Political Science Y391: Political Decision Making

Spring Semester 1998, Meets MW 4:00-5:15, Woodburn 121,Section 3175

Professor Michael McGinnis, 356 Woodburn Hall, 855-0647, mcginnis@indiana.edu

Office Hours: MW 2:00-3:30 PM and by appointment

Politics and economics are closely intertwined in the real world, but they are typically treated as separate academic subjects. Fortunately, recent scholarly efforts to integrate these two subjects have become quite influential. This course is an introduction to the modern study of political economy, which includes public choice, social choice, institutional analysis, and game theory. We will survey all of these topics rather than focusing on any one method or modelling technique in great detail, in order to give students an overview of the broad range of political economy and how these diverse approaches complement each other. In sum, students will be exposed to a set of analytical tools they can use to understand a broad array of phenomena.
 
 

Course Schedule

Jan. 12 Introduction to Course

Jan. 14 Markets, Government, and Majority Rule

Optional Background Reading: Weimer, David L., and Aidan R. Vining. 1989. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice, 2nd edition, chapter 3, pp. 30-77.

Background Reading: Mitchell, William C., and Randy T. Simmons, Beyond Politics: Markets, Welfare, and the Failure of Bureaucracy, 1994, Chapter 1, pp. 3-21.

Jan. 19 NO CLASS -- MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

Jan. 21,26,28 Dilemmas of Preference Aggregation

Required Reading: Riker, chapters 1-5, pp. 1-136.

Feb. 2,4,9 Implications for Domestic and Foreign Policy

Required Reading: Riker, chapters 6-10, pp. 137-253.

Optional Reading: Gaubatz, Kurt T. 1995. "Intervention and Intransitivity: Public Opinion, Social Choice, and the Use of Military Force Abroad," World Politics, 47: 534-54.

Feb. 11 FIRST EXAMINATION

Feb. 16,18 Democracy and Polycentric Order

Required Reading (Course Packet): Ostrom, Vincent, Charles M. Tiebout, and Robert Warren. 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry." American Political Science Review 55 (Dec.): 831-42.

Required Reading (Course Packet): Ostrom, Vincent, and Elinor Ostrom. 1977. "Public Goods and Public Choices." In Alternatives for Delivering Public Services. Toward Improved Performance, ed. E. S. Savas, 7-49.

Optional Reading: Tiebout, Charles M. 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, 64: 416-424.

Feb. 23,25 The Provision of Metropolitan Governance
Required Reading (Course Packet): Ostrom, Elinor. 1972. "Metropolitan Reform: Propositions Derived from Two Traditions." Social Science Quarterly 53: 474-93.

Required Reading (Course Packet): Ostrom, Elinor. 1976. "Size and Performance in a Federal System," Publius, 6(2): 33- 73.

March 2,4 Strategic Interaction and Game Theory
Required Reading: Sandler, chapters 2 (pp. 23-51) and 6 (pp. 165-176 only)

Required Reading (Course Packet): Gibson, Clark C., and Stuart A. Marks. 1995."Transforming Rural Hunters into Conservationists: An Assessment of Community-Based Wildlife Management Programs in Africa." World Development 23: 941-57.

March 9,11 Games and Institutions
Optional Reading: Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, chapter 1, pp. 1-27.

Optional Reading: Milgrom, Paul, Douglass North, and Barry Weingast. "The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs," Economics and Politics, 1990, 2:1-23.

March 14-22 SPRING BREAK

March 23 How to Design Institutions That Last

Required Reading (Course Packet): Ostrom, Elinor. 1993. "Design Principles in Long-Enduring Irrigation Institutions," Water Resources Research, 29: 1907-1912.
March 25 SECOND EXAMINATION

March 30, April 1, 6  Comparing and Analyzing Global Dilemmas

Required Reading: Sandler, chapter 1 (pp. 1-22) chapters 3, 4 (pp. 52-141)
April 8,13 Institutional Responses to Global Dilemmas
Required Reading: Sandler, chapters 5-8 (pp. 142-214)

Optional Reading: McGinnis, Michael D., "Issue Linkage and the Evolution of International Cooperation," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 30: 141-170.

April 15,20 Integrating Morality, Markets, and Power (and review)
Optional Reading: Nadelmann, Ethan A. 1990. "Global Prohibition Regimes: The Evolution of Norms in International Society," International Organization, 44: 479-526.
April 22 THIRD EXAMINATION

April 27,29 In-class exercise: Laboratory Experiments in Collective Action

Optional Reading: Ostrom, Elinor, and James Walker. 1997. "Neither Markets Nor States: Linking Transformation Processes in Collective Action Arenas." In Perspectives on Public Choice: A Handbook, ed. Dennis Mueller, 35-72.
No meeting Finals Week.
 
 

Grading and Student Responsibilities

Grades will be based on three examinations (25% each) and a few in-class exercises (including the last week of the semester, after the last exam). These exercises will enable the instructor to gauge how well students are comprehending the material. They are also intended to induce preferences for regular class attendance. Overall these exercises will constitute 25% of the course grade. Each exam will build on material covered throughout the course, but emphasis will be placed on material covered since the earlier exams.

The course readings have been kept to a minimum, in hopes that students will read the required readings with some care. Two paperback textbooks have been ordered for this course: (1) William H. Riker, 1982. Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice, Waveland Press, and (2) Todd Sandler, 1997. Global Challenges: An Approach to Environmental, Political, and Economic Problems, Cambridge University Press. A course packet which includes all other required readings should also be available for purchase at the IU and TIS bookstores. Copies of required and optional readings will be placed on reserve in the Undergraduate side of the Main Library and/or the Political Science Research Collection, 200 Woodburn Hall.

The topic outline given below is subject to some later changes. A few additional reading assignments may be added, but in most cases copies of these readings will be distributed in class. A few optional (or background) readings have also been listed, and students are encouraged to explore at least some of these additional readings during the course of this semester.

Now for the unfortunately needed warnings. Incompletes or make-up exams will be allowed only in extreme circumstances, and only if the instructor approves in advance. Approval is not automatic. This instructor takes a very dim view of cheating and of plagiarism (misrepresenting someone else's work as your own). Students caught cheating in either manner will receive a failing course grade and will expose themselves to additional disciplinary action.