Remittances

Today in class I mentioned the role of remittances in the economy of Mexico and as evidence of the level of integration between the two economies. Here and here are two links that describe these remittances in greater detail.

Calculating Capabilities

Here is a PowerPoint presentation that describes how the Composite Index of National Capabilities (CINC scores) are calculated.

Flash movie on the diffusion of democracy

Here is a link to a flash movie describing the diffusion of democracy through "time" and "space". It's from Kristian Gleditsch's website at the University of Essex. Note that you may have to download the movie before viewing it.

PS442/542 International Conflict Review Sheet for Midterm Exam #1

Test Date: September 22, 2006

(NOTE: If you have questions about any of the material, make a post so that others can answer your question.)

Format: At least 30 (and no more than 40) multiple-choice questions, worth 80% of the overall grade, and 4-5 short essay/identify worth 20%.

Material Covered:

1.) Bennett and Stam, Chapters 1-5, and Russett and Oneal, Chapters 1-5.

2.) Lecture notes and all PS321 labeled posts to the class blog.

Review Materials—

Background Political Science Terms:

Theory

Hypothesis

Independent/Dependent variables

Operationalization

Measurement

Case studies

Quantitative methods

Correlation

Causation

Positive/Negative/No/Spurious relationships

Random selection

Sample bias

Endogeneity

Comparative Theory Testing

Background International Conflict Terms:

Polity Scores

Militarized Interstate Disputes (MIDs)

International Wars

Correlates of War Project

International Conflict Issues:

Democratic Peace theory (cultural, structural, and institutional)

Virtuous circles

Selectorate

Winning Coalition

Private versus public goods

Institutional incentives for leaders wanting to remain in power

Democratic Peace core findings

Democratic Peace secondary findings (war outcomes, war duration, war selection, conflict negotiations, etc…)

Trade and conflict

Intergovernmental Organizations and conflict

Theories tested by Bennett and Stam (Chapter 4)

Findings of Bennett and Stam (Chapter 5)

PS321 Democratization Review Sheet for Midterm Exam #1

(NOTE: If you have questions about any of the material, make a post so that others can answer your question.)

Test Date: September 22, 2006

Format: At least 30 (and no more than 40) multiple-choice questions, worth 80% of the overall grade, and 4-5 short essay/identify worth 20%.

Material Covered:

1.) Articles by Acemoglu, et al., Ross (2 articles), Bueno de Mesquita, et al., Munck and Verkuilen, and Fearon and Laitin (note that all of these are posted on the class blog).

2.) Boix’s Democracy and Redistribution, Chapters 1-3.

3.) Lecture notes and all PS321 labeled posts to the class blog.

Review Materials—

Background Political Science Terms:

Theory

Hypothesis

Independent/Dependent variables

Operationalization

Measurement

Case studies

Quantitative methods

Correlation

Causation

Positive/Negative/No/Spurious relationships

Random selection

Sample bias

Endogeneity

Background Democratization/Democracy Terms:

Freedom House Scores

Polity Scores

Civil war

Issues related to measuring democracy

Selectorate

Winning Coalition

Private versus public goods

Institutional incentives for leaders wanting to remain in power

Democratization Issues:

Asset specificity

Effects of income on democratization

Income inequality and democratization

The role of uncertainty and income inequality in determining democratization (see Boix on this)

The “resource curse” – oil, diamonds, gas, etc…, and the likelihood of democracy/democratization

Effects of geography on democratization

Effects of contraband goods on democratization and civil wars

Fearon and Laitin Reading

Here is the link to the Fearon and Laitin article for Monday's class. Don't forget to take a look at the discussion question and try an answer.

Discussion Question for Democratization Class

For those of you paying attention to the class blog, extra credit (additional discussion points) for quality comments on the likelihood of democracy happening in Iraq. Based on what you've read thus far in class, what do you think needs to happen in order to establish democracy? Is it possible? (Note that you may need to do some basic Internet research on Iraq and distributions of wealth, etc...)

Oil, Resources and Democracy

Here and here are links to two papers on oil, resources and democracy. We'll be talking about these papers on Friday and next Monday. These deserve a little closer reading than the income/democracy argument by Robinson. Enjoy!

Income and Democracy Reading

Here is a link to the paper we'll be talking about on Wednesday in the Democratization class. It's a long analysis of the link between income and democracy. As with the other readings, just make sure you get the general argument and the approach to the study.

Update: This is obviously a very difficult reading. There is no need to understand all the mathematics involved. Instead, just be sure you know the logic behind the argument and the counter-explanation for why income might not be related to democracy.

What professors do...

Here is a nice op-ed from the New York Times that describes the life of a professor, in case you're interested. To summarize quickly: yes, we do work during the summers, even if we're not teaching. But we do work at odd times and in odd places (coffee shops, mostly). I guess that's why it's taken me 10+ years to get my family to call it "work" rather than "school".