Political Science 29000 & 39800
Charles Lipson
University of Chicago
Syllabus, Autumn 2008

Books are available at UC/Barnes & Noble Bookstore and the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore.

All materials are available at Regenstein Reserve or electronic reserve.

Undergraduates normally enroll in PS 290, grad students in PS 398.

All students receive letter grades unless they have advanced written permission from Prof. Lipson. This permission must be sought before the mid-term exam.

Grades for this course are based on a midterm and final. The final covers the entire course and counts slightly more. Students who participate regularly in sections will be given positive credit. Both exams are written in class without books, notes, or other aids. Foreign-language students or students with learning disabilities will be given some additional time to complete these exams. Our goal, after all, is to examine your understanding of international politics, not your ability to write English quickly!

Undergraduate sections meet once each week. Sections will be assigned in Week 2.

There is usually a graduate section for students in the Committee on International Relations; other graduate students are welcome to attend. CIR students are graded by their preceptor, in cooperation with Prof. Lipson. Political Science graduate students are graded by Professor Lipson.

This course uses multimedia extensively. Class presentations include computerized versions of my lecture notes, maps, graphs, historical photos and paintings, and newspapers from relevant periods. To give a flavor of the historic periods we cover, the class presentations include propaganda posters and political cartoons.

Lectures and Readings:

"People have now-a-days got a strange opinion that everything should be taught by lectures. Now, I cannot see that lectures can do so much as reading the books from which the lectures are taken."
      --Samuel Johnson in Boswell's Life of Johnson

Kenneth N. Waltz, "The Anarchic Structure of World Politics," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts (7th ed.; New York: Longman, 2009), Chapters 1-2.
                (REQUIRED BOOK)  previous three editions contain most of assigned materials

NOTE: No sections during Week 1.  Sections begin during Week 2.

Alexander Wendt, "Anarchy Is What States Make of It," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Kenneth Oye, "The Conditions for Cooperation in World Politics," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Michael W. Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 3 (Balance of Power and World War I).

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 5 (Cold War).

Lawrence Freedman, "The Confrontation of the Superpowers, 1945-1990," in Michael Howard and Wm. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century (NY: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 153-63.
                 (REQUIRED BOOK)  D421.O95 1988

Bruce Hoffman, "What is Terrorism?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

F. Gregory Gause III, "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Philip H. Gordon, "Can the War on Terror Be Won?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 2, section on "Liberal Democracy and War."

The mid-term exam will be given in class on Thursday, NOVEMBER 6, 2008

Please bring your own (unmarked) blue books to class for the mid-term and the final exam.

On this exam (and on the final), students may not use books, notes, or computers. The exam covers both assigned readings and lectures.

What the exam looks like:  Both the midterm and final come in two parts:
     (a) brief identification questions (about 10-12 of them), and
     (b) 2 longer essay questions (chosen from 3 or 4 questions).

The first part of the exam is a brief series of identification questions, which require only one or two word answers. For example, they might ask the name of a treaty ending a particular war. Or they might provide a definition and ask what it refers to. Or they might ask you to name a specific leader or scholar. In short, they will range quickly across the readings. This part of the exam counts for approximately 20% of the total.

The bulk of the exam (approximately 80%) consists of two longer essay questions on major topics in the course. Students select the 2 questions they will answer from a menu of 3 or 4 questions. These questions focus on the central themes in the first half of the course. They ask you to discuss critically the assigned readings and lectures and to synthesize your views on major topics.

The exam lasts 80 minutes, the normal class period. Students will be given extra time, at their request, if they lack native fluency in English or have specific learning disabilities. Students needing extra time do not need to ask in advance; you can ask on the day of the exam itself. (The final exam has the same format, but lasts 2 hours.)

Make-up exam: Make-up exams are given only with Prof. Lipson's written permission in advance of the make-up exam. Students must make a written request for a make-up exam and state why the regular exam could not be taken (for example, a serious family illness). The make-up exam is given only once, on Thursday of the week following the regular mid-exam, immediately after the class period.

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 8 (Information Revolution and Transnational Actors) and Chapter 9 (A New World Order?)

Robert O. Keohane, "Hegemony in the World Political Economy," in Art and Jervis, eds., International Politics.

Jeffrey A. Frieden, Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (NY: W. W. Norton, 2006), Preface plus Chapters 12, 13, 20..
                (REQUIRED BOOK) HF1359.F735 2006

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 7 (Globalization and Interdependence).

Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998), pp. 3-10, electronic reserve.
               JN15 .M567 1998

Moravcsik, "Europe without Illusions," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

David G. Victor, "International Cooperation on Climate Change: Numbers, Interests, and Institutions"  in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink "Transnational Activist Networks," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

NOTE: There will be a Tuesday lecture and any sections scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. There will be no lecture on Thursday and no sections on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday of Thanksgiving Week.

DATE: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 10:30-12:30 in our regular classroom.

Early Final (with prior written permission only): Thursday of reading period, 1:30-3:30 (in our regular classroom) 

Make-up final (with prior permission only): First Thursday of new quarter, 9:30-11:30 (Pick 407)

What the final exam looks like:  The exam covers the entire course and comes in two parts, just like the midterm:
     (a) 10 or so brief identification questions;
     (b) 2 longer essay questions.

The final exam is given in our classroom (at the time listed above) and follows the same format as the midterm, but with more time for the answers. The final exam covers material from the entire course, including both readings and lectures. Students may not use books, notes, or computers.

The first part of the exam is a brief series of identification questions, which require only one or two word answers. For example, they might ask the name of a treaty ending a particular war. Or they might provide a definition and ask what it refers to. Or they might ask you to name a specific leader or scholar. In short, they will range quickly across the readings.

The bulk of the exam is two longer essay questions on major topics in the course. Students select the 2 questions they will answer from a menu of 3 or 4 questions. These questions focus on the central themes of the course and ask you to synthesize your views and analyze those of major authors. To prepare for these questions, concentrate on the most important elements of the course, review the readings and lectures, and draw them together in thoughtful ways that illuminate the major issues in the course. The questions may cover international relations theory, security issues, and international political economy.

The exam lasts 2 hours. Students will be given extra time, at their request, if they lack native fluency in English or have specific learning disabilities. Please bring your own blue books to class for the final exam.

.Key terms in international political economy (IPE). This is not a comprehensive list

		ISBN (paperback)	Regenstein call number
	Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, eds., International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues (9th ed.; NY: Longman, Addison-Wesley, 2009). Some, but not all, of the assigned articles are in the previous edition..	0205642721	on order
	Jeffry A. Frieden, Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (NY: W. W. Norton, 2006).	0393058085	HF1359.F735 2006
	Michael Howard and Wm. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century (NY: Oxford University Press, 1998).	0192803786	D421.O95 1988
	G. John Ikenberry, After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001).	0691-050910	D363 .I46 2001
	Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts (7th ed.; NY: Longman, Addison-Wesley, 2009).	0205658873	JZ1305.N94 2005 (old ed.); new ed. on order
	Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed (NY: W.W. Norton, 2002).  This is, in effect, the second edition; please do not use the first edition, which is outdated.	0393977471	U264.S233 2003

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