POLS
365 (1): GOVERNMENT & POLITICS OF
Northern
Department
of Political Science
Fall
2005 Prof.
L. Kamenitsa
MW
2-3:15 Office:
Zulauf 107; 753-7053
DuSable 459 Office
Hours: M
M
REQUIRED
1)
White, Stephen. 2001. Communism & its
Collapse
2) White, Stephen, Judy Batt, and Paul Lewis. 2003. Developments in Central and East European Politics 3.
3)
Required articles and book chapters are also assigned. Most are available on-line via Blackboard or
Electronic Reserve. A few are only are
available at the Founders Library Reserve Desk.
Most of these required readings and the means of accessing them are
indicated in the syllabus. Additional
readings will be announced in class or on Blackboard.
4)
Depending on political developments in the region this semester, students may
also be assigned news media articles to be read in preparation for class
discussion. It’s generally a good idea
for students in political science courses to monitor the news on a daily basis,
preferably a newspaper of record, like the New
York Times, in print or on its web site.
All
reading assignments should be completed before the class period for which they
are assigned. In the event that a student might miss a class, she or he is
still responsible for any assignments or schedule changes given during that
class period. The required texts are available at the University Bookstore in
HSC, the Village Commons Bookstore, and on amazon.com.
GRADING:
Exam I
(10/12) 30%
Exam II
(12/5) 30%
Briefing Paper I (11/2) 15%
Briefing Paper II (11/16) 15%
Participation 10%
EXAMS:
There will be two exams for the course. Each exam will draw primarily on material
from the preceding part of the course.
However, Exam II may require you to draw on materials from the course as
a whole in your assessments of politics in
BRIEFING PAPERS &
SIMULATIONS:
To help us better understand regional political
issues and the challenges they can raise, the class will undertake two in-class
simulations this semester. The first
will deal with the Kosovo crisis in 1998-1999 and will allow students to
explore the themes of nationalism and ethnic divisions in the region. The second simulation will focus on the
European Union’s expansion to include several states from Central and
NOTE: All written assignments
must be typed. Assignments are due at
the beginning of class on the specified date.
This means that work turned in after
CLASS PARTICIPATION
& FORMAT:
The class will consist of lectures and
discussions. While the majority of the
participation grade will be based on the student’s work on the simulations, a
portion will reflect general participation in other class meetings. Students will have ample opportunity to
participate in making the course interesting and relevant. Students' comments and questions on readings,
lectures, and current events are welcome and encouraged.
BLACKBOARD:
Most of the assignments, reading questions, and
communication for this course is conducted through the
university’s Blackboard Course Server.
This course website can be accessed only by students enrolled in this
course. The URL for Blackboard is http://webcourses.niu.edu . Login to Blackboard with your student Z-ID and password. For
login questions go to http://www.helpdesk.niu.edu/
and click on “Blackboard” or contact ITS at 753-8100.
The system uses your NIU student webmail account (NetMail). If you wish to receive course-related
e-mails at another address, you need to forward mail from your NIU account to
another account. Learn how to do this on the ITS helpdesk home page (http://www.its.niu.edu/its/helpdesk/webmail_students.shtml). It is your responsibility to set this up --
do it today! Blackboard sometimes goes down
unexpectedly. Do not wait until the last
minute to access materials you need on Blackboard. A Blackboard outage the night before an
assignment is due will NOT be an acceptable excuse an incomplete
assignment.
ACADEMIC HONESTY & PLAGIARISM:
No paper (or other written assignment or exam)
submitted for another course or written by another person will be
accepted. Plagiarism - presenting the thoughts
or words of others as if they were your own - will not be tolerated. You must credit all of the sources from which
you obtain data, information, ideas, or language with a full and accurate
citation (and quotation marks, when appropriate). Plagiarism and other forms of academic
dishonesty can result in an automatic "F" for the course and even
expulsion from the University (see the Student Judicial Code). Criteria for
these offenses are described in the Student Judicial Code and the Undergraduate
Catalog.
COURSE SCHEDULE: (Any changes will be announced in class or on
Blackboard)
White = Stephen White, Communism and its Collapse
WBL = White, Batt, & Lewis,
Developments in Central and East European
Politics 3.
PART I: COMMUNIST SYSTEMS: ORIGINS TO COLLAPSE
WEEK 1 Introduction
8/22 & 8/24
Required
Batt, “Introduction” in
WBL (pp. 3-22)
White, Chs. 1-2
(pp. 1-20)
WEEK 2 Communism in
East
8/29 & 8/31
Required
WEEK 3 ...
Collapse
9/7 & (no class on
9/5 - Labor Day)
Required
White, Chs. 4-5 (pp.
30-52)
WEEK 4 The 1989 Revolutions
9/12 & 9/14
Required
White, Chs. 6-8 (pp.
52-82)
Stokes, Gale. 1993. “The Glorious Revolutions of
1989.” In The Walls Came
Tumbling Down.
PART II: POST-COMMUNISM TRANSITIONS
WEEK 5 Political
and Economic Systems in Transition
9/19 & 9/21
Required
Blazyca, “Managing
Transition Economies” in WBL (pp. 213-233)
Perry, Joellen.
“All Business on the Eastern Front.” U.S. News
& World Report 135, no. 17 (
Millard, “
Williams, “The
WEEK 6 Political and
Economic Systems in Transition (continued...)
9/26 & 9/28
Required
Jasiewicz, “Elections and
Voting Behavior” in WBL (pp. 173-189)
Kopecky, “Structures of
Representation” in WBL (pp. 133-152)
Lewis, “Political Parties” in WBL (pp.153-172)
WEEK 7 Politics,
Inequality, and Social Change
10/3 & 10/5
Required
Cox, “Changing Societies: Class and Inequality in
Central and
Mason, David S. 2003/2004.
“Fairness Matters: Equity and the Transition to Democracy.” World Policy
Journal 20, no. 4 (Winter): p. 48-56. (Blackboard)
WEEK 8 Women and
Gender
10/10
10/12 ****Exam I ****
Required
LaFont, Suzanne. “One
step forward, two steps back: women in the post-communist states.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies v.
34 no2 (June 2001)
p. 203-20. (electronic reserve)
Additional reading TBA
WEEK 9 Social
Ills (continued) and Ethnic Politics
10/17 & 10/19
Required
Jeszensky, Geza. 1997. "More
WEEK 10 The Former
10/24 & 10/26
Required
“The Republics of the Former
Gallagher, Tom. “The Balkans since 1989: The
Winding Retreat from National Communism” in WBL (pp. 74-91)
WEEK 11 From
10/31
11/2 Kosovo Simulation I (First briefing paper due)****
Required
Kosovo Crisis: A packet of readings for the Kosovo
Simulation (Blackboard)
WEEK 12 Joining
11/7 & 11/9
Required
Bosnia & Kosovo Today: A packet of readings
(Blackboard)
Additional reading TBA
WEEK 13 Joining
11/14
11/16 EU Simulation (second briefing paper due)****
Required
Grabbe, “The Implications
of EU Enlargement” in WBL (pp. 253-268)
EU Enlargement: A packet of readings for the EU
Simulation (Blackboard)
WEEK 14 Joining
11/21 (no class on 11/23 - Thanksgiving
Break)
Required
Reading TBA
WEEK 15 The Future of
11/28 & 11/30
Required
Pridham, “Democratization
in Central and
Rosapepe, Jim. “Eastern Bloc Party.” American Prospect 15, no. 7
(Jul 2004): p. 14-15 (Blackboard)
Thomas Molnar.
2004. “The Next Area of Unrest:
Final Exam (Exam II):
Monday, 12/5,
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