GV248
Power and Politics in the Modern World: Comparative Perspectives
This information is for the 2022/23 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr David Woodruff
Availability
This course is available on the BA in Social Anthropology, BSc in History and Politics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics, BSc in Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and History, BSc in Politics and International Relations, BSc in Politics and Philosophy and BSc in Social Anthropology. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.
Pre-requisites
Students must have completed Introduction to Political Science (GV101).
Other background in political science will be considered as a substitute for GV101 for students outside of Government.
Course content
This course will acquaint students with the contemporary study of comparative politics, focusing on theories susceptible to testing with narrative historical evidence. Students will learn to address the methodological challenges of developing and testing such theories. The course will treat a wide variety of themes, including the political impact of natural resources in developing countries, social movements and revolution, political and bureaucratic corruption, the political economy of distribution, and political ideologies. With respect to each theme, students will receive a grounding in theories of the topic and samples of application to empirical cases drawn from throughout the developed, developing, and post-Communist world.
Teaching
This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 40 hours across the Michaelmas Term, Lent Term and Summer Term.
Classes are expected to run from Weeks 2-5 and 7-11 in MT and Weeks 1-5 and 7-11 in LT. There will be a reading week in Week 6 of both terms.
The Week 11 lecture in LT will be a revision lecture and there will be one revision class per group in Week 1 of ST.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 2 essays in the MT and 1 essay in the LT.
The highest-marked formative essay will count for assessment; see below.
Indicative reading
Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979
Hertog, Steffen. "Shaping the Saudi State: Human Agency's Shifting Role in Rentier-State Formation." International Journal of Middle East Studies 39, no. 4 (2007). doi:10.2307/30069487. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30069487.
Brierley, Sarah. "Unprincipled Principals: Co-opted Bureaucrats and Corruption in Ghana." American Journal of Political Science 64, no. 2 (2020): 209-222. Doi:10.1111/ajps.12495
Weyland, Kurt. "The Rise of Latin America's Two Lefts: Insights From Rentier State Theory." Comparative Politics 41, no. 2 (2009): 145-164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40599207
Hacker, Jacob S, and Paul Pierson. "Winner-Take-All Politics: Public Policy, Political Organization, and the Precipitous Rise of Top Incomes in the United States." Politics & Society 38, no. 2 (2010). doi:10.1177/0032329210365042
Orloff, Ann Shola. "Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: The Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States." American Sociological Review 58, no. 3 (1993). doi:10.2307/2095903
Fourcade Gourinchas, Marion, and Sarah L. Babb. “The Rebirth of the Liberal Creed: Paths to Neoliberalism in Four Countries.” American Journal of Sociology 108, no. 3 (November 2002): 533–79. https://doi.org/10.1086/367922
Assessment
Essay (40%, 1500 words) in the MT and LT.
Online assessment (60%) in the ST.
Students’ summative essay mark will be the highest mark of those given for the three formative essays. Students who attempt all three (3 out of 3) will receive the highest mark achieved. Students who attempt two essays (2 out of 3) will receive the highest mark out of the two essays attempted. However, students who submit fewer than two essays (1 out of 3 or 0 out of 3) will be awarded a Zero Incomplete for the whole course and cannot be awarded the degree until they submit the work at resit (either the second of two essays if only 1 out of 3 was completed, or two essays if 0 out of 3 were completed). In such circumstances the student’s resit course mark will be capped at the pass rate of 40%.
Online assessment duration: 7 days in the ST.
GENERAL COURSE STUDENTS ONLY:
The Class Summary Grade for General Course students will be based on the average of the three formative essays (75%) and attendance (25%).
Student performance results
(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)
| Classification | % of students |
|---|---|
| First | 21.7 |
| 2:1 | 69.5 |
| 2:2 | 5.4 |
| Third | 1.5 |
| Fail | 2 |
Key facts
Department: Government
Total students 2021/22: 79
Average class size 2021/22: 13
Capped 2021/22: Yes (75)
Value: One Unit
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
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