Dr. John J. Quinn
International Political Economy
POL 352
Office: McClain 206D x4578
Required Texts Assignments and Grading
In this course, students learn the fundamentals concerning the rise of international economic cooperation and conflict. Thus, we approach IPE with a strong overlap of International Relations, Comparative Politics, Economics, and History. We examine the rise of international economic institutions and norms as well as some current international economic arrangements. We also examine and discuss three primary theoretical prisms: Liberal, Realist, and Marxist that can be used to think these through. At the end of the course, students should understand empirically the rise of international trade, the rise of international investment, and the rise of international money, the rise of international financial institutions, the current state of such institutions, their evolving nature, and the basics of the three paradigms that we use to explain these phenomena.
Ravenhill, John. Global Political Economy, 6th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Other readings will be posted on blackboard or in the reserve library, but such assignments will be announced in class. It is also strongly recommended that students begin to read such periodicals as The Financial Times, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, or the New York Times. This will help you understand current events for IPE.
Each student is also required to read and write on ONE of the following books, but there will be a limit on how many students will be allowed to write on each book [so wait for the sign up before you buy the book]:
Baldwin, Richard. 2016. The Great Convergence. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
Bhagwati, Jagdish, 2004. In Defense of Globalization Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Collier, Paul. 2007. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Friedman, Thomas L.2000. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Friedman, Thomas L. 2007. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Version 3.0, Picador USA.
Reich, Robert B. 1992.The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism New York: First Vintage Books Edition, 1992.
Rivoli, Pitra. 2014. The Travels of a TShirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade 2nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Stiglitz, Joseph E 2003. Globalization and its Discontents New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2003.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2007. Making Globalization Work, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.
Wolf, Martin. 2005. Why Globalization Works 2nd Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Other books can be considered with instructor approval.
Students will be required to review and analyze one of the above books in a ten to twelve double spaced paper that summarizes and analyzes the book from the various perspectives developed in class, lecture, and the main text. I will pass around a signup sheet, and no more than 3 students may write reviews/critiques on any one book. Students found to have copied significant parts of paper from the internet will receive an F on the paper and maybe for the class. Students will also present their findings publicly at the end of the semester. If several students write on the same book, they will present as a group.
During the course, there will be three major exams (including the final), one paper, and a presentation. Each student is responsible for bringing a blue book on the day of the exam, including the final exam. No blue book, no exam. Each exam counts for 200 points and the paper counts for 200 points as well. In addition, a group or individual presentation on the book is worth 100 points. Participation will be used to decide the remaining 100 points for the course. (Divide by ten for a percentage.) Good participation and comments reflect that students have read and have an initial understanding of the materials. Should it become clear that students have not been reading the assigned readings prior to class, a regime of pop quizzes will be instituted.
The paper should highlight elements of the book which you found most informative on either the history or current workings (economic or political) of the international global markets. In particular, the papers should emphasize what role government and free markets play in the various stages of globalization, or what role international institutions play, if any. It should also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the globalization phenomenon. Therefore overview and critique the book relating the author’s ideas to other ideas in class. Contextualize the ideas, and make an argument demonstrating which paradigm the author is mostly using. Also, you could show what the author has shown you different from (or similar to) other ideas in class. In sum, begin with what paradigm or paradigms the author seems to be using, what aspect of globalization is the author discussing and which actors are the most important in the descriptions of events, and what proposals or conclusions about globalization or global markets does the author make? Then analyze these aspects from one or more competing paradigm(s). Make sure you demonstrate what unique contribution the book makes as well as any potential major flaws or limitations the book may have.
The presentation of the group (if more than one person wrote on that book) or by one person (if only one person signed up for that book) should overview the points of the book as well as locate it within a paradigm. Signup sheets will be circulated later in the semester.