Political Science 601: Scope and Methods
Fall 2012
Instructor: Brian Adams
e-mail: badams@mail.sdsu.edu
Phone: 594-4289
Office: Adams Humanities 4114
Office hours: Tuesdays 10-11 am, Wednesdays 11-noon, Thursdays 9-10 am, or by appointment.
Overview:
This course introduces graduate students to the discipline of political science by examining four
core concepts: power, rationality, institutions, and democracy. We will approach each concept
from different perspectives, drawing on works from all of the discipline’s subfields. These
concepts are central to understanding the political world and conceptualizing, defining, and
measuring them is a central task of political analysis. In the process of exploring these concepts,
we will also examine the methodological debates within the discipline. This is not a “how to”
course that teaches students how to use various methodological tools (POSC 515 and 516
perform that function), but it will orient students towards the different approaches to studying
politics. The course is also designed to develop skills that graduate students need to write a thesis
and successfully complete the program. Specifically, students will learn how to define a research
question and write a literature review.
Texts:
Eliasoph, Nina (1998). Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hirshmann, Albert O. (1970). Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Harvard University Press.
Landry, Pierre F. (2008). Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist Party's
Control of Local Elites in the Post-Mao Era. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Przeworski, Adam et al. (2000). Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and WellBeing in the World, 1950-1990. Cambridge University Press.
Putnam, Robert D. (1993). Making Democracy Work. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Walzer, Michael (1983). Spheres of Justice. New York: Basic Books.
Journal articles and book chapters available through the course website on blackboard.
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Assignments/grading
1. Class participation. Students are expected to come to every class period, prepared to discuss
the assigned readings. Class attendance is mandatory. Students who miss class, or come to class
unprepared and/or late, may be required to complete additional writing assignments. (about onethird of course grade).
2. Literature review (due November 15th). See page 7 for guidelines. (about one-third of course
grade).
3. Take-home final (due December 11th) (about one-third of course grade).
Course Outline
Note: Course readings are subject to change—changes will be announced in class or via e-mail.
Week 1 (August 28th)
a.) Introduction to the course
b.) How to read political science articles
c.) How to find academic literature
d.) Historical development of the discipline
Part I: Power
Week 2 (September 4th): What is “power”?
Dahl, Robert A. (1957). “The Concept of Power.” Behavioral Science 2 (3): 201-215.
Lukes, Steven (ed.), Power: A Radical View, pp. 14-37.
Hayward, Clarissa R. (1998). “De-facing Power.” Polity 31 (1): 1-22
Goldman, Alvin I. (1972). “Towards a Theory of Social Power.” Philosophical Studies
23 (4): 221-268.
Barnett and Duvall, “Power in Global Governance.” Pp. 1-23.
Week 3 (September 11th): Power relations between branches of government
Edwards, George C. (2009). The Strategic President : Persuasion and Opportunity in
Presidential Leadership. Princeton University Press. Preface and chapters 1, 4, 5, and 6.
Note: This is an e-book available for free through the SDSU LIbrary
[readings continue on next page]
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Cameron, Charles and Noal McCarty (2004). “Models of Vetoes and Veto Bargaining.”
Annual Review of Political Science 7, 409-435.
Carey, John M. (2007). “Competing Principals, Political Institutions, and Party Unity in
Legislative Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (1): 92-107.
Recommended: Knopf, Jeffrey W. (2006). “Doing a Literature Review.” PS: Political
Science and Politics 39 (1): 127-132.
Note: Students should hand in a one-paragraph summary of their literature review topic at the
beginning of class.
Week 4 (September 18th): Who has power?
Dahl, Who Governs, pp. 1-8, 85-6, 115-140, 163-165, 223-228.
Polsby, Community Power, pp. 112-121
Lindblom, Charles E. (1982). “The Market as Prison.” Journal of Politics 44 (2): 324-336.
Stone, Clarence N. (1980). "Systemic Power in Community Decision Making: A
Restatement of Stratification Theory." American Political Science Review 74 (4): 978-84.
Stone, Clarence N. (1993). "Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political
Economy Approach." Journal of Urban Affairs 15 (1): 1-28.
Winters, Jeffrey A and Benjamin I Page (2009). “Oligarchy in the United States?”
Perspectives on Politics 7(4): 731-751.
Part II: Rationality
Week 5 (September 25th): the rational choice approach to political science
Green, Donald P. and Ian Shapiro. Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory. Pp. 1-32.
Riker, William H. and Peter C. Ordeshook (1968). “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting.”
American Political Science Review 62 (1): 25-42.
Ferejohn, John A. and Morris P. Fiorina (1974) “The Paradox of Not Voting: A Decision
Theoretic Analysis.” American Political Science Review 68 (2): 525-536.
Wildavsky, Aaron (1987). “Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A
Cultural Theory of Preference Formation.” American Political Science Review 81 (1): 321.
Edelman, Murray. The Symbolic Uses of Politics, pp. 1-21.
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Week 6 (October 2nd): the “rationality” of ethnic conflict
Kaufmann, Chaim (2005). “Rational Choice and Progress in the Study of Ethnic Conflict:
A Review Essay.” Security Studies 14 (1): 178-207.
Green, Donald P. and Rachel L. Seher (2003). “What Role Does Prejudice Play in Ethnic
Conflict?” Annual Review of Political Science 6, 509-531
Fearon, James D. and David D. Laitin (2003). “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.”
American Political Science Review 97 (1): 75-90.
Varshney, Ashutosh (2003). “Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Rationality.”
Perspectives on Politics 1, 1: 85-99.
Kaufman, Stuart J. (2006). “Symbolic Politics or Rational Choice? Testing Theories of
Extreme Ethnic Violence.” International Security 30 (4): 45-86.
Week 7 (October 9th): Rationality and War
Fearon, James D. (1995). “Rationalist Explanations for War.” International Organization
49 (3): 379-414.
Wagner, R. Harrison (2000). “Bargaining and War.” American Journal of Political
Science 44 (3): 469-484.
Powell, Robert (2006). “War as a Commitment Problem.” International Organization 60
(1): 169-203.
Walt, Stephen M. (1999). “Rigor or Rigor Mortis? Rational Choice and Security
Studies.” International Security 23 (4): 5-48.
Week 8 (October 16th): Rationality, symbolism, and loyalty
Hirschmann, Exit, Voice and Loyalty, pp. 1-128
Warren, Mark E. 2011. “Voting With Your Feet: Exit-Based Empowerment in
Democratic Theory.” American Political Science Review 105 (4): 683-701
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Part III: Institutions
Week 9 (October 23rd): Theoretical and empirical approaches
March, James G. and Johan P. Olsen (1984). “The New Institutionalism: Organizational
Factors in Political Life.” American Political Science Review 78 (3): 734-749.
March, James G. and Johan P. Olsen (2006). “Elaborating the ‘New Institutionalism.’” In
R.A.W. Rhodes, Sarah A. binder, and Bert A. Rockman, eds. The Oxford Handbook of
Political Institutions. Oxford University Press. Pages 3-20.
Keohane, Robert O. (1988). “International Institutions: Two Approaches.” International
Studies Quarterly 32 (4): 379-396
Frymer, Paul (2005). “Racism Revisited: Courts, Labor Law, and the Institutional
Construction of Racial Animus.” American Political Science Review 99 (3), 373-387.
Galanter, Marc (1974). “Why the ‘Haves’ Come out Ahead: Speculation on the Limits of
Legal Change.” Law and Society Review 9 (1): 95-125 and 135-144.
Week 10 (October 30th): Decentralization: Institutions and Governmental Performance
Oxhorn, Philip. 2004. “Unraveling the Puzzle of Decentralization.” In Oxhorn, Philip,
Joseph S. Tulchin, and Andrew D. Selee, eds. Decentralization, Democratic Governance,
and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. Pages 321.
Diamond, Larry. 1999. Developing Democracy: Towards Consolidation. Johns Hopkins
University Press. Pages 117-159
Treisman, Daniel. 2007. The Architecture of Government: Rethinking Political
Decentralization. Cambridge University Press. Pages 1-15.
Kymlicka, Will. 2005. “Federalism, Nationalism, and Multiculturalism.” In Dimitrios
Karmis and Wayne Norman, eds. Theories of Federalism: A Reader. Palgrave Macmillan.
Pages 269-289.
Olken, Benjamin A. 2011. “Direct Democracy and Local Public Goods: Evidence from a
Field Experiment in Indonesia” American Political Science Review 104 (2): 243-267.
Week 11 (November 6th): Institutions and Political Power
Landry, Pierre F. (2008). Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist
Party's Control of Local Elites in the Post-Mao Era. New York: Cambridge University
Press. Pages 1-115 and 221-267.
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Part IV: Democracy
Week 12 (November 13th): Justice and Democracy
Walzer, Spheres of Justice, preface and chapters 1, 5, 8, 12, 13
Literature Review due November 15th
Week 13 (November 20th): Democratization, part I
Przeworski, Adam et al. Democracy and Development. Pp. 1-215.
Week 14 (November 27th): Democratization part II
Putnam, Robert D. Making Democracy Work pp. 1-192.
Week 15 (December 4th): political apathy
Eliasoph, Nina. Avoiding Politics, pp. 1-84, 131-187, 230-263
Final exam due December 11th
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Guidelines for writing the literature review
Choosing a research topic
1. There are few restrictions on the topic you choose, other than it must be “political science” in
some general sense.
2. Your topic should be a narrow research question. By narrow, I mean that it should deal with
one specific political phenomenon. For example, “racial politics in American cities” is way too
broad for a topic; something along the lines of “Is deracialization a successful strategy for
mayoral candidates?” would be more appropriate.
3. Your topic should be formulated as a question that attempts to understand a specific political
phenomenon.
4. In order to define a research topic, you need to know something about the literature. Thus, you
need to do some reading even before you have a clear idea of what research question you want to
study. The best approach is to start out with a general topic, do some reading on that topic, and
then define a more specific research question.
5. The research topic can be tweaked a bit as you write your literature review. Defining a
research question is necessary to orient your research, but it is not written in stone.
6. You may not “recycle” papers you wrote as an undergraduate or graduate student. Any student
found doing this will be given a failing grade.
Writing the Literature Review
1. A literature review synthesizes past research on a topic. Literature reviews are not simply
summaries of books and articles. You should not write this paper in the format “author A said x,
and author B said y,” which is essentially a series of book reports rather than a literature review.
What you should do is integrate your sources to map out the terrain of the scholarly discourse on
the subject. You should pull out core ideas and concepts from the readings, and weave them
together into a coherent discussion of your topic. Part of this process involves “comparing and
contrasting” different authors, but a literature review goes beyond that: it not only compares
authors, but also fits them together into a coherent picture. The best literature reviews say
something about the literature as a whole: in addition to describing the scholarly debate, they
also comment on it. This is not in the form of who’s right or wrong but rather a commentary on
the fundamental issues at stake or the particular shape or characteristics of the debate. In other
words, a good literature reviews is not just a description of the literature, but also an
interpretation. We will talk about what makes for a good literature review in class, and we are
reading some literature reviews in class that are good models to follow.
2. One of the biggest problems graduate students often run into is they miss important parts of
the literature or spend too much time on insignificant/tangential works. As you write your
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literature review, ask yourself whether you are focused on the most important research in the
area.
3. Doing a good literature review requires good library skills. Spend some time familiarizing
yourself with library resources and using online library databases.
4. One of the best article databases to use is Web of Science; even though it is not user-friendly,
it includes almost all political science journals and most relevant journals from other disciplines.
You can also do cited reference searches, which are quite valuable. Another database that include
political science journals is J-Stor, although it is less comprehensive than Web of Science. There
are some political science journals in ProQuest and Academic Search Premier, but they are
woefully incomplete.
5. Your literature review should focus on academic literature (books and articles). Do not include
newspaper or magazine articles. If you have reason to, you can draw on literature outside of
political science (such as sociology or economics).
6. Page length. There is no specified minimum or maximum, although I expect it will be about
10-15 pages.
General
1. If you want some examples of literature reviews, a good place to look is The Annual Review of
Political Science, which is an annual collection of literature reviews on various topics with the
discipline. The quality of the reviews vary, but they will provide you with some idea of how
literature reviews are structured. The Annual Review of Political Science is available for free
through SDSU’s library databases.
2. You should use the citation method used in the American Political Science Review, which is
the generally accepted method of citation in the discipline (although there is a lot of variation). I
would suggest getting a recent article of the APSR and following its citation method.
3. Don’t hesitate to come to my office hours to discuss your literature review. We can also make
an appointment to meet if you cannot make office hours.
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