Reading List - Spring 2013

Theories of Comparative and International Politics
Victor Asal vasal@albany.edu 518 591 8729 Delmar Reformed Church from 10-12

Readings: Please do the readings. I have found that a common core of reading greatly enriches the class for everyone and benefits each participant. This link connects to all the readings for the class http://tinyurl.com/b43tvm3 and if you have trouble accessing the readings let me know and I will email them to you.

Dates Topics and readings (subject to change)

3/4/2013 Realism, liberalism, Marxism and constructivism and what is theory good for anyway.

3/11/2013 Why interstate war

Read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War up to the section entitled Sicilian Expedition

http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.1.first.html chapter one- but this is pretty long so if you just want to read the Wikipedia entry above that is fine.

You can read this summary for Kant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_Peace:_A_Philosophical_Sketch
or if you want to read the whole version you can read here:
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kant/kant1.htm

3/18/2013 Digging down to the individual level of leaders

Read:

http://www.e-ir.info/2012/10/16/personality-in-foreign-policy-decision-making/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2011/12/kim_jong_il_kim_jong_un_will_north_korea_s_new_leader_pursue_crazy_nuclear_policies_.html

3/25/2013 Comparative Politics Contending Perspectives: Culture, Structure, Rational Actor

Read:
I don’t have an available link to the actual article but you can go to the link below and get a pdf of a very detailed ppts summarizing the reading The link is titled Theory in Comparative Politics: Rationality, Structure, and Culture

This is a link to the webpage it is on: http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/tclim/S12_Courses/373_notes.htm

And this is a direct link http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/tclim/S12_Courses/Lecture%20notes/373-theory2.pdf

4/1/2013 NO CLASS

4/8/2013 Why Democracy

Read:

http://www.svt.ntnu.no/iss/Indra.de.Soysa/POL3503H05/olson.pdf

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/22/bear_in_a_china_shop

4/15/2013 An introduction to theory and application – how do you test a hypothesis

Read:

http://www.qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1358/1358062_qog_codebook_v6apr11.pdf

http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/iVnJS0/Rethemeyer.pdf

The Last 50 Years of the Supreme Court
Lauren Wittern-Keller
Link to course outlines and reading list:
http://moviehistory.us/hill-course.html