TA:  Jiang Weiye
1227 Social Sciences
612-624-6821
email:  jiangwy@polisci.umn.edu
Office Hours:  TBA

Course Description: This course is primarily a survey study of 'other people's politics' which at the same time grants us, through comparison, insights into our own. During the quarter we will be studying the governments and politics of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America with emphasis on the contemporary scene. We will also learn diverse conceptual tools and theories necessary for any adequate political analysis. Our survey will also investigate both the regional and global interconnections between the national 'inside' countries and the international 'outside' them. We will finally pursue the phenomenon of 'globalization' and its effects on various parts of our changing world, including economies, polities, and cultures, with particular interest in the dark underbelly of the New World Order. There are three main goals of this course: [1] to understand the political, economic and social structures and processes of contemporary societies; [2] to obtain an elementary knowledge of substantive areas and theories of comparative politics; and [3] to apply this understanding and knowledge to a study of current events with a particular focus on contemporary processes of political, economic and social change. For majors and non-majors alike, anyone interested in the contemporary global political scene.
 

Requirements:  There are five written requirements in this course for all students. To do well, each requirement should receive sufficient attention. 

1. Newspaper Journal -- Throughout the quarter, students will monitor political and economic current events in three countries of a world region of their choosing (based on the Magstadt text) and maintain a journal of their research.  This will be done through the use of on-line news sources accessible via the course web page.  Journals will be due four times during the quarter, at intervals of the student's choosing, and will receive a simple check mark if turned in.

2. Small groups -- Occasionally throughout the quarter you will meet in your small groups and discuss assigned topics relevant to that week.  The groups will turn in short written assignments in class and receive group grades. 

3. Midterm exams -- On January 21 and February 25 we will take  midterm exams lasting one hour each.  The first exam will cover material from weeks 1-2, and the second from weeks 3-7.  There will be no final exam in this course. 

4. Comparison Paper -- Students will write a paper comparing each of the three countries of their world region based on material presented in lecture, on the Magstadt text, and on their own newspaper research. Thus the topic of the paper will be a contemporary issue of the student's choosing in the government and politics of a particular world region as manifested in three distinct countries. Papers should be 4-6 pages in length.

5. Quiz -- Students will take a short quiz on March 11 covering the final readings of the course:  Centeno and the globalization articles.
 

Grades:  Grades in this course will be assigned according to the following formula:
 

Midterm Exam I	15%
Midterm Exam II	20%
Small group projects	20%
Newspaper Journal	5%
Centeno-globalization quiz	10%
Comparison paper	30%

Late papers will be penalized one letter grade. Make-up exams and incompletes will not be given except in cases of documented emergencies.
 

Readings:  There are three primary readings sources in this course.
 

[1]	Thomas M. Magstadt, Nations & Governments: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective, 3rd edition (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998).
[2]	Miguel Angel Centeno, Democracy within Reason : Technocratic Revolution in Mexico, 2nd edition (University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997)
[3]	On-line newspapers

The Magstadt textbook and the Centeno book are available in the H. D. Smith Bookstore on the West Bank. It is very important to purchase the proper editions of each, since there have been significant revisions to both books.  Both books are also available on reserve in the Wilson Library.
 

Internet Resources:  There are several on-line resources which will aid your learning experience in this course.
 

[1]	The on-line newspapers are available through the Newspaper Journal Links Page.  Use of this page is necessary for writing your newspaper journal and for writing the course paper.
[2]	Information on the countries which we will be studying directly from their governments is available through the Government Links Page.
[3]	A web page expanding the information presented in the film "Murder, Money and Mexico" exists on the PBS Frontline web site.
[4]	The on-line articles on globalization are available through the Globalization Page.

Outline of Course Topics and Reading Assignments
 

Date	Theme	Readings
Week 1 January 7	Introduction to Comparative Politics  Concepts and theories	none
Week 2 January 14	Concepts and theories applied Case:  United Kingdom Small groups:  'the radical center'	Magstadt Chs. 1-2 & 5 (pp. 97-110 only)
Week 3 January 21	Midterm I Europe:  France, Germany and Russia Theories of the state	Magstadt Chs. 4 (skim), 5-6 Chs. 7 (skim pp. 165-188 only), 8 (pp. 200-216 only), 9 (pp. 228-239 only)
Week 4 January 28	Asia (China, Japan, India)  Theories of class Small groups:  the Asian financial crisis	Magstadt Chs. 13-15
Week 5 February 4	Middle East (Israel, Egypt, Kuwait)  Theories of political culture Small groups:  Islam and civic culture	Magstadt Chs. 10-12
Week 6 February 11	Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa)  Theories of development Small groups:  colonialism and corruption	Magstadt Chs. 16-18 & 3
Week 7 February 18	Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico)  Putting it all together Small groups:  democratization	Magstadt Chs. 19-21
Week 8 February 25	Midterm II Film:  Murder, Money and Mexico	Centeno Chs. 1-2
Week 9 March 4	Mexico Small groups:  the politics of NAFTA	Centeno Chs. 3-9
Week 10 March 11	Quiz Comparative Paper Due Globalization	articles on web

Important dates:

January 21 -- Midterm I
February 25 -- Midterm II
March 11 -- Quiz; Comparative Paper Due