University of Florida

INR 3034

Spring 2006

International Political Economy

Dr. Samuel Barkin

Office:  Anderson 334

Office Hours:  M 2-4pm, W 1-2pm

x2-0262, ext. 222

barkin@polisci.ufl.edu

         The purpose of this course is to introduce and explore the relationships between political and economic processes in the international arena.  We will begin with theoretical and historical perspectives on these relationships, and the processes and institutions through which the relationships work.  We will then examine at a variety of specific issues in the international political economy, including trade, debt, natural resources, development, and economies in transition.  Finally, we will look at the process of globalization more broadly, and how this process interacts with the international political economy.

This is the official version of the course syllabus. All course policies can be found here, as can links to lecture outlines, which will be posted at the beginning of each week for that week. Look here for the statement of policy on plagiarism and academic honesty. Look here for the policy on missed examinations and late papers. Look here for the mobile phone and beeper policy.

Readings

There are three required textbooks for this course (all readings are from these texts):

-David Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy, 3^rd edition (Prentice Hall, 2005).

-Jan Aart Scholte, Globalization: A Critical Introduction, 2^nd edition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

-Robert Gilpin, The Challenge of Global Capitalism: The World Economy in the 21^st Century (Princeton University Press, 2000).

You are also encouraged to keep current on developments in the international political economy, by regularly reading a news source that covers it well (The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and the Economist are good sources for this sort of news).

Course Requirements

Class Participation -- 10%

First Examination -- 20%

Second Examination -- 20%

Final Examination – 20%

Research Paper -- 30%

Further details on the exams and the paper will be posted on this syllabus at appropriate times.

Class Participation (10%):

Students are expected to come to all classes, to pay attention, and to participate actively in class discussions and in various class exercises that will occur from time to time. There may also be occasional pop quizzes that will contribute to the participation grade.

First Examination (20%):

There will an examination held in class on Monday, February 20, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings.

Second Examination (20%):

There will an examination held in class on Friday, April 7, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings since the first exam.

Final Examination (20%):

There will be a final examination in the designated time slot during the final examination period, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings throughout the course.

Research Paper (30%):

Each student will write a 3,000-word research paper.  For this paper each student will be expected to apply the analytic tools discussed in class to a specific issue in the study of the international political economy.

You will be expected to submit a statement of your research question at the beginning of class on Monday, March 6, and your working bibliography on Monday, March 27.  Each submission is worth 10% of the paper credit (i.e. 3% of the course grade).

Follow these links to find details of the assignment, information on sources and citation, and the statement of policy on plagiarism and academic honesty.

The paper is due at the beginning of class on Monday, April 17.  Please note that late papers will be accepted, but marked down half a grade for every day late.

Course Schedule and readings

Week 1 (January 9, 11, 13): Introduction

-No readings

Week 2 (January 18, 20): Perspectives on IPE

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 1-3

Week 3 (January 23, 25, 27): History of the IPE

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 4 and 5

-Gilpin chapter 2

Week 4 (January 30, February 1, 3): Balances of Payments

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 7

-Scholte introduction and chapter 1

-Gilpin introduction and chapter 1

Week 5 (February 6, 8, 10): Money and Finance

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 8

-Scholte chapter 2

-Gilpin chapter 3

Week 6 (February 13, 15, 17): The IPE of Security and Crisis

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 9

-Scholte chapter 3

-Gilpin chapter 4

Week 7: (February 20, 22, 24): Trade

*First exam on Monday the 20th.

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 6

-Scholte chapter 4

-Gilpin chapter 5

Week 8 (February 27, March 1, 3): Regionalism

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 11 and 12

-Gilpin chapters 7-9

Week 9 (March 6, 8, 10): Production

*Research question due on Monday the 6^th

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 17

-Scholte chapter 5

-Gilpin chapter 6

Week 10 (March 20, 22): Development 1

*Note that there will be no class meeting on Friday the 24^th (it’s a working bibliography day)

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 14 and 15

-Scholte chapter 6

Week 11 (March 27, 29, 31): Development 2

 *Working bibliography due Monday the 27th

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 16 and 19

-Scholte chapter 7

Week 12 (April 3, 5, 7): Resources and Technology

*Second exam on Friday the 7th

-Balaam and Veseth chapters 10 and 18

-Scholte chapter 8

Week 13 (April 10, 12): The Environment

*Note that there will be no class meeting on Friday the 14^th (it’s a special paper-writing session).

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 20

-Scholte chapters 9 and 10

Week 14 (April 17, 19, 21): Globalizations

*Paper due Monday the 17th

-Balaam and Veseth chapter 21

-Scholte chapter 11

-Gilpin chapter 10

Week 15 (April 24, 26): Conclusions and Review

-Scholte chapter 12

-Gilpin chapter 11

*Final exam on Thursday, May 4, from 10am-noon.