1 Political Science 241
Fall 2017
Lecture: M/W 2:00 – 2:50 p.m. 319 Gregory
Discussion Section Leader: Hyo Won Shin [email protected]
Prof. Matthew S. Winters [email protected] Office: 315 David Kinley Hall Office Hours: Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. or by appointment
Comparative Politics in Developing Nations
Course Description
This course provides an overview of the politics and economics of the developing world and aims to familiarize students with theories about why countries have different levels of economic development and different political systems and about the consequences of such variation. We draw on examples from a variety of developing and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The course uses the comparative method: we consider hypotheses about why particular countries and governments look and act the way they do and then use empirical evidence to evaluate the hypotheses. One of the main goals of the course is to familiarize students with the social science research process in preparation for taking upper-level political science classes and as a way of developing critical abilities for assessing the truth claims that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. PS241 is a Non-Western Cultures and UIUC Social Sciences course.
Course Goals
The course has three central objectives. The first objective is to make students familiar with important theoretical approaches to the study of the developing world. To this end, the first part of the class will examine key conceptual and theoretical contributions to the study of economic and political development in the developing world. The second objective is to deepen students’ critical thinking skills by familiarizing them with the social scientific research method. The third objective is to introduce students to some of the challenges and pressing issues confronting developing countries.
Over the course of the semester, students can expect to improve their abilities to…:
- … make conceptual distinctions across different types of countries with regard to their economic and political institutions;
- … think theoretically about causal relationships where explanatory variables are linked to outcome variables;
- … understand social science research methods, including correlational analysis, qualitative comparison, field experiments, and behavioral games;
- … understand the graphical presentation of data.
Course Materials
2 Course Requirements and Grading
There will be a midterm test and a final examination. Each will be an in-class, multiple choice test based on material from the readings, lectures, and discussion section. To perform well on these tests, students should do the readings, be attentive in lecture, and be attentive in discussion section. The midterm test will cover material from the first half of the class, and the final test will explicitly cover material from the second half of the class only (although material from the first half of the class will remain implicitly relevant). The midterm test will take place during a scheduled class meeting; the final test will be on the scheduled day during the final examination period.
Students will turn in two writing assignments (about five pages each) over the course of the semester. The first is a data analysis assignment that will ask you to compare countries using concepts learned in the class by looking at relevant data for those countries. The second is a critical essay that will ask you to use course material (from lectures, readings, and discussion sections) to make an argument. These assignments will be distributed through the course’s Compass website on Friday morning and will be due one week after distribution.
The course includes weekly discussion sections. In these sections, students have the opportunity to review and discuss the reading / watching / listening assignments addressing the themes around which the course is organized. Because discussion section allows for deeper engagement with course material than is possible during the lectures, your attendance and participation are required and will be tracked and graded by your discussion section leader. We understand that absences are sometimes necessary, and each student is therefore allowed two discussion section absences without penalty.
For each week of discussion section, there will be a set of reading questions for that week’s assigned readings. These will be distributed through the Compass website. You will be required to turn in your reading questions to your discussion section leader by 9:00 a.m. Friday each week. Students may opt not to submit up to two sets of reading questions per semester without penalty.
Note on Recommended Study Habits
All of the class assignments will draw on the material covered in the lectures. Therefore, it is important to attend class lectures and to interact with the material during lecture through careful note-taking and good question-asking. It is highly recommended that you take notes by hand rather than on a computer or other electronic device: multiple studies have shown that comprehension and retention of material is superior among students who take notes by hand.
3 Weighting of Grades
The relative weighting of each of the course requirements for the final course grade is as follows:
Midterm Test 20 Percent
Final Exam 20
First Writing Assignment 15
Second Writing Assignment 20
Reading Questions 15
Discussion Section Participation 10
Assignment of Final Grades
Final letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
A+ 97-100 B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 67-69 F <60
A 93-96 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 63-66 A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 D- 60-62
Late Assignments: Students are expected to complete assignments by the dates specified on the syllabus. If a student anticipates being unable to complete an assignment on time, the student should contact the instructor in advance of the assignment due date. If students experience a personal emergency that prevents them from handing in an assignment on time, students may consult with the Student Assistance Center (http://odos.illinois.edu/community-of-care/student-assistance-center/) about obtaining a letter explaining their absence from campus. Part 5 of Article 1 of the Student Code of Conduct (http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1_part5_1-501.html) details the specific circumstances under which seeking a letter of absence is appropriate.
Academic Honesty: The work that you submit in this class must be your own. Unless an assignment is explicitly designed to be collaborative, you are expected to work independently of other students. When you make use of external sources, you are required to cite them. When in doubt about whether a citation is necessary or not, provide a citation. As described in Part 4 of Article 1 of the Student Code of Conduct (http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1_part4_1-401.html), consequences for plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty can include zero points on an assignment, failure for the course or dismissal from the university.
Classroom Behavior: There are several ways in which students can help make the classroom conducive to learning. First, students should treat one another with respect during classroom discussion. We will discuss contentious issues in this class, and if you find yourself disagreeing with a claim made by someone else, you should work on expressing that disagreement in a constructive and impersonal fashion. Second, students using laptop computers should be using them for class-related purposes. Other uses are distracting to your fellow students and hinder overall learning in the classroom.
4 (DRES). The DRES Student Services Office is reachable at 217-333-4603 or [email protected].
Emergencies: Emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time, so it’s important that we take a minute to prepare for a situation in which our safety could depend on our ability to react quickly. Take a moment to learn the different ways to leave this building. Next, figure out the best place to go in case of severe weather: a low-level in the middle of the building, away from windows. And finally, if there’s ever someone trying to hurt us, our best option is to run out of the building. If we cannot do that safely, we’ll want to hide somewhere we can’t be seen, locking or barricading the door if possible and being as quiet as we can. We will not leave that safe area until we get an Illini-Alert confirming that it’s safe to do so. If we can’t run or hide, we’ll fight back with whatever we can get our hands on. If you want to better prepare yourself for any of these situations, visit police.illinois.edu/safe. Remember you can sign up for emergency text messages at emergency.illinois.edu.
Extra Credit Opportunity for Participation in Political Science Research: Students enrolled in this course may have the opportunity to participate as research subjects in the Political Science Department Subject Pool. If so, details about how to sign up and the exact amount of extra credit available will be distributed in the coming weeks.
Course Schedule
Note: This schedule is subject to change by the instructor according to students’ needs or course delays.
Week One – Introduction / Social Science Research / Measuring Development Monday 28 August – Introduction / Presentation of the Syllabus
Wednesday 30 August – What is the Developing World? / What is Development? Friday 1 September – Discussion Section
Video: World Bank Global Links. 2001. Hear Our Voices—The Poor on Poverty, available at http://go.worldbank.org/DUCTEM8V50 or http://youtu.be/6KJSPEacHxw. Wolfgang Sachs. 2000. “Development: The Rise and Decline of an Ideal.” Wuppertal
Paper No. 108. August. Wuppertal, Germany: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. 29 pp.
No Class on Monday 4 September (Labor Day)
Week Two – Measuring Development
Wednesday 6 September– Human Development Friday 8 September – Discussion Section
5 Week Three – States and Nations
Monday 11 September – States, Nations and Nation-States Wednesday 13 September – The Historical Origins of the State Friday 15 September – Discussion Section
Walker Connor. 1978. “A Nation is a Nation, is a State, is an Ethnic Group is a…,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 1(4): 377-400.
Charles Tilly. 1985. “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime,” in Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol, eds., Bringing the State Back In. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 169-91.
Week Four – The Post-Colonial State
Monday 18 September – The Legacies of Colonialism for Contemporary States Wednesday 20 September – State Building
Friday 22 September - Discussion Section
Francis Fukuyama. 2004. “The Imperative of State-Building,” Journal of Democracy 15(2): 17-31.
Matthew Lange. 2005. “British Colonial State Legacies and Development Trajectories: A Statistical Analysis of Direct and Indirect Rule,” in Matthew Lange and Dietrich Rueschemeyer, eds., States and Development: Historical Antecedents of Stagnation and Advance. New York: Palgrave MacMillan Press, pp. 117-139.
Week Five – Regime Types: Democracy and Democratization Monday 25 September – What is Democracy?
Wednesday 27 September – Why Are Some Countries Democratic? Friday 29 September – Discussion Section – Receive First Assignment
José Antonio Cheibub, Jennifer Gandhi and James Raymond Vreeland. 2010. “Democracy and Dictatorship Revisited,” Public Choice 143 (1-2): 67-101.
Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel. 2009. “How Development Leads to Democracy: What We Know about Modernization,” Foreign Affairs (March/April): 33-48.
Week Six – Regime Types: Authoritarian and Semi-Authoritarian States Monday 2 October – How Should We Classify Non-Democracies?
Wednesday 4 October – How Do Non-Democracies Differ from Democracies? Friday 6 October – Discussion Section – First Assignment Due
Barbara Geddes. 1999. “What Do We Know about Democratization after Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 2: 115-44.
Week Seven – Review and Midterm Monday 9 October – Review
Wednesday 11 October – MIDTERM
6 Week Eight – Economic Development
Monday 16 October – How Does Economic Development Happen? Wednesday 18 October – Institutions and Economic Development Friday 20 October – Discussion Section
Video: National Geographic Society. 2005. Guns, Germs and Steel: Episode One: “Out of Eden.” Available at https://youtu.be/QwZ4s8Fsv94 (54:34).
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson. 2005. “Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth,” in Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf, eds., Handbook of Economic Growth, Volume 1A: 385-471. Read sections 1 – 4 (pp. 385 – 421).
Week Nine – Obstacles to Economic Development: Corruption Monday 23 October – What is Corruption?
Wednesday 25 October – Why Do Corrupt Politicians Stay in Office? Friday 27 October – Discussion Section
Jakob Svensson. 2005. “Eight Questions about Corruption,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 19(3): 19-42.
Jordi Muñoz, Eva Anduiza, and Aina Gallego. 2016. “Why Do Voters Forgive Corrupt Politicians? Implicit Exchange, Credibility of Alternatives, and Cynicism,” Local Government Studies 42(4): 598–615.
Week Ten – Obstacles to Economic Development: The Resource Curse Monday 30 October – What is the Resource Curse?
Wednesday 1 November – Can the Resource Curse Be Addressed? Friday 3 November – Discussion Section
Video: BBC Four. 2004. The Curse of Oil: Episode 1 (“Rich and Poor”), available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGDWAVBrM18 (55:43).
Michael L. Ross. 1999. “The Political Economy of the Resource Curse,” World Politics 51: 297-322.
Week Eleven – Obstacles to Economic Development: Ethnic Fractionalization Monday 6 November – Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision
Wednesday 8 November – The Design of Political Institutions in Ethnically-Diverse States Friday 10 November – Discussion Section
James D. Fearon. 2003. “Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country,” Journal of Economic Growth 8: 195-222.
7 Week Twelve – Globalization and Development
Monday 13 November – Globalization
Wednesday 15 November – Race to the Bottom? Friday 17 November – NO DISCUSSION SECTION
Excerpt from Karl Polanyi. 1944. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press. In Mark Kesselman, ed. The Politics of Globalization: A Reader. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 20-27.
Excerpt from Thomas L. Friedman. 1999. The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization. New York: MacMilan. In Mark Kesselman, ed. The Politics of
Globalization: A Reader. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 59-69.
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. 2000. “Two Cheers for Sweatshops,” New York Times Magazine 24 September.
Christopher Blattman and Stefan Dercon. 2017. “Everything We Knew about Sweatshops was Wrong,” New York Times 27 April.
No Class the Week of 20 November (Fall Break) Week Thirteen – Foreign Aid
Monday 27 November – What is Foreign Aid?
Wednesday 29 November – What Role Can Foreign Aid Play in Economic Development? Friday 1 December – Discussion Section – Receive Second Assignment
Steven Radelet. 2006. “A Primer on Foreign Aid,” Center for Global Development Working Paper No. 92, July, Washington, D.C. 24 pp.
William Easterly. 2006. The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. New York: Penguin Press, chs. 1 (“Planners Versus Searchers”) and 2 (“The Legend of the Big Push”), pp. 3-59.
Week Fourteen – Foreign Aid Effectiveness
Monday 4 December – Revisiting the Role of Foreign Aid in Economic Development Wednesday 6 December – Has Foreign Aid Led to Economic Development?
Friday 8 December – Discussion Section – Second Assignment Due
James Ferguson with Larry Lohmann. 1994. “The Anti-Politics Machine: 'Development' and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho,” The Ecologist 24(5): 176-181.
Nicholas Eubank. 2012. “Taxation, Political Accountability, and Foreign Aid: Lessons from Somaliland,” Journal of Development Studies 48(4): 465-480.
Week Fifteen – Current Trends in Development and Review Monday 11 December – Current Trends in Development
Wednesday 13 December – Final Review Session
8 http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/11/08/243967328/episode-494-what-happens-when-you-just-give-money-to-poor-people
Christopher Blattman and Paul Niehaus. 2014. “Show Them the Money: Why Giving Cash Helps Alleviate Poverty,” Foreign Affairs 93.3 (May/June):
Final Exam
