(Version 2, updated Jan 20)
PUBPOL 674, Section 1:
The Economic Social Policies of Jordan
Jan. 9 – Feb. 20, 2008
Class Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30
1210 Weill
Prof. Susan Waltz
Office: 3227 Weill Hall
swaltz@umich.edu
This 1.5-credit seven-week course is the prerequisite component of the IEDP taken by all graduate students
before participating in the research trip to Jordan. The first half of the course will be a policy professional’s
introductory guide to Jordanian history, culture, institutions, and prevailing conditions. The second half of the
course will focus on contemporary social and economic policies. The goal is to evaluate Jordan’s progress in
socio-economic development in various sectors (e.g, Health, Private, the Environment) and produce policy
papers on each of these.
The introductory class periods will feature a combination of presentations by Professor Waltz, the Jordanian
national enrolled in the course, and guest lectures from around the University. The different policy groups
that were created during the fall IEDP participant meeting will present lectures featuring specific social,
economic, and environmental topics during the remaining class periods.
Grades will be based on participation in the class and in the various organizational committees, class
presentations, on-site meetings and the several analytical policy reports to be completed by each student.
An individual backgrounder specific to the policy area of study will be due the third week in January. A group
FAQ containing questions to be explored during the research trip is due the week before departure. The final
group policy paper containing policy recommendations is due by March 19th.
All readings are (or will be) posted on the ctools site at https://ctools.umich.edu
Week 1 ( Jan 9): The Political Environment of Policy Making
The first class will be devoted to discussing policy analysis in the context of someone else’s country. Topics
will focus on what you need to know about traveling and conducting research in Jordan, beginning with the
basics. An overview of the history, institutions and geography, including central tendencies and dispersion,
will be provided. Marwa Al Nasa’a, a Jordanian national participating in the course, will present background
information on country-specific idiosyncrasies and social sensitivities from a native perspective. Finally, the
policy issues to be researched will be more clearly identified and sorted.
READINGS
Selections from Insight Guides: Jordan (London, UK: 2007). This is easy reading to get us started.
Introduction, pp. 13-14.
“Decisive Dates” (Chronology), pp. 18-19.
“Enter the Hashemites” History 1920-1951. pp. 47-50.
“The Reign of King Hussein,” 53-59.
“Amman,” 131-149.
“Arabian Horses,” 109-110.
“The Camel,” 113
Robins, Philip. Chapters “Hussein’s Choices” and “Abdullah’s First Steps” excerpted from A History of
Jordan (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 165-204. Note: these two chapters provide summary
overview of Jordan’s experiences with structural adjustment and democratization. From this reading, how would you
summarize the way these issues played out in the 1990’s? What were the central dynamics? Who made decisions
about what? Hopefully, this reading will help generate questions – every new insight can lead to a question! What
questions about politics and the policy environment arise from these readings?
Recent news items:
July 28, 2006. “Jordanian paper reports on forum focusing on domestic, political, economic reform.”
BBC Monitoring Middle East.
May 17, 2007. “Jordanian paper interviews king on domestic, regional issues.” BBC Monitoring
Middle East.
November 6, 2007. “Jordan’s king interviewed on coming elections, internal, foreign affairs.”
BBC Monitoring Middle East.
Week 2 (Jan. 16): Culture, Social Groups, and Religion – A Policy Professional’s Overview
This class will be devoted to familiarizing students with the cultural, social and religious dynamics of Jordan,
particularly pertaining to their effects on policies and decision making in the country. A guest lecturer with
extensive anthropological expertise in Jordan (Professor Andrew Shryock) will be leading this session. This
session will provide students with a better understanding of the recent historical underpinnings of the
cultural, social and religious dynamics that currently exist in Jordan. By building a better understanding the
student will be better equipped to conduct effective research prior to visiting the country, in addition to being
able to ask the most pertinent questions in meetings with stakeholders in Jordan.
READINGS:
Selections from Insight Guides: Jordan (London, UK: 2007).
“The Jordanians” 65-70
“The Royal Family” 71
“The Bedouin Way of Life,” pp75-79.
“The Palestinians,” 81-83
Academic articles
Shryock, Andrew and Howell, Sally. “Ever a Guest in Our House”: the Emir ‘Abdullah, Shaykh Majid alAdwan, and the Practice of Jordanian House Politics, as Remembered by Umm Sultan, the Widow of Majid.”
International Journal of Middle East Studies 33(2001, No. 2):247-269
2000, “Dynastic Modernism and its Contradictions: Testing the Limits of Tribalism, Pluralism, and the King’s
Example in Hashemite Jordan,” Arab Studies Quarterly 22(2000, No.3):57-79
Wiktorowicz, Quintan. “Civil Society as Social Control: State Power in Jordan” Comparative Politics, 33
(Oct 2000): 43-61.
Antoun, Richard T. “Civil Society, Tribal Process and Change in Jordan: An Anthropological View,”
International Journal of Middle East Studies 32 (2000) : 441-463.
Esposito, John. “Islam and Change: Issues of Authority and Interpretation” from Islam: The Straight Path,
Third Edition. (Oxford University Press, 1988), 223-252.
Recent news items:
19 September 2006, “Is wasta corruption?” from blog What’s Up in Jordan?
http://ajloun.blogspot.com/2006/09/is-wasta-corruption.html
25 October 2007. “Jordan’s queen aims to defuse stereotypes: Addressing diverse L.A. audiences,
she seeks to dispel misconceptions about Muslim women.” LA Times.
Week 3 (Jan. 23): Political and Economic Dynamics in the Policy Environment
This session will mainly seek to answer two sets of questions: 1) What are the most important aspects of the
Jordanian economy to learn about? What must we know about the economy? 2) How are political and policy
decisions made in the country? Who makes the decisions? Guest lecturers Khalid Al-Naim and Michael
Robbins will provide insight beyond the information that students would be able to obtain from desk
research and descriptions of official processes.
Economic Background:
Alan J. Day on Jordan, in MENA Regional Survey 2006 (18 pp)
Recent news items on economy
August 23, 2007. “Jordanian press praises decision not to raise fuel prices,”
BBC Monitoring Middle East.
August 29, 2007. “Jordanian spokesman on price controls, elections, Syria ties, other issues.”
BBC Monitoring Middle East. (note that first section is on efforts to address budget concerns)
September 11, 2007. “Jordan’s king urges government to curb price rises.” BBC Monitoring
Middle East.
“What’s Worse Than the Government?” on Black Iris of Jordan blog
http://www.black-iris.com/2007/12/30/whats-worse-than-the-government/ and
corresponding article from Jordan Times http://jordantimes.com/?news=4651
Political Background:
Recent news items on parliamentary elections
4 February 2007. “Jordanians said disinterested in parliamentary elections” BBC Monitoring (from
Al-Jazeera)
20 June 2007. “Jordanian election date to be announced within ‘next few weeks’.” BBC Monitoring
(Petra-JNA)
11 November 2007. “Jordan, fearing Islamists, tightens grip on elections.” NY Times
12 November 2007. “Hamas’s shadow hangs over Jordan’s elections.” Intl Herald Tribune
20 November 2007. “Jordan’s Limited Democracy Leaves Voters Discontented.” Washington Post
22 November 2007 “Ten Required conditions for electoral reform in Jordan” from blog Jordan
Watch http://www.jordanwatch.net/archive/2007/11/387788.html
Recent news items on cabinet
22 November 2007. “Outgoing Jordanian cabinet resigns; king names technocrat new PM”
Associated Press Worldstream.
25 November 2007. “Jordan’s king swears in new cabinet of 28 technocrats, including a record 4
women.” Associated Press Worldstream.
25 November 2007. “A New Government” from the What’s Up In Jordan blog
http://ajloun.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-government.html
Recent articles on Islamist opposition
17 December 2007. “Jordanian Islamist MP interviewed on his election victory.” BBC Monitoring
(from Al-Dustur, 7 Dec)
Academic articles providing insight on policy and decision-making environment:
Clark, Janine. “Conditions of Islamist Moderation: Unpacking Cross-ideological Cooperation in Jordan,”
International Journal of Middle East Studies vol 38 (Nov 2006): 539-560.
Week 4 (Jan. 30): Water Resource and Social Policy
The session on water resources will explore the current pattern of water management and allocation
in the Kingdom. We will first take a look at the water issue through a regional perspective, which will give a
better understanding of the constraints that Jordan is currently facing. This part will also include an analysis
of the potential for multilateral cooperation on use of the Jordan River between Jordan and its neighbors as
water is a regional issue. Indeed, while competition for water is mostly framed as a potential source of conflict
between nations, water also presents unique opportunities for cooperation between rivals.
We will then explore the recent shift in water management following the birth of the Ministry of
Water and Irrigation, the umbrella organization for all governmental water management departments. This
entity is also responsible for the oversight of newly-formed private sector partnerships.
Chronic diseases, and specifically, diabetes, are a growing problem affecting the health of a large
cross-section of Jordanians. This second policy group hopes to look at the extent to which Jordanians have
access to, and subsequently utilize, the healthcare system for diabetes treatment services. To flush out any
potential inequity, the group plans to examine how the different service providers (i.e. Royal Medical
Services, Ministry of Health, Universities, private sector) deliver diabetes care. In class we will be joined by
a guest speaker, Dr. Shadi Azar. He is a Jordanian doctor, now at UM Hospitals. He will discuss the overall
structure of the healthcare system, and his observations on why more people do not utilize preventative care.
READINGS: TBA
Week 5 (Feb. 6): Private Sector Development and Trade Policy
The Private Sector Development group will study the effects of Jordan’s labor force on future
economic growth prospects. More than 50 percent of Jordan’s population is under 20 years of age. The
group’s focus will be on the readiness of the Jordanian education system to prepare a workforce to be
competitive in the globalized business world. Under examination will be the current state of the Jordanian
economy and its future growth prospects; the current and future labor force needs of major private sector
(commercial, industrial, etc) stakeholders; the current Jordanian higher education system and its curriculum’s
effectiveness in training a 21st century workforce; comparative education higher education systems that have
been implemented to achieve economic development in other emerging markets, such as India and Brazil;
and the role of non-governmental and private sector educational organizations in training young Jordanians.
The final product will be a policy paper offering specific, supported recommendations for changes to Jordan’s
domestic education policies, and an analysis of their impact on the Jordanian private sector.
On October 24, 2000, Jordan and the United States of America signed a Free Trade Agreement
(FTA). The agreement covers trade in goods and services, protection of intellectual property rights,
environment, labor and electronic commerce. It also eliminates tariffs on all trade in goods between the two
countries over 10 years according to a mutual time schedule. The FTA was expected to create many benefits
for both sides such as boosting Jordan's exports to the US (thereby creating jobs and growth in these export
sectors) as well as opening the Jordanian market to US goods. The US-Jordan FTA can also be examined as
an example of the use of trade policy as a means to achieve foreign policy objectives. We hope to analyze
these dynamics and attempt to evaluate the effects, to date, of the FTA on the Jordanian economy as well as
larger social impacts.
READINGS TBA
Week 6 (Feb. 13): Refugee Issues
This issue area will be analyzed with respect to the contemporary difficulties arising from the ongoing war in
Iraq and the resulting refugee crisis while taking into consideration the historical role of refugees in Jordan.
The students will look at current Jordanian strategies to address the influx of Iraqis, spanning from issues of
right to asylum and resettlement to economic and social policies. The strategies will be evaluated on the
grounds of international customary and treaty law, and discussed in the context of the international
community’s response to Jordan’s needs and requests. The students will also examine the impact of the crisis
on Jordan’s relations with other states in the Middle East and with the United States. The final document
produced will make recommendations to the U.S. government, a key donor and international partner which
may be able to ameliorate the pressures faced by the Jordanian government while improving conditions faced
by refugees in Jordan.
READINGS TBA
Week 7 (Feb. 20): Layering in Country-Specific Knowledge
The final class will be devoted to comparing and contrasting 3-4 recent policy (and public) reports on Jordan.
The reports will come from various sources including the World Bank, the United Nations, U.S. State
Department, and the Jordanian government. The goal of this class period will be to draw on the information
presented in the previous six weeks to critically evaluate existing analytical reports on Jordan. This exercise
will make students aware of policies currently being discussed by relevant stakeholders and further develop
participants’ analytical skills.
READINGS:
UN Common Country Assessments 2006
http://www.un.org.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=94
World Bank, Jordan Country Assistance Strategy
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/JORDANEXTN
/0,,contentMDK:20148051~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:315130,00.html
US State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practice, Jordan, 2006.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78855.htm
Amnesty International Report 2007, entry on Jordan.
http://amnesty.org/en/region/middle-east-and-north-africa/east-mediterranean/jordan
Official Site of Jordanian Government http://www.jordan.gov.jo/wps/portal and Jordanian embassy in US
http://www.jordanembassyus.org/new/index.shtml