Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to political processes and structures in comparative perspective. Breadth-Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

“Without comparisons to make, the mind does not know how to proceed.” Alexis de Tocqueville, 1830

As de Toqueville asserts, comparing things is crucial to our understanding of the world. In this introductory course, you will build your foundational knowledge and analytic skills through the process of comparison, in particular, by discerning the similarities and differences of institutions, actors’ behaviours (e.g. voting, revolution), and governance processes. Comparative Politics compares and contrasts the world's different political, social, economic and cultural systems with the goal of building testable hypotheses and generalizations about these diverse systems. Have you ever travelled to another country? If so, you recognize that when we explore other countries we learn not only about how they differ from our own, but we also learn about our own country and, indeed, ourselves. Through a careful study of core concepts, theoretical approaches, methodological techniques, and topical events in the real-world, we will consider such salient questions as: Are we confronting a Clash of Civilizations? Why are some countries rich and some countries poor? Why is religion enjoying a resurgence in politics today amongst nominally secular states? Why are liberal democracies apparently shifting toward authoritarianism, in places as far flung as the United States, Turkey, Russia and the Philippines? To answer these and other questions, each week we will apply systematic comparative methods (e.g. case studies, data analysis) to select countries in order to get to know them in greater detail, whilst also considering how general trends – democratization, globalization, economic development, secularization – influence countries in multifarious ways.  

In terms of course learning outcomes, students who complete the course will be able to:

·        Build a stronger knowledge base about institutions and governance processes in various countries of the world;
·        Think theoretically and critically by reflecting on conceptual complexity, methodological rigour, asking and answering significant research questions;
·        Better communicate ideas orally and in written form, and to carefully listen to others’ ideas;
·        Enhance collaborative team-based skills of problem solving and ingenuity to address contemporary problems (i.e. the new “super skill” of the future).

There will be a three-hour interactive lecture each week.

 

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Materials

REQUIRED READING: