lecture schedule

OBJECTIVES

The post colonial countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Mid-East are in great flux. Decades ago, political science thought they would modernize and develop rather easily and automatically. Now it is clear that development is much more complex and variegated.  Political decay has been common, bringing military or personal dictatorship, civil war, and economic stagnation.  In some cases a strong state has fostered economic growth, but in others it has led to corruption and decline. In some regions, democracy has emerged.  This course will review  theories and specific examples of development in the third world so we have a better understanding of actual patterns of political behavior and the reasons for these dynamics.

Students will prepare an oral report for class, a written paper describing and analyzing a theoretical perspective, and a case study that integrates the theory with the experiences of some country. There will also be a final exam.

This course is a graduate division course in the Political Science curriculum.  There is no prerequisite.

Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with disabilities. Any student with such a need should first
contact Temple University's Office of Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 at 100 Ritter Annex to
verify the need and determine the appropriate reasonable accomodations.  Then the student should discuss this
matter privately with the instructor when appropriate, normally before the first quiz or test.
 
 

CLASS COMMUNICATION

The class has a web site, which will be used for distribution of materials. The address is:
        http://astro.temple.edu/~bstavis/courses/polsci442.htm
In addition, the class will have a listserv, to facilitate email exchange among students and myself.

You should sign up for the listserv by sending email to this address: listserv@listserv.temple.edu
The content of the mail is the command:
        sub polsci442-stavis yourfirstname yourlastname
The address of our listserv is:
       polsci442-stavis@listserv.temple.edu
When you send email to this address, it will be distributed to everyone who has subscribed. Archives of our class email will be located at:
        http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/polsci442-stavis.html
 

REQUIRED READINGS

Bernard Brown, Comparative Politics, Notes and Readings, 9th edition (2000) Harcourt: Fort Worth, 1999. isbn 0-15-507885-2
H.E. Chehabi and Juan Linz, Sultanistic Regimes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. isbn 0-8018-5694-9
William Reno, Warlord Politics and African States, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1998. isbn 1-55587-883-0
Meridith Woo-Cumings, The Developmental State, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999. isbn 0-801408566-5
Roderic Ai Camp, Democracy in Latin America, Patterns and Cycles.  Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 1996. isbn 0-8420-2513-8
Ted Robert Gurr, Minorities at Risk.  Washington: US Institute of Peace Press, 1993. isbn 1-878379-24-0

Recommended Readings

Paul Harrison, Inside the Third World. New York: Viking Press, 1990. isbn  0-14017217-3
Jeff Haynes, Third World Politics, A Concise Introduction. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1996. isbn 0-631-19778-8

It is highly recommended that students in this course read the New York Times and or The Economist regularly. Subscriptions for the New York Times are available at a very advantageous student price in areas where there is regular home delivery. Contact the New York Times College Program directly at 660-9940 and/or 1-800-631-2500 for information.

CLASS ATTENDANCE

Class discussions and lectures will supplement and highlight materials in the readings. Regular class attendance is necessary to master the materials of the course and is expected (except when not possible because of illness, funerals, job interviews, etc.) Since we meet only once a week, missing a single class is the equivalent of missing a full week of classes. Students are, of course, responsible for all material in all classes. Students who miss a class have the responsibility to find out from classmates (or the instructor) the material covered in that class.

OFFICE HOURS

Students are encouraged to come to my office and/or telephone me to discuss the term paper, to seek seek clarification on classroom discussions, to offer suggestions, or to chat.

Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00-3:00 and at other times by appointment

            office: 215-204-7793

Email: bstavis@temple.edu (most convenient)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Requirements:

Scores on assignments and tests will be weighted as follows:
 

Oral Report	as scheduled	15%
Theory exposition	Oct 17	15%
Term paper	Dec 5	30%
Final exam	Dec 12	40%

Testing:

The final exam will include short answers questions dealing with authors and literature; it will also include broader essays that cover material in class lectures and all readings.  Study guides will be provided.

Oral Report:

Students will make an oral presentation in class.  The oral reports should  be geared to specific themes of classes as shown on the schedule. These are:

sultanism
state collapse
developmental state
democratization
identify politics

Written Assignments:

Students will do two written assignments, a theory exposition and a term paper.

The theory exposition will provide a literature review of some theoretical perspective within the study of third world politics.   The theory exposition should be integrated with your oral report and term paper.  References should be to professional books and journals in the field.  Papers should not exceed 10 pages.  You should use the style of either the American Political Science Review or World Politics.  In your literature review, you should use the library's FirstSearch. From a Temple computer (or home computer utilizing a Temple logon address), you can access the libraries resources at:

        http://www.library.temple.edu/fsrch/

Links to this page are on the Political Science Home Page.

In addition, I have placed a bibliography, organized by various analytical perspectives, on the web. You can find a link at our class site, http://nimbus.temple.edu/~bstavis/polsci442.htm .

The term paper should highlight the key theorists, their hypotheses dealing with the issue, and the key empirical studies of it. A thorough, annotated bibliography is an integral part of this paper. You should use the style of either the American Political Science Review or World Politics. The papers must not exceed 20 pages (double-spaced). If you want me to review a rough draft, get it to me about 10 days before the due date.

Both the theory exposition and the term paper must be submitted at "professional level of presentation." This means typed, double space, one side of the paper, reasonable margins, neat, page numbers on the pages, and stapled together, etc. If you are using a dot matrix printer, print the final draft in high density (NLQ). Footnotes must be presented in the format specified above.  Please review this website and be sure to avoid the problems highlighted in it:

    http://astro.temple.edu/~bstavis/courses/spell.htm

For more information about format, I suggest you get a book such as Kate Turabian, Student's Guide for Writing Papers or Chicago Manual of Style. If you share with me a rough draft two weeks before the due date, I will give you comments that can be used in improving the final draft.

Students should always keep copies of their term papers so it can serve as a sample of writing to accompany applications for jobs or other graduate schools. If papers are not returned during the semester, students should pick up papers during the following semester. I will not be responsible for papers not picked up after one semester.

MAKEUP POLICIES

If realities of life (illness, funerals, etc.) create irreconcilable scheduling conflicts with paper deadlines or exams, contact me IN ADVANCE. I will try to work out a suitable alternative, generally before the normal exam time. I will be far less flexible if you wait until after the event to explain why you missed it. Written assignments handed in late will be penalized.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

We learn in a group environment, but we must demonstrate our mastery of materials on an individual basis. Misrepresenting other people's work as one's own is a serious breach of academic integrity. I manage the class on the basis of trust in each student's academic integrity, and this enables our class to be informal and flexible. The other side of the coin is that any act that undermines this trust in academic integrity is a serious matter.

All tests must reflect a student's own, individual work, and must be done in the specified time period. Cheating or helping others cheat violates the spirit of trust that we all prefer. Cheating will be considered an admission that a student does not understand the material, and grading will reflect this admission.

Written assignments must be based on the student's own research and writing specifically for this course. If you like what another author says and wish to use that material, you must use quotation marks and footnotes to show clearly the line between your own insights and the insights of someone else. Failure to make this distinction clear constitutes plagiarism, which is a very serious violation of the principles of academic integrity.

Papers written for other courses can not be submitted again for this course. One paper may not be submitted to two courses unless there is prior approval from both professors.

These guidelines are explained in greater detail in the University's Statement on Academic Integrity, printed in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Sometimes students are under great stress at the end of a semester. Stress can impair judgment. Do not be tempted to copy some paper you got from a friend or from the internet. I have a high success rate in identifying plagiarized papers. You risk not only a grade but your priceless reputation for integrity. It is far better to take an incomplete and do your own paper in your own time.

GRADES

Final grades will be assigned roughly on the basis of:

A 93-100

Thorough understanding of all material; sound grasp of all theoretical and empirical materials directly listed in the syllabus. Independent reading and research going beyond the materials in the syllabus. Expression of insights, both orally and in writing, at an adult level of presentation.

Weak understanding of conceptual principles. Marginal familiarity with empirical materials.

Serious conceptual and/or factual errors.