GV248     
Power and Politics in the Modern World: Comparative Perspectives

This information is for the 2016/17 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr David Woodruff

 

Other members of Government Department staff will also teach on the course.

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Government, BSc in Government and Economics, BSc in Government and History, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and International Relations and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course is capped at 3 groups.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Introduction to Political Science (GV101).

Other background in political science will be considered as a substitute for GV101 for students outside of Government.

Course content

This course will acquaint students with the contemporary study of comparative politics, focusing on theories susceptible to testing with narrative historical evidence. Students will learn to address the methodological challenges of developing and testing such theories. The course will treat a wide variety of themes, including ethnic and political violence, the political impact of natural resources in developing countries, social movements and revolution, the political economy of distribution, and political ideologies. With respect to each theme, students will receive a grounding in theories of the topic and and samples of application to empirical cases drawn from throughout the developed, developing, and post-Communist world.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Classes will run from Weeks 2-5 and 7-11 in MT and Weeks 1-5 and 7-11 in LT. There will be a reading week in Week 6 of both terms. The Week 11 lecture in LT will be a revision lecture and there will be one revision class per group in Week 1 of ST.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 2 essays in the MT and 2 essays in the LT.

Indicative reading

Cederman, Lars-Erik, Nils B. Weidmann, and Kristian Skrede Gleditsch. 2011. Horizontal inequalities and ethnonationalist civil war: A global comparison. American Political Science Review 105 (03): 478-495

Hertog, Steffen. "Shaping the Saudi State: Human Agency's Shifting Role in Rentier-State Formation." International Journal of Middle East Studies 39, no. 4 (2007): doi:10.2307/30069487. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30069487.

Weyland, Kurt. "The Rise of Latin America's Two Lefts: Insights From Rentier State Theory." Comparative Politics 41, no. 2 (2009): 145-164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40599207

Hacker, Jacob S, and Paul Pierson. "Winner-Take-All Politics: Public Policy, Political Organization, and the Precipitous Rise of Top Incomes in the United States." Politics & Society 38, no. 2 (2010): doi:10.1177/0032329210365042

Orloff, Ann Shola. "Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: The Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States." American Sociological Review 58, no. 3 (1993): doi:10.2307/2095903

Ketchley, Neil. 2014. “The army and the people are one hand!” Fraternization and the 25th January Egyptian revolution . Comparative Studies in Society and History 56 (01): 155-186.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2015/16: 48

Average class size 2015/16: 13

Capped 2015/16: No

Lecture capture used 2015/16: Yes (MT & LT)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Communication