POLS Y570: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS

Fall Semester 2007

Wednesdays, 6:00-8:40pm

Professor Blomquist, CA 503L, Phone 274-7547, Email , Fax 278-3280

Y570 is the “core” seminar in the graduate program in political science. Its purpose is to acquaint students with the discipline of political science, with the kinds of approaches characteristic of this discipline, and with the diverse ways in which political scientists typically think about the vocation of political science. The central theme of the course is that political science, as a discipline, is an evolved and evolving set of understandings and practices, and that each individual political scientist is both implicated in this discipline and responsible for making his or her place in it. The course is designed to sensitize students to the real differences, methodological and otherwise, that characterize the discipline, but also to the common themes and objects of study shared by political scientists.

This seminar, then, will examine different epistemological perspectives and methodological approaches used in the study of political phenomena so as to introduce new scholars to some key issues they will eventually confront during the course of their research. The rationales underlying these perspectives and methods will be identified, criticisms of the rationales will be raised, and responses to these criticisms will be suggested.

Students will be graded on the following basis: 1) their contributions to seminar meetings through informed participation in our discussion of the readings (25%); 2) their papers, assessing and comparing three recent political science publications, and examining the epistemological and methodological approaches underlying those publications (50%), and 3) their presentations of their papers to the seminar at the last seminar meeting (25%).

Aug. 29 / First meeting
Minogue, Kenneth. Chapters 1-5 in Kenneth Minogue, Politics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press
Sept. 5 / Science
Susser, Bernard. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-2 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Von Mises, Richard. “Positivism.” Pp. 118-133 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Popper, Karl R. “Science: Conjectures and Refutations.” Pp. 134-165 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Sept. 12 / Constructing Science in a Scientific Community, and the Emergence of the Social Sciences
Kuhn, Thomas S. “The Essential Tension: Tradition and Innovation in Scientific Research.” Pp. 166-179 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Susser, Bernard. “Social Science and the Philosophy of Science.” Pp. 101-117 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Minogue, Kenneth. “How to Analyze a Modern Society.” Chapter 6 in Kenneth Minogue, Politics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000
King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. “The Science in Social Science.” Chapter 1 in Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba, Designing Social Inquiry. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1994
Sept. 19 / Behavioralism and Modern Political Science
Susser, Bernard. “From Burgess to Behavioralism and Beyond.” Pp. 3-15 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Dahl, Robert A. “The Behavioral Approach in Political Science: Epitaph for a Monument to a Successful Protest.” Pp. 27-46 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Easton, David. “The Form of Theoretical Analysis.” Chapter 1 in David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York, NY: John Wiley, 1965
Dahl, Robert A. “The Concept of Power.” Behavioral Science. Volume 2, Number 3 (July 1957), pp. 201-215
Sept. 26 / Conceptualization and Falsification Reconsidered
Davis, James W. Chapters 1, 3, and 4 in James W. Davis, Terms of Inquiry: On the Theory and Practice of Political Science. Baltimore, MD: JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 2005
Oct. 3 / Examples of Modernist Approaches
Susser, Bernard. “Systems Analysis.” Pp. 180-188 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Susser, Bernard. “Structure-Functionalism.” Pp. 202-208 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Susser, Bernard. “Marxism” Pp. 421-429 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Oct. 10 / Modernist Approaches, cont’d
Minogue, Kenneth. Chapters 7-10 in Kenneth Minogue, Politics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000
Oct. 17 / Rational Choice
Susser, Bernard. “Games, Strategies, and Rational Actor Theory.” Pp. 300-331 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Brams, Steven J. “The Study of Rational Politics.” Pp. 312-317 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Simon, Herbert A. “Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.” American Political Science Review. Volume 79, Number 2 (June 1985), pp. 293-304
Oct. 24 / Rational Choice, cont’d
Jones, Bryan D. “Preface: Prologue to a Grand Synthesis?” In Bryan D. Jones, Politics and the Architecture of Choice: Bounded Rationality and Governance. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001
Jones, Bryan D. “Traces of Eve.” Chapter 1 in Bryan D. Jones. Politics and the Architecture of Choice: Bounded Rationality and Governance. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001
Jones, Bryan D. “A Social Species: Substantive Limits on Adaptive Choice.” Chapter 5 in Bryan D. Jones, Politics and the Architecture of Choice: Bounded Rationality and Governance. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001
Oct. 31 / Interpretivism
Moon, J. Donald. “The Logic of Political Inquiry: A Synthesis of Opposed Perspectives.” Pp. 131-228 in Handbook of Political Science. Volume 1. Fred I. Greenstein, ed. Chicago, IL: Addison-Wesley, 1976
Nov. 7 / Criticisms of Behavioralism in Political Science
Susser, Barnard. “The Behavioural Ideology: A Review and a Retrospect.” Pp. 76-100 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
McClure, Kirstie M. “Reading 95 Theses on Politics, Culture, and Method.” Perspectives on Politics. Volume 4, Number 2 (June 2006), pp. 343-351
Minogue, Kenneth. Chapters 11-13 in Kenneth Minogue, Politics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000
Nov. 14 / Looking Ahead
Walsh, Katherine Cramer. “Applying Norton’s Challenge to the Study of Political Behavior: Focus on Process, the Particular, and the Ordinary.” Perspectives on Politics. Volume 4, Number 2 (June 2006), pp. 353-359
Davis, James W. “Methods for the Production of Practical Knowledge,” Chapter 6 in James W. Davis, Terms of Inquiry: On the Theory and Practice of Political Science. Baltimore, MD: JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 2005
Susser, Bernard. “Epilogue.” Pp. 520-522 in Approaches to the Study of Politics. Bernard Susser, ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992
Nov. 21 / Seminar does not meet—Thanksgiving break
Nov. 28 / Presentation and discussion of papers

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