PSC 1001: Introduction to Comparative Politics
Fall 2013
Monday-Wednesday, 3:45 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Room 101, 710 21st Street
Professor Balla M. Keita
Office: Monroe Hall rm 409
Email: bkeita@gwu.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 5-7pm and by appointment
Summary
This class is an introduction to the study of comparative politics. You will learn not only about
politics in a select group of countries, but also about some of the major concepts used in the
study of comparative politics. The course will cover a wide range of issues, including the
formation of the nation-state, democratization, authoritarianism, political culture, political
institutions, and strategies of economic development. We also will discuss some debates in
comparative politics that have been important in the policy-making community in recent years,
such as the role of the state in the economy and the effort to promote democracy in the world.
Reading
There are two required texts for this class that you can purchase at the GWU bookstore:
Patrick O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative Politics, 4th edition (NY: Norton, 2012).
Patrick O’Neil, Karl Fields, and Don Share, Cases in Comparative Politics, 4th edition (NY:
Norton, 2012).
The other required readings (marked with an *) are available on Blackboard under e-reserves.
Students are also required to buy a Turning Point clicker to be used during lectures.
Blackboard
In addition to the required reading, you will find other useful information on Blackboard, such as
a copy of the syllabus, information about assignments and exams, and your grades. For each
class, I will also post the Powerpoint slides before the lecture.
Class Policies
During exams, students may not use any electronic devices, including cell phones, PDAs, I-pods,
dictionaries or any other electronic equipment. Students who are found to be using any electronic
device will automatically fail the exam. No plagiarism.
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Learning Objectives:
In this class, you will:
 Learn and critically analyze fundamental concepts in political science and comparative
politics;
 Apply these concepts in a variety of countries;
 Learn how historical and cultural differences influence the practice of politics;
 Compare the differences between regime types and their impact on political, economic,
and social outcomes;
 Demonstrate your knowledge through two analytical papers and two exams.
Learning Assessment:
Your success in achieving the learning objectives of the class will be assessed in the following
ways:
Short papers: During the semester you will write two short essays that require you to critically
analyze a portion of the assigned reading. The aim of these essays is not to summarize but to
analyze a question and respond to it. The papers are designed to assess your understanding of the
key concepts presented in the readings and lectures, to think and write critically, and to develop
and defend an argument.
Midterm/Final: Both exams will consist of multiple choice, short identifications, and essays. The
exams will assess three things: (1) your knowledge about the specific countries and cases we
have covered; (2) your ability to think critically about the concepts and themes explored in the
class; and (3) your ability to apply these concepts to specific country cases. The exams will cover
both the readings and information presented during lectures. The midterm will cover the first
half of the course. The final exam will cover the entire class, with emphasis on the second half,
and will be given during exam week.
Discussion sections: the weekly discussion sections are extremely important for this class, as it is
in these sessions that you will have a chance to discuss and assess the readings and themes of the
course, and to show your ability to engage in critical discussion of the material. Attendance is
mandatory, and you will be evaluated on your contributions to the discussion. This means you
must do the assigned reading for each week prior to the discussion section meeting.
Your participation will be a part of your final grade (see below). Attendance is necessary but not
a sufficient requirement of discussion: you must not only be present, but also take an active role
in class participation. The more you put into the class, the more you will get out of it.
You will be allowed to miss one class meeting with no questions asked, and this will not affect
your grade. If you miss any more classes, your absences will count against your participation
grade.
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Current Events
One goal of the class is for you to develop a more sophisticated understanding of different
cultures, countries and world events. I strongly suggest you regularly read one of the major
national newspapers (The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) or
international newspapers (Financial Times {www.ft.com}, International Herald Tribune
{www.iht.com}). Some useful magazines and journals that are available through Gelman’s ejournals include The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and Journal of Democracy.
Grading
Assignments: 2 @ 15% = 30%
Class participation (discussion section): 15%
Class participation (lectures): 5%
Midterm exam: 22.5%
Final exam: 27.5%
Important Numbers:
GW Police (Emergency) Foggy Bottom: 202-994-6111
GW Police (Non-Emergency) Foggy Bottom: 202-994-6110
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I. THE COMPARATIVE METHOD
1: August 26: Introduction, overview of class.
2: August 28: The comparative method.
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 1, “Introduction.”
* * * SEPTEMBER 2: LABOR DAY * * *(no classes)
II. STATES AND SOCIETIES
3: September 4: The concept of the state.
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 2, “States.”
* Francis Fukuyama, “The Imperative of State-Building,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 15,
no. 2 (2004), pp. 17-31.
4: September 9: Formation and collapse of states.
* Jeffrey Herbst, “War and the State in Africa,” International Security, vol. 14, no. 4
(Spring 1990), pp. 117-39.
* Robert Rothberg, “The New Nature of Nation-State Failure,” Washington Quarterly,
vol. 25, no. 3 (Summer 2002), pp. 85-96.
* Michael L. Ross, “Blood Barrels: Why Oil Wealth Fuels Conflict,” Foreign Affairs
(May/June 2008).
* Stewart M. Patrick, “The Brutal Truth: Failed States Are Mainly a Threat to Their Own
Inhabitants; We Should Help Them Anyway,” Foreign Policy (July/August 2011), pp.
55-57.
5: September 11: Civil Society
* Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 6, no. 1 (1995), pp. 6578.
* Michael W. Foley and Bob Edwards, “The Paradox of Civil Society,” Journal of
Democracy, vol. 7, no. 3 (July 1996), pp. 38-52.
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* Timothy C. Lim, “What Makes a Social Movement? Explaining the Rise and Success
of Collective Mobilization” in Doing Comparative Politics: An Introduction to
Approaches and Issues (Lynne Reinner, 2010).
6: September 16: National Identities
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 3, “Nations and Society,” sections on ethnic and national identities
(up to section on political attitudes), pp. 57-69.
* Jerry Muller, “Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism,” Foreign
Affairs (March/April 2008).
* Evan Osnos, “Angry Youth: The New Generation’s Neo-Con Nationalists,” New
Yorker, July 28, 2008.
III. THE POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT
7: September 18: Early Modernizers
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 3, “Nations and Society,” (sections on political attitudes and
ideology), pp. 69-80; and ch. 4, “Political Economy.”
8: September 23: Late Developers
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 10, “Less Developed and Newly Industrializing Countries.”
9: September 25: Globalization
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 11, “Globalization and the Future of Comparative Politics.”
* Thomas Friedman, “It’s a Flat World after All,” New York Times Magazine (April 3,
2005).
* Moises Naim, “Think Again: Globalization,” Foreign Policy (March/April 2009), pp.
28-34.
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IV. DEMOCRATIC REGIMES: THE UNITED KINGDOM AND GERMANY
10: September 30: What is democracy?
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 5, “Democratic Regimes.”
* Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl, “What Democracy Is…and Is Not,”
Journal of Democracy, vol. 2, no. 1 (Summer 1991), pp. 75-88.
*** Monday, September 30: FIRST WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE ***
Details TBA
11: October 2: The emergence of democracy
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 8, “Advanced Democracies,” (skim section on EU, read the rest).
* Sheri Berman, “How Democracies Emerge: Lessons from Europe,” Journal of
Democracy, vol. 18, no. 1 (January 2007), pp. 28-41.
12: October 7: Political Dynamics in the UK
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, United Kingdom, pp. 38-78.
13. October 9: Political dynamics in Germany
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, Germany, pp. 200-241.
14: October 14: Policy challenges in the UK and Germany
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, “Political Economy,”
“Foreign Relations and the World,” and “Current Issues” sections for UK and Germany
cases, pp. 78-89 and 241-251.
15: October 16: Mid-Semester Review
16. October 21: MIDTERM EXAM
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V. AUTHORITARIANISM VS. DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL AND SOUTH AFRICA
17: October 23: Transitions to democracy
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 6, “Non-Democratic Regimes.”
* Samuel P. Huntington, “Democracy’s Third Wave,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 2, no.
1 (Spring 1991), pp.12-34.
18: October 28: Political and economic development in Brazil
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, chapter 12 on Brazil.
* Jon Lee Anderson, “Gangland,” New Yorker, October 5, 2009.
* Bradley Brooks, “Lula’s Legacy, Leaving Behind a Transformed Brazil,” Washington
Post, December 27, 2010.
19. October 30: Political and economic development in South Africa
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, chapter 13 on South Africa.
VI. COMMUNISM AND POST-COMMUNISM: RUSSIA AND CHINA
20: November 04: Communism in theory and practice
O’Neil, Essentials, ch. 9 “Communism and Post-Communism.”
21: November 06: Comparing variants of communism in the USSR and PRC
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, “Introduction” section for
Russia and “Introduction” and “Regime” sections for China cases, pp. 314-326 and 364391.
22: November 11: Post-communist transition in Russia
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, “Political Regime,” “Political
Conflict and Competition,” “Society,” and “Political Economy” sections for Russia, pp.
326-352.
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* C.J. Chivers, “Below Surface, US Has Dim View of Putin and Russia,” New York
Times, December 1, 2010.
* Lilia Shevtsova, “Putinism under Siege: Implosion, Atrophy, or Revolution?” Journal
of Democracy, vol. 23, no. 3 (July 2012), pp. 19-32.
23. November 13: China’s capitalist economy within a communist state
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, “Political Conflict and
Competition,” “Society,” and “Political Economy” sections for China, pp. 391-411.
* Bruce J. Dickson, “Updating the China Model,” Washington Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 4
(September 2011), pp. 39-58.
24: November 18: The future of post-communism in Russia and China
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, “Foreign Relations and the
World,” and “Current Issues” sections for Russia and China cases, pp. 278-282 and 320324.
* Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, “The Myth of the Authoritarian Model,”
Foreign Affairs, Vol. 87, no. 1 (January/February 2008), pp. 68-84.
* Mikhail Dmitriev and Daniel Treisman, “The Other Russia: Discontent Grows in the
Hinterlands,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 91, no. 5 (September/October 2012), pp. 59-72.
* Bruce J. Dickson, “No ‘Jasmine’ for China,” Current History (September 2011), pp.
211-216.
* Bruce Gilley, “Could China Be the Next Wave?” Current History (November 2011),
pp. 331-333.
* Minxin Pei, “Is CCP Rule Fragile or Resilient?” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 23, no. 1
(January 2012), pp. 27-41.
VII. SECULARISM VS. FAITH IN IRAQ AND IRAN
25: November 20: Islam and politics
* Abdou Filali-Ansary, “Muslims and Democracy,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 10, no. 3
(July 1999), pp. 18-32.
* Marina Ottaway and Thomas Carothers, “Think Again: Middle East Democracy,”
Foreign Policy (November/December 2004), pp. 22-28.
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* Laith Kubba, “Institutions Make the Difference,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 19, no. 3
(July 2008), pp. 37-42.
* Olivier Roy, “The Transformation of the Arab World,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 23,
no. 3 (July 2012), pp. 5-18.
26: November 25: Iran
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, chapter 10 on Iran.
*** Monday, November 25: SECOND WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE ***
Details TBA
* * * NOVEMBER 27-29: THANKSGIVING BREAK* * * (no classes)
27: December 2: Egypt
* “Egypt,” Freedom House Report 2013
* Dina Shehata, “The Fall of the Pharaoh: How Hosni Mubarak’s Regime Came to an
End,” Foreign Affairs (May-June 2011), pp. 26-32.
* Tarouk Massoud, “Liberty, Democracy, and Discord in Egypt,” Washington Quarterly,
vol. 34, no. 4 (September 2011), pp. 117-129.
* Thomas Carothers and Nathan J. Brown, “The Real Danger for Egyptian Democracy,”
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (November 2012)
(http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/11/12/real-danger-for-egyptian-democracy/eg5z).
VII. SUMMARY
28: December 04: Development, Democracy, and Dictatorship: What Have We Learned?
O’Neil, Fields, and Share, Cases for Comparative Politics, chapter 1.
29: December 11: Final Exam
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