Jindal School of International Affairs

BA Global Affairs Hons.

Compulsory Course

Political Science - II
Comparative Politics

Course Instructor: Rajdeep Pakanati

No. of Credits Units: 3
Course Duration: One Semester (15 Weeks; Feb-May)
Lecture Hours: Mondays [8AM-930AM (Section A); 940AM-1110AM (Section B)]
Wednesday [8AM-930AM (Section B); 940AM-1110AM (Section A)]
Location: Classroom No. 42
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays (2pm-4pm) and by appointment
Office: Room 380, T3, 3rd Floor
E-mail: rpakanati@jgu.edu.in
Brief Course Description:
This is a course on comparative politics. It is designed to acquaint students with the relevant
structures and processes that govern domestic politics. It is divided into roughly three parts.
In the first part, we examine a framework for the study of domestic politics; the second part
explores how the political system of the state works and the third part surveys a couple of
current domestic policy dilemmas confronting the state in an era of globalization.
Objectives of the course:
• To examine the theoretical underpinnings of comparative politics and how
governments manage the affairs of state.
• To explore the various actors of domestic politics, their interests and contributions to
domestic politics in different countries.
• To examine the various systems of government, institutions and how they meet or
fail to meet the basic needs of citizens.

• To equip students with a strong foundation upon which they can better appreciate
current policy options facing countries.
REQUIRED READINGS

Readings will be made available on the Google Sites and will be updated as needed.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attendance and Participation: [5%] Participation during the class will be assessed by the
quality of discussion points raised by each individual.

Book Review [20%]: You will be given a list of books on comparative politics from which
you will have to choose one book for review. A sample of a book review will be discussed in
the class for your reference. I will provide the list of books available in library or from my
personal collection.

Presentation [10%]: Each student will be assigned a topic in week 1 and there will
be two or more presentations in every class. While giving presentation, students are expected
to discuss the relevant topic of the week with pertinent examples. If two or more students are
assigned the same topic, they must consult each other to cover different aspects. You should
consult the instructor about your presentation.

Midterm Exam [15]: The mid-term exam covering various topics that have been discussed
will constitute fifteen percent of your total grade and it will be in a quiz/fill-in-the blanks
format. This exam will cover the lectures and materials from the assigned readings.

Final Exam: [50%] The final exam will be thirty percent of your grade and it will cover all
the topics discussed in class. There will be no surprises. The exam will cover lectures and
materials from the assigned readings. It will be in an essay format.
GRADING SCALE

Letter Grade Total Course Grade Definitions

Grade Value Marks
O 4.0 75 and above Outstanding Sound knowledge of the subject
matter, excellent organizational
capacity, ability to synthesize
ideas, rules and principles,
critically analyse existing materials
and originality in thinking and
presentation.
A+ 3.6 70 to 74.99 Excellent Sound knowledge of the subject
matter, thorough understanding of
issues; ability to synthesize ideas,
rules and principles and critical
and analytical ability .
A 3.2 65 to 69.99 Good Good understanding of the
subject matter, ability to identify
issues and provide balanced
solutions to problems and good
critical and analytical skills.
B+ 2.8 60 to 64.99 Adequate Adequate knowledge of the
subject matter to go to the next
level of study and reasonable
critical and analytical skills.
B 2.4 55 to 59.99 Marginal Limited knowledge of the subject
matter and irrelevant use of
materials and, poor critical and
analytical skills.
B- 2.0 50 to 54.99 Poor Barely fulfilling the learning
requirements and displaying below
ordinary standards of analysis and
comprehension.

F 0.0 Below 50 Failure Poor comprehension of the

subject matter; poor critical and
analytical skills and marginal use
of the relevant materials. May
require repeating the course.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
• Students are expected to treat each other with respect and have open-minds.
• All students are expected to arrive on time in class, fully prepared to discuss assigned
material.
• Students are expected to hand in professional-quality work. Please utilize library
resources to ensure there are no grammatical errors. PROOFREAD ALL YOUR
WORK PRIOR TO SUBMISSION. Sloppy work will attract deduction of marks.
• Texting, tweeting, or using social media and use of technology for entertainment
purposes will not be tolerated. Students are expected to shut cell phones off (or at least
on silent mode) for the entire class.

PLAGIARISM

Any idea, sentence or paragraph you quote from a web source must be credited with the original
source. If you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source in the exam, tutorials or essays,
the source must be explicitly mentioned. You SHOULD NOT feel free to plagiarise content, be
it from scholarly sources (i.e. books and journal articles) or from the Internet. The department
and the university have strict rules about plagiarism and consequences will have to be borne by
students involved in plagiarism. This is an issue of academic integrity on which no compromise
will be made.
COURSE DETAILS

WEEK ONE – COURSE INTRODUCTION & SYLLABUS DISCUSSION

Introduction to Comparative Politics- Concepts & theories
Newton, Kenneth & Jan W. Van Deth (2nd Edition). 2010. Foundations of
Comparative Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pages 1-10 (Referred
as Newton & Deth in Readings)
Collier, David. 1993. The Comparative Method. Political Science: The State of the
Discipline II. ed. Ada Finifter. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science
Association. 105-119.

WEEK TWO – THE STATE: ORIGINS & DEVELOPMENT

Newton & Deth (pages 11-67)
Krasner, Stephen. 1988. Sovereignty: An Institutional Perspective. Comparative
Political Studies. 21(1):66-94.
Rotberg, Robert. 2002. Failed States in a World of Terror. Foreign Affairs. 81(4):127-
140.

WEEK THREE – POLITY: STRUCTURES & INSTITUTIONS

Newton & Deth (pages 69 – 104)
Dahl, Robert A. 2005. What Political Institutions Does Large-Scale Democracy
Require? Political Science Quarterly. 120(2): 187-197.

WEEK FOUR – MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNMENT

Newton & Deth (pages 105-133)

WEEK FIVE – POLICY MAKING & LEGISLATING

Newton & Deth (pages 134-151)

WEEK SIX – IMPLEMENTATION

Newton & Deth (pages 152-168)

WEEK SEVEN – MID-TERM EXAM

WEEK EIGHT – DEMOCRATIC & NON-DEMOCRATIC REGIMES

Tuesday March 22
Lijphart, Arend. 1991. CONSTITUTIONAL CHOICES FOR NEW
DEMOCRACIES. Journal of Democracy. 2(1): 72-84.
Diamond, Larry. 2003. Can the Whole World Become Democratic? Democracy,
Development, and International Policies. Center for the Study of Democracy. Paper
03-05.
Ibrahim, Anwar. 2006. Universal Values and Muslim Democracy. Journal of
Democracy. 17(3): 5-12.
WEEK NINE – COMMUNISM & POST-COMMUNISM
Tuesday March 29
Communism in Theory
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, available online
at http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html
The Fall of Communism
Bunce, Valerie. 2003. Rethinking Recent Democratization: Lessons from the
Postcommunist Experience. World Politics. 55(2) 167-192.
McFaul, Michael. 2003. Transitions from Post Communism. Journal of Democracy.
16(3): 5-19.

WEEK TEN – VOTERS & ELECTIONS

Tuesday April 5
Newton & Deth (pages 245-267)
Putnam, Robert D. 1995. Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of
Social Capital in America. Political Science and Politics. 28(4): 664-683.

WEEK ELEVEN- DECISION MAKING

Monday April 12
Newton & Deth (pages 315-336)

WEEK TWELVE-LESS DEVELOPED & NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING

COUNTRIES
Tuesday April 19
Examining underdevelopment
Barro, Robert J. 1996. Democracy and Growth. Journal of Economic Growth. 1(1): 1-27.
Democracy & Economic Growth
Collier, Paul and Jan Willem Gunning. 1999. Why has Africa Grown Slowly?
Journal of Economic Perspectives. 13(3): 3-22.
Adam Przeworski, Political Regimes and Economic Growth.

WEEK THIRTEEN- POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Tuesday April 26
Structural Violence
 Skocpol, Theda. 1976. France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social
Revolutions. Comparative Studies in Society and History. 18(2): 175-210.
Terrorism
Pape, Robert. 2003. The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. American Political Science
Review. 97(3): 1-19.
Military, soldiers, and private security companies
Avant, Deborah. 2004. Mercenaries. Foreign Policy. 143: 20-28.
Francis, David J. 1999. Mercenary Intervention in Sierra Leone: Providing
National Security or International Exploitation? Third World Quarterly. 20(2): 319-
338.

WEEK FOURTEEN- GLOBALIZATION & WELFARE

STATE
Tuesday May 3
Newton & Deth (pages 360-399)
Development & Globalization
Bhagwati, Jagdish. Coping with Anti-Globalization. From In Defense of Globalization.
Ferguson, Niall. 2005. Sinking Globalization. Foreign Affairs. 84(2): 64-77.

WEEK FIFTEEN – REVIEW WEEK

Tuesday May 10
Newton & Deth (pages 400-415)

TUESDAY MAY 24 – FINAL EXAM

Good luck!