Introduction to Comparative Politics PLS 140 Spring semester 2016 Instructor: Sejin Koo Room: 8.307 Office hours: W/F 2pm-3:30pm, or by appointment

Class time: T/TH 3-4:15 pm Office: 8.502 Email: [email protected]

Course Description and Purpose This course is designed primarily to introduce students to the field of comparative politics. It aims to provide students with knowledge about important concepts and theories in comparative politics. Also, it aims to teach students to compare and contrast political institutions and processes across countries to derive generalizations. In addition, students will learn how to find relevant data to analyze cases of their interest by using various methods of comparative politics. Students are required to:  Attend and participate in all class sessions  Read all course materials  Complete all assignments  Participate in one group presentation  Put forward your best effort on all class-related activities and engage the material, the instructor and colleagues with an open mind. The required reading for this course is:  Essentials of Comparative Politics, fourth edition, by O’Neil, Patrick H, WW Norton Publisher, ISBN-10: 0393933768 (henceforth labeled ESSENTIALS)  Essential Readings in Comparative Politics, fourth edition, edited by O’Neil, Patrick H and Ronald Rogowski The textbooks are available in the library in limited numbers. Please share with your fellow students. There are extra copies available on reserve at the library as well as online.  Go to the library website http://library.nu.edu.kz/wps/portal  Log in to the portal through the link, which is in the top right corner There will be also a number of additional readings to be uploaded at Moodle. You are responsible to check Moodle regularly to find and read these additional materials.

Course Requirements and Grading Policy I will assign your final course grade as follows:

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 Two Tests (20% each, for a total of 40%) The tests will be closed-book tests, given during the class period. Tests may include multiplechoice questions, short-answer questions and/or essay questions. They will cover materials from lectures, class discussions, readings and presentations (including both those on the syllabus and those posted to Moodle). Test dates are scheduled on Week 8 and Week 16. Make-up tests will only be given if you have a university excused absence.  Review Presentation (10%) You will be assigned to present an academic article from Essential Readings in Comparative Politics for a 12 minute *group* presentation. To facilitate your understanding of the given material, you will form a group of two students. The goal of the presentations is to inform you and your classmates of important topics and theories in comparative politics, facilitate class discussions, and help you and your classmates to prepare for readings-based questions on tests. Therefore, your presentation should summarize the main points of the argument developed in the reading. You will be graded based on the accuracy of your summary as well as the organization and clarity of your presentation. You must provide a one-page outline of your presentation to be distributed to the entire class before your presentation. I will provide later more details regarding who will be assigned which reading.  Current Event Essay (20%): Final Paper (15%) and Literature Review (5%) This assignment is designed to encourage you to apply the material you will learn in this course to understand political events occurring in the world. In order to foster cooperative learning, students will be responsible for participating in a group project. Each group will consist of 4 students. Each group will choose a current or recent political event that happened in a single country or multiple countries in the world. Your group is responsible for scheduling an appointment with me by Friday Week 6 so that we can discuss ideas about your group’s choice of event and how you are going to approach it. As a group, you will write a short essay discussing how one of the theoretical arguments or concepts covered in the course can help explain or account for this event. You should follow the story over time, consult multiple articles from various sources, and include any relevant facts (for example, geography, economy, or maps) for the site(s) of the event. Your essay should be analytical, discussing the causes, and/or (short-term and predicted long- term) consequences, with presenting your argument in a persuasive manner. The proportion devoted to description should not be over 50% of your essay. At least 50% should be devoted to offering analysis. The essay must include a meaningful title, introduction, conclusion, and bibliography. The essay must be typed using Times New Roman, 12 point-font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, page-numbered and 10 (minimum) - 12 (maximum) pages long (bibliography is not counted). Bibliography must include at least five references, and must include at least three academic/scholarly books or articles (Note some academic sources can be accessed electronically through “full-text” databases. Just because they are electronic doesn’t make them non-academic. If you have questions, ask!). Bibliography and in-text citations must be in the correct scholarly form. For an example of correct scholarly form for a bibliography in political science, consult the American Political Science Association, or read http://library.tamu.edu/help/help-yourself/citing-sources/files/Using%20APSA%20Format.pdf. Choose either APA or Chicago style, and be consistent throughout your paper. There are useful websites assisting bibliography and citation work, including Citation Machine (http://www.citationmachine.net/). 2

Submit your final essay to Moodle no later than noon on Thursday Week 17, or scheduled Final Exam Day. Your group is required to submit a hard copy of a one-page draft of your essay. Draft essay is due Thursday Week 7 at the beginning of class. In the Draft Essay, you are expected to present clearly what event and what theories (or concepts) you want to discuss in your final essay. While the Draft Essay does not require a bibliography, you must attach a copy of one newspaper or magazine article you consulted from among the various sources. Draft Essay will be graded satisfactory or not, as one of the short assignments. You can change your project later, but the purpose of this Draft essay assignment is to help you to start thinking about it early. Submit Literature Review Paper by Week 12. Literature Review must include your critical discussion on how the topic has been studied in existing studies, what were the arguments in the studies, and how your own study fills a gap or builds on the existing studies. Find and discuss at least 3 academic articles or books. Literature Review paper must be typed using Times New Roman, 12 point-font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, page-numbered and 3-4 pages long, and submitted to Moodle.  Current Event Essay Presentation (10%) Student groups are required to give an oral presentation of their current event essay at the end of the course. Each group of students will be given 13 minutes for their presentation. To maximize effectiveness in your presentation, I strongly recommend you to use power point (or beamer) although it is not required (if you know more effective ways of presentation). The dates are Week 15. Each group presentation will be assessed based on the quality of the presentation (Is it an interesting and efficient presentation?). Including visual images or maps in your group’s presentation will be a great idea. On each presentation day, student group participants will write a response paper to one of the presentations of the day and that feedback will later be provided to the presenter.  Short Assignments (10%) During class, I will assign various exercises, quizzes, or short assignments that reinforce the class material. Many of these exercises will be completed in class (you must be physically present in the classroom). They will not necessarily all be announced ahead of time. All of the exercises will simply be graded satisfactory (S) or not. You will receive credit only for those that you complete on time and in a satisfactory manner. A missed short assignment without a University excused absence will receive a score of zero. If a student misses an assignment as a result of a University excused absence, he or she will receive an “E” for that assignment. The final short assignment grade will be calculated as the number of S scores received out of all non-E assignments. There will be no make-ups for short assignments. Many of these short assignments require you to read the assigned readings. Be prepared before coming to class.  Class Attendance (10%) Class attendance is mandatory and will be taken in each session. That is, if you show up late, you will be counted absent. Only university excused absences will be considered. However, you are allowed two unexcused absences without penalty. In order to learn, it is imperative that you attend class, read the material, and participate actively in class discussion. As explained above, many of the exercises will be completed in class only. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to obtain the missed material from your 3

classmates. In addition to attending class, students are highly encouraged to ask and answer questions, and to make appropriate comments on issues covered in class. Grading scale A AB+ B BC+ C

95-%100% 90%-94.9% 85%-90.9% 80%-84.9% 75%-79.9% 70%-74.9% 65%-69.9%

C-

60%-74.9%

D+ D F

55%-59.9% 50%-54.9% 0%-49.9%

Excellent, exceeds the highest standards in the assignment or course Excellent; meets the highest standards for the assignment or course Very good; meets high standards for the assignment or course Good; meets most of the standards for the assignment or course More than adequate; shows some reasonable command of the material Acceptable; meets basic standards for the assignment or course Acceptable; meets some of the basic standards for the assignment or course Acceptable, while falling short of meeting basic standards in several ways Minimally acceptable Minimally acceptable; lowest passing Did not satisfy the basic requirements of the course

Academic misconduct policy Students must obey the requirements and procedures in the Student Code of Conduct for Nazarbayev University. The penalty for any type of plagiarism or cheating will be an “F” on the exam or the paper/assignment. As commonly defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as one's own the ideas, words, writings, etc., which belong to another. In accordance with the definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of the person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated. If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult Nazarbayev University Student Code of Conduct: Plagiarism is intentionally or carelessly presenting the work of another as one’s own. It includes submitting an assignment purporting to be the student’s original work which has wholly or in part been created by another person. It also includes the presentation of the work, ideas, representations, or words of another person without customary and proper acknowledgement of sources. Plagiarism occurs when a person: 1. Directly copies one or more sentences of another person’s written work without proper citation. If another writer’s words are used, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation. This includes cut and paste from the internet or other electronic sources; 2. Changes words but copies the sentence structure of a source without giving credit to the original source, or closely paraphrases one or more paragraphs without acknowledgement of the source of the ideas, or uses graphs, figures, drawings, charts or other visual/audio materials without acknowledging the source or the permission of the author; 3. Submits false or altered information in any academic exercise. This may include making up data for an experiment, altering data, citing nonexistent articles, contriving sources, etc.; 4. Turns in all or part of assignment done by another student and claims it as their own; 5. Uses a paper writing service, has another student write a paper, or uses a foreign language translation and submits it as their own original work. 4

Penalties for missed tests and late papers If you miss a test because you have a university acceptable excuse (such as sickness with a note from your doctor) you must contact me by the end of the second working day after the absence to ensure full rights to take a makeup exam. Preferably contact me before the test. If you know you will miss a test in advance because of scheduled university excused travel, talk to me as far in advance as possible. If you do not have a university acceptable excuse for missing a test, you will not be allowed to take the test and your grade will be 0. Assignments turned in past due date will receive no credit, unless you have a university acceptable excuse for your paper being late. To prove that you have a university acceptable excuse, (1) submit an original copy of proof AND also (2) submit a scanned copy of it via email. Should you have any question about any aspects of this course or experience difficulty, do not wait until the last minute to discuss it with me. You may reach me either during my office hours or by appointment. Grade Appeals Students who believe they have received an incorrect test grade should formally appeal in to me. The appeal should consist of a single typed page that identifies the problem and presents concrete reasoning to substantiate why the test should be re-evaluated. Note that a request for reevaluation means that I will examine your entire test for a second time and may lower your grade upon closer examination of your work. Copyright on Course Materials All handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By “handouts,” I mean all materials generated for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi, exams, and in-class materials. Because these are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission. Other Class Policies: While you are welcome to email anytime about any issue you may be having in the class, please use proper email etiquette. Start your email “Dr. Koo,” Dear Dr. Koo,” or Dear Professor Koo” for initial contact. I will not answer emails that use improper salutation. I will also not answer emails that can be answered by looking at the syllabus. I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus as needed, including adding and subtracting assignments and changing due dates. I will notify you in class, via Moodle, or via email about changes (this means you are responsible for checking your email and for being in class to hear about changes).

Tentative Course Outline Week 1 What is Comparative Politics?

ESSENTIALS ch1

Week 2 States

ESSENTIALS ch2

Week 3 Nations and Society

ESSENTIALS ch3 5

Week 4 Political Economy

ESSENTIALS ch4

Week 5 Democratic Regimes

ESSENTIALS ch5

Week 6 Democratic Regimes, continued

ESSENTIALS ch5

Week 7

Spring Break

Week 8 Review and Test 1 Week 9 Authoritarian Regimes

ESSENTIALS ch6

Week 10 Political Violence

ESSENTIALS ch7

Week 11 Developed Democracies

ESSENTIALS ch8

Week 12 Communism and Postcommunism

ESSENTIALS ch9

Week 13 Less-developed and Newly Industrializing Countries

ESSENTIALS ch10

Week 14 Globalization and the Future of ESSENTIALS ch11 Comparative Politics Week 15 Current Event Presentations Week 16 Wrap-up and Test 2 Week 17 Current Event Paper DUE

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