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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
Rousseau. This purpose of this course is two-fold. First, the survey course is designed to introduce students to a wide range of theories of international politics. During the course of the semester we will examine neo-realism, power transition theory, hegemonic stability theory, the modern world system, international regimes and interdependence, the democratic peace, bureaucratic politics, organizational theory, constructivism, and decision making theory. Second, the course will sharpen students' research design skills. The written assignments require students to take the often abstract theories presented in the readings and develop practical research designs for testing hypotheses derived from the theories. The papers will not include data collection or the execution of actual tests. Rather, they will focus on the conceptual problems of designing tests which eliminate competing hypotheses, operationalizing variables, and identifying potential sources of data. Student's grades will be based on five short research designs and discussion leadership.
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3.00 Credits
Sil. This seminar is aimed primarily at graduate students planning to take doctoral exams in comparative politics. It provides a critical survey of the field of comparative politics, tracing the intellectual history of the field, examining shifts in conceptual frameworks and research traditions, and comparing alternative methodological approaches. The first half of the course generally examines how processes of political, economic, and social change have been theorized in the social sciences from the mid-19th century to the present. In this process, particular attention is paid to the bifurcation between theories that emphasize the "universal" (e.g. the homogenizing effects of specific processes or variables) and the "particular" (e.g. the persistence of distinctive historical legacies and trajectories). Since this bifurcation is reinforced by distinct styles and methods of research, the seminar also probes the recent battles between rational-choice, cultural, and structuralist scholars, while considering the trade-offs between varieties of formal, quantitative, and qualitative methods. In the second half, the focus shifts to the range of substantive problems investigated by scholars in the field of comparative politics. These topics cover the complex relations among nations, states and societies; the origins, consolidation, and patterns of democratic governance; political economy in relation to development processes and social policies; the intersection of international/global economy and domestic politics; the dynamics of revolutions and social movements; and alternative problematiques constructed from the point of view of real actors such as workers, women, and local communities. In all cases, As a whole, the course is designed to provide an introduction to important issues and debates that comparativists have regularly engaged in; to help you understand the assumptions behind, and differences between, particular approaches, methods, and styles of research; to examine whether current debates are spurring new or better research in a given field in light of past approaches; and to gauge whether there has been progress, fragmentation, or stagnation in the field of comparative politics as a whole.
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3.00 Credits
Frankel. This course examines the debate in development studies arising from recognition that economic models, theories, methods, and strategies abstracted from the specific experience of western societies and cultures do not have general applicability. A broader social science approach is adopted, one which emphasizes the need to understand the social structures and cultures of the developing countries, the capabilities of weak versus strong states, and the links with the international system that influence transformative processes to which industrializing economies are subjected. The readings offer an overview of the most influential theories of development and underdevelopment that structured debate from the 1960's through the 1990's,and focus on the elements of these approaches that advance understanding of development and stagnation in several key countries, including Brazil, Mexico, India and selected countries in East and Southeast Asia.
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3.00 Credits
Amyx. This graduate level seminar explores the evolving political dynamics of 'FINANCIAL STATECRAFT'. We will examine the relationship between financial flows and traditional foreign policy concerns, seeking to understand why and how governments have attempted to harness or constrain financial markets and institutions in the service of foreign policy goals. Specific topics include the introduction of capital flow guraantees or restrictions, imposition of financial sanctions on non-state actors, underwriting of roeign debt in currency crises, currency unions and other forms of currency cooperation, and foreign exchange reserve management.
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3.00 Credits
Mansfield. Examination of the relationship between the international, political, and economic systems from a variety of theoretical perspectives that have emerged in the postwar period, including liberalism, transnationalism, statism, Marxism, and dependency.
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3.00 Credits
Goldstein. This seminar offers graduate students an introduction to the subfield of international relations labeled strategic studies (or security studies). In addition to exploring key theoretical issues, we consider their usefulness for understanding relevant events in international politics since World War II. Although the course emphasizes the distinctive features of great power strategy in the nuclear age, we also look at the continuing role of conventional forces, the strategic choices of lesser powers, and selected security problems in the post-Cold War world (e.g., proliferation, terrorism).
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3.00 Credits
Norton. This is a course on the categories and construction of gender, sex and sexuality. The literature is so vast, the debate so vigorous, and the changing shape of thought so rapid that the absurdity of the pretense to provide a "comprehensive" or a "definitive" account is more than usually evident. The course foregrounds works that put gender, sex and sexuality - and with them the subject - in question. One set of works is drawn from political and feminist theory and includes writings by Judith Butler, Lacques Lacan, Guy Hocquenham, Monique Wittig, and Nancy Fraser. Through the use of works from comparative politics and cultural studies, the interrogation of the sexual subject reveals itself as an interrogation of political economies and political institutions. This aspect of the course addresses the question of gender in relation to race, class, and diverse political situations, including those of colonialism and liberalism, welfare policy and immigration law.
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3.00 Credits
Gottschalk. Analyzes important patterns of continuity and change in American politics by examining the development of the American State from a comparative and historical perspective. Covers issues and debates central to not only the subfield of American politics, but also the discipline of political science more broadly. These include the role of the state, political culture, interests, ideas, and institutions in politicadevelopment, and the role of history in political analysis. Open to advanced undergraduates with the permission of the instructor.
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