Fall 2000
MWF 11:00-11:50 AM
Room: SCI S-111
Dr. Leaman’s Office: CLS 2050
Hours:  MWF 8:10-8:50 AM and 10:10-10:50 AM; W 5:30-7:00 PM; or by appointment.
Telephone: 773-794-2687
Website: www.neiu.edu/~dleaman
E-mail: d-leaman@neiu.edu

DESCRIPTION: A major topic in political science at the beginning of the twenty-first century is the impact of global political economy on national politics.  While “globalization” is at least as old as Columbus, the late twentieth century expansion of transnational business and organization and the collapse of state socialist and nationalist-capitalist systems and ideologies pose crucial questions: How much do (or should) national governments control the directions of their own economies and polities?  What are the alternatives for national political movements and for domestic policymakers?  How, particularly, have the current global trends affected the politics of nations and peoples that have traditionally been considered part of the “Third World?”
    To address these questions, this course begins with core questions, concepts, and themes.  What is globalization, and to what extent is it new?  Is the “Third World” still a useful category?  What about “neo-colonialism?”  Does the current free market trend complement or conflict with the parallel trend of democratization?  Does globalization advance human rights or not?  These and other questions are then explored in four nations in the South -- Argentina, Vietnam, El Salvador, and South Africa -- with distinctive histories and interactions with the global system.  Argentina gained its political independence in the early 19th century, and then launched a major attempt at a “second independence” through nationalist-capitalism after WWII.  Vietnam’s leaders tried to implement a state-socialist model after their anti-imperial military victories in 1954 and 1975.  Both El Salvador and South Africa recently embarked on negotiated processes of democratization made possible by sustained popular insurgencies battling against entrenched oligarchies.  Alongside numerous variations, these four countries share a history of Western colonialism and neo-colonialism; independence and revolutionary struggles; entanglements in global Cold War competition; experimentation with a range of political economy alternatives, including “authoritarian,” “democratic,” “capitalist,” and “socialist” models; recent periods of post-civil war reconstruction; and current accommodations to global market capitalism.  This comparative politics course will explore both the similarities and the differences in how these four nations have historically responded to the changing forces of globalization.

COURSE TEXTS: Please purchase these three books at the bookstore when they are available.

Mittelman, James H., ed., Globalization: Critical Reflections (1996).

SarDesai, D. R., Vietnam: Past and Present, 3rd ed. (1998).

Wood, Elisabeth Jean, Forging Democracy from Below: Contested Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador (2000).

PLUS: Library Reserve readings (or course pack) on Argentina and on globalization.

REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the reading assignments listed below, this course features two written essay exams; a short research paper; and discussion leadership and participation.  Due dates will be listed on the course calendar.  Penalties for lateness are severe.  In addition, perfect class attendance and prompt arrival are required; more than four unexcused absences and/or frequent tardiness will result in a zero for the participation portion of your final grade.

GRADING: The various components of your grade have the “weights” listed below.  Your final grade is calculated according to the standard percentages listed in the college catalogue (A = 90-100%; B = 80-89%; C = 70=79%; D = 60-69%; F = Below 60%).

    Essay exam # 1                25% - 100 points
    Essay exam #2                 25% - 100
    Research paper                25% - 100
    Discussion leadership       10% - 40
    Attendance/Participation  15% - 60

    TOTAL                          100%- 400 points

ESSAY EXAMS: Each essay exam will feature questions that deal with broad themes that are based on the readings up to that point in the course.  The first exam will be in-class.  The second will be take-home, completed during the final exam week.  In each case, you will receive a list of possible essay questions one week in advance of the exam.

DISCUSSION LEADERSHIP: Participation in discussion of readings is an important part of this course.  To help build oral communication and teamwork skills, each of you will also have one opportunity during the term to help lead class discussion.  A sign-up sheet with topics and weeks will be distributed early in the term so that nearly every week two of you will have the chance to lead class discussion together of that week’s required readings.  To assist discussion, you and your partner will be expected to prepare questions on your week’s readings for your classmates.

RESEARCH PAPER: Your research paper will focus on one aspect of “globalization and Third World politics” in one of the four countries on which we are concentrating in this course.  Your research will thus require you to explore a very specific, theoretically relevant question in a particular country.  This project will proceed through four steps.  First, you will write a research topic question.  Your second step will be an outline and preliminary bibliography for your paper.  Third, you will write the first draft of the paper itself -- 5-6 pages, typed and double-spaced.  After each of these steps you will receive comments from me.  This, I hope, will make the process of writing a research paper less intimidating, more coherent, and more satisfying.  Finally, you will hand in the final draft of your research paper.
 

Week 1:  Globalization and “Third World” Politics:  Concepts, Perspectives, and Modalities
August 28 and 30; September 1

READ:  James H. Mittelman, ed., Globalization:  Critical Reflections, pp. 1-30, 53-81. 
 

Week 2:  Globalization, the State, and Peasant Resistance:  The Case of NAFTA and Mexico
Labor Day holiday; September 6 and 8

READ:  Mittelman, ed., pp. 83-113, 165-185.
 

Week 3:  Globalization and Cultural-Religious Responses:  The Example of Resurgent Islam
September 11, 13, and 15

READ:  Mittelman, ed., pp. 187-201, 229-241; Benjamin Barber, "Jihad versus McWorld" [class  handout]; and start Argentina readings.

Topic Question due on September 22
 

Week 4:  Argentina:  Colonialism, Independence, and the Populist Nationalist Model
September 18, 20, and 22

READ:  Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith, Modern Latin America (1997), ch. 3; and Cristián Buchrucker, “Interpretations of Peronism: Old Frameworks and New   Perspectives,” in James P. Brennan, ed., Peronism and Argentina (1998), pp. 3-  28 [Library Reserve].
 

Week 5:  Argentina:  The Global Cold War, Right-Wing Dictatorship, and Transition
September 25, 27, and 29

READ:  Guillermo O’Donnell, Two short essays from Counterpoints: Selected Essays on Authoritarianism and Democratization (1999), pp. 51-79;  Joseph S. Tulchin, “Continuity and Change in Argentine Foreign Policy,” in Joseph S. Tulchin, ed., Argentina: The Challenges of Modernization (1998), pp. 163-197 [Library Reserve].

Outline and Preliminary Bibliography due October 6
 

Week 6:  Argentina:  Market Capitalism, Civilian Regimes, and the New Global Era
October 2, 4, and 6

READ:  Juan Carlos Torre, “Critical Junctures and Economic Change: Launching Market Reforms in Argentina,” in Tulchin, ed., pp. 201-216; Torcuato Di Tella, “The Transformations of Peronism,” in Brennan, ed., 203-222; David E. Leaman, “Populist Liberalism as Dominant Ideology: Competing Ideas and Democracy in Post-Authoritarian Argentina,” Studies in Comparative International Development  (1999) [ Library Reserve].

Essay Exam #1 on October 11
 

Week 7:  Vietnam:  Asian and European Colonialisms and Wars of Independence
October 9, 11, and 13

READ:  D. R. SarDesai, Vietnam:  Past and Present, pp. 1-58.
 

Week 8:  Vietnam:  The Global Cold War, U.S. Intervention, and State Socialism
October 16, 18, and 20

READ:  SarDesai, pp. 58-119.
 

Week 9:  Domestic, Regional, and International Politics of the “New Vietnam”
October 23, 25, and 27

READ:  SarDesai, pp. 121-178.

First Draft of Paper due November 3
 

Week 10:  El Salvador: Colonialism, Agro-Export Oligarchy, and Popular Revolution
October 30; November 1 and 3

READ:  Elisabeth J. Wood, Forging Democracy from Below:  Contested Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador, chs. 1-2 (OR Kevin Murray, El Salvador: Peace on Trial, 1998).
 

Week 11:  El Salvador:  The Global Cold War, Multilateral Negotiations, and Accords
November 6, 8, and 10

READ:  Wood, chs. 3-4 (OR Murray).
 

Week 12:  South Africa: Dual Colonialisms, Racist Oligarchy, and Popular Rebellion
November 13, 15, and 17

READ:  Wood, chs. 5-6 (OR Kidane Mengisteab, “Globalization and South Africa’s Transition through a Consociational Arrangement,” in Francis Adams, et al., eds, Globalization and the Dilemmas of the State in the South, 1999).

Final Draft of Paper due November 22
 

Week 13:  Global and Local Forces, the End of Apartheid, and the New South Africa
November 20 and 22; Thanksgiving holiday

READ:  Wood, chs. 7-8 (OR Glen Adler, “Global Restructuring and Labor: The Case of the South African Trade Union Movement,” in James H. Mittelman, ed., Globalization: Critical Reflections, 1996)
 

Week 14:  The Many Faces of Globalization: Neocolonial versus Democratic Globalization
November 27 and 29: December 1

READ:  Reading TBA on civil society and global grassroots movements (e.g. anti-apartheid and anti-sweatshop).  Also, review Mittelman, ed., ch. 7.
 

Week 15+:  Globalization and “Third World” Politics:  Comparisons and Conclusions
December 4, 6, 8, and 11

READ:  Selected student research papers

Take-home Essay Exam #2 due 2 pm, Wednesday, December 13, 2000