University of Florida

INR 3502

Fall 2007

 

International Institutions

 

Dr. Samuel Barkin

Office:  Anderson 334

Office Hours:  Tuesday 2-4 pm, Wednesday 9-11 am

barkin@polisci.ufl.edu:  352-392-0262, ext. 222

 

 

         The past several decades have seen a proliferation of international and transnational organizations.  Are these organizations merely functional reflections of the dominant international balance of power, or is organization at the international level coming to replace the state as the primary source of governance in the contemporary world?  Are these organizations capable of radically changing the way politics happen at the international level, or are they useful only for managing relations among states in functional issue-areas that are not contentious?  This course will examine the state of the political science literature on international organizations in an attempt to illuminate these questions, and to develop the analytical and research skills necessary to examine both the structures and the roles of specific organizations.

 

         The course will begin by looking at various theories of international organization, asking such questions as what purposes do these organizations serve, why are they created, etc.  This will be followed by an examination of the UN system, and at the other kinds of non-state organizations that populate the world of international relations.  Finally, we will look at a variety of functional issue-areas, and examine both the international institutional structure and the efficacy of existing institutions in dealing with the problems they were created to alleviate.

 

          

Readings

 

Book Ordered for Purchase:

 

Margaret Karns and Karen Mingst, International Organizations:  The Politics and Processes of Global Governance (Lynne Rienner, 2004).

 

Samuel Barkin, International Organization:  Theories and Institutions (Palgrave, 2006)

 

-Other reading will be made available on the web.  These readings will be posted over the course of the semester.

 

 

Course Requirements

 

Class Participation -- 10%

First Examination -- 30%

Second Examination -- 30%

Research Paper -- 30%

 

Further details on the exams and the paper will be posted on the online version of this syllabus at appropriate times.  Click here for the mobile communications device policy.

 

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.

 

First Examination (30%):

 

There will an examination held in class on Monday, October 8, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings.

 

Second Examination (30%):

 

There will an examination held in class on Friday, November 30, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings since the first exam.

 

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 either a specific empirical issue-area in international governance or a specific international organization or institution.  More explicit instructions will be distributed in due course. 

 

You will be expected to submit a statement of your research question on Friday, September 28 and your working bibliography on Monday, October 29.  Each submission is worth 10% of the paper credit.

 

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

 

The paper is due at the beginning of the last class, on Wednesday, December 5.  Please note that late papers will be accepted, but marked down half a grade for every day late (this is true of the statement of research question and working bibliography as well).

 

 

Course Schedule and readings

 

 

Week 1 (August 24): Introduction

 

 

Week 2 (August 27, 29): Why Cooperate?

*Note that there is no class on Friday, August 31.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapters 1 and 2.

 

 

Week 3 (September 5, 7): Anarchy and sovereignty

         -Barkin, introduction and chapters 1 and 2.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 7.

 

 

Week 4 (September 10. 12): Regimes and Institutions

*Note that there is no class on Friday, September 14th

         -Barkin, chapters 3 and 4.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 3.

 

 

Week 5 (September 17, 19, 21): The UN System

         -Barkin, chapter 5.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 4.

 

 

Week 6 (September 24, 26, 28): Other Actors

*Research question due on Friday the 28th

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 6.

 

 

Week 7: (October 1, 3, 5): Regional Cooperation

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 5.

 

 

Week 8 (October 8, 10, 12): International Security 1

*First exam on Monday the 8th.

         -Barkin, chapter 6.

         -Karns and Mingst chapter 8, pp. 277-306.

 

 

Week 9 (October 15, 17, 19): International Security 2

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 8, pp. 306-354.

 

 

Week 10 (October 22, 24, 26): International Political Economy

         -Barkin, chapter 8.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 9, pp. 355-392.

 

 

Week 11 (October 29, 31): Development

*Working bibliography due Monday the 29th 

         -Barkin, chapter 9.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 9, pp. 392-412.

 

 

Week 12 (November 5, 7, 9): Human Rights

         -Barkin, chapter 7.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 10.

 

 

Week 13 (November 14, 16): The Environment

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 11.

 

 

Week 14 (November 19): Integration

*Note that there is no class on Wednesday, November 21.

         -Barkin, chapters 10 and 11.

 

 

Week 15 (November 26, 28, 30): Effectiveness

*Second exam on Friday the 30th

         -Barkin, chapter12.

         -Karns and Mingst, chapter 12.

 

 

Week 16 (December 3, 5): Conclusions

*Paper due Wednesday the 5th