COMPS READING LIST
2002-2003
American Politics
The best preparation for the American politics exam is a thorough grounding in the
materials covered in POSC 122 sections and advanced courses in the American politics
field. In addition, we recommend reading a minimum of two books from each category.
I. Institutions
A. Arnold, Douglas, Logic of Congressional Action (1990)
B. Jones, Charles O., The Presidency in a Separated System (1994)
C. Rosenberg, Gerald, The Hollow Hope (1991)
D. Skowronek, Steven, The Politics Presidents Make (1993)
II. The Electoral Process
A. Aldrich, John H., Why Parties (1995), chs. 1, 2, 6-8; skim chs. 3-5
B. Browning, Rufus, Dale Rogers Marshall, and David Tabb, Racial Politics in
American Cities, 2nd ed. (1997)
C. Skocpol, Theda and Morris K. Fiorina, eds., Civic Engagement in American
Democracy (1999) chs. 1-4, 8-13.
D. Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman and Henry Brady, Voice and Equality
(1995), chs. 3-5, 7-8, 10-16
III. Public Opinion and Public Policy
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Costain, Ann, Inviting Women's Rebellion
Hochschild, Jennifer, Facing up to the American Dream (1995)
Kingdon, John W., Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies (1995)
Olson, Mancur, The Logic of Collective Action (1965)
Jones, Bryan and Lynn Bachelor, The Sustaining Hand: Community
Leadership and Corporate Power (1993, 2nd edition only)
Revised 9/20/02
Political Theory
I. Ancients and Moderns
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Plato, Republic
Aristotle, Politics, Bks. I-IV
Machiavelli, The Prince
Hobbes, Leviathan, Parts I & II
Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract
Marx, "German Ideology" and "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of
1844" in Marx-Engels Reader
G. Nietzsche, “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” and Beyond
Good and Evil, Parts 1, 5 & 9
II. Liberal Classics
A. Locke, Second Treatise of Government
And one of the following two:
B. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, The Federalist: 1, 6, 9-10, 14-16, 23, 37, 39,
47-49, 51, 58, 62, 63, 70, 78
OR
C. de Tocqueville, Alexis, Democracy in America. Vol. I: Preface; Author's
Introduction; Pt. 1: Chs. 2, 3, 8; Pt. 2: Chs. 1, 6-9. Vol. II: Preface; Pt. 1:
Chs. 1, 2, 5, 8, 20; Pt. 2: Chs. 1-9, 15, 17, 20; Pt. 3: Chs. 1, 5, 7-13, 17-19, 21,
22; Pt. 4: entire
AND
III. At least two of the following four options:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Young, Iris Marion, Justice and the Politics of Difference
Sandel, Michael, ed., Liberalism and Its Critics
Lyotard, Jean-Francois, The Postmodern Condition
Strauss, Leo, Introduction to Political Philosophy: "What Is Political
Philosophy?", "Three Waves of Modernity," "Natural Right and the Historical
Approach"
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Comparative Politics
Choose two books and one article from each of the three lists.
I. Theory and Methodology
A. Books
1. Rieschemeyer, Dietrich, John D. Stephens, and Evelyne Huber Stephens,
Capitalist Development and Democracy (1992)
2. Lichback, Mark I. and Alan S. Zuckerman, eds. Comparative Politics:
Rationality, Culture, and Structure. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1997.
3. Putnam, Robert, Making Democracy Work (1993)
4. King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba, Designing Social Inquiry:
Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1994.
B. Articles
1. Evans, Peter B., “The Eclipse of the State: Reflections on Stateness in an Era
of Globalization,” World Politics 50:62-87 (1997)
2. Remmer, Karen, “Theoretical Decay and Theoretical Development: The
Resurgency of Institutional Analysis,” World Politics 50 (October 1997):
34-61.
3. MacIntyre, Alisdair, "Is a Science of Comparative Politics Possible?” in
Against the Self-Images of the Age: Essays on Ideology and Philosophy
(1971)
4. Weber, Max, "Bureaucracy and Political Leadership," in State and Society, a
Reader in Comparative Politics, Reinhard Bendix, ed. (1968)
II. Comparative Institutions
A. Books
1. Stepan, Alfred & Juan Linz, Problems of Democratic Consolidation (1996)
2. Lijphart, Arend & Carlos Waisman, Institutional Design in New Democracies
(1996)
3. Tismaneanu, Vladimir, Reinventing Politics: Eastern Europe from Stalin to
Havel (1992)
4. Pempel, T.J., Regime Shift (1998)
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B. Articles
1. Hall, Peter, "Policy Paradigms, Social Learning and the State: The Case of
Economic Policy Making in Britain," Comparative Politics, 25, No. 3
(April 1993)
2. Linz, Juan J., "Presidential or Parliamentary Democracy: Does it Make a
Difference?” in Linz, Juan and Arturo Valenzuela, The Failure of
Presidential Democracy: Comparative Perspectives (1994)
3. O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Delegative Democracy,” Journal of Democracy
(1994), 5:1 (January) 55-69
4. K. Thelen and S. Steinmo, “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative
Politics” in S. Steinmo, K. Thelen & F. Longstreth, Structuring Politics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1992).
III. Political Economy and Development
A. Books
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bates, Robert H., Markets and States in Tropical Africa (1981)
Weiss, Linda, The Myth of the Powerless State. Cornell University Press,
1998.
Pierson, Paul, Dismantling the Welfare State? (1994)
Haggard, Stephan & Robert Kaufman, The Political Economy of Democratic
Transitions (1995)
B. Articles
1.
2.
3.
4.
Amsden, Alice, "The State and Taiwan's Economic Development" in Evans,
Rueschemeyer and Skocpol, Bringing the State Back In (1985)
S. Berger and R. Dore, “The Convergency Hypothesis Revisited:
Globalization but Still the Century of Nations” in S. Berger and R. Dore,
National Diversity and Global Capitalism. Cornell University Press
(1996)
Gerschenkron, Alexander, "Economic Backwardness in Historical
Perspective," in Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective (1962)
North, Douglass C., "Institutions and Economic Growth: An Historical
Introduction," World Development, 17, No. 2 (Sept. 1989), 1319-332
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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WORLD POLITICS
Read two lettered items from each of the four subfields (eight items total):
I. International Relations Theory
A. Skalnes, “From the Outside In, From the Inside Out: NATO Expansion and
International Relations Theory,” Security Studies (Summer 1998): 44-87
Gaddis, "International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War,"
International Security 17 (Winter 1992-93): 5-58
Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations?” The New Shape of World Politics
(1997):67-91
Lebow, "The Long Peace, the End of the Cold War, and the Failure of
Realism," International Organization (Spring 1994): 249-77
Wohlforth, "Realism and the End of the Cold War," International Security
(Winter 1994-95): 91-129
Jervis, “Realism, Neoliberalism, and Cooperation,” International Security 24
(Summer 1999)
B. Stein, Arthur, Why Nations Cooperate (1990)
C. Waltz chapters, in Keohane,ed., Neorealism and Its Critics (1986): 47-130; and
Baldwin, ed., Neorealism and Neoliberalism (1993): 85-169, 209-33, 269338
D. Brown et al., ed., Perils of Anarchy (1995)
E. Kapstein & Mastanduno, ed., Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies
After the Cold War (1999)
II. War, Peace, and Security Affairs
A. Taliaferro, “Quagmires in the Periphery,” Security Studies (Spring 1998): 94144
Snyder, Myths of Empire (1991): 1-65
Paul, Asymmetric Conflicts (1994): 3-37, 64-106
B. Bueno de Mesquita, War and Reason (1992)
C. Van Evera, The Causes of War (1999)
D. Farnham (ed.) Avoiding Losses/Taking Risks: Prospect Theory and
International Conflict (1994)
E. Maoz, Paradoxes of War (1990): 31-134; Vasquez, The War Puzzle (1993):
51-197.
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III. International Political Economy
A. Gourevitch, Peter, Politics in Hard Times (1986)
B. Schwartz, Herman, States versus Markets (1994)
Gilpin, The Political Economy of International Relations (1987): 25-117.
C. Rogowski, Ronald, Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic
Political Alignments (1989): 1-128; 163-174
Strange, Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy
(1996): 3-87
D. Milner & Keohane, “[Introduction],” in Keohane & Milner, ed.,
Internationalization and Domestic Politics (1996): 15-22.
Frieden & Rogowski, “The Impact of the International Economy on National
Policies: An Analytical Overview,” in Keohane & Milner, ed.
Internationalization and Domestic Politics (1996): 25-47
Shirk, “Internationalization and China’s Economic Reforms,” in Keohane &
Milner, ed. Internationalization and Domestic Politics (1996): 186-206
Gereffi, “Commodity Chains and Regional Division of Labor in East Asia”
Journal of Asian Business, 12: 1 (1996)
E. Keohane, After Hegemony (1985)
IV. Foreign Policy Decision Making
A. Geva, N. and Mintz, A. (1994) Decisionmaking on War and Peace: the
Cognitive-Rational Debate
B. Vertzberger, Y.V. (1990) The World in Their Minds
C. Allison, G. (1969) “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
American Political Science Review 63, 689-718
Laurence Freedman (1976) “Logic, Politics and the Foreign Policy Process: a
Critique of the Bureaucratic Politics Model.” International Affairs, 52,
434-449
Rosati, J.A. (1981) “Developing a Systematic Decision-Making Framework:
Bureaucratic Politics in Perspective.” World Politics, 33, 234-252.
Bendor, J. and Hammond, T. (1992) “Rethinking Allison’s Models.”
American Political Science Review 86, 301-322.
Preston, T. and ‘t Hart, P. (1999) “Understanding and Evaluating Bureaucratic
Politics: the Nexus Between Political Leaders and Advisory Systems.”
Political Psychology, 20 (49-97).
D. Janis, I. (1982) Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and
Fiascos (Ch 1-2).
George, A. (1972) “The Case for Multiple Advocacy in the Making of Foreign
Policy.” American Political Science Review 66, 751-85.
Hermann, C.F. and Hermann, M.G. (1989) “Who Makes Foreign Policy
Decisions and How: An Empirical Inquiry.” International Studies
Quarterly 33, 361-387.
Maoz, Z. (1990) “Framing the National Interest: The Manipulation of Foreign
Policy Decisions in Group Settings.” World Politics 43, 77-110.
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Hermann, C.F., Stein, J.G., Sundelius, B. & Walker, S.G. (2001) “Resolve,
Accept or Avoid: The Effects of Group Conflict on Foreign Policy
Decisions.” International Studies Review 3, 133-168.
E. McDermott, R. (2001) Risk-Taking in International Politics: Prospect Theory
in American Foreign Policy.
F. Ray, J.L. (1995) Democracy and International Conflict.
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