Political Science 101 Introduction to Political Science Course Syllabus

Transcription

1 Political Science 101 Introduction to Political Science Course Syllabus Spring 2012 MWF (10 10:50) Professor: Timothy Werner Office: 308 Carnegie Hall Office Hours: MW 1-2, Tu 3-4, and by appointment Politics is like high school with guns and more money. Frank Zappa Description Political Science 101 is designed to provide you with an introduction to political science as a discipline. The course consists of two primary sections. First, we will explore the scope of political science as a field of inquiry and the methods used by political scientists. In this section, we will examine both normative and descriptive approaches to politics. Normative approaches focus on questions of what should occur in politics, and, in contrast, descriptive approaches seek to analyze what does occur in politics. As social scientists, we are concerned mostly with questions falling into the latter category. The second section of the course will focus on the substance of politics, including the roles played by states, mass publics, organizations, and institutions, as well as the outputs of their interactions, public policy and international relations. Requirements and Assessment You should purchase the following text online or from the campus bookstore: Shively, W. Phillips Power and Choice: An Introduction to Political Science. 12th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN-10: Additional readings are assigned below that will be available via library e-reserve (ER) or PioneerWeb (PW). It is essential to stay up to speed on the reading, as participation is important to your grade. In order to effectively engage in discussion, you need to bring the material with you to class on the day it is assigned. You should also make an effort to remain informed of major political news stories by reading a national or international newspaper, such as the New York Times, Financial Times, or The Economist. These sources are available online to you at no cost either directly or through the college library s website. I will determine your grade for the course based on the following: Attendance and Participation: 15 percent Short Papers (2): 20 percent each Midterm Exam: 20 percent Final Exam: 25 percent 1

2 Attendance and all reading assignments are required. Students who miss more than two meetings of class without permission will receive zero out of 100 points for the participation portion of their grade. Since discussion is central to this class, you should refrain from bringing a laptop computer to class. The dates for all assignments/exams are listed in the schedule; please note that without prior authorization or documented illness or emergency, I will not permit extensions or makeup exams. Assignments not handed in by their deadline will be marked down ten percent immediately and an additional ten percent for each additional 24 hour period they are late. If you believe there is a computational problem with the grading of any of your assignments, you will have three days from your receipt of the grade to make your specific concerns known to me. I will not negotiate points on assignments. Grades will not be curved for individual assignments, but there may be some upward adjustment of final grades if I believe the grade distribution is excessively low. You should not assume such an adjustment will take place. All of the work that you perform for this class should be your own. When you use outside sources, you must cite them properly. If you cheat or plagiarize on any work for this course, I will refer your case to the Committee on Academic Standing, per the student handbook. If you are unsure how to cite a source properly or what you are required to support with citations, you can contact me or the Writing Lab. I strongly urge any student who does not feel confident in their writing abilities to seek individual instruction at the lab. The American Political Science Association Style Manual is available online ( and is a useful resource. Additionally, two helpful general writing reference texts are The Elements of Style and The Chicago Manual of Style. Finally, by the end of the second week of class, please let me know if you need any accommodations in the curriculum, instruction, or assessments of this course to enable you to fully participate. I will maintain the confidentiality of any information you share with me. Grinnell College makes reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students need to provide documentation to the Dean for Student Academic Support and Advising, Joyce Stern, who is located on the 3rd floor of the Rosenfield Center (x3702). 2

3 Tentative Schedule Dates Topic & Readings January Political Science & the Concept of Power 25 What is Political Science? Shively, Chp How Do Political Scientists Define Power? Gaventa, John Power & Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Chp. 1. ER. Some Basics of Political Methodology 30 Quantitative Approaches to Politics Van Evera, Stephen Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Chp. 1 (7 27). ER. February 1 Quantitative Approaches, ctd. Van Evera, S. Chp. 1 (27 40). ER. 3 Formal Approaches to Politics Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Mark S. Bonchek Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions. New York: W.W. Norton. Chp. 2. ER. 6 Qualitative Approaches to Politics Becker, Howard S The Epistemology of Qualitative Research. In Ethnography and Human Development: Context and Meaning in Social Inquiry, ed. Richard Jessor, Anne Colby, and Richard Schweder. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ER. Normative Theories & Ideology 8 Liberalism Shively, Chp. 2 (20 21, 25 27) Locke, John Of the Ends of Political Society and Government. In The Second Treatise of Civil Government. PW. 10 Conservatism Shively, Chp. 2 (27 31) Burke, Edmund Selections from Reflections on the Revolution in France. Excerpt ( and ). PW. Goldfarb, Michael Why Republicans and Tories no longer see eye-to-eye. BBC Online, November 16. PW. 13 Socialism & Communism Shively, Chp. 2 (31 35) Marx, Karl, and Fredrick Engels Manifesto of the Communist Party. PW. Herbst, Moira Socialism? Hardly, Say Socialists. Business Week, May 22. PW. 3

4 February 15 What Does Conservative Mean in the United States Today? Shively, Chp. 2 (22 24, 36 38) Williamson, Vanessa, Theda Skocpol, and Jogn Coggin The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism Perspectives on Politics 9(1): ER. PAPER ONE DISTRIBUTED States, Nations, & Regime Types 17 What is a State... and a Nation? Shively, Chp. 3 (47 64) 20 How has the State been Challenged from Below? Horowitz, Donald L A right to secede? In NOMOS XLV: Secession and Self- Determination, eds. Stephen Macedo and Allen E. Buchanan. New York: New York University Press. ER. 22 PAPER ONE PEER REVIEW DAY and Above? Wolf, Martin Will the Nation-State Survive Globalization? Foreign Affairs 80(1): ER. Alessi, Christopher The Eurozone in Crisis. Council on Foreign Relations. December 2 (may be updated since). PW. 27 What Makes a State a Democracy? Shively, Chp. 7 (151 64) Schmitter, Philippe C., and Terry Lynn Karl What Democracy Is... and Is Not. Journal of Democracy 2(3): ER. 29 How Do Autocracies Maintain Control? Shively, Chp. 7 (164 75) Wedeen, Lisa Acting As If : Symbolic Politics and Social Control in Syria. Comparative Studies in Society and History 40(3): ER. PAPER ONE DUE March Individuals, Participation, & Elections 2 Why Do People Participate in Politics? Shively, Chp. 8 5 What Role Do Social Media Play in Participation? Alterman, Jon B The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted. The Washington Quarterly 34(4): PW. 7 What Factors Affect Aggregate Election Outcomes? Shively, Chp. 10 (235 46) Gottlieb, Anthony Win or Lose: No Voting System is Flawless. But Some are Less Democratic than Others. The New Yorker, July 26. PW. 4

5 March 9 What Factors Affect Individual Vote Choices? Shively, Chp. 10 (246 54) Menand, Louis The Unpolitical Animal: How Political Science Understands Voters. The New Yorker, August 30. PW. Extragovernmental Organizations 12 Political Parties Shively, Chp. 11 (260 76) 14 How Has the American Party System Evolved? Silbey, Joel H American Political Parties: History, Voters, Critical Elections, and Party Systems. In The Oxford Handbook of American Political Parties and Interest Groups, eds. L. Sandy Maisel and Jeffrey M. Berry. New York: Oxford University Press. ER. 16 MIDTERM EXAM SPRING BREAK April 2-4 No Class: International Studies Association Annual Meeting; San Diego, Calif. 6 Who s Organized Into and Who s Organized Out of Politics? Olson, Mancur The Rise and Decline of Nations. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. Chp. 2. ER. 9 Interest Groups & Interest Group Systems Shively, Chp. 12 ( ) 11 How Do Movements Interact with the State... and with the Broader Public? Shively, Chp. 13 (308 15) McLemee, Scott Antiwar No More? Inside Higher Ed: April 6. PW. Tarrow, Sidney Why Occupy Wall Street is Not the Tea Party of the Left. Foreign Affairs: October 10. PW. The Institutions of the State 13 What are the Goals of a Constitution? Shively, Chp. 9 (213 21, ) U.S. Constitution and amendments. PW. Publius The Federalist Papers. No. 51. PW. 16 Parliamentary Systems Shively, Chp. 14 (323 38) 18 Presidential Systems Shively, Chp. 15 (346 63) 5

6 April 20 Veto Players as Common Denominator Tsebelis, George Decision-making in Political Systems: Veto Players in Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, Multicameralism and Multipartyism. British Journal of Political Science 25(3): ER. 23 The Courts Shively, Chp. 17 (387 98) PAPER TWO DISTRIBUTED 25 What Attitude Should the Left Have Toward Courts? Tushnet, Mark Democracy Versus Judicial Review. Dissent 52(3). PW. The Outputs of Politics: Public Policy & International Relations 27 What Policies Do States Adopt, and Why? Shively, Chp. 4 (76 91) 30 PAPER TWO PEER REVIEW DAY May 2 Health Care Reform: Why these Reforms, and Why in 2010? Hacker, Jacob S The Road to Somewhere: Why Health Reform Happened. Perspectives on Politics 8(3): ER. 4 How Does Government Policy Affect Economic Performance? Shively, Chp. 5 (98 124) 7 How and Why Do States Interact? Shively, Chp. 18 PAPER TWO DUE 9 How Does Power Factor into the International System? Nye, Joseph S The Future of Power. New York: Public Affairs. Chp. 1. ER. 11 Wrap-Up, Evaluations, & Review 16 FINAL EXAM (9 a.m.) 6