skimmed.)

Przeworski and Limongi, 1993. “Political Regimes and Economic Growth” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 7: 51-69

Held, Models of Democracy (2nd edition), Ch. 5,6.

 

Additonal

Collier, ed. 1979. The New Authoritarianism in Latin America. (Princeton)

*Wintrobe, 1998 The Political Economy of Dictatorship. Cambridge

*Held, 1996. Models of Democracy (2nd edition) (remaining)

 

Week 14 (12/10) Institutions: Democratic Constitutional Arrangements

Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy.

Shugart and Carey, 1992. Presidents and Assemblies. Ch. 1

Powell, Contemporary Democracies. “The Constitutional Setting”

North and Weingast, 1989 “Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth Century England.” Journal of Economic History. 49: 803-832.

Laver and Schofield. 1990. Multiparty Government. Oxford. Ch. 1, 3, 6

 

Additional

*Buchanan and Tulloch. 1962. The Calculus of Consent. Michigan

*Shugart and Carey, 1992. Presidents and Assemblies

Powell, 1982. Contemporary Democracies. Harvard.

*Powell. 1999.   Elections as Institutions of Democracy. Yale.

Lijphart. 1992. Presidential vs. Parliamentary Government. Oxford. Intro, Ch. 14,31

Powell and Whitten, “A Cross-national Analysis of Economic Voting: taking Account of the Political Context” AJPS. 37: 391-414.

*De Tocqueville, Democracy in America.

Manin, 1997. Principles of Representative Government. Cambridge. Ch. 6,7

Downs, 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. Ch. 7-8.

Persson and Tabellini, 2000. Political Economics. MIT

Schmitter and Lehmbruch, eds. 1979. Trends towards Corporatist Intermediation.  7-48, 231-70

Sartori, Comparative Constitutional Engineering. NYU Press.

Berger, ed. Organizing Interests in Western Europe. Esp 1-62,  123-58, 285-327.

 

Week 15 Comparative Political Economy

Bates, Prosperity and Violence.

Gershenkron, “Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective”

Lindblom. Politics and Markets. 3-89, 161-200

Wade, Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization (ch. 10-11)

Rogowski. “Political Cleavages and Changing Exposure to Trade” American Political Science Review. 81: 1121-37.

 

Additional

*Polanyi, The Great Transformation, 1944. Beacon.

*Hall and Soskice, ed. Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford.

*Katzenstein. 1985., Small States in World Markets. Cornell

*Kitschelt, et al, eds. Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism, Cambridge, 1999

*Gourevitch, Politics in Hard times, Cornell, 1986

Haggard, Pathways from the Periphery. Cornell, 1990

*Hall, Governing the Economy, 1986.

                Political Power of Economic Ideas, 1989.

*Garrett, Partisan Politics in the Global Economy Cambridge, 1998.

*Boix, Political Parties, growth and Equality. Cambridge, 1998.

*Iverson, Pontusson and Soskice,  eds. Unions, Employers and Central Bankers, Cambridge, 2000.

*Hall and Soskice, eds 2001. Varieties of Capitalism , Oxford

Zysman, “How Institutions Create Historically Rooted Trajectories of Growth” Industrial and Corporate Change 3 (1) 1994, 243-83.

Many readings from the comparative public policy section may also fit here.

 



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