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Course Syllabus

Postgraduate course 2023/2024

Current Trends in Political Science

Type: Compulsory course
Area of studies: Postgraduate Studies
Delivered by: School of Politics and Governance
When: 2 year, 1 semester
Mode of studies: offline
Open to: students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors: Yury Gaivoronsky, Dmitry V. Goncharov, Mikhail Ilyin, Boris Kapustin, Boris Makarenko, Olga Y. Malinova, Mikhail Mironyuk, Andrey N. Scherbak, Evgeny Sedashov, Andrey Starodubtsev, Alexander Sungurov
Language: English
ECTS credits: 2
Contact hours: 48

Course Syllabus

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The program of the course builds up the minimum requirements to the knowledge and skills of an PhD student and determines the content and types of classes and assessment. The program is designed for teachers of this discipline, learning assistants and students of political science PhD programs. The program is developed according to: (1) Educational Program «Political science», (2) University Academic Plan of NRU HSE for PhD level education. The course is delivered to the first year PhD students, as a part of their professional development. The course is mandatory. The course is closely tied to the following disciplines: (1) Research Seminar, (2) Writing PhD dissertation.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The course explores current tendencies, topical issues and prospective advances in political science.
  • The course concentrates on recent achievements and results of political research that are particularly significant for the academic agenda and ongoing research of political science community of the National Research University “Higher School of Economics”.
  • The course also exposes critical junctures of contemporary political research and challenges that haunt present-day political science.
  • The course encourages PhD students to read and interpret current achievements in political studies, particularly those that are topical for their own research and provide PhD students with pioneering guidance.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Be able to develop coherent and persuasive argumentation in their own academic work
  • Be able to interpret texts of political investigations, their context and prospects of further development
  • Be able to use novel ideas and research results in one’s own studies; to use appropriate research principles, designs and framework in one’s own dissertation research
  • Gain experience in analysis of the texts of political investigations, writing their summaries and critical apprisals
  • Gain experience in professional use of achievements of alternative scholarly trends and traditions
  • Know specific achievements and publications that are recognized in the world-wide political science community
  • Know the core of ideas and scientific results that shape the present profile of political science and some of its trends and subdisciplines
  • Know the main breakthroughs and advancements in the current political science research
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • 1. Key issues of advancement of political science. Political studies as art and science. Restraints of political studies as controls and resource.
  • 2. The state as a matter of political studies: theoretical and empirical discussions
  • 3. Regime change/dynamics in the contemporary world
  • 4. Comparative Federalism
  • 5. Studies of ideational aspects of political processes: concepts and approaches
  • 6. Media and Public Opinion in New Media Environment
  • 7. Political parties and elections: the Russian Case in a Comparative Perspective
  • 8. The Political Economy of Nondemocratic Regimes
  • 9. The political process at subnational level
  • 10. Sociocultural Factors of Political Behavior
  • 11. Political studies of governance and public politics. Multilevel governance.
  • 12. Human Rights and Political Institutions
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Presentation
  • non-blocking Work in class
  • non-blocking Exam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2023/2024 1st semester
    0.5 * Exam + 0.3 * Presentation + 0.2 * Work in class
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Andreas Gofas, & Colin Hay. (2010). The Role of Ideas in Political Analysis : A Portrait of Contemporary Debates. Routledge.
  • Bonvecchi, A., & Lodola, G. (2011). The Dual Logic of Intergovernmental Transfers: Presidents, Governors, and the Politics of Coalition-Building in Argentina. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.ABC70BEE
  • Burgess, M. (2006). Comparative Federalism : Theory and Practice. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=171008
  • Carothers, T. (2002). The End of the Transition Paradigm. Journal of Democracy, 13(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2002.0003
  • Dembour, M.-B. (2010). What Are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought. Human Rights Quarterly, 32(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.0.0130
  • Gandhi, J. (2008). Political Institutions Under Dictatorship. Cambridge University Press.
  • Gans-Morse, J. (2017). Demand for Law and the Security of Property Rights: The Case of Post-Soviet Russia. American Political Science Review, (02), 338. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.apsrev.v111y2017i02p338.359.00
  • Gehlbach, S., & Keefer, P. (2012). Private Investment and the Institutionalization of Collective Action in Autocracies: Ruling Parties and Legislatures. Journal of Politics, 74(2), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381611001952
  • Guriev, S., & Treisman, D. (2019). Informational Autocrats†. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(4), 100–127. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.100
  • Hofstede, G., & Minkov, M. (2010). Long- versus short-term orientation: new perspectives. Asia Pacific Business Review, 16(4), 493–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381003637609
  • Howlett, M., McConnell, A., & Perl, A. (2017). Moving Policy Theory Forward: Connecting Multiple Stream and Advocacy Coalition Frameworks to Policy Cycle Models of Analysis. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 76(1), 65–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12191
  • Jennifer Gandhi, & Adam Przeworski. (2007). Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.FE0C6FB1
  • King, G., Pan, J., & Roberts, M. E. (2013). How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression. American Political Science Review, 2, 326.
  • Levitsky, S., & Way, L. (2010). Competitive Authoritarianism : Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. Cambridge University Press.
  • Levitsky, S., & Way, L. A. (2002). The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism. Journal of Democracy, 13(2), 51. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2002.0026
  • Linz, J. J., & Stepan, A. (1996). Toward Consolidated Democracies. Journal of Democracy, 7(2), 14–33. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1996.0031
  • Maxim Mironov, & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. (2016). Corruption in Procurement and the Political Cycle in Tunneling: Evidence from Financial Transactions Data. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, (2), 287. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140188
  • Michael Freeden. (2003). Ideology: A Very Short Introduction. OUP Oxford.
  • O’Donnell, G. (1996). Illusions about Consolidation. Journal of Democracy, 7(2), 34–51. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1996.0034
  • Owen, C., & Bindman, E. (2017). Civic Participation in a Hybrid Regime: Limited Pluralism in Policymaking and Delivery in Contemporary Russia.
  • ROTHSTEIN, B., & TEORELL, J. (2008). What Is Quality of Government? A Theory of Impartial Government Institutions. Governance, 21(2), 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2008.00391.x
  • Rozenas, A., & Stukal, D. (2019). How Autocrats Manipulate Economic News: Evidence from Russia’s State-Controlled Television. Journal of Politics, 81(3), 982–996. https://doi.org/10.1086/703208
  • Sabatier, P. A., & Weible, C. M. (2014). Theories of the Policy Process: Vol. Third edition. Westview Press.
  • Sidney Tarrow. (2015). War, States, and Contention : A Comparative Historical Study. Cornell University Press.
  • Skocpol, T., Rueschemeyer, D., Evans, P. B., Joint Committee on Western Europe, Joint Committee on Latin American Studies, & Social Science Research Council (U.S.). (1985). Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge University Press.
  • Smyth, R., & Turovsky, R. (2018). Legitimising Victories: Electoral Authoritarian Control in Russia’s Gubernatorial Elections. Europe-Asia Studies, 70(2), 182–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2018.1436697
  • Strange, S. (1996). The Retreat of the State : The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. Cambridge University Press.
  • Svolik, M. W. (2012). The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Cambridge University Press.
  • Taagepera, R. (2008). Making Social Sciences More Scientific : The Need for Predictive Models. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=259567
  • Taagepera, R. (2018). Science walks on two legs, but social sciences try to hop on one.
  • Tanisha M. Fazal. (2011). State Death : The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation. Princeton University Press.
  • Wintrobe, R. (1990). The Tinpot and the Totalitarian: An Economic Theory of Dictatorship. American Political Science Review, 3, 849.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2006). Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Cambridge University Press.
  • Andreas Schedler. (2013). The Politics of Uncertainty : Sustaining and Subverting Electoral Authoritarianism: Vol. 1st ed. OUP Oxford.
  • Bates, R. H., Coatsworth, J. H., & Williamson, J. G. (2007). Lost Decades: Postindependence Performance in Latin America and Africa. Scholarly Articles.
  • Besley, T., & Persson, T. (2009). The origins of state capacity: property rights, taxation and politics. LSE Research Online Documents on Economics.
  • Bindman, E., Kulmala, M., & Bogdanova, E. (2019). NGOs and the policy‐making process in Russia: The case of child welfare reform. Governance, 32(2), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12366
  • Blaydes, L. (2011). Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge University Press.
  • Brownlee, J. (2007). Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization. Cambridge University Press.
  • Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, & James D. Morrow. (2003). The Logic of Political Survival. The MIT Press.
  • Çalı, B., Koch, A., & Bruch, N. (2013). The Legitimacy of Human Rights Courts: A Grounded Interpretivist Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights. Human Rights Quarterly, 35(4), 955–984.
  • Coleman, S. (2005). Testing Theories with Qualitative and Quantitative Predictions. MPRA Paper.
  • Colomer, J. M. (2004). Political Science is Going Ahead (By Convoluted Ways). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096504045160
  • Colomer, J. M. (2011). The Science of Politics. An Introduction. Oxford University Press.
  • Dani Rodrik, Arvind Subramanian, & Francesco Trebbi. (2002). Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic Development. CID Working Papers.
  • Daron Acemoglu, & James A. Robinson. (2019). The Narrow Corridor : States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. Penguin Books.
  • Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, & James A. Robinson. (2001). Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution. NBER Working Papers.
  • David Levi-Faur. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Governance. OUP Oxford.
  • Egorov, G., Guriev, S., & Sonin, K. (2009). Why Resource-poor Dictators Allow Freer Media: A Theory and Evidence from Panel Data. American Political Science Review, 4, 645.
  • Emma Gilligan. (2004). Defending Human Rights in Russia : Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969-2003. Routledge.
  • Erika Weinthal, & Pauline Jones Luong. (2006). Combating the Resource Curse: An Alternative Solution to Managing Mineral Wealth. Http://Www.Policy.Hu/Karimli/PaulinLuone_CombatingResourceCurse.Pdf.
  • Flikke, G. (2018). Conflicting Opportunities or Patronal Politics? Restrictive NGO Legislation in Russia 2012-2015. Europe-Asia Studies, 70(4), 564–590. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2018.1455806
  • Freeden, M. (2018). The coming realignment of ideology studies. Journal of Political Ideologies ; Volume 24, Issue 1, Page 1-10 ; ISSN 1356-9317 1469-9613. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2019.1555899
  • Frye, T., Reuter, O. J., & Szakonyi, D. (2012). Political Machines at Work: Voter Mobilization and Electoral Subversion in the Workplace. Conference Papers —— American Political Science Association, 1–56.
  • G. Tullock. (2012). Autocracy. Springer.
  • Gel’man, V., & Starodubtsev, A. (2016). Opportunities and Constraints of Authoritarian Modernisation: Russian Policy Reforms in the 2000s. Europe-Asia Studies, 68(1), 97–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2015.1113232
  • Gerd Oberleitner. (2018). International Human Rights Institutions, Tribunals, and Courts (Vol. 1st ed. 2018). Springer.
  • Gill, G. (2018). Political Symbols and Regime Change: The Russian Experience. Politics, Religion & Ideology, 19(4), 494–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2018.1537615
  • Gilligan, E. (2010). The Human Rights Ombudsman in Russia: The Evolution of Horizontal Accountability. Human Rights Quarterly, 32(3), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2010.0010
  • Goodhart, M. (2003). Origins and Universality in the Human Rights Debates: Cultural Essentialism and the Challenge of Globalization. Human Rights Quarterly, 25(4), 935–964. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2003.0043
  • Grindle, M. S. . aut. (2002). Good enough governance poverty reduction and reform in developing countries ; prepared for the Poverty Reduction Group of the World Bank Merilee S. Grindle.
  • Grofman, B. (2007). toward a science of politics? European Political Science, 6(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210123
  • Haber, S. H., Maurer, N., & Razo, A. (2003). The Politics of Property Rights : Political Instability, Credible Commitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico, 1876–1929. Cambridge University Press.
  • HABERMAS, J. (2010). The Concept of Human Dignity and the Realistic Utopia of Human Rights. Metaphilosophy, 41(4), 464–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2010.01648.x
  • Ivan S. Grigoriev, & Kirill Zhirkov. (2020). Do political connections make businesspeople richer? Evidence from Russia, 2003–2010. Research & Politics, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168020979434
  • James A. Robinson, Ragnar Torvik, & Thierry Verdier. (2002). Political foundations of the resource curse. Http://Www.Svt.Ntnu.No/Iso/Ragnar.Torvik/Bardhanjde.Pdf.
  • Jeffrey D. Sachs. (2003). Institutions Don’t Rule: Direct Effects of Geography on Per Capita Income. NBER Working Papers.
  • Josep M. Colomer. (2007). What other sciences look like. Economics Working Papers.
  • Kasara, K. (2007). Tax Me If You Can: Ethnic Geography, Democracy, and the Taxation of Agriculture in Africa. American Political Science Review, 1, 159.
  • Keefer, P. (2004). What does political economy tell us about economic development - and vice versa? Policy Research Working Paper Series.
  • Krick, E., Christensen, J., & Holst, C. (2019). Between “Scientization” and a “Participatory Turn”. Tracing shifts in the governance of policy advice. Science & Public Policy (SPP), 46(6), 927–939. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scz040
  • Lamberova, N., & Sonin, K. (2018). Economic transition and the rise of alternative institutions. Economics of Transition, 26(4), 615–648. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecot.12167
  • Lucan Way. (2015). Pluralism by Default : Weak Autocrats and the Rise of Competitive Politics. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Margaret E. Roberts. (2018). Censored : Distraction and Diversion Inside China’s Great Firewall. Princeton University Press.
  • Michael Freeden, Lyman Tower Sargent, & Marc Stears. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies. OUP Oxford.
  • North, D. C., & Weingast, B. R. (1989). Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England. The Journal of Economic History, (04), 803. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.jechis.v49y1989i04p803.832.00
  • Pepinsky, T. (2014). The Institutional Turn in Comparative Authoritarianism. British Journal of Political Science, (03), 631. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.bjposi.v44y2014i03p631.653.00
  • Peter Lorentzen. (2014). China’s Strategic Censorship. American Journal of Political Science, (2), 402. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12065
  • Robert A. Dahl. (2020). On Democracy. Yale University Press.
  • Robert H. Bates. (2014). Markets and States in Tropical Africa : The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies: Vol. Updated and expanded. University of California Press.
  • Rundlett, A., & Svolik, M. W. (2016). Deliver the Vote! Micromotives and Macrobehavior in Electoral Fraud. American Political Science Review, 1, 180.
  • Schmitter, P. C. (2016). Comparative Politics: its Past, Present and Future. Chinese Political Science Review ; Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 397-411 ; ISSN 2365-4244 2365-4252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-016-0038-7
  • Scott Gehlbach, & Alberto Simpser. (2015). Electoral Manipulation as Bureaucratic Control. American Journal of Political Science, (1), 212. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12122
  • Simpser, A. (2013). Why Governments and Parties Manipulate Elections : Theory, Practice, and Implications. Cambridge University Press.
  • Stanley L. Engerman, & Kenneth L. Sokoloff. (2005). Colonialism, Inequality, and Long-Run Paths of Development. NBER Working Papers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.p.nbr.nberwo.11057
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Authors

  • MARKES II IZRAEL
  • Malinova Olga Iurevna
  • MAKARENKO BORIS IGOREVICH
  • Sedashov Evgeniy Aleksandrovich
  • Лебедева Ольга Николаевна
  • Gaivoronskii Iurii Olegovich
  • ILIN MIKHAIL VASILEVICH
  • MIRONYUK MIKHAIL GRIGOREVICH