POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

2 SEMESTER 2006-2007

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COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170

Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics Second Semester 2006-2007 Tuesdays and Fridays, 1:00 to 2:30 PM Course Credit: 3.0 Prerequisites: Political Science 11 and 14 ARIES A. ARUGAY

Class venue First class Last Class Total Consultation Hours Http//

Palma Hall 422 Friday, 10 November 2006 Friday, 23 March 2007 34 class sessions Tuesdays and Fridays 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Office Telephone Fax Email

Room 3001, Faculty Center (632) 920-7246 (632) 924-4875 aries.arugay@up.edu.ph

E-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/polsc170tfw

web.kssp.upd.edu.ph/polisci/index.html

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Thinking without comparison is unthinkable. And, in the absence of comparison, so is all scientific thought and scientific research. Guy Swanson Comparison is the essence of understanding. Comparative politics as a sub-field in political science applies the tools of comparison to a specific end understanding the internal politics of states and other political collectivities by comparing them across space and over time. The rationale underlying the study of comparative politics is that knowledge of politics in general as well as domestic affairs could be greatly enhanced by comparing the political conditions of different countries. This course will look closely at the methods for making effective, useful comparisons and at the types of explanations that political scientists frequently use. As an introductory course, it will help prepare students for more advanced political science courses by exposing them to the core literature on comparative politics. Other than that, students could also better understand what is going on in the world as this course will provide useful theoretical frameworks, as well as factual background, on a number of important countries and regions in the world.

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course intends to: to introduce the student to systematic frameworks, conceptual tools, and theoretical handles in the subfield of comparative politics; to acquaint the student with the various approaches used in the study of comparative politics in order to apply them to the themes, problems, and issues that are currently encountered or undertaken by both scholars and policymakers; to expose the student to the eminent and seminal works in comparative politics and link them to the various bodies of literature that they have produced; and to develop in the student an interest in studying comparative politics and undertake comparative analysis of the various themes and issues pursued in this course.

COURSE METHODOLOGY This course will be managed through a series of lecture and discussion sessions. The COURSE HANDLER will be in charge of exposing the class with the theories, debates, and approaches on comparative politics and also to provide them with examples from certain regions and countries.
A crucial part of this course is the different comparative exercises involving different countries assigned to pairs of students. These pairs will be tasked to specialize in the domestic politics of each country that will feed into the class discussions or lectures. Also, each student will be asked to present websites, seminal works, prominent comparativists, and intergovernmental organizations. The assignments will also be the basis of the REVIEW ARTICLE that will be submitted at the end of the semester (See COURSE REQUIREMENTS below for the corresponding guidelines. This course will heavily utilize the resources offered by foreign books and journals as well as those provided by the Internet. The student is expected to be familiar with basic Internet and library research. All the students enrolled in this class and the COURSE HANDLER will become members of a mailing list and e-group called polsc170tfw@yahoogroups.com to facilitate correspondence. It is encouraged that students take advantage of this feature to ask questions, schedule appointments, and do other matters relating to the course. Moreover, online resources or soft copies of the assigned readings will be sent to the mailing list but are automatically stored in the File section of the Yahoo! Group.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
EXAMINATIONS REVIEW ARTICLE CLASS PARTICIPATION Report Comparative Sessions Recitation Requirement Midterm Final % 20 20 20 15 10 15 40 20 40

EXAMINATIONS This course will give one examination in the middle of the semester and a final examination. The exams will test the familiarity of the student with the ideas, concepts, models, and theories discussed in class, their ability to summarize, integrate, and assess the reading material of this course, and their knowledge of their chose country as well as their familiarity with others. It is highly recommended for the students not to be absent during exam sessions. Make-up exams shall only be given to students with valid excuses (e.g. medical reasons). However, it must not be necessarily expected that they will be given the same type of examination. REPORT Each student will be required to deliver a report on a pre-assigned topic by the COURSE HANDLER. The student must give the COURSE HANDLER a write-up of the Book Report the on the class session scheduled for its delivery. Failure to do so will incur a grade of 0 in the report. REVIEW ARTICLE Each student is required to submit a Review Article on the topic pursued in his/her assigned book together with at least four articles from academic journals (See LIST OF JOURNALS below) tackling the same topic as her report. The deadline for submission will be on the day of the final examination. CLASS PARTICIPATION As this course is dealing with ideas, theories, and concepts, discussion is essential to the vitality of the class. Class participation entails attentive listening to lectures, proactive engagement in the

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form of questions, comments, or opinions both inside and outside the classroom, substantive involvement with the Comparative Sessions, and Reports. Class participation entails to both attentive listening to lectures and discussions as well as proactive engagement in the form of questions, comments, or opinions both inside and outside the classroom. Participation in the class is to some extent one indicator that students are reading. Being attentive and engaged in class, asking clarificatory questions, and discussing aspects of the course with the COURSE HANDLER during consultation hours all fall under this heading. Also, keeping abreast with latest developments through media and other sources is considered very important. Moreover, students are expected to display professional behavior and proper decorum during class hours. Acts such as sleeping in class, reading of or working on unrelated materials, conducting extended private conversations, persistent disruption of the class by tardiness, the use of mobile phones, etc. are thus discouraged. ATTENDANCE does not formally constitute any part of the final grade. However, a bonus of .25 (approximately 5 points on a scale of 100) shall be added to a student who did not incur any absence or tardiness (whether excused or unexcused) during the entire semester including the exams. Attendance in class implies that the student should be no more than 30 minutes late. Given this, the university rule of no more than 6 absences shall be strictly enforced. Students with more than 6 absences are encouraged to drop the course formally. Failure to drop formally will result in a grade of 5.0. Those who dropped or filed for leave of absence (LOA) must also make sure that they give a copy of the accomplished dropping or LOA form.

COURSE GRADING SYSTEM

96-100 92-95 88-91 84-87 80-83 75-79 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 0-54 2.50 2.75 3.00 4.00 5.00

MAIN REFERENCES
The student is expected to have an excellent grasp of the following books as they are considered as the main references for this course. Hague Rod and Martin Harrop. 2004. Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction . Hampshire: Palgrave. Newton, Kenneth and Jan W. van Deth. 2005. Foundations of Comparative Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

COURSE READINGS
0.1 Review of Basic Concepts (Week 1) Hague and Harrop, pp. 1-16 Newton and van Deth, pp. 346-362. 1.0 The Scope of Comparative Politics (Week 2) Wiarda, pp. 1-17. Mair, Peter. 1996. Comparative Politics: An Overview.In Robert E. Goodin and Hans-Dieter Klingemann (eds). A New Handbook of Political Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 309-335. Hague and Harrop, pp. 69-85. 2.0 Foundations of Comparative Politics (Week 3) Hague and Harrop, pp. 17-68. Newton and van Deth, pp. 1-38. Report 1: Third Wave of Democratization

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Report 2: Robert Dahl and Polyarchy Report 3: Freedom House Index Comparative Session 1: Classifying Countries 3.0 Politics and Society 3.1. Political Culture (Week 4) Hague and Harrop, pp. 89-104. Newton and van Deth, pp. 133-158 Report 4: Civic Culture Report 5: World Values Project 3.2. Political Communication (Week 5) Hague and Harrop, pp. 102-121 Newton and van Deth, pp. 133-145 Report 6: BBC Report 7: World Press Freedom Project (Reporters without Borders) 3.3 Political Participation (Week 6) Hague and Harrop, pp. 122-144. Newton and van Deth, pp. 146-158. Report 8: Alexis de Tocquevilles Democracy in America Report 9: Robert Putnam and Social Capital International Updates 1 4.0 Linking Society and Government 4.1 Elections and Voters (Week 7) Hague and Harrop, pp. 145-165. Newton and van Deth, pp. 200-220. Report 10: Global Voter Turnout Study Report 11: IDEA website FIRST EXAM (Week 8) 4.2 Interest Groups (Week 9) Hague and Harrop, pp. 166-184. Newton and van Deth, pp. 159-180. Report 12: Greenpeace and the Global Environmental Movement Report 13: US Lobbyists (www.opensecrets.org) 4.3 Political Parties (Week 10) Hague and Harrop, pp. 186-205. Newton and van Deth, pp. 221-238 Report 14: Duvergers Law Report 15: Campaign Finance Project (IDEA) Comparative Session 2 Electoral Rules and Parties 5.0 Government and Policy 5.1. Constitutions and the legal framework (Week 11) Hague and Harrop, pp. 209-227. Newton and van Deth, pp. 41-59. Report 16: EU Constitution Report 17: Concept of the Ombudsman 5.2. Federal, unitary and local government (Week 12) Hague and Harrop, pp. 228-246. Newton and van Deth, pp. 72-99.

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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Report 18: Swiss model Report 19: EU Governance International Updates 2 5.3 Legislatures (Week 13) Hague and Harrop, pp. 247-267. Newton and van Deth, pp. 106-110. Report 20: IPU website Report 21: Houses/Chambers of Legislature 5.4 The Political Executive (Week 14) Hague and Harrop, pp. 268-289. Newton and van Deth, pp. 60-72 and 103-105. Report 22: Presidential-Parliamentary Debate Report 23: Examples of Heads of States Comparative Session 3 Form of Government 5.5 The Bureaucracy (Week 15) Hague and Harrop, pp. 290-308. Newton and van Deth, pp. 117-131 Report 24: Max Weber Report 25: New Public Management 5.6 The Policy Process (Week 16) Hague and Harrop, pp. 309-325. Newton and van Deth, pp. 100-116. SECOND EXAM (Week 17)

COUNTRY ASSIGNMENTS
Country United States United Kingdom South Africa Brazil Russia China Mexico Student Assigned Country Egypt India Japan Indonesia Australia Germany Poland Student Assigned

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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COURSE RESOURCES READING TIPS

As this is a reading course, students are require to engage in a close reading of significant texts written by eminent scholars, analysts, and practitioners of comparative politics. As many of the students may have little experience in dealing with material of this sort, the following are some tips in reading texts in comparative politics. 1. DO THE ASSIGNED READING. The assigned readings are the core material of the course; if you do not read, you will not learn. Attending class sessions without having read and listening to class lectures or discussions can never replace your direct and personal engagement with the assigned texts. Moreover, students will be able to formulate well-founded critiques if they grappled with the material first-hand. There is a sense of intellectual autonomy and empowerment if your ideas came direct from the authors themselves. Doing the reading assignment is necessary if the student expects to perform well in class. 2. DO SOME BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION. The ideas/opinions expressed in the course readings did not exist in a vacuum. They are influenced by a specific intellectual, social, economic, political, ideological, and cultural context. As most students will eventually find out, the authors have responded (either supported or criticized) to specific conditions. Furthermore, each specific author may have produced other written works on the same or related topic. Try to google the author and you may find valuable information to comprehend his main ideas or arguments. 3. TAKE YOUR TIME AND READ AGAIN IF NECESSARY. Reading is an exercise in patience and perseverance. It is among the activities that demand a substantial amount of a students time. Students must not rush in their reading of the material or else comprehension will be severely jeopardized. It is not expected that you will fully understand from one quick reading. Furthermore, not being able to understand the text in a students first reading is not indicative of stupidity or idiocy. Unlike most fiction and some nonfiction, these kinds of texts need to be read slowly and deliberately. Students are advised to re-read the text as many times as possible. You will find that a text can seem quite different the second time through. 4. SPOT CENTRAL PASSAGES AND IDENTIFY CRUCIAL ARGUMENTS.

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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It could be observed that the texts are verbose, wordy, and seemingly long. A tip is to detect important passages or identify the main arguments of the thinker. It may not surface immediately, but there is logic behind them which the student could uncover through serious reading and the ability to spot significant passages. 5. LOOK FOR CONNECTIONS AND LINKAGES. The themes and ideas that will be presented are also inexorably linked with each other. Themes pursued in this course continue to constitute present day discourses or debates. As the students accumulate knwoledge from from previous sections, it is encouraged that they conduct comparison with the other related readings.. Not only would it help students retain the ideas but will aid them in comprehending or remembering them. At another level, students should also attempt to relate the ideas encountered from their other courses, current events, and even your own life experiences. 5. DO MARGIN W RITING RATHER THAN HIGHLIGHT PASSAGES. Writing marginal notes is better than highlighting/underlining. The latter tends to distract you from actually comprehending the text. Note taking affords the students to do comparative analysis, register their own preliminary critiques or reactions and identify problematic passages. Also, summing up a paragraph in the margins makes studying much easier because you already have the bullet points of a crib sheet written. Highlighting, on the other hand, often turns into a cheap substitute for careful concentration.

INTERNET SOURCES
This course acknowledges the awesome utility and importance of nontraditional resources in fulfilling its objectives and for the students to satisfactorily pass all requirements. All course readings that have soft copies are automatically stored in the Files section of the Yahoo! group of the class (polsc170mhu@yahoogroups.com). Other resources (in CD or PDF format) can be given by the course handler upon consultation. The University Library also has acquired access to several on-line academic journal databases: Proquest Academic Research Library EBSCOhost XreferPlus The Internet is also a reservoir of knowledge relating to democratization and political institutions. Students are encouraged to use the Internet to conduct their research. The following are some of the helpful links: Longman Comparative Politics Columbia International Affairs Online It provides access to the literature of theory and research in international affairs. The Personal Website of Larry Diamond This website offers information on Larry Diamond, a preeminent scholar in democratization. It contains biographical information, his publications, and his recent papers. Hellen Kellogg Institute for International Studies This is the site of a research institute based in the University of Notre Dame and is considered as one the most prestigious research centers on democratization. There is a link on the publications site that offers working papers that could be downloaded by visitors. CIA World Fact Book Elections Around the World Freedom House Papers presented at the American Political Science Association (APSA) Congresses Access Democracy

POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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BOOK REPORT GUIDELINES

A BOOK REPORT is about a seminal work in comparative politics. The student will have a maximum of 15 minutes to present the main argument/s of the book, analyze the theory/approach/framework that it used, concisely discuss the country or countries under investigation, and critique or assess the books strengths and weaknesses. The following are some of the questions that should be answered: Who is the author and what is his/her/their scholarly or academic background? What is the main argument of the book? How complete and thorough is the author's coverage of the subject? Does the author include sufficient evidence or neglect necessary evidence? How carefully is the author's analysis conducted? What countries were investigated? What is the rationale for choosing the country or countries? What are the strengths and limitations of the author's methodology? What is the quality of the writing? Is it clear, precise, and interesting? How important is the subject of the book to the study of comparative politics? What contribution does this book make to the study of comparative politics? The written version of the BOOK REPORT should also be guided by the above-mentioned questions. It should have the following components: Introduction. In this paragraph one should briefly introduce the work under discussion and state the main argument of the book. Summary. Following the introduction, one should concisely restate the central claims of the author. In this section, one should remain faithful to the ideas of the author as he or she states them. At the same time, aim for the essence of the book: What is the author's main point? What are the significant sub-points? Make sure that the summary is short and to the point. Body of the paper. The largest portion of the report should be devoted to elaborating and expanding the argument of judgment regarding the book. In this section, one will move step-bystep through the criteria that have been selected to assess the book. Conclusion. Wrap up the book report with a statement about the significance of the book. This statement may concern the extent of its contribution to the study of comparative politics or explain how it changed ones understanding of a certain phenomenon.

LIST OF JOURNALS
The following are the recommended academic journals that should be consulted when getting the needed material for the REVIEW ARTICLE: American Political Science Journal Asian Survey Comparative Politics Comparative Political Studies Contemporary Southeast Asia Democratization International Political Science Review Journal of Democracy Latin American Politics and Society Studies in Comparative International Development Third World Quarterly World Politics

STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE
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POLITICAL SCIENCE 170 INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ARIES ARUGAY

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Please spend some time to fill-out this questionnaire. This is my way of knowing you on a more personal level. I will appreciate it very much if you answer all the times. Use the space provided below each item for your answer. Name Nickname College Major What is the reason for taking this course? What do you expect from it? How much time are you willing to invest in the course (reading, writing)? Do you work well within a group? Why or why not? Cellphone Email Phone Fax

What foreign language/s had/have you taken/are taking? How would you rate your proficiency?

What Polsci Electives have you taken?

Please rate the frequency of your access to the following:

Always 5-7 days/week Cable Television (Foreign News: CNN, BBC, Others) UP Main Library Other Libraries in UP Outside Libraries Bookstores Internet Email Chat Surfing Newspapers (Foreign Section) Foreign News Magazines (Time, FEER, Economist, Others) Often (once a week) Sometimes (once a month) Never

THANK YOU!