This course introduces students to some of the basic concepts used to analyze and compare the development and functioning of political systems - concepts such as democracy, authoritarianism, revolution and political development. These and other concepts will be examined in liberal democracies, communist/post-communist countries, and developing/industrializing nations.
Through this course, students should achieve a good understanding of the different forms of democratic systems, including parliamentary and presidential systems; the structure, problems, and dynamics of authoritarian (including communist) political systems; the newly emerging institutions of Europe; and the complex problems inherent in the processes of political and economic development. Students compare the methods of political participation in different political systems and the political decisions and outcomes that characterize various systems.
This course meets the core requirement for International Studies. Political
science majors are required to take either this course or PS 53, International
Politics.
Your textbook probably also has a glossary of key terms, either at the
end of chapters or the book. But here are some crucial ones for quick reference:
This section is under construction. Key concepts will be coming
soon!
There are lots of great web sites for information relevant to the course.
While these sites will provide information useful for your course assignments,
they are also just a lot of fun to explore. So go to it!
Newspapers:
Many of you know that hordes of newspapers are available online. Some
of the most useful for this course include the Wall
Street Journal, the Washington
Post Americas (especially good for stuff on Latin America. You can
also get the regular Washington Post and info on the rest of the world
here too), Le Monde (which is in French
but provides an English language summary: this is a good source for French
and European politics), China
Daily provides extensive coverage of guess-which-country?, The
Times (of London) is a great source on British politics, and, finally,
the New York Times is reputed
to be a fairly decent newspaper.
Regional Organizations:
The European Union provides all kinds of information on its institutions, activities, important documents and member states.
The Organization of American States provides information on the Americas.
The OECD provides all kinds of statistical data (especially, but not only, economic) and more on Europe, Japan and the United States.
For info on Africa, check out the African
Policy Information Center.
Specific Countries:
If you want a weekly summary of the latest news in France, it's no problem. The Germans also provide a weekly news summary and much more at their U.S. embassy's web site. You can also check out what's happening inside 10 Downing Street (hint: that's the British Prime Minister's office).
For information on China and other Asian countries, go to Temple's Asian Studies Center for info and further links. You can also check out Inside China Today.
You can also get info straight from the Mexican government.
Not to be left out is the Russian Republic and the former communist states of Eastern Europe.
To see what's new in the Land of the Rising Sun see the site of Japan's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
General Information:
The CIA provides a wealth of information about countries around the world and you don't need security clearance to get this stuff.
If you want information on a particular political
party, check out Wilfried
Derksen's web site which provides links to nearly
every political party on the planet that has its own web site.
Other really good links:
There are several web sites that provide extensive lists of links to further sources of political information. For links to a slew of international and foreign organizations (such as the International Monetary Fund, International Labor Organization, the United Nations, or the official statistics offices of various national governments around the globe) try CBS.
A REALLY GREAT source for links to political sites is provided by Richard Kimber at the University of Keele (two brownie points if you know which country that's in!).
If you are using Annual Editions in your course,
you will also find an extensive list of web sites toward the front of the
book.
The political science
department also has a home page where you can find out more info about
courses, major requirements, and faculty.
Click on a name below to send comments or questions to your professor or TA.
Prof. Stavis
Prof. Deeg
Pedro Sanoja
Adwoa Gyekye
Akis Kalaitzidis
Ximena Varela