Graduate Courses
I offer several courses on my substantive interests and two research methods courses, one on research design and one on qualitative methodology. At the graduate level I offer substantive classes on Comparative Politics, Peasant Politics, and Latin American Politics. An updated syllabus for each of these courses is available in the main office of the Political Science Department: Anderson 234. The courses I offer regularly are as follows:
Comparative PoliticsThis class is an introduction to the field of comparative politics at the doctoral level. It is recommended for all doctoral students with a major or minor in comparative politics. The purpose of this course is to give students a broad understanding of the field of comparative politics and to introduce them to the current debates and research concerns in the field. The course also covers the major literature on comparative politics and introduces students to some of the newest and best recent literature in comparative politics.
A second goal of this course is to help students prepare for the comprehensive exam in comparative politics at the major or minor level. The reading load is heavy for this course and the exam is a smaller version of the comprehensive exam. The course is intellectually demanding and students normally make it one of their top priorities in the semester they take the course.
readings
The reading load for this course is heavy and is updated every time the course is offered in order to keep the list current with the field of comparative politics. Included on the reading list with one or more major works are the following authors: Aristotle, Robert Dahl, Lawrence Dodd, Ted Robert Gurr, Samuel Huntington, V.O. Key, Ronald Inglehart, Michael Lewis-Beck, Karl Marx, Barrington Moore, Guillermo O'Donnell, Robert Putnam, Theda Skocpol, James Scott, Charles Tilly, Alexis de Toqueville, Sidney Verba, Max Weber, Crawford Young.
The last week of the course is spent covering some of the newer books and articles in comparative politics. Most recently these included:
Nancy Bermeo, Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
Nicolas Guilhot and Philippe Schmitter, "De la Transition a la Consolidation: Une Lecture Retrospective des 'Democratization Studies,'" Revue Francaise de Science Politique August-October 2000, pp 615-631
Peasants!This class is an advanced electoral seminar on the politics of the poor. It is an interdisciplinary introduction to the peasantry and the class composition is usually drawn from several departments, including political science, anthropology, and the Masters Program in Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. The class studies peasant culture and politics, with specific focus on revolution, organized non-violent action, right-wing activism, and non-collective, individual action.
books
Eric Wolf, Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century
A.V. Chayanov, A Theory of Peasant Economy
Teodor Shanin, ed., Peasants and Peasant Societies
James Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant
Samuel Popkin, The Rational Peasant
Leslie Anderson, The Political Ecology of the Modern Peasant
Victor Magagna, Communities of Grain
John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in An Appalachian Village
Clifferd Geertz, Agricultural Involution
Jeffery Paige, Agrarian Revolution
E.P. Thompson, Customs in Common
Daniel Little, Peasant China
James Scott, Weapons of the Weak
Robert Paxton, French Peasant Fascism: Henry Dorgeres' Greenshirts and the Crisis of French Agriculture, 1929-1939
Marc Howard Ross, Culture and Conflict
Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, In the Realm of the Diamond Queen: Marginality in An Out of the Way PlaceResearch Design (The Conduct of Inquiry)
This class is required of all incoming doctoral students. It is an introduction to research design that familiarizes students with a variety of research techniques and data collection methods. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Students conduct fieldwork and collect data as part of the class requirements. The reading load, by contrast, is light. All students are required to do some survey research. Most will also engage in qualitative data collection or participant observation. Data collection methods include survey research, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and archival research. Students also receive an introduction to SPSS, a statistical analysis package used for analyzing quantitative data.
This course has been recognized in the profession of political science as an example of how to teach research methods in a manner that encourages methodological pluralism. A description of the course and its pedagogical goals can be found in my chapter in Kristen Renwick Monroe, Perestroika: The Raucous Rebellion in Political Science, Yale University Press, 2005.
For this class students are required to read the following books and articles:books
Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work
Charles Tilly, PopularContention in Great Britain: 1758-1834
Theodore Rosengarten, All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw
Alan Wolfe, One Nation After All
Gary King, Robert Keohane, Sidney Verba, Designing Social Inquiry
H. Russell Bernard, Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approachesarticles
Clifford Geertz, "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight," Daedalus, Winter, 1972, reprinted in Clifford Geertz, ed., Myth, Symbol and Culture
Katherine Bischoping and Howard Schuman, "Pens and Polls in Nicaragua: An Analysis of the 1990 Pre-election Surveys," American Journal of Political Science, Vol 36, 1992
Leslie Anderson, "Neutrality and Bias in the 1990 Nicaraguan Preelection Polls: A Comment on Bischoping and Schuman, American Journal of Political Science, Vol 38, 1994
Qualitative Research MethodologyThis class introduces students to qualitative research methodologies. The purpose of the course is the help students understand the value and utility of qualitative methods. These methods have multiple advantages: They allow scholars to be exploratory in their research, conducting research where none has been done before. Qualitative methods may also be more sensitive methods or more unobtrusive. The course covers all of these various advantages to qualitative methods. Additionally, the readings cover ways that qualitative data can be analyzed systematically. The methods learned in this course include participant observation, discourse analysis, content analysis, archival research, focus groups, in-depth interviewing, and the study of culture. Students do one group project - a focus group project - together. They also do one individual project using one of the qualitative methods studied in this course. The work load for this class is heavier than for the Conduct of Inquiry course described above. The work load stretches across assigned readings and assigned research projects. The books and articles are a combination of works on methodology and works that exemplify one of the methods studied in the course.
For this class students are required to read the following books and articles:
books
Catherine Lutz and Abu-Lughod, Language and the Politics of Emotion
Jane Edwards and Martin D. Lampert, Talking Data: Transcription and Coding in Discourse Analysis
H. Russell Bernard, Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology
David W. Stewart and Prem N. Shamdasani, Focus Groups: Theory and Practice
David L. Morgan, Focus Groups as Qualitative Research
Richard A. Krueger, Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research
Herbert J. Rubin and Irene S. Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing - The Art of Hearing Data
Uwe Flick, An Introduction to Qualitative Research
Grant McCracken, The Long Interview
Victor Klemperer, The Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingui Tertii Imperii: A Philologist's Notebook
Kristen Renwick Monroe, The Heart of Altruism
Daniel Levine, Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism
Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, In the Realm of the Diamond Queen: Marginality in an Out of the Way Place
James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts
Stephen C. Craig, The Malevolent Leaders: Popular Discontent in America
E. Digby Baltzell, Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia: Two Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Class Authority and Leadership
Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Death Without Weepingarticles
John F. Padgett and Christopher K. Ansell, "Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434," American Journal of Sociology, Vol 98, 1993
Doctoral Students
A number of doctoral students have completed or are currently doing fascinating research with my guidance. Most of these dissertations address some aspect of democratization and democratic development. All of these students are fluent in at least two languages. They are trained and are doing doctoral research in the tradition of V.O. Key, as found in his books, Southern Politics and The Retrospective Voter. Accordingly their research combines deep historical and cultural understanding of the regions and countries they are studying with sophisticated analysis of qualitative or quantitative data or some combination of both. Their research also reflects their thorough knowledge of the broader field of comparative politics and is firmly grounded in contemporary theories of comparative politics.
Recently completed dissertations I have supervised are:
1) Edward Greaves, Spring, 2002, Title: Reorganizing Popular Civil Society: Popular Movements, Municipalities And The State in Post-Dictatorship Chile, 1990-2000
Ed won a Fulbright Dissertation Grant to conduct his research in Chile. He has a tenure-track job at St Cloud State University in St Cloud, Minnesota.2) Vilma Fuentes, Spring, 2003, Title: The Political Effects of Disaster and Foreign Aid: National and Subnational Governance in Honduras After Hurricane Mitch
Vilma won a Dissertation Grant from the Institute for World Peace to conduct her research in Honduras. She has a tenure-track job at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida.3) Lee W. Walker, Fall, 2003, Title: The Democratic Arbiter: The Role of the Judiciary in the Democratic Consolidation Process in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Lee received a tenure-track job at the University of Kentucky. For the year 2006 Lee was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard-MIT Data Lab. In January, 2007 he began as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina.
4) Larissa Ruiz-Baia, Spring, 2004, Title: Christianity and the Imagined Latino Self: The Emergence of Pan-Ethnic Identity Amongst Latinos in Paterson, New Jersey
Larissa won an SSRC Dissertation Fellowship and a Brooklyn College Fellowship to conduct her research in New Jersey. She has a permanent position at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.5) Javier Aguayo, Fall, 2004, Title: The Legislature Strikes Back in Peru: The Role of Congress in the Demise of Fujimori in 2000
Javier won a Tinker Grant to conduct his research in Peru. For the academic year 2005-6 Javier was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Dickenson University. In the fall of 2006 Javier began a tenure-track job at York College in York, Pennsylvania.6) Guillermina Seri, Spring, 2005, Title: Policing and Democracy: The Influence of Narratives on Police Discretion
Guillermina won a McQuown Dissertation Grant to conduct her research in Argentina. For the academic years 2005-7 Guillermina received a post-doctoral fellowship at Colgate University. In the fall of 2007 Guillermina will begin a tenure-track position at Union College, Schnectady, New York.7) Jorge Aragon, Fall, 2006, Title: Mass Support for Democratic Values: A Theoretical and Methodological Contribution. (This dissertation is about Peru.)
I currently supervise three doctoral dissertations for students who have reached candidacy status. These are:
1. Greg Markowski: a study of indigenous social movements in Ecuador and Bolivia
2. Jonathan Jones: a study of peasant opposition to SEZ zones in India as a result of footloose multination development and investment
3. Jetsabe Caceres: a study of social opposition to privatization and to the Vicques shipyard in Puerto Rico
Upper Division Courses
At the upper division level (juniors/seniors) I offer classes on Latin American politics and a course on Fascism and right-wing populism.
Latin American PoliticsThis class is offered periodically and I am only one of several professors who teach this course. When I teach it, it is an introduction to politics in Latin America. Countries covered may include Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Argentina, and Chile. It covers the basics of politics in Latin America: revolution, social movements, democratization, US relations, religion, economics. This is a good course to take with anyone who is teaching it before you take Problems in Latin American Politics (listed next).
Problems in Latin American Politics
This course addresses the development of democracy in Latin America and usually covers a smaller number of countries with greater depth. Students are asked to consider what factors enhance or inhibit the develop of democracy in the nations under study. They learn which democratizing nations are more likely to develop consolidated democracies and which are more problematic in their democratic development. This class will be offered again in the spring of 2007. In that course we will concentrate on the study of social capital. Students intending to take this course should purchase a copy of the following three books: Alexis Tocqueville, Democracy in America, (abbreviated version), Carlos Forment, Democracy in Latin America, and Leslie Anderson/Lawrence Dodd, Learning Democracy. I will also be requiring a basic introductory book on Mexico and one on Peru. These last two books are not yet selected. In this course we will consider how social capital and associational life has developed in the United States and compare this with Latin America, focussing specifically on Mexico, Peru, and Nicaragua. Students who take this course will be required to participate actively in the classroom life of the course. Each student will make an in-class presentation from some aspect of the readings. The course will also emphasize essay exams, an optional research paper, and extensive class discussion. If you are looking for a highly intellectual, advanced undergraduate course on democratization and democratic development in Latin America, come join me this spring.
Fascism in Comparative Perspective
This is a cross-regional course focusing on Western Europe, Latin America, and the United States. It focuses on right-wing populism, popular support for authoritarian movements, and fascism. It considers various versions of fascism and movements within the "magnetic field" of fascism. The course covers Nazism in Germany, Mussolini's fascism in Italy, Peronism in Argentina, and the KKK in the United States. Some years it may also cover Franco's fascism in Spain and various fascist movements in France, including Dorgeres and the Croix de Feu.
Modern Mexico
This is a specialized course on Mexico which concentrates primarily upon the twentieth century. We cover the advent of the Mexican revolution and the development of the authoritarian system which evolved out of the revolution. We then move on to study the new process of democratization currently underway in Mexico. Students are required to read five scholarly articles and six books. The books used for this course are as follows (updated 9/08):
Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, Triumphs and Tragedies: A History of the Mexican People
Susan Eckstein, The Poverty of Revolution: The State and the Urban Poor in Mexico
Beatriz Magaloni, Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and Its Demise in Mexico
John Cross, Informal Politics: Street Vendors and the State in Mexico City
Jorge Dominguez and James McCann, Democratizing Mexico: Public Opinion and Electoral Choices
Jonathan Fox, Accountability Politics: Power and Voice in Rural Mexico
Argentina and the Politics of MemoryThis is a new course that has been created and will be offered in 2009/2010. The course considers Argentina's recent movement from being a dictatorship to being an imperfect democracy where a regular electoral calendar exists but a single predominant party controls the presidency and Congress. Books for this course are as follows (updated 9/08):
Nicolas Shumway, The Invention of Argentina
James McGuire, Peronism Without Peron: Unions, Parties and Democracy in Argentina
Alison Brysk, The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina: Protest, Change and Democratization
Matthew Cleary and Susan Stokes, Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism: Political Trust in Argentina and Mexico
Raanan Rein, In the Shadow of Peron: Juan Atilio Bramuglia and the Second Line of Argentina's Populist Movement
Rebecca Bill Chavez, The Rule of Law in Nascent Democracies: Judicial Politics in ArgentinaCentral America Then and Now
This course is currently under development. It will cover the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Students will read approximately six books including:
Beatriz Manz, Paradise in Ashes, A Guatemalan Journel of Courage, Terror and Hope
Elizabeth Jean Woods, El Salvador
Leslie Anderson and Lawrence Dodd, Learning Democracy: Citizen Engagement and Electoral Choice in Nicaragua, 1990-2001this website is currently being updated (9/08)
Lower Division Courses
At the lower division level (freshmen/sophomores) I offer a class (2001) on Comparative Politics. It is an introductory course that focuses upon the relationship between historical development and current political regimes. Countries that I cover in this class include Britain, France and Germany.. The class will also cover one or more of the following: China, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Nicaragua, South Africa. If you are a freshman or sophmore deciding whether or not to take my section of CPO 2001 here are some things for you to think about. If you look elsewhere on this web page you will see that I have a research interest in the development of democracy and that I spend a lot of time working with doctoral students (students who are working on getting their PhD.). Both of these two emphases are reflected in my sections of CPO 2001. My sections of the course have two agendae: 1) they will introduce you to the basics of politics in the nations we study and 2) they will also help you understand how those nations became democracies or why they failed to be democracies. My sections of 2001 also reflect my frequent work with PhD students. Undergraduate students who have taken CPO 2001 with me tell me that they think my section of 2001 is a highly intellectual, very demanding, with difficult exams and with a scholary focus because I am a professor who also works with a lot of doctoral students. In addition to studying specific countries, we will examine broad theories about democratic development, including Robert Dahl's Polyarchy and Anthony Downs' A Theory of Economic Democracy. If this is what you are looking for in a lower division class, then come and join me the next time I teach CPO 2001. You will be very welcome.