POSC 105 DEMOCRACY
School of Social Sciences
Singapore Management University
2008-2009 Term 2
Assistant Professor Yooil Bae
http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/yooilbae/default.htm
"Class session: " "
"Tuesday, 12:00 – 3:15 p.m. "Office: SOSS 04-48 "
"SOSS Seminar Rm 3-10 (RM 3036) "Telephone: 6828-1901 "
"Teaching Assistant: "Email:
[email protected] "
" "Office Hour: "
" "Tuesday 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. "
" "or by appointment "
Course Overview:
This course is intended to acquaint students with some important classic
and contemporary works on selected problems and issues in theory of
democracy. Although the exact meaning of democracy has always been a matter
of controversy, there is a large area of agreement among such commentators
as Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, etc. For example, the distinctiveness of
democracy is that the people can choose and change their government, and
they can intervene from time to time in order to decide which set of
leaders shall be vested with the state power. However, scholars in academia
have been not successful in developing an universal explanation or
definition about the process(es) of democratic transition, consolidation,
and governance, and beyond those agreement, agreement breaks down. Indeed,
there are dozens of competing, sometimes contradictory explanations, and
wide-ranging and often passionate debates mark the field of democracy.
Considering those debates and perspectives, this course will tackle some
important questions in the theory and practice of democracy: What is the
definition of democracy? How do different approaches see the aspects of
democracy? To what extent democratic values are accepted by the population?
Why have some democracy been stable for a long time, and representative
institutions are held in high repute? What conditions make democracy
possible and what conditions make it thrive? In the first several weeks, we
will explore different approaches, definitions and measurements, and types
of regime. In the second part of the course, we will turn our attention to
the root and condition of democratic transition and consolidation from
comparative perspective. Finally, we will proceed to explore how the
principles and promises of democracy work in real political world by
focusing on the relationship with economy, political culture, political
institutions, and globalization.
Course Objectives:
This course aims to familiarize students with major theoretical approaches
to and issues in understanding democracy. Specifically, students will be
encouraged:
a. To acquire knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts which
inform theoretical and empirical discussion of democracy, such as
'democracy,' 'democratic transition,' 'institutions,' and etc.
b. To acquire knowledge and understanding of at least some of core
normative issues which concern democratic politics, such as
desirability of democracy itself, and the legitimate scope of state
authority in a democracy.
c. To acquire understanding of the pre-existing condition for democracy
and democratization from comparative perspective.
d. To understand how and why certain important issues in our society –
e.g., culture, economy, trust, and globalization – are related with
democracy.
e. To understand how to compare different nations, institutions, and
value systems in similar or different contexts.
f. To learn various subfields of political science discipline – such as
political theory, comparative politics, and international politics.
Class Sessions:
The course is scheduled to meet for three hours each week (except week 8
(recess), revision week, and final week). Individual or group
presentations, discussions, quizzes, and other activities will be followed
by my overview lecture each week.
Assessment and Evaluation Policy:
The requirements for students are:
Class participation 10%
Country Report 20%
Quizzes and weekly assignment 15%
Final Analytical Essay 25%
Final Examination 30%
a. Class Participation: Each student is expected to participate fully in
class activities and discussions. Students who contribute to class
discussion through their comments, suggestions, and web posts will be
considered as valuable addition. In particular, reading and
understanding the assigned reading is essential. ***Please note that
such things as using laptop computer for web surfing and doing other
classes' homework are not allowed with occasional exceptions.
Violation of this class policy will be penalized (Instead, MS-Power
Point file will be provided for taking notes).
b. Country Report: Student will be asked to select a case from the
following countries in first two weeks, and will be asked to base your
country report and presentation on the selected country, unless you
make a compelling case to the instructor before the third week about a
particular interest (new case should be not also being studied by
anther student). The topic of group report and presentation must match
with the weekly topic (for example, if you select South Korea and want
to present the report on February 9th (Week 6), your report and
presentation are going to be about South Korea's democratization).
U.S. and some of advanced countries will be used as examples of class
lecture and thus we may focus on the following countries.
Suggested Countries:
Argentina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bolivia
Brazil Chile Czech
Republic
Egypt Indonesia Iran
Hungary Kenya Mexico
Russia Pakistan China
Peru Philippines Poland
South Africa South Korea Spain
Taiwan Ukraine Venezuela
Thailand Malaysia
c. Weekly assignment (Choose five weeks: week 4-11) is to make a list of
definitions of key terminology in your assigned readings (Times New
Roman, double-spaced, 12 pt, and no more than two pages). This will
help you to prepare final exam (for identification questions) and
quizzes. For completing the definitions, you are urged to begin
preparing the list of the terminology that you think important as you
do the weekly readings.
d. For the analytical essay, I am looking for analytically sharp, well-
reasoned essays, where ideas or concepts are defined precisely and
which demonstrate a grasp of relationship between the argument and
data that emerge from the readings. This final paper due is at the
beginning of the class of the thirteenth week. Late papers will be
penalized one grade per day (i.e., B+ paper will become a B after a
day).
Selection of Paper Topic: Basically, students can choose any topic, if
the topic is related to the class' weekly topics (especially, week 5,
6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13) and one (or more) of countries that are
discussed in class. Comparative researches are welcome, but historical
research is not recommended (at least postwar period) with exceptional
approval by the instructor.
Final Paper Outline: You are required to submit a final paper outline
in the middle of session (Due: February 24, 2009), and this will be
counted 5% of your final grade. The outline must include: 1) specific
research questions (research topic), 2) selection of country (or
countries), 3) The reason of selection, and 4) a list of references to
be cited (at least 5 academic books and articles related to your
topic).
Final Examination: The final examination will be given on the exam
date (April 14th) in four parts: 1. Multiple Choice, 2. ID questions,
3. Short answers, and 4. Essay parts. A detailed study guide will be
provided two weeks in advance. For the essay part, you will be given
six essay questions two weeks in advance. Students can prepare for
each question as much as they wish, but notes are not allowed during
the test. It is closed book test, evaluated based on individual work.
At the start of the exam, a six-sided die will be rolled, and all
students will answer the question that corresponds to that number.
e. Important Dates:
Jan 13 Sign-up for country report and presentation
Jan 31 Make-up class (due to Chinese year on January 26th)
Feb 24 Final Paper Outline Due
Apr 7 Final Paper Due
Apr 14 Final Examination
Required Readings:
All assigned readings are required. Because they are background to the
classes, they should be done prior to the dates given and the classes that
will use them. There is no textbook to be purchased, but readings will be
made available in the form of e-journals and e-book chapters (PDF files or
URL will be provided through VISTA).
Plagiarism and Code of Conduct:
(2) Plagiarism: Plagiarism in the SMU Code of Academic Integrity is defined
as, "using the ideas, data, or language of another without specific or
proper acknowledgment." This includes the use of research conducted by
others (including copying your own previous work) without attribution. If
you use in your paper evidence or facts from someone else's work, you must
provide proper citations for this. I will review in class how to do this.
Examples of proper citation can also be found in the course pack. If you
have any doubts about this, please see me. While I will serve as a
resource, it is ultimately your responsibility to cite your sources
correctly.
(3) Academic Integrity: Please review the university guidelines, including
the "Code of Student Conduct" and the "Code of Academic Integrity" which
can be found at: https://intranet.smu.edu.sg/dos/scd/. Students are
expected to abide by these codes.
PART I APPROACHES TO DEMOCRACIES
Jan 6 : Introduction (Week 1)
Jan 13: Three Approaches to Democracy (Week 2)
You will learn how to understand democracy and democratic theories
differently through the eyes of three distinctive and interrelated
approaches. What are definitions, strategies, focuses, and methods of
structural, rational choice, and cultural approaches? Is there a
possibility of synthesis? Which approach is more concrete and persuasive
from your perspective?
Lim, Timothy C. (2006) Doming Comparative Politics: An Introduction to
Approaches and Issues. Boulder: London, Chapter 6 (p.157-202).
* Country Report Sign-up: Jan 13th, 2009 at the beginning of the class
Jan 20: Definition of Democracy: Concepts and Measurements (Week 3)
Democracy cannot be defined by a singular term. As stated in the syllabus,
there is no universal definition of democracy. How do assigned readings
define democracy? What are necessary components of democratic countries?
How can you measure democracy? Are there agreeable indicators?
Dahl, Robert A. (1971) Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven:
Yale University Press, p.1-16.
Schmitter, Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl (1991) "What Democracy
is…and is Not." Journal of Democracy 2 (3): 75-88.
Feb 3: Regime Types: From Authoritarian to Democratic Systems (Week 4)
There are various types of regime in the world. The criteria can be the
degree of democratization. What are the characteristics of authoritarian
regime? If a country has procedural elements of democracy such as
multiparty system and regular elections, can it be classified as a
democratic country? Do the authors of this week's readings focus on actors
(authoritarian leaders) or cultures?
Diamond, Larry J. (2002) "Thinking about Hybrid Regimes." Journal of
Democracy 13 (2)" 21-35.
Hadenius, Axel and Jan Teorell (2007) "Pathways from Authoritarianism."
Journal of Democracy 18 (1): 143-156.
Linz, Juan J. and Alfred Stepan (1996) Problems of Democratic Transition
and Consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Chapter
3, p.38-54.
PART II DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND CONSOLIDATION
Feb 7: Pre-conditions for Democratization (Week 5)
Are there common characteristics among democratized countries? If so, what
are they? What are the exceptions of the author's arguments?
Dahl, Robert A. (2000) On Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press,
Chapter 12 (p.145-165).
Lipset, Seymour Martin (1959) "Some Social Requisites of Democracy:
Economic Development and Political Legitimacy." The American
Political Science Review 53 (1): 69-105.
Feb 9: Transition to Democracy (Week 6)
What do you mean by "transition to democracy?" How do you know that
countries are democratized? (Criteria). What are the processes of
democratization? Does transition to democracy mean a complete
transformation and disconnectedness from the past authoritarian or
autocracy? What do you mean by "the third wave of democratization?"
Huntington, Samuel P. (1991) "How Countries Democratize" Political Science
Quarterly 106 (4): 579-616.
Carothers, Thomas (2002) "The End of the Transition Paradigm." Journal of
Democracy 13 (1): 5-21.
Geddes, Barbara (1999) "What do We Know about Democratization after Twenty
Years?" Annual Review of Political Science 2: 115-144 [Recommneded]
Feb 17 : Democratic Consolidation (Week 7)
Do countries which experienced democratic transition in 1970-1990s
successfully maintain their democratic systems? Is democracy a long-lasting
system? How do you say that country A is completely transformed from the
past experience? What are the elements that measure democratic
consolidation? Why some countries are suffering from unstable political
situation after democratic transition?
Schedler, Andreas (1998) "What is Democratic Consolidation?" Journal of
Democracy 9 (2): 91-107.
Rose, Richard and Doh Chull Shin (2001) "Democratization Backwards: The
Problem of Third-Wave Democracies." British Journal of Political
Science 31: 331-354.
Feb 24 : Recess (23rd, February – 1st, March, 2009)
* Final Analytical Paper Outline Due: Feb 24, Friday (By 10:30 p.m. via
email to instructor)
PART III DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE
Mar 3 : Democracy and Economic Development (Week 9)
As you well know now (from the previous readings), one of the hottest
debates in democracy literature is on the relationship between democracy
and economic development. What do the authors say about this?
Przeworski, Adam and Fernando Limongi (1993) "Political Regimes and
Economic Growth." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 7 (3): 51-69.
Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens (1992)
Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, Chapter 2.
Mar 10: Political Culture and Democracy (Week 10)
Many scholars argue that there are various cultural traditions that are
compatible or incompatible with democratic ideology. Read Huntington's and
Putnam's classics and consider those propositions.
Huntington, Samuel P. (1993) "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs
72 (3): 22-49.
Putnam, Robert (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern
Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Chapter 5 (p.121-162).
Mar 17: Democratic Institutions: Parliamentary vs. Presidential Systems
(Week 11)
Identifying strengths and weakness of presidential and parliamentary
systems is the topic of this week.
Linz, Juan J. (1990) "The Perils of Presidentialism." Journal of Democracy
1 (1): 51-69.
Linz, Juan J. (1990) "The Virtues of Parliamentarism." Journal of Democracy
1 (4): 84-91.
Riggs, Fred W. (1997) "Presidentialism versus Parliamentarism: Implications
for Representativeness and Legitimacy." International Political
Science Review 18 (3): 253-278.
Mar 24: Civil Society, Civic Engagement and Democratic Governance (Week 12)
Civil Society is an indispensible component of democratic politics and
governance. Related to Week 10's topic, what is the role of civil society
in democracy and democratization? What is the dark side of civil society?
What is the concept of social capital?
Putnam, Robert D. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster, Chapter 21 (p. 336-
350).
Foley, Michael W. and Bob Edwards (1996) "The Paradox of Civil Society."
Journal of Democracy 7 (3): 38-52.
Mar 31: Globalization and Democracy (Week 13)
In the age of globalization, global forces play a crucial role in achieving
democracy in developed countries as well as developing countries. What are
the roles of international community in achieving democracy? Is
cosmopolitan or transnational democracy possible?
Rotfeld, Adam Daniel (2000) "The Role of the International Community." In
Marc F. Plattner and Aleksander Smolar (eds.), Globalization, Power,
and Democracy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University, p.83-97.
McGrew, Anthony (2004) "Models of Transnational Democracy." In David Held
and Anthony McGrew (eds.), The Global Transformations Reader.
Cambridge: Polity Press, p.500-513.
Apr 7: Revision Week (Week 14)
* Final Paper Due: April 7, 2009 (Tuesday 12:00 p.m. submit a hardcopy)
Apr 14: Final Exam (Tuesday, April 14th, 9:00 a.m. Venue: TBA)
COUNTRY REPORT
Selection: At the second week (before class starts), you will sign up for a
country, which will become "your" country for the rest of semester. Make
sure you choose a country that fits the following criteria:
1) It has been democratic at least part of the time over the past several
decades (it need not be democratic for the whole period; indeed, most
developing countries have not been).
2) It is prominent enough to have generated a substantial literature in a
language you can read (which is to say, it is not a poor micro-state).
3) It is not the United States and some of advanced countries such as
U.K., Canada, France, etc.
4) You are interested in learning more about this country, or perhaps
already know a good deal about it.
5) No one else in the class has chosen this country. The latter
requirement is adopted because I don't want you to compete with each
other for materials and I want to disperse our collective expertise as
much as possible so that we can learn from each other.
Presentation: Your first objective is to become versed in this country's
history, politics, society, and economy so that you can talk knowledgeably
about its democratic/ authoritarian experience in relation to the themes
covered in this course (weekly topics). You will give a short presentation
(10-15 minutes) on your country and its relevance to the course topic in
the week you signed up for. Presenters will be required to send their
reports to the instructor via email before 24 hours.
Process:
1) See the suggested countries by weeks
2) Select a country which matches with a weekly topic (Week 4-11)
3) Consult with the instructor
4) Write a country report in the scope of given weekly topic: basic
introduction of the country will be helpful. Compiled relevant
statistics will be a valuable addition.
5) Give a class presentation and submit the report
Suggested Countries:
"Week 4: "Malaysia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Burma, "
"Regime Types "Pakistan, India, Russia, Yugoslavia, "
" "Bosnia-Herzegovina "
"Week 5: "Mexico, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Brazil, "
"Pre-Conditions for"Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, "
"Democratization "Greece, Germany "
"Week 6: Transition"South Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, Poland, "
"to Democracy "Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Philippines, "
" "Spain, India, Argentina, Turkey "
"Week 7: Democratic"Venezuela, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Korea, "
"Consolidation "Taiwan, Many Latin American Countries, Thailand"
"Week 9: Democracy "China, South Korea, Mexico, Philippines, "
"and Economic "Thailand, Taiwan, Poland, Russia, Malaysia, "
"Development "Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, Many Latin American "
" "Cases "
"Week 10: Political"China, Iran, Iraq, Middle East Countries, "
"Culture "Post-Communist Countries, Japan, South Korea, "
" "Southern European Countries "
"Week 11: "Japan, Swiss, Canada, Australia, Italy, Chile, "
"Democratic "Germany, Brazil, Venezuela, France, "
"Institutions " "
POSC 105
2008/9 Term 2
Notes on Final Essay
Due Date: April 7th, 2009 (Tuesday) at noon. Late papers will be marked
down according to the policies set forth in the syllabus. A hard copy is
required (no e-mail submission).
Length: 10 to 12 typewritten pages, double spaced, on A4 paper, using a 12
point, legible font (Time New Roman is recommended).
Goal: The assignment is to deepen your understanding on democratic theories
with a specific reference to selected countries.
Process: Each student will individually write an analytical research paper
on a topic of their choosing. The paper will be written in three stages:
1) Do your country paper faithfully. Please note well other students' and
the instructor's comments, questions, and suggestions.
2) Write short paper outline and submit it to the instructor by February
24th, 2009. Students who are scheduled to present their country
reports on Week 10, 11, and 12, will be given an additional week
(March 3rd, 2009).
3) Based on the feedback from the instructor and your colleagues, write a
paper and submit by April 7th, 2009. While you are writing a paper,
you can consult with the instructor via e-mail. If you want to discuss
your paper with me in person, please make an appointment in advance.
Final Paper Outline:
1) This will be counted 5% of your final essay grade (25%).
2) The outline must contain: a) a potential thesis, b) a specific
research questions, c) selection of countries (you can add more
countries), d) the reason of selection, and e) a list of references to
be cited (at least five academic books and articles related to your
topic). http://scholar.google.com will guide you to select references.
3) The outline must be no more than one single-spaced, 12 point, Time New
Roman.
4) Paper topic should avoid: simple expansion of your country report,
historical, or descriptive papers are not allowed (will be consulted).
Suggested time period is at least World War II period (1950 –
present). If the paper topic is related to the class' weekly topics
(especially, week 5-13) and one (or more) of countries that are
discussed in class, students can choose any topic.
Final Essay:
1) This will be counted 20% of your final grade.
2) The assignment involves analyzing – as opposed to merely summarizing.
Accordingly, your essay must a) set forth a thesis; b) present
concrete supporting materials from your books, articles, and course
materials. Newspapers can be cited for explanation, but will not be
counted as academic sources. Do not rely on undependable internet
sources such as Wikipedia. Internet sources will be exceptionally
allowed (e.g. World Bank, Freedom House website, OECD website, etc.).
Grading Criteria:
1) Clear presentation of a thesis
2) Importance of research question(s): You have to suggest "why" or "how"
questions somewhere at the first section of your paper with an
appropriate of puzzle and introduction. For example: according to some
scholars, there is a causal correlation between economy and democracy.
However, unlike their expectations, country A has accomplished an
exceptional economic growth since 1990. How could this country develop
their economy without democratic system?
3) Development the most persuasive counter-arguments to your thesis.
4) Present concrete supporting materials.
5) Successfully draw a conclusion that follows from the arguments.
