PLCP 502 -- Spring 2004

Class Meets: Thursday 03:30--06:00pm

Professor: Carol Mershon
Office: 207 New Cabell Hall
Phone: 4-7875
Email: mershon@virginia.edu

Office Hours: Thursday 06:00--07:00pm,  Friday 03:30--04:30pm (and by appt.)

Politics in Southern Europe

Introduction

This seminar uses case studies of Southern European politics to examine central issues in the field of comparative politics. In each week of the semester, we focus on a major scholarly work that treats a question of enduring concern to comparativists and at the same time addresses an important aspect of politics in Portugal, Spain, Italy, or Greece. An underlying theme and premise of the course, then, is that it is possible to combine an interest and expertise in area studies with rigorous and disciplined research in comparative politics.

Like many analysts of Southern Europe, we begin by considering the region's relatively late democratization. Along the way, we investigate such topics as the grass-roots experience of fascism and the role of the military in regime transitions. We then turn to recent processes of democratic consolidation in Southern Europe. A natural next step is to look at partisan competition in the newly consolidated democracies. In two weeks, we take up pressing issues in political economy, financial reform and unemployment. Another pair of class meetings is devoted to assessing spirited debates about the bases of Italian democracy. Our final set of class readings recasts those debates and explores their general implications, within and beyond Southern Europe.

Some of the works we read concentrate on a single country (e.g., Berezin), whereas others compare four Southern European countries. Still other readings span more than a dozen countries (Bermeo on unemployment), and a few extend beyond Europe to Latin America (Collier). This mix is intentional, for one of the goals of the class is to equip students to think carefully about the aims, consequences, advantages, and disadvantages of different research designs. The mix also suggests that answers to the question, What makes Southern European politics special?, can best be found in comparative perspective.

Course Requirements

30 percent -- weekly journal (11 entries total). Each seminar member is required to keep a weekly journal of reactions to, and reflections on, each week's set of readings. The structure and content of journal entries will vary somewhat from week to week and from student to student; nonetheless, all journal entries should include (but not be limited to) a brief statement of the major argument(s) in the reading, a brief discussion of the kinds of evidence used, and one question about the reading that the student would like to explore. Entries should approximate 3 (three) carefully written pages per week. Journal writing is due Thursdays by 12 noon; submissions via e-mail or the class Toolkit website (assignments function) are fine but not required.

15 percent -- Critical review essay. Each student will write one critical review essay on the seminar readings. The review essay may expand on a journal entry or strike off in a new direction; it may develop a theme common to several readings, evaluate one work in light of another, or reflect on one week's works in light of another week's. Whereas the journal entries provide you with the opportunity to communicate your "rapid response" to a reading, the critical review essay is intended to invite students to take a broader perspective as they assess the assigned readings; in some ways, it substitutes for a mid-term exam. The essay, due Mar. 5, should be about 10 or 12 pages long.

5 percent -- proposal for the research paper and
30 percent -- research paper. Each student will also write a 20-25 page research paper that further investigates a problem considered collectively in class. We will devote one class meeting (Mar. 4) to the tasks of developing research questions and designing a research project. A research proposal of 3-4 pages (with preliminary bibliography) is due Mar. 19. The paper is due May 5 and students will discuss their preliminary research findings in class on Apr. 22. In some ways, the research paper substitutes for a final exam

In all written work they submit, students must rigorously follow rules of proper citation. See the Appendix to this syllabus on such rules. Be forewarned: Failure to adhere to rules of proper citation on any piece of written work will result in failure in the course.

20 percent -- Participation. Students will also be evaluated on the contributions they make to the collective enterprise of seminar discussions. Each week, every member of the class should be prepared to take an active role in discussion. All seminar participants will have weekly e-mail memos on readings from me as they prepare for seminar discussions. Entries in the weekly journal are also intended to equip students for oral participation.

Readings

The following books are available at the U.Va. Bookstore:

One more book, a required reading, is unfortunately is out of print. I do not know how many copies the U.Va. bookstore will be able to locate. As of January 3 2004, Amazon lists 16 used copies at good prices. I several used copies of the book, which I will place on Clemons Reserve.

A few article-length readings are assigned at various points in the semester. You can download them from the web, as indicated below.

Class Meeting Topics and Reading Assignments

Jan. 15.  Introduction.

Before our first class meeting, read this short assignment: 

Robert H. Bates, "Area Studies and the Discipline: A Useful Controversy," PS: Political Science and Politics 1997, Vol. 30, pp. 166-169. Available at:http://links.jstor.org/

We will briefly discuss this reading in the latter part of our first class meeting.

 

Jan. 22.  Democratization and Democracy in Southern Europe: Overview and Comparative Context.

Collier, Paths Toward Democracy, all.

Diamandourous and Gunther, eds., Parties, Politics, and Democracy in the New Southern Europe , pp. xi-xiv.

 

Jan. 29. Mobilizing Support for Italian Fascism.

Berezin, Making the Fascist Self, all.

 

Feb. 5.  From Dictatorship to Democracy:  The Portuguese Revolutions.

Bermeo, The Revolution within the Revolution, all. 

 

Feb. 12.  The Consolidation of New Democracies: Cross-National Comparisons. 

Gunther, Diamandourous, Puhle, The Politics of Democratic Consolidation, all.

 

Feb. 19.  The Greek Military under Dictatorship and Democracy.

Veremis, The Military in Greek Politics, all.

 

Feb. 26.  Regime Transition and Financial Reform in Spain: Political Economy, Part I.

Perez, Banking on Privilege, all.

 

Mar. 4.  Workshop on Framing Research Questions. 

The reading is short (since review essays are due tomorrow) but crucial.  Review past class notes and readings in order to define a research question for your paper. Be prepared to present your paper ideas to fellow seminar participants.

W. Phillips Shively, The Craft of Political Research, 4th ed., Prentice Hall 1998, Chs. 1 and 2. (Available at class Toolkit website.)

 

Critical review essays are due Fri., Mar. 5, at 5:00 p.m.   Submit both a hard copy and an electronic version; the electronic copy may be sent via e-mail or the Toolkit.

 

Mar. 18.  Parties and Party Competition in the Consolidated Democracies of Southern Europe.

Diamandourous and Gunther, eds., Parties, Politics, and Democracy in the New Southern Europe, all.

 

Paper proposals are due 5:00 p.m. on Fri., Mar. 19.  Submit both a hard copy and an electronic version of the proposal.

 

Mar. 25.  Southern European Unemployment in Comparative Perspective: Political Economy, Part II.

Bermeo, ed., Unemployment in the New Europe, all.

 

Apr. 1.  Debates about Italian Democracy, Part I. 

Putnam, Making Democracy Work, all.  As you read this book, think back over previous class readings and discussions in order to develop comparisons with the rest of Southern Europe.

 

Apr. 8.  Debates about Italian Democracy, Part II.

Sabetti, The Search for Good Government, all.

 

Apr. 15.  Recasting Debates about Democracy.

Piattoni, ed., Clientelism, Interests, and Democratic Representation.   All students must read Chs. 1-2, 4, and 6-9.  Each student must choose one of the two remaining chapters (either Ch. 3 or Ch. 5) to read in addition to those just named.  

 

Apr. 22.  Conclusions.

No reading assignment.  This class meeting has two related goals: (a) discussion and comparison of in-progress research papers; and (b) discussion of conclusions for the semester as a whole.  To prepare for (a), write a paper abstract of no more than 150 words, and list the two or three most important challenges that you envision as you proceed to wrap up work on the research paper.  To prepare for (b), reflect on the links between your research paper and the collective work of the class, and review notes from past class readings and class discussions. 

 

Research papers are due 5:00 p.m., Wed., May 5.  Submit both a hard copy and an electronic version.

 

Note: This class, of course, adheres to all college-wide deadlines and policies regarding adds, drops, and so forth.

 

Important Guidelines: Plagiarism vs. Proper Citation

Under the Honor System at this University, plagiarism warrants expulsion. Obviously, you should never plagiarize. According to the pamphlet, Academic Fraud and the Honor System, published by the University of Virginia (no date given): "Plagiarism is the use of the distinctive ideas or words belonging to another person without adequate acknowledgment of that person's contribution." Taking responsibility for your own intellectual work and giving credit to others for their work go to the heart of what we do at a university. To repeat: You should never, under any circumstances, plagiarize.

The U.Va. English Department places acts of plagiarism into three categories: "failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas; failing to enclose direct quotations in quotation marks; failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words" (quotation from http://www.engl.virginia.edu/wctr/plagiarism.html). Avoid all three sorts of pitfalls.

If I identify an instance of plagiarism in any assignment submitted by a student, that student will earn the grade of F on the assignment.

How do you make sure you understand proper rules of citation vs. acts of plagiarism? Consult such classic style manuals as The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press, 14th ed., 1993) and William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (Macmillan, 3rd ed., 1979). The following URLs are also likely to be helpful: