POLS 383: CHANGING WORLD POLITICAL ECONOMY
Northern
Department of Political Science
Fall 2007, Dusable 459
M-W-F 1200-12:50
Instructor: Dr. Kheang Un
Office: Zulauf 405, Pottenger House 200
Phone: 815-753-7054; 815-753-8822
Email: kun1@niu.edu
Office Hours: M, W &F
We are now in the era of unprecedented global economic interconnectedness, a process that affects wealth, power, cultures, and societies of nation-states across the globe. International political economy (IPE) explores this process, examining the impacts of international political and economic factors on domestic politics and economics and vise-versa. As such, the objective of this course is to enable students to understand the management of the global economic system, the level of global economic integration and its impact on nation-states, the functions and management of multilateral institutions, and the major theories that explain theses processes.
Course Policies and
Requirements
1. The Learning Environment. Your instructor
is committed to the principle of active learning. This principle requires students’ active
involvement in, commitment to, and responsibility for their own education. Hence, it is important that students conduct
themselves in ways that indicate respect for the learning community and the
learning process. Respect for the
learning community should preclude such behavior as persistent tardiness, leaving the room during class time (unless
prior advice was given to the instructor or in case of emergency), falling
asleep, reading the newspaper, turning your cell phone on, studying for another
class, or chatting with others.
2.
Lectures will parallel and compliment the readings. As such, students cannot just rely solely on the lectures or the readings.
3. Class attendance and Participation.
A. Class attendance: Attendance at all
class sessions is expected, and the instructor will check the attendance
regularly. Students are allowed to
miss for a total of four times during the semester. An additional absence will result in lowering
the final grade by one letter.
B. Class Participation: Class participation will account for 10 percent of the total course grade. As stated earlier, the instructor treasures interactive learning. Students are therefore expected to regularly be involved in class discussion. More importantly, informed participation in class discussion will significantly help students in borderline grade situations.
4. Exams. This course will have two exams—a midterm and
a final. The midterm will be taken in
class on October-8
and the final exam will be taken
during the regular final exam day, December-10
5. Term Paper: The term paper, 12 to 15 pages with a minimum of ten sources, will be worth 30 percent of the total course grade and is due in class on November 30. Late papers will be penalized by one letter grade a day. Students are required to submit a research topic with a thesis and five references that can be used for the paper. This will be due in class on November 12.
Avoiding Plagiarism: Put simply, plagiarism happens when you take someone else’s ideas or words and use them as though they were your own ideas. Commonly, students commit plagiarism out of ignorance or carelessness; though there are some people who outright steal other writers’ work. Thus to avoid this problem, you should follow these guidelines:
. Always put quotation marks around any direct statement from someone else’s work and offer appropriate citation (endnote, footnote etc.)
. Cite any paraphrase of another writer’s ideas or statements.
. Cite any material, ideas, thoughts, etc., you got from your reading that can’t be described as general knowledge.
6. Course Grade. Course Grades will be distributed as follows:
Final Average Final Grade
90-100 % A
80-89 % B
70-79% C
60-69% D
Below 60% F
7. Academic Integrity. Students are expected to know and comply with NIU polices on academic integrity (see p. 47 of 2001 Undergraduate Catalog). Any student found guilty of cheating or plagiarizing will receive an “F” for the examination and the course. He or she may also be subject to additional sanctions imposed by the university.
Schedule of Lectures, Required
II. (08-29; 08-31; 09-5): Ideologies of International Political Economy
8-29
Mercantilism
8-31
Liberalism
9-3
Labor Day No Class!
9-5 Marxist Critiques
III. (09-7; 09-10;
09-12): Global Governance and IPE
09-7
The World Trade Organization Oatley pp. 22-29; 34-46.
Daniel
Esty, "The World Trade Organization's Legitimacy Crisis," in Thomas
Oatley, The Global Economy: Contemporary Debates (
09-10
The International Monetary Fund Oatley pp. 320-332.
09-12
The World Bank: Oatley pp. 313-314; Sebastian Mallaby, “Saving the World Bank,” Foreign Affairs, 84 (2005): 75-85 [course blackboard].
IV. (09-14; 09-17;
09-19): International Trade
09-14
Comparative Advantage and Trade
09-17
Trade Policy and Domestic Economic Interests
09-19
Domestic Politics and Trade
V. (09-21; 09-24;
09-26) International Finance
09-21
The Bretton Woods Exchange System
09-24
Contemporary International Arrangements
09-26
Mobile Capital and Financial Integration
VI. (09-28; 10-1;
10-3) International Investment
09-28
Foreign Direct Investment
10-1
Multinational Corporations
10-03
Multinational Corporations
VII. (10-5; 10-8): Review
and Mid-Term Exam
10-5
Review
10-8
Mid-term Exam
IX. (10-10, 10-12):
International Development I
Required
10-10
Perspective on North-South Divide
10-12
Trade and Development Policy
X. (10-15, 10-17) Trade
and Development II: Economic Reform
Required
10-15
Emerging Problems with Import Substitution Industrialization
10-17
Structural Adjustment and Politics of Reform
XI. (10-19, 10-22) Developing
Countries and International Finance
Oatley Chs. 14&15.
10-19
Oatley
Financial Flow and Development
10-22
Financial Flow and Origin of Debt Crisis
Movie: The Debt Crisis VICASSETTE HJ8899 .D437 1989
10-24
Financial Flow and Origin of Debt Crisis (continued)
10-26
Oatley
Asian Financial Crises and Management
10-29
Asian Financial Crises (Continued)
XII. ( 10-31, 11-2,
11-5)
Required
Kishore Mahbubani, “Understanding China,” Foreign Affairs 84 (2005): 49-60 [course blackboard].
Morton Abramowitz, and Stephen Bosworth, “America Confronts the Asian Century,” Current History (April 2006): 147-152 [course blackboard].
John Mearsheimer, “
Zheng Bijan, “
Michael
T Klare,
“
10-31
Kishore Mahbubani, “Understanding
11-2
Abramowitz, Morton and Stephen Bosworth, “
Mearsheimer, John, “
11-5
Michael
T Klare,
“
XIII. (11-09; 11-12)
Regionalism
Required
11-7
Economic of Regional Integration
11-9
Politics and Regional Integration
11-12
Research Topic Due
and Discussion of Research Paper
XIII. (11-14,
11-16,11-19,11-26,11-28, 11-30, 11-31, 12-3, 12-5) Globalization
11-14
Globalization
Thomas Frieman, “It’s a Flat World After All,” in Mark
Keselman, The Politics of Globalization:
A Reader (
11-16, 11-19
Globalization and The
State
Saskia Sassen, “The State and Globalization,” in Mark
Keselman, The Politics of Globalization:
A Reader (
Susan Strange, “The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of
Power in the World Economy,” in Mark Keselman, The Politics of Globalization: A Reader (
11-21
Thanksgiving Break
11-23
Thanksgiving Break
11-26
Video: “Globalization is good” DVD.
HB501 .G5493 2005 (50mns)
11-28
Video: “Globalization” DVD.
HF1379 .G595 2004 (42mns)
Pros of Globalization
11-30
Paul Krugman, “In Praise of Cheap Labor: Bad Jobs at Bad
Wages are Better than No Jobs at All,” in Thomas Oatley, The Global Economy: Contemporary Debates (
Term Paper Due
11-31
John Miller, “Why Economist Are Wrong About Sweatshops and
the Anti-Sweatshop Movements,” in Thomas Oatley, The Global Economy: Contemporary Debates (
Cons of Globalization
12-3
Amartya Sen, “How to Judge Globalism,” in Mark Keselman, The Politics of Globalization: A Reader (
12-5
Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalism’s Discontents,” in Mark
Keselman, The Politics of Globalization:
A Reader (
12-7 Catch-Up and Class Evaluation
12-10
Final Exam