Instructor: Marcus Schaper
Room: ELIOT 317
Tuesday and Thursday, at 6:10 pm – 7:30 pm
Office hours: Tuesday 3:00 – 5:00 pm and by appointment; location: ELIOT 101D
This seminar is designed to achieve three main objectives. First, it will introduce students to some important works and current scholarship in comparative environmental politics. We will first study the development of U.S. environmental policy and then use it as a benchmark to look at policy elsewhere and understand why different states react to similar challenges in different ways. Secondly, students will learn about comparative politics as a method. Building on classics and recent developments, we will discuss how qualitative comparative inquiry can be conducted in a theoretically and methodologically sound way. Finally, students will incorporate these insights into papers that are to be conceptualized, drafted, and discussed during the course of the semester. These papers may prove helpful for quals and theses. Workload for this course will not be light – after all, students are expected gain a good knowledge of the field of comparative environmental politics and policy and some understanding of comparative politics in a theoretical and methodological sense. Students are encouraged to read texts with attention to both the substantive content and to the research designs employed by the authors. Each student will make two presentations over the course of the semester: one on a set of readings assigned during the first meeting and one on the final paper draft at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: Political Science 210 or 220 – or instructor approval.
Readings
We will start the course with Michael Kraft’s Environmental Policy and Politics. Please get the 4th edition (2007). This text informs us about U.S. environmental politics. For the comparative part of the course we will read Miranda Schreurs’ Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States (2002). This book is available used for around $12 (see bookfinder.com). This book is not optional – it is only listed as optional at the bookstore to alert you that it can be bought for less online. The third required text is a primer on political science research and writing: Lisa Baglione’s Writing a Research Paper in Political Science.
Required books:
- Kraft, Michael E. (2007) Environmental Policy and Politics. 4th edition. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 0-321-24353-6
- Schreurs, Miranda A. (2002) Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52537-3
- Baglione, Lisa A. (2007) Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 0-495-09262-2
We will also draw a few readings from the following two books. It may be a good idea to purchase these as well (both of these are available used for around $15 and $8 respectively):
- Dryzek, John S., David Downes, Christian Hunold, David Schlosberg, and Hans-Kristian Hernes. 2003. Green States and Social Movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924903-2
- Adolino, Jessica R., and Charles H. Blake. 2001. Comparing Public Policies: Issues and Choices in Six Industrialized Countries. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. ISBN 1-56802-449-5
Additionally, we will rely on articles and excerpts from a number of books as reading materials for this course. Most of the readings will be posted online as PDF documents and readings will be added throughout the semester. You need the free Acrobat Reader to read these files. If you do not have this software yet, you can download it from: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. All readings are mandatory – none of the readings on this syllabus are optional.
Two more books available at the bookstore are good for further reading. They are not required, but recommended. You may choose to buy them or read them at the library:
- On U.S. environmental politics: Norman J. Vig and Michael E. Kraft (eds.) (2006) Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century. 6th edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press. ISBN 1-933116-01-3
- On global environmental politics: Regina S. Axelrod, David Leonard Downie, and Norman J. Vig (eds.) (2005) The Global Environment: Institutions, Law, and Policy. 2nd edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press. ISBN 1-56802-827-X
Assignments
• Literature presentation
• Literature review and research design
• Research paper
• Final paper presentation
• Class Participation (attendance is necessary but not sufficient!)
Research Paper
The aim of this comparative research paper is to explore one policy area in detail. It is to be comparative in nature – i.e. comparing the same policy area in multiple states or responses to different challenges within the same polity.
You will develop your research paper in three steps:
1. Review of the relevant literature and research design (due 9/27).
Scientific discoveries build on previous discoveries. Reviewing the existing literature in the field provides you with a better idea of what others have found out about your topic; how you may want to adapt your question in light of pre-existing scholarship; and which theoretical approaches you may choose. This can be a lengthy research process, start early! Expect to summarize your findings in up to 5 pages.
2. Final draft (due 11/8)
You will present your paper in our research conference on 11/15. (see below). At this point, the paper needs to be completed and polished so that it can be sent to your panel chair and discussant. The conference will be public so you need to make sure that your paper and presentation are good enough to present in a public forum.
The conference follows a typical format for academic meetings: presentations are organized in thematic panels including three to four presenters, a panel chair, and a discussant. In a 10-minute presentation, you present your research; following the presentations, the discussant provides initial feedback on the presentations; then the audience poses questions to the presenters, often resulting in a lively discussion.
It takes time and a lot of practice to become a good presenter – so better start now!
3. Revisions of the draft and final submission (due 12/11)
Most likely you will receive much helpful input from your discussant and other conference participants. Incorporate these comments into your final paper before your submit it for grading. Start this process immediately after the conference, since this may require additional research.
There is no set length requirement, but a good research paper is focused and detailed at the same time. As a rule of thumb, a paper should be no longer than 7,500 words – the typical length of a journal article or a chapter in an edited volume. It is good to get used to these limitations early on. Editors usually prefer shorter pieces and tend to reject work which exceeds established limits.
Please follow the APSA style guide for political science (see for example: http://dept.lamar.edu/polisci/DRURY/drury.html and http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/guides/APSA.pdf).
Assessment will be determined primarily by the content of your paper assignments; nevertheless you are expected to submit well-written work that has been thoroughly proof-read for grammar, punctuation, and style. Sloppy or poorly written work may result in a penalty. If you need assistance with the writing assignments, please contact the Writing Center (http://academic.reed.edu/writing/). If English is not your native language, find a native speaker to look over your assignments.
Quizzes
I do not like giving announced quizzes, but when I have the impression that there is insufficient preparation or when students are not on time, I will give short quizzes testing everyone’s knowledge of the reading immediately at the beginning of class.
Class Participation
You are expected to come prepared and on time to class every time. If you need to miss a class for any reason you are expected to acquire the missed material yourself. If you intend to be absent from class in observance of a religious holiday, you need to inform me of that by 9/6. Any other absences need to be discussed with the instructor as soon as possible – in any case BEFORE class.
Miscellaneous
Office hours and location are as listed at the top of this syllabus. The best way to contact me is by email sent to schaper [AT] reed.edu.
Please make yourself familiar with Reed’s academic conduct policy (http://web.reed.edu/academic/gbook/comm_pol/acad_honesty.html). There will be zero tolerance for plagiarism and cheating. Please note that the policy stipulates that you cannot submit work prepared for another course without prior approval from both instructors – if you want to re-use research done in previous courses, discuss details with me before you start on the paper. If you are not sure about how to represent another person’s work in an assignment, contact me for advice before submitting.
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss specific needs by 9/6. Please contact the Disability Support Services office at 503-777-7521 to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information please refer to: http://web.reed.edu/academic_support/disability_services.html.
If you are having any problems at anytime during the semester regarding this class or your ability to participate, please contact me as soon as possible.
This syllabus is subject to change. The most recent version can be found online. When in doubt, always refer to the online version.
Semester outline
August 28, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Introduction to the course and its requirements.
Assignments: Access the online course resources and complete the survey posted online. Start thinking about a topic for your research paper.
Baglione. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science. Read the entire book (it is not that long) soon. This book will be very helpful when you work on your research papers, but you need to familiarize with the contents ASAP.
August 30, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Comparative politics: a field defined by its method or a residual category?
Reading: Kalleberg, Arthur L. 1966. The Logic of Comparison: A Methodological Note on the Comparative Study of Political Systems. World Politics 19(1), October 1966, 69-82.
Lijphart, Arend. 1971. Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method. The American Political Science Review 65(3), September 1971, 682-93.
Przeworski, Adam, and Henry Teune. 1982. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. Malabar: Krieger.
Collier, David. 1993. The Comparative Method. In Political Science: The State of the Discipline II, edited by A. W. Finifter. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association.
September 4, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Comparison as a method
Reading: Sartori, Giovanni (1994). Compare Why and How: Comparing, Miscomparing and the Comparative Method. In Comparing Nations: Concepts, Strategies, Substance, edited by M. Dogan and A. Kazancigil. Oxford: Blackwell.
Dogan, Mattei (1994). Use and Misuse of Statistics in Comparative Research: Limits to Quantification. In Comparative Politics: The Gap between Substance and Method. In Comparing Nations: Concepts, Strategies, Substance, edited by M. Dogan and A. Kazancigil. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lichbach, Mark Irving, and Alan S. Zuckerman. 1997. Research Traditions and Theory in Comparative Politics: An Introduction. In Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure, edited by M. I. Lichbach and A. S. Zuckerman. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Lichbach, Mark Irving. 1997. Social Theory and Comparative Politics. In Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure, edited by M. I. Lichbach and A. S. Zuckerman. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
September 6, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Hands-on research: writing a literature review. A review of the existing literature is a key component of a research paper. Researching the literature shows you what has already been written on the subject and provides you with an idea of the theoretical and methodological approaches taken by other researchers.
Reading: Baglione, Chapter 3 (Adressing the Scholarly Debate: The Literature Review)
John W. Cresswell (2003): Research Design - Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Second Edition. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature, p. 27-48.
September 11, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Comparing public policies
Reading: Adolino, Jessica R., and Charles H. Blake. 2001. Comparing Public Policies: Issues and Choices in Six Industrialized Countries. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Chapters 1-3.
September 13, 2007 Thursday Different location: Library!!!
Hands-on research: use of the library and databases. Dena Hutto will show us how to make best use of the library’s resources, including research in databases.
Reading: Laurence F. Jones and Edward C. Olson (1996): Political Science Research: A Handbook of Scope and Methods. Chapter 2: The Problem: Essence of the Research Project, p.22-29.
Janet Buttolph Johnson and H. T. Reynolds (2004): Political Science Research Methods, 5th Edition, CQ Press. Chapter 5. Conducting a Literature Review.
September 18, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Environmental politics: issues, actors, processes
Reading: Kraft, Preface and Chapters 1-3
September 20, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
U.S. environmental politics: Earth Day and before
Reading: Kraft, Chapter 4
September 25, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
U.S. environmental politics: conservative conservation vs. liberal pollution control?
Reading: Kraft, Chapters 5-6
September 27, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
*** Literature Review and Research Design due ***
U.S. environmental politics: making and evaluating policies
Reading: Kraft, Chapters 7-8
October 2, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
U.S. environmental diplomacy
Reading: Harris, Paul G. (2001). International Environmental Affairs and U.S. Foriegn Policy. In: Harris, Paul G., ed. The Environment, International Relations, and U.S. Foreign Policy. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Elizabeth DeSombre (2004). Understanding United States Unilateralism: Domestic Sources of U.S. International Environmental Policy. In: Regina Axelrod, David Downie and Norman Vig (eds.): The Global Environment, Washington, DC: CQ Press.
October 4, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Environmental policy in the United States and elsewhere
Reading: Schreurs, Chapter 1 and 9
Adolino, Jessica R., and Charles H. Blake. 2001. Comparing Public Policies: Issues and Choices in Six Industrialized Countries. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Chapter 11.
October 9, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Environmental movements
Reading: Schreurs, Chapters 2-3
October 11, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
States and movements
Reading: Schreurs, Chapter 8
Dryzek, John S., David Downes, Christian Hunold, David Schlosberg, and Hans-Kristian Hernes. 2003. Green States and Social Movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 2.
October 16-18, 2007 Fall Break
October 23, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Global issues: acid rain and ozone
Reading: Schreurs, Chapters 4-5
October 25, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Global issues: climate change
Reading: Schreurs, Chapters 6-7
Joshua Busby and Alexander Ochs (2004). From Mars and Venus down to Earth: Understanding the Transatlantic Climate Divide. In: David Michel (ed.): Beyond Kyoto: Meeting the Long-Term Challenge of Global Climate Change. Washington, DC: Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University. Available from: http://www.swp-berlin.org/common/get_document.php?asset_id=1374
October 30, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Domestic issues: risk regulation
Reading: Paulette Kurzer (2005). Transatlantic Risk Perceptions, Public Health, and Environmental Concerns: Coming Together or Drifting Apart? In: Nicolas Jabko and Craig Parsons (eds.): With US or Against US? European Trends in American Perspective. The State of the Union, volume 7. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 75-102.
Henrik Selin (forthcoming). Transatlantic Politics of Chemicals Management. In: Miranda A. Schreurs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, and Henrik Selin (eds.): Enlarging TransAtlantic Relations: Environment and Energy Politics across the Atlantic.
November 1, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Domestic issues: TBD
Reading: TBA
November 6, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Domestic issues: TBD
Reading: TBA
November 8, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
*** Complete draft due ***
Multi-level environmental governance: the European Union
Reading: Weale, Albert, Geoffrey Pridham, Michelle Cini, Dimitrios Konstadakopulos, Martin Porter, and Brendan Flynn. 2000. Environmental Governance in Europe: An Ever Closer Ecological Union? Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Part I.
November 13, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Multi-level environmental governance: U.S. states
Reading: Sonja Wälti (forthcoming). Intergovernmental Management of Environmental Policy in the United States and the EU. In: Miranda A. Schreurs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, and Henrik Selin (eds.): Enlarging TransAtlantic Relations: Environment and Energy Politics across the Atlantic.
Miranda A. Schreurs, Henrik Selin, and Stacy D. VanDeveer (forthcoming). Conflict and Cooperation in Transatlantic Climate Politics: Different Stories at Different Levels. In: Miranda A. Schreurs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, and Henrik Selin (eds.): Enlarging TransAtlantic Relations: Environment and Energy Politics across the Atlantic.
November 15, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
Research conference
November 20, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Innovations: new environmental policy instruments
Reading: TBA
November 22, 2007 Thursday Thanksgiving – no class
November 27, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Innovations: environmental policy integration
Reading: Lafferty, William M., and Eivind Hovden. 2003. Environmental Policy Integration: Towards an Analytical Framework. Environmental Politics 12 (3):1-22.
Persson, Asa. 2004. Environmental Policy Integration: An Introcduction. PINTS - Policy Integration for Sustainability Background Paper. June 2004. Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute. Available from: http://www.sei.se/policy/PINTS/intro.pdf
November 29, 2007 Thursday ELIOT 317
TBD
Reading: TBA
December 4, 2007 Tuesday ELIOT 317
Evaluation and De-Briefing
December 11, 2007 Tuesday no class
*** Final paper due ***