<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> Comparative Politics Title
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Introduction to Comparative Politics
POLS10400
A. James McAdams





TABLE OF CONTENTS

REQUIREMENTS

THE MAKING OF MODERN TIMES

THE INVENTION OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

ADVENTURES WITH LENINISM

AFTER COLONIAL EMPIRES

INCONVENIENT TRUTHS ABOUT GLOBALIZATION

 

 

 



ABOUT THIS COURSE

The substantive goal of this course is to introduce you to a novel form of political organization---the modern nation-state. To this end, I will introduce you to two concepts: "modernity" and "nation-state." By modernity, I refer to a revolution in social development that is based upon skeptical attitudes, individualistic identities, formal routines, and distinct social realms.  By nation-state, I mean a "symbolic community to which people voluntarily devote their primary political loyalties despite the many particularistic loyalties--religious, ethnic, political, social, economic--that otherwise divide them."  We live in a nation-state.  Much of the world does not, including all of the states in the Caucasus.  When you understand the difference, you will be able to interpret much of world politics today.  John McCain and Barack Obama should take this course.

The modern nation-state is not natural.  It is a human invention.  Its emergence is the principal political drama of the last 400 years.  To assume that this development has been the result of the rational calculations, savvy judgments, and the seasoned wisdom of wise men and women is to think ahistorically.  We inhabit a world that is at least in part the product of some of the worst aspects of the human condition---war, genocide, revolution, terrorism, oppression, injustice, hatred, poverty, inhumanity, and mind-numbing stupidity.  There have also been some mistakes and unintended consequences along the way.

This course is based upon a simple story which I have divided into five interlocking parts. First, I introduce you to some basic concepts about the modern nation-state.  Second, we travel down the road the West has taken toward this entity: liberalism. Third, we consider an initially credible but ultimately failed path: Marxism-Leninism. Fourth, we confront the pathos and anger of that vast residual entity known misleadingly as the "Third World." Finally, we return to our starting point to examine the fortunes of the nation-state in an age of seeming globalization. Depending on what happens outside Notre Dame during the semester, I will refer to whatever events and spectacles seem useful to our journey.  The election of a new President comes to mind.

This course also has four pedagogical goals: to cultivate your understanding of social and political phenomena ("deep knowing" and not simply "much knowing"); to develop your analytical abilities; to refine your capacity to defend arguments and persuade others; and to encourage you to develop a critical perspective on everything you think you know.

PLEASE NOTE: The use of electronic devices of any kind, including laptops, cell phones, and personal digital devices, is prohibited in my classroom!

Course Flow Chart Electronic Reserves Hesburgh Library
211 Brownson Hall 
631-5253