PSCI 252: GLOBAL SOUTH:
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL
DEVLOPMENT
Fall, 2014
DWE 2527, Wednesday 8:30 to 10:20 am
Instructor: Mariam Mufti
Email Address: [email protected]
Office Location: Hagey Hall 349
Office Hours: 11 am to 1 pm Wednesday or by appointment
Teaching Assistants:
Grad Student
[email protected]
Office Hours: XXXX
Grad Student
[email protected]
Office Hours: XXXX
Course Description: This course will cover a broad range of theoretical and policyoriented concerns in the developing world. We will explore competing explanations for the
following types of questions: What explains the tremendous variation in political,
economic, and social conditions throughout the world? Why are some countries so rich and
others so poor? In what ways do economic and political dynamics interact in shaping
developmental outcomes? To what extent does the timing of industrialization affect the
viability of different developmental strategies adopted by countries?
Pre-Requisites: Any one of the following courses: PSCI 101, PSCI 110 or PSCI 150
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, students should be able to:



Survey the major theoretical and conceptual debates underpinning the analysis of
development and underdevelopment.
Engage in a comparative assessment of the features of politics in the developing
world.
Consider how the challenges of development can be met.
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University Regulations:
Cross-listed course:
Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under
which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a
Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.
Academic Integrity:
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of
the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid
committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student
who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning
how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group
work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or
the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred,
disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For
information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to
Policy 71 - Student Discipline, Student Discipline http://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policiesprocedures-guidelines/policy-71.
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her
university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a
grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, Student Petitions
http://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70. In addition,
consult Student Grievances http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/student-grievances-faculty-artsprocesses for the Faculty of Arts’ grievance processes.
Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under
Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71
- Student Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student
Appeals, Student Appeals http://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-proceduresguidelines/policy-72.
Academic Integrity website (Arts): Academic Integrity
http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html
Academic Integrity Office (uWaterloo): Academic Integrity Office
http://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/
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Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Note for students with disabilities: The AccessAbility Services (AS) Office, located in
Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange
appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the
academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen
the impact of your disability, please register with the AS Office at the beginning of each
academic term.
If you are using Turnitin in your course:
Turnitin.com: Plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) will be used to screen
assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources
in assignments is documented. In the first week of the term, details will be provided
about the arrangements for the use of Turnitin in this course.
Note: students must be given a reasonable option if they do not want to have their assignment
screened by Turnitin. See Turnitin http://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/integrity-waterloofaculty/turnitin-waterloo for more information.
Texts:
All readings will be available inn pdf or doc formats on the course page on D2L. It is your
responsibility to download these articles or book chapters to read them ahead of class time.
Course Requirements, Expectations, and Standards:
Evaluation:
Attendance in discussion section
Participation in discussion section
4 Quizzes
Research Essay (2000 words)
Final Exam
10%
10%
20%
30%
30%
Assignments:
Attendance and Participation 20%:
10% of the grade will be evaluated based on student’s attendance, which will be marked
during the first 10 minutes of the discussion section run by the teaching assistant starting
from September 24, 2014. If a student arrives late he or she will be marked absent. If you
plan on missing a session please make sure that you inform your teaching assistant in
advance.
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Active and thoughtful participation in the discussion section is essential for this course.
Participation is, worth another 10 % of the grade. Please prepare for the discussion section
by doing the readings and thinking about the questions provided in the course outline.
Quizzes 20%:
During the course of the semester there will be 4 unannounced quizzes (15 minutes), each
worth 5 % of the grade. You are responsible for attending all lectures, and informing the
instructor if you plan to miss a class for a legitimate reason. There will be no make-up
quizzes unless the instructor is informed in advance of your absence. Further, no quiz will
be dropped. The quizzes are designed to test you on your knowledge and understanding of
the readings. You should expect to find a variety of question formats, such as multiple
choice, fill in the blanks, short essay, etc.
Research Essay 35%:
The purpose of the assignment is to examine a particular development problem
confronting a country case study, determining the root causes behind the problem, and
finding potential solutions to ameliorate the development outcomes.
This assignment will require external research and should therefore be referenced
properly and consistently. I prefer in-text citations and Chicago Style Manual as the
referencing style.
All documents should also be formatted correctly. Please make sure that your document is
double spaced, has 1 inch margins on all sides, and is typed in font Times New Roman in
font size 12.
Please submit your assignment on the relevant due date by 5 pm in the dropbox on Learn.
This essay will be written in 3 distinct parts. Each part will be written separately.
Part 1 Case-selection, 5% (500 words): Select a developing country from the list provided
at the end of the course outline. In this part explain why you have chosen this particular
country. Your explanation should draw in the reader and justify your case selection. DUE
DATE OCTOBER 3, 2014
Part 2 Identify the problem, 20% (2000 words): In this part you should describe a single
problem of development faced by the country. For example, you may choose to examine
the problems of access to quality education, or health services; unemployment or lack of
job creation; an underdeveloped agricultural sector; rapid urbanization; government
corruption; poor standards in infrastructure (public transport; electricity; water and
sanitation; roads and bridges); inefficient or ineffective provision of public services.
Explain why your chosen problem is limiting development in your case study; analyze the
cause of the problem; and discuss the present response of the government to deal with the
problem. You should describe briefly the evolution of the government response and the
logic behind the policy. DUE DATE OCTOBER 31, 2014
Part 3 Solutions, 10 % (700 words): In this part identify a proposed policy solution. Your
response should engage both the problem you identified in part 2 and the shortcomings in
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government response that you observed. In other words, if there is no government
response, then suggest one. If there is a poor policy choice currently in place, suggest an
alternative. If implementation is the issue, suggest how this could be improved. DUE DATE
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
You will be evaluated on content, organization and presentation:
•
Content: This component will grade you for the creativity of the policy solutions you
propose; the evidence (extent of research measured by completeness of the bibliography)
you have provided to identify and explain the specific development problem and the
intelligence with which you have understood and explained your case study.
•
Organization/Coherence: You will be evaluated for the logical consistency and flow
of your writing. This includes the use of topic sentences; transition sentences and
paragraphs from one section to the next; the connections drawn between parts 1, 2,and 3;
use of headings and sub-headings and the ability to reproduce information and statistics in
creative ways including graphs, pie charts, tables, etc. I understand that not all of you have
topics that lend to such data presentations.
•
Presentation: You will be graded on how well you have followed formatting
instructions (Font size 12, 1” margins, double-spaced and Times New Roman). Formatting
also includes paginating your document; correct indentation and spacing for long quotes;
two font sizes less than main text for footnotes; correct placement of figures and tables in
the document; correct indentation for paragraphs. Please also insure the correctness and
consistency of bibliographical citations; in-text citations and footnotes. Please re-read your
work before submitting to make sure there are no spelling and grammatical errors or
factual errors. Make sure that you at least, attempt to make your document look
presentable that is do not forget to title your research paper or to write your name.
Tests & Examinations:
Final Examination:
The final exam is worth 30% of the grade. Details of the exam format will be provided
closer to the date. Please note: Student travel plans are not an acceptable reason for
granting an alternative examination time.
Late Policy:
Since the main assignment for this course is a research paper written in parts, you must
adhere to the deadlines provided. This is imperative because it will allow the instructor
and teaching assistants to insure that you receive timely feedback. You will not receive
credit for any work that is submitted after 5pm on the specified due date.
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Schedule:
Week 1, September 10
•
Introduction to the course
•
What is the ‘global south’?
•
Defining key terms: development, poverty and inequality
•
What causes underdevelopment?
Handelman, Howard. 2013. The Challenge of Third World Development. New Jersey:
Pearson Education Inc, 1-17
Sachs, Jeffrey. 2005. “A Global Family Portrait.” End of Poverty. USA: Penguin Books: 5-25
Discussion section question: Why is the Democratic Republic of the Congo the poorest
country on Earth?
Week 2, September 17
•
Brief history of economic development in the West
•
Challenges of late development (cultural, equity, environmental and psychological
costs of development)
Alexander Gerschenkron, 1962. Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective,
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 5-30
Discussion section question: Does economic growth bring happiness to China?
Week 3, September 24
•
How did European colonialism impoverish large parts of the world?
•
What was the political and social legacy of colonialism?
Isbister, John. 2006. Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World
Development. Connecticut: Kumarian Press, 65-141
Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail. Crown Publishing: New York,
245-273
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Discussion section question: Do slavery and colonialism explain Nigeria’s development
failure?
Week 4, October 1
•
Explaining development and underdevelopment theoretically:
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Modernization theory
-
Dependency theory
Handelman, Howard. 2013. The Challenge of Third World Development. New Jersey:
Pearson Education Inc, 18-25
Rostow, WW. 1998. “The Five Stages of Economic Growth,” in Mitchell Seligson and John
Passe-Smith, Development and Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Global
Inequality. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner, 9-16.
dos Santos, Theotonio. 1970. “The Structure of Dependence,” American Economic Review
60(2): 231-6.
Discussion section: By now you should have selected your country case-study and the
development problem you are planning to research. In discussion section, you will be
sharing with the other students your research plan.
Part I DUE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 AT 5 PM
Week 5, October 8
•
What are the various state-led development models?
•
How did socialism impact development in the global South?
•
What was the impact of neoliberal, market-oriented policies on economic
development in the global South?
Onis, Ziya. 1991. “The Logic of the Developmental State: Review Article,” Comparative
Politics 24(1): 109-26
Pei, Minxin. 2009. Think Again: Asia’s Rise. Foreign Policy, June 22
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Discussion section question: What are the successes and failures behind the economic rise
of China and India?
Week 6, October 15
•
What is neo-liberalism and the post-Washington Consensus?
•
Assessing the impact of globalization
•
The utility of foreign aid and structural adjustment programs
Onis, Z. and F.Senses. 2005. “Rethinking the Emerging Post-Washington Consensus”,
Development and Change, 36(2), 263-290
Isbister, John. 2006. Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World
Development. Connecticut: Kumarian Press, 177-184
Baker, Andy. 2014. Shaping the Developing World. CQ Press: Washington D. C., 131-156
Discussion section questions: Does free trade insures prosperity and peace? AND Has
foreign aid made Pakistan poorer?
Week 7, October 22
•
Understanding the impact of informality
•
What is the difference between extractive and inclusive economic institutions?
Levitsky, Steven and Gretchen Helmke. 2004. Informal Institutions and Comparative
Politics: A Research Agenda. Perspectives on Politics 2(4): pages
Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail. Crown Publishing: New York,
70-95
Discussion section: Discuss solutions to the development problems that have been
identified in your chosen developing country.
Week 8, October 29
•
What is the importance of political institutions and good governance?
•
What do we mean by good governance?
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Collier, Paul. 2007. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What
Can Be Done About It. New York: Oxford University Press, 53-63
Wintrobe, Ronald. 2001. “How to Understand and Deal with Dictatorship: An Economist’s
View,” Economics of Governance, 2: 35-58
Collier, Paul. 2009. The Dictator’s Handbook. Foreign Policy May 2009, 172
Handelman, Howard. 2013. The Challenge of Third World Development. New Jersey:
Pearson Education Inc, 33-68 (recommended)
Discussion section question: Is democracy or dictatorship better for development?
PART 2 DUE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 AT 5PM
Week 9, November 5
•
Understanding culture and identity.
•
Does cultural diversity impose a cost on development?
Baker, Andy. 2014. Shaping the Developing World. CQ Press: Washington D. C., 159-175
Discussion section questions: Are Iraqis poor because of Islam and ethnic cleavages? AND
Is Rwanda underdeveloped because of the genocide carried out by the Hutus against the
Tutsis?
Week 10, November 12
•
Is conflict and violence a ‘development trap’?
•
What are the causes of state failure?
Collier, Paul. 2007. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What
Can Be Done About It. New York: Oxford University Press, 17-37
Discussion section question: Is Somalia a failed state because of civil war?
PART 3 DUE FRIDAY, 14 NOVEMBER AT 5PM
Week 11, November 19
•
How are developing countries prisoners of geography?
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•
How is being land-locked a developmental disadvantage?
•
What is the natural resource curse?
Ross, Michael. 2008. “Blood Barrels: Why Oil Wealth Fuels Conflict”. Foreign Affairs, 87(3):
2-8
Faye, Michael L. John W. Mc Arthur, Jeffrey D. Sachs and Thomas Snow. 2004. The
Challenges Facing
Landlocked Developing Countries,” Journal of Human Development, 5(1): 31-68
Hausmann, Ricardo. 2001. “Prisoners of Geography,” Foreign Policy, January 1 @
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2001/01/01/prisoners_of_geography
Discussion section questions: Both Sierra Leone and Botswana are rich in diamonds, yet
only the former suffered from the natural resource curse, why? AND Rethink why DRC is
the poorest country on earth?
Week 12
•
What are community environmental problems and why are they worse in the global
South?
•
What is a Malthusian trap?
•
What are the economic burdens of climate change?
•
Wrap up and conclusion
TBA
Discussion section question: Will Malthusian traps hinder Indonesia’s economic rise? AND
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