Comparative Politics
Faculty
- JOHN
HIBBING, Professor
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1980.
Fields: American Politics, especially legislative politics and public opinion, Comparative Politics, especially Europe. -
PATRICE
McMAHON, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Columbia University, 1998.
Fields: International Security, International Relations, Comparative Politics. -
ROSS MILLER, Associate Professor, Chair International Studies
Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 1994
Fields: International Conflict, American Foreign Policy, Research Methods, and Comparative Political Institutions. -
ERIK TILLMAN, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Emory University, 2005.
Fields: Comparative Politics, European Politics, Political Behavior. - ANDREW
WEDEMAN, Associate Professor, Chair Asian Studies
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1994.
Fields: Comparative Politics, Corruption, Chinese Politics
Undergraduate Courses
POLS
104, 104x. Comparative Politics (3 cr) [ES]
Description and analysis of the principal types of modern political systems,
including types of democracies and dictatorships found in Western systems,
Eastern systems, and the Third World. Occasional comparison made with
American institutions and political processes. Deals both with structures
and major policy problems confronting these political systems: the politics
of education, human rights, demands for regional autonomy, ethnic conflict
and diversity, political violence, demand for welfare services, crises
in agriculture, and other topics of relevance.
POLS 171.
Introduction to East Asian Civilization (HIST 181) (3 cr) [ES]
Survey of the traditional cultures and modern history of China and Japan.
Emphasis on political systems, intellectual and religious history, and
cultural developments.
POLS 271.
West European Politics (3 cr) [ES]
Postwar western European politics and policy-making in comparative perspective.
Political institutions and the role and behavior of political parties.
European integration, environmental policy, welfare policy, regionalism,
and immigration.
POLS 272.
Non-Western Politics (3 cr) [ES][IS]
Introduction to the politics of the Third World nations of Asia, Africa,
and Latin America. Evolution of post-colonial state, the origins and explanations
of political violence, and the effects of economic weakness, cultural
pluralism, and social structure on politics. Examined within the context
of the international political and economic system.
POLS 274.
Developmental Politics in East Asia (3 cr) [ES][IS]
Political economy of development in the "Asian Tigers": Taiwan,
South Korea, and Malaysia. Historical roots of these "developmental
states." Political and economic structures associated with rapid
development. Process of democratization and political change that have
occurred as these states modernize.
POLS 275.
Post-Communist Politics and Change (3 cr) [ES]
Requires theoretical and comparative thinking using concepts and theories
in comparative politics, regime transition, state-society debates, and
democratization. Post-communist politics of East Central, Central Europe
or Eastern Europe (includes twelve countries) focusing on the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, and the Yugoslav states. Politics and history of the
region.
POLS 277.
Latin American Politics (3 cr) [ES]
Constitutional and political development of selected Latin American countries;
contemporary problems and institutions. Latin America in world affairs
with special reference to the inter-American relations and the United
States.
POLS 281.
Challenges to the State (3 cr) [ES] [IS]
Challenges to the state related to human rights and gender issues. How
growth of non-state actors affects individuals and groups and their rights.
Gendered notions of the state, national security, women’s rights
and humanitarian intervention.
POLS 371.
Politics of the European Union (3 cr) [ES][IS]
European Union from its inception in the early postwar period to the present.
How the balancing act between individual countries' national interests
and the transfer of sovereignty to the supranational government of the
EU affects policy making, administration, and the construction of EU institutions.
POLS 372.
Russian Politics (3 cr) [ES]
Political, economic, and social changes currently affecting the Russian
Federation. External and internal factors affecting Russian domestic and
foreign policy. Problems and challenges of democratization and economic
reform.
POLS 374.
Japanese Politics (3 cr) [IS]
Introduction and overview of post-war Japanese politics, focusing on rise
and fall of one party democracy and political economy of Japan's capitalist
development state, and examining impact of rapid development to Japanese
society.
POLS 376.
Chinese Politics (3 cr) [IS]
Contemporary Chinese politics. Post-Mao period. Political, economic, and
social consequences of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. Prospects for the post-Deng
period.
POLS 471.
Comparative Public Policy: A Cross-National Approach (3 cr)
Various approaches to the study of public policy outside the United States
with emphasis on Western industrial societies. Policy formation and the
various factors that influence policy outputs, the relationship between
policy outputs and policy outcomes, efforts to classify and evaluate various
types of policy outputs, and the influence of policy on politics.
POLS 472.
State Terror (3 cr) [IS] Prereq: Permission.
Use of terror as an instrument of state policy. A series of case studies
of large scale politically based killings. Why and which states use terror
and politicide against their own citizens.
POLS 474/874.
Comparative Institutions (3 cr) [IS]
Formal and informal institutions such as constitutions, electoral rules,
property rights and civil rights. How and why people in different groups,
countries, and cultures construct institutions to facilitate collective
action. Whether different groups construct distinctly different institutions
to deal with similar problems and why similar institutions seem to work
differently in distinct societies.
POLS 476/876.
Ethnic Conflict and Identity (JUDS 476) (3 cr) [IS]
Theories of nationalism and ethnic conflicts. Case studies of Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa. The post-Cold War era as multi-polar and
multi-civilizational. The states and different cultures that compete for
influence and authority to dominate the ”New World order.” The
division of the world along ethnic, religious, and class lines rather
than by ideology. The future of international politics and the reassessment
of the causes of “conflicts of culture” and their containment.
PS 477.
Israel and the Middle East (JUDS 477) (3 cr) [IS]
Israeli politics, society, and relations with its neighbors, particularly
the Palestinians. Rise of Zionism and the Palestinian response to it;
wars between Israel and Arab neighbors, and the eventual peace agreements
between the two; the internal dynamics of Israeli political life; and
state of Zionism today.
PS 478.
Pro-seminar in Latin American Studies (ANTH, EDPS, GEOG, HIST, MODL, SOCI
478/878) (3 cr, max 6)
An interdisciplinary analysis of the mechanics of cultural continuity
and social change in Latin America. Prereq: Junior standing and permission.
