COURSE INFORMATION
Course Title: POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT: EURASIA AND FAR EAST
Code Course Type Regular Semester Theory Practice Lab Credits ECTS
PIR 436 B 2 3 0 0 3 7.5
Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) NA
Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: Islam Jusufi , Fridays 10:00-12:30 hours
Second Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: NA
Language: English
Compulsory/Elective: Elective
Classroom and Meeting Time: E 101
Course Description: This is a master level course designed to teach political developments in the Eurasia and Far East. It aims to analyze the current political problems related to development and globalization in the region. The issues of energy, security and development will be in focus of this course. By the end of this course students will have a better understanding of the main challenges of the developing world and of the politics of Eurasian and Far East countries.
Course Objectives: In today’s world, nearly 1 billion people are malnourished and live on less than a dollar per day and poverty and inequality have proven to be stubbornly resilient against attempts to decrease them over the past years. This class provides an introduction to contemporary research on development issues. It covers a large set of topics, including historical legacies, specific challenges relating to particular sectors such as health, education, and gender. The goal is to get students to think critically about development theory and practice. The course also explores the politics of development - the role of leaders, political systems, and institutions in promoting or retarding growth and development. It also interrogates the issues such as slavery, colonialism, foreign aid, aid effectiveness, democratization, poverty, governance, civil society, Sustainable Development Goals, Millennium Development Goals, Washington Consensus, revolutions, globalization, migration, failed and weak statehood, microcredit, social business, corruption, dependency theory. The objectives includes to introduce students to information about the political, historical and economic contexts of Eurasia and Far East; to understand how major political and economic systems are established in Eurasia and Far East; and to learn how the developing countries manage the world crisis and what are the results achieved until now. A slight majority of focus and examples on this course will be drawn from Eurasia and Far East, with the aim to give the course a focus.
COURSE OUTLINE
Week Topics
1 a. Course introduction, overview of texts, and expectations; b. Historical Context of the development and of Eurasia and Far East
2 Slavery, Colonialism and their Outcomes
3 Globalization, Dependency, and Resource Curse
4 Nation Building, Failed States, Corruption
5 Governance and Political Context of Eurasia and Far East
6 Democratization, Revolutions and Military Regimes
7 Development of Civil Society and Gender Equality
8 Midterm exam
9 Foreign aid
10 Aid effectiveness agenda
11 Theories of Development
12 Poverty, Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals
13 Microfinance, cash transfers, and social business
14 Third World or Global South
Prerequisite(s): Class attendance and participation; Essay; and seminars.
Textbook: Must readings: Acemoglu, D. and J. Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, Crown Publishing Group (NY). Bache, I. 2010. Europeanization and multi-level governance: EU cohesion policy and pre-accession aid in Southeast Europe, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies (1): 1–12. Bandiera, Oriana, and Ashwini Natraj. 2013. "Does Gender Inequality Hinder Development and Economic Growth? Evidence and Policy Implications." The World Bank Research Observer. Carothers, Thomas, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Larry Jay Diamond, Anwar Ibrahim, and Zainab Hawa Bangura. 2007. "A quarter-century of promoting democracy." Journal of Democracy 18, no. 4: 112-126. Easterly, William and Tobias Pfutze, 2008, Where Does the Money Go? Best and Worst Practices in Foreign Aid, Journal of Economic Perspectives 22, 2. Hattori, T. 2001. “Reconceptualizing Foreign Aid,” Review of International Political Economy (4). Leys, Colin. 2009. The Rise and Fall of Development Theory. Indiana University Press. Morgenthau, H. 1962. A Political Theory of Foreign Aid. The American Political Science Review (2): 301-309. Radelet, S. 2006. “A Primer on Foreign Aid,” Center for Global Development Working Paper 92. Ross, Michael L. 1999. “The Political Economy of the Resource Curse,” World Politics, 51: 297-322. Sachs, Jeffrey D. 2005. UN Millennium Project: Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Thiele, Rainer, Peter Nunnenkamp and Axel Dreher, 2007, Do Donors Target Aid in Line with the Millennium Development Goals? A Sector Perspective of Aid Allocation, Review of World Economics 143, 4: 596-630. Welzel, Christian, Ronald Inglehart, and Hans-Dieter Klingemann. 2003. "The theory of human development: a cross‐cultural analysis." European Journal of Political Research 42, no. 3: 341-379.
Other References: Optional readings: Bajpai, Nirupam, Jeffrey D. Sachs and Nicole H. Volavka. 2004. Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in South Asia, CGSD Working Paper No. 17. Haggard, Stephan. 2004. "Institutions and growth in East Asia." Studies in comparative international development 38, no. 4: 53-81. Rock, Michael T., and Heidi Bonnett. 2004. "The comparative politics of corruption: accounting for the East Asian paradox in empirical studies of corruption, growth and investment." World Development 32, no. 6: 999-1017. Scott, James C. 2009. The art of not being governed: An anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia, Yale University Press. Scott, James C. 1976. Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in South East Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Laboratory Work: N/A
Computer Usage: N/A
Others: No
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
1 At the end of this course, students should be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between developing world and their political norms.
2 Students should be able to critically assess the legal, moral and political arguments of Eurasia and Far East.
3 Students should be able to provide an overview of the history, issues, dilemmas and actors in Eurasia and Far East.
4 This lecture helps student to understand the importance of a long-term development perspective and local participation in developing countries.
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)
No Program Competencies Cont.
Professional Master in Political Science and International Relations Program
COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
Method Quantity Percentage
Homework
1
15
Midterm Exam(s)
1
30
Presentation
1
10
Final Exam
1
35
Other
1
10
Total Percent: 100%
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
Activities Quantity Duration(Hours) Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) 16 3 48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) 16 3 48
Mid-terms 1 25 25
Assignments 1 10 10
Final examination 1 35 35
Other 1 21.5 21.5
Total Work Load:
187.5
Total Work Load/25(h):
7.5
ECTS Credit of the Course:
7.5