Instructor: Diana Morlang office: Perkins 02CG
dmorlang@duke.edu office phone: 660-4334

Comparative politics, by tradition, seeks to explain differences between political systems and countries various routes to democracy. This course will explore the politics in five regions. Part I explores in depth the political institutions in Western European democracies; this material will provide a basis for comparing the political process in other regions as well as highlight the differences between parliamentary democracy and presidential democracy (as in the US). Part II explores two regions that are transitioning to western-style democracies. First, we explore the legacy of colonialism in Latin America, and countries' attempts to establish stable political systems. Next we examine the transitions from communism to democracy in East and Central Europe. Part III looks at three regions that have not tried to follow the western model. We look at political culture and institutions in Asia, and Africa, and evaluate their different approaches to politics and their success at providing stability. Throughout the course, we will compare the experiences of individual countries and regions, and explore the conditions for variation in political development. Along with required readings in texts that provide background information and theoretical explanations, students will read the New York Times daily and analyze current events using material discussed in class.

Assignments and Requirements:

Reading Assignments should be completed before class, and students will be expected to discuss them. This also applies to the New York Times; students should look at the day’s paper before class and be prepared to discuss the events in connection with class material.

At the end of each week there will be a current event quiz at the beginning of class. The quizzes will require short answers about major stories covered in the NY Times during that week.

Exams follow parts I and II of the class. The exams will require short essay answers to questions about readings, lectures and discussions covered in that section of course and the relationship between specific cases and course-wide theories. There is no final exam for the class, but the final paper includes the material covered in part III.

Students will write a final paper, due the last day of class (August 12). This assignment requires students to research the current political system in a country from Africa or Asia. The first part of the paper requires students to discuss general political trends in Africa and Asia using course readings and discussions. The second part of the paper requires students to describe the political system of the country and relate its experiences with democracy to those of the region overall. Students will present and discuss their projects in class August 11 or 12. More detailed guidelines will be provided later in the course. The class will have an introduction to library research.

Participation is an important part of this class. Not only will students be assigned to specific in-class activities such as paper presentations, but daily class discussions are also important. Students are expected to raise questions about readings and to explore how theory and cases go together.

Grading:

Current Event Quizzes 12%

Exams 50% (25% each exam)

Research Paper 25%

Participation 13% (including presentation)

Required Texts:

Bratton, Michael and Nicolas van de Walle. 1997. Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. New York Cambridge University Press.

Gallagher, Michael, Michael Laver and Peter Mair. 1995. Representative Government in Modern Europe. New York: McGraw Hill.

White, Stephan, Judy Batt, Paul G. Lewis. 1998. Developments in Central and Eastern European Politics, 2^nd Edition. Durham: Duke University Press.

Skidmore, Thomas E. and Peter H. Smith. 1997. Modern Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press.

A packet of required articles costing $5 will be prepared by the instructor and distributed in class.

The New York Times. Students can purchase (or share) a subscription and pick papers up at a central drop-box (see attached form), or read daily in the newspaper reading room in the basement of Perkins Library.

Introduction

Transition from Authoritarianism: Latin America