Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2019 - IS 210 D900

Comparative World Politics: Trajectories, Regimes, Challenges (3)

Class Number: 7003

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Surrey

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 16, 2019
    Tue, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Surrey

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces students to the variety of systems of governance in the world today, examines the historical and cultural sources of their different developmental trajectories, and assesses the challenges they face in the future. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

How do political choices and their implications vary across different countries? Why do some countries suffer from authoritarianism, whereas others take a more democratic path? How is it that one part of the world is afflicted with poverty and civil unrest, while that the other enjoys higher levels of affluence and economic growth? Comparative politics is the study of similarities and differences of political institutions and processes across countries. This international studies course examines the variety of systems of governance in the world, explores the historical and cultural sources of political conflicts and different developmental trajectories, and assesses the challenges ahead. Our discussions will bridge conceptual knowledge to practical case applications with reference to world-historical events and processes such as the Arab Spring, global economic crisis and the rise of the extreme right, the Syrian conflict, revolutions and occupation movements, and the rise and decline of the Latin American left. At the end of the semester, students will have acquired a broad range of conceptual and analytical tools for examining world politics through a comparative and interdisciplinary lens. They will have acquired an intermediate-level knowledge on how global economic development, political rivalries, and interactions between civil society and the state shape contemporary politics in major countries of the Global North and South. Weekly seminars will consist of a combination of lectures, structured discussions of assigned readings, and screening of documentary excerpts. Lectures will only provide the historical and conceptual background for in-class case study discussions on assigned readings and documentary excerpts.

Grading

  • Attendance & Participation 15%
  • Paper 35%
  • Exam #1 25%
  • Exam #2 25%

NOTES:

Where a final exam is scheduled and you do not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, you will be assigned a N grade. Unless otherwise specified on the course outline, all other graded assignments in this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned.

Students will be required to submit their written assignments to Turnitin.com in order to receive credit for the assignments and for the course.

The School for International Studies strictly enforces the University's policies regarding plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. Information about these policies can be found at: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/teaching.html.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Excerpts and lecture slides will be available on Canvas/Files.


RECOMMENDED READING:

(no purchase required): Stephen Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus. (2017). Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context (4th Edition). Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS