A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

from Dani Rodrik's blog... the credit crisis in one picture.

Class Notes -- Chapter 11 (Perceptions and Deterrence)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Class Notes -- Polarity and AFP

Here are the notes for today's class.

More random news...

Here is a nice link for those wanting to maximize their influence this election. But if you want to just watch pretty pictures that also have to do with international relations, then check out this video that maps flights across the globe.

Talk at the Rotary Club

Today at noon I'll be giving a talk at the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa. For a link to the presentation, click here.

Note to PSC413 students: this has much to do with American Foreign Policy!

World War II Posters

Here is a link to some amazing World War II posters. Notice the rhetoric being used but also to how many facets of life the war is supposed to affect...

Class Notes -- Deterrence

Here are the notes for today's class.

Random News of the Day

A recent study of college students and where they should vote has some interesting implications regarding local voting rules:

Thus, in the extreme, the “rules” might even depend on when you showed up in the registrar’s office and whom you spoke to.

Andrew Gelman has more on ideologies among the US electorate. Notice how different the House and Senate are from general public opinion. Why do you think this is the case?

Do you want to know how much professors get to study stuff like the above? An all too true comic about academic salaries versus athletics salaries is here.

Class Notes -- Chapter 10 (Perceptions)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Class Notes -- The Long Peace

Here are the notes for today's class.

Summary Statistics for Exam 1

The summary statistics for exam #1 are below. Here is a copy of the exam. You can use myBama to access the answers to individual answers in the multiple choice.

Number of students taking the exam: 61
Total Points Available: 98 (I added 2 points to every exam as a curve)
Mean score: 72 (74 after curve)
Maximum score: 92 (94)
Minimum score: 29 (31)
Median score: 77 (79)

Here is a breakdown by score:

94
92
92
92
90
90
89
89
89
88
88
88
87
86
85
85
85
84
83
83
82
82
82
82
82
81
81
81
81
81
80
79
79
77
76
75
74
74
73
72
72
71
71
71
71
68
67
66
66
65
65
63
61
56
54
49
49
47
45
44
43
31

Study Abroad Opportunity in Belgium

Here is a link to a study abroad opportunity in Brussels, Belgium. Brussels is of course the seat to most of the European Union institutions and also the headquarters for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Interested students should contact me at dmgibler (@) bama.ua.edu and also visit this website, which describes the program.

Class Notes -- Cuban Missile Crisis (Bureaucratic Politics)

We're covering decision-making during the Cuban Missile Crisis this week in class, so I thought it might be interesting to take a look at JFK's speech that introduced the quarantine. Here is a video clip of the speech, and here is the text.

Class notes for today are here.

UPDATE: Link to the Allison article here.

Random Post of the Day

It's an election year, so more stuff about the US elections:

Here is a map of the world's vote for US President. What's the rationale for these "voters"? And from InsideHigherEd.com, here is a report of an interesting study:

Students get more liberal while they’re in college — but a new study suggests that their peers, not professors, seem to be the reason why, according to the Associated Press. The study, by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, finds evidence to back up the assertion that many students adopt more liberal positions on many issues from their freshman to their junior year. But the researchers attribute the shifts more to students’ exposure to left-leaning peer groups than to the views of their professors, the wire service reports.

Class Notes -- Chapter 9 (preferences)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Miscellany

Might it be the case that the object of terrorism is a long war, intended to wear down the victim and change the status quo slowly? Of course, the recent financial mess may just be but a blip if we consider long-term economic trends. What are the immediate effects of a downturn? Perhaps there'll be more students entering graduate school.

Class Notes -- Chapter 8 (Limits to Power) continued

Here are the notes for today's class.

Notes on Khong (part II)

Here are the notes for today's class.

The International Effects of the Bailout?

We know the bailout is huge, so what are the opportunity costs of such a plan? Here is an analysis with regard to Africa. Be sure to follow the links through to look at the level of investment in Africa over the past 8 years.

Class Notes -- Chapter 8 (Limits to Power)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Class Notes -- Use of Analogies in AFP

Here are the class notes for today.