Prospectus

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Comparative Government in International Perspective

Course
2010-2011

Comparative Government in International Perspective

De tekst hieronder is in het Engels maar de colleges worden in het Nederlands gegeven. Een hand-out en kalender met wekelijkse thema’s en literatuur wordt in het begin van de cursus verstrekt

The purpose of this lecture series is to provide students a theoretical perspective on state-society relations, and the role of public administration in shaping those relations. We deal with issues such as the formation of national states, the rise of bureaucratic government, government and cultural diversity, colonial rule, modernization, and “good governance” and corruption. All these issues crucially involve public administration, but, as this series will show, can best be understood in a broad historical and international comparative perspective.

The course is built around two classic studies—Jim Scott’s Seeing Like a State and Joel Migdal’s Strong Societies Weak States. These books are not “handbooks” in the sense of overviews of other work. Instead these studies present explicit, outspoken, and to some extent opposing theoretical perspectives. Both are based on a rich collection of comparative examples, cases, and illustrations, and thus provide a way of explaining and thinking about pressing issues in contemporary states around the world.

The aim of this course, then, is to present and discuss administrative issues in their social, economic, political, and cultural contexts, and to acquaint students with the study of countries outside Europe and the USA. It is not a regionally specific course, however. The theoretical perspectives that we discuss apply to all countries and administrative systems, hence the lectures shall illustrate issues with comparative examples from around the world.

Coordinator:
Dr. F. de Zwart

Onderwijsvormen:
Hoorcolleges

Studiemateriaal:
Migdal, Joel S. 1988. Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Scott, James C. 1998. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human condition Have Failed New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Toetsing
nnb

Rooster:
Hoorcollege
Woensdag 2/2-16/3 van 13-15 uur in SA-41

Tentamen
Dinsdag 22/3 van 09.00-12.00 in USC

Hertentamen
Donderdag 9/6 van 09.00-12.00 in FSW zaal 1A20

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Laatste wijziging: dec 2010