Comparative
Human Rights and Repression
Comparative
Human Rights and Repression Prof.
Davenport
PSCI
5108 Office
KTCH 5d
Wednesday Tel.
492-1738
One searches in vain through the thousands of articles and books written by political scientists, political sociologists, economists, and anthropologists for references to the awful and bloody deeds of governments and for explanations of how and why these deeds are done. (John McCammant)
All I ask is that, in the middle of a murderous world, we agree to reflect on murder and to make a choice. (Albert Camus)
Course Outline
This course is directed towards filling gaps within the existing literature on repression and human rights. We will address the “state of the art” research, rigorously go through it, and then attempt to develop it further - pushing the discipline as far as possible. The student taking this class and extending effort will be at the forefront of this burgeoning subfield within comparative and contentious politics. Knowledge of empirical strategies not essential (but would be helpful.
Course Requirements
The course in run on six principles:
1)
careful reading of the
assigned material;
2)
active participation in
class (15% of the grade);
3)
clear and concise oral
presentations (15% of the grade);
4)
brief (5 page) and well
constructed review essays of each reading (35% of the grade);
5)
a 3-5 page outline of the
final paper (5%) – Due November 25th
6)
1 final paper (30% of the
grade) – Due December 9th
Number
4 and 6 are discussed in more detail below.
Review essays - each class
individuals will prepare and submit written assignments (the assignments will
rotate between individual students). The
paper is due at the beginning of the class.
Late assignments are not acceptable.
The assignments themselves will be 5
pages (12 point font, 1 inch margins, cover page not included nor
references) in length and will address the criteria provided within the
appendix. Students will be evaluated on
how well they meet these criteria.
Final paper - submitted on
DECEMBER 14TH - here will
be a paper concerning a topic of the students choice (discussed with the
Professor). Primarily the student should
seek to extend the already existing literature or take the area in a new
direction. The paper should not exceed 30
pages in text (not including notes, tables, references and so forth).
As the area that we are addressing is
relatively underdeveloped this task should not be that difficult. The paper is open to geographic location,
time period, and methodological technique (i.e., econometrics, computer
simulation, case studies, or some combination [preferred]), as long as the
one(s) selected is(are) appropriate for the particular research question put
forth. Throughout the course we shall be
going over all of these differences in some detail, so if you do not feel
comfortable with one, you will be.
Class Schedule -
(All
reading material is on reserve or available from the instructor)
1) introduction (aug. 25th)
Overview:
Writing Exercises and Questions to be answered:
1)
What is the research
question?
2)
What independent variable is
being highlighted?
3)
How is it measured? Problems?
What is left out?
4)
What is the independent
variable expected to effect: i.e., how do we get from the independent to the
dependent variable? [DRAW MODEL]
5)
What contextual factors are
important for the relationship to manifest itself?
6)
What theoretical tradition
does the study follow?
7)
What data source is used for
the dependent variable? What is the
dependent variable (be specific)?
8)
Are problems with the data
mentioned within the text (specify)?
9)
How would the study be
altered by investigating alternative measurement schemes?
10)
What
methodological technique is employed in order to investigate the research
question?
11)
What
problems exist with the technique selected? What would be better?
12)
What
conclusions are drawn from the analysis?
13)
Do
these conclusions follow from the theory/relationships identified earlier
within the work? Why? Why not?
14)
What
are the implications of the analysis for the study of human rights and
political repression (direct question towards: policy, practical, or research
orientations)?
15)
How
does this piece differ from others that you have read on the subject?
What
would you suggest in order to improve or extend the analysis (Research
design,
theoretical background/emphasis, future questions)? [DESIGN and
LAYOUT
YOUR SUGGESTED STUDY]
2) conceptualization (sept. 9th)
Dennis
Wrong (1979) – chapters 1-5, 9
Power: Its Forms, Bases and Uses
[source
- book]
call number: not needed
status:
provided
Alex
Schmid (1991)
“Repression, State Terror and Genocide: Conceptual Clarifications”
[source
– chapter in State Organized Terror]
call number: jc571.s786
status:
not provided
Christian
Davenport (1998)
“Can’t We All Just Get Along: Exploring Divisions
within the Repression Literature”
[source
- article]
call number: not needed
status:
provided
George
Lopez (1986)
“A Scheme
for the Analysis of Government as Terrorist”
[source
– Professor]
3) confronting the dark-side of the state (sept. 16th)
Michael
Taussig (1997)
The Magic of the State
[source
- book]
call number: not needed
status:
provided
Anthony
Giddens (1987)
The Nation State and Violence
[source
- book]
call number: not needed
status:
provided
John
McCamant (1991)
“Domination, State Power and
Political Repression”
[source
– chapter in State Organized Terror]
call
number: not needed
status:
provided
Phillippe Faucher and Kevin Fitzgibbons (1989)
“Dissent and
the State in Latin America”
[source
– chapter in Dissent and the State]
call
number: JC328.3.D57
status:
not provided
Ted
Gurr (1986)
“Persisting Patterns of
Repression and Rebellion: Foundations for a General Theory of Political
Coercion”
[source – chapter in Persistent Patterns and Emergent Structures in a Waning Century]
call number: cannot be found
status: not provided
Franz
Oppenheimer (1922)
The State
[source: book]
call number: JC336.D63
status:
not provided
Eugene
Walter (1969)
Terror and Resistance
[source: book]
call number: JC330.W3
status:
not provided
Alexander
Dallin and George Breslauer (1970)
Political Terror in Communist Systems
[source:
book]
call
number: JC474.D34
status: not provided
4) data (sept. 23rd)
Robert
Goldstein (1986)
“The Limitations of Using Quantitative Data in
Studying Human
Rights
Abuses”
[source
- Human Rights Quarterly 8(4):
607-627]
call
number: JC571.U64
status:
provided
Michael
Stohl et al. (1986)
“State
Violation of Human Rights: Issues and Problems of
Measurement”
[source
- Human Rights Quarterly vol 8(4): 592-606]
call
number: JC571.U64
status:
provided
Alison
Brysk (1994)
“The Politics
of Measurement: The Contested Count of
Disappeared
in Argentina”
[source
- Human Rights Quarterly 16: 676-692
call
number: JC571.U64
status:
not provided
Christian
Davenport and Glen Galaich (1998)
‘What You See Might Be What You Get, But What You
Get Ain’t All There Is: Examining Biases in News Coverage and the “Observation”
of Human Rights Violations
[source - article]
call number: not needed
status:
provided
John, McCarthy, Clark McPhail and Jacke Smith. (1996)
"Images of Protest: Dimensions of Selection
Bias in Media Coverage of Washington Demonstrations, 1982, 1991."
[source – American Sociological Review 61: 468-499]
call
number:
status:
not provided
explanatory variables:
5) Democracy/regime type (sept.
30th)
C.
Neal Tate and Steve Poe (1994)
“Democracy and the Human
Right to Personal Integrity: A Causal
Model”
[source - Professor]
Christian
Davenport (1995)
“Human Rights and the
Democratic Peace”
[source - Professor]
Blasi and Cingranelli (1991)
“Do
Constitutions and Institutions Help Protect Human Rights”
[source
- Professor]
Anthony
Pereira (1995)
“Political
Repression in Brazil and the Southern Cone:
Patterns
and Legacies”
[source
- Professor]
R.J.
Rummel (1997)
“Power
Kills”
[source
- book]
call
number:
status:
not provided
Samuel
Finer (1997)
“The History
of Government”
[source
– book]
call
number:
status:
not provided
6) Political Conflict/Political dissent (oct.
7th)
Steve Jackson et al. (1978)
“Conflict
and Coercion in Dependent States”
[source
- Journal of Conflict Resolution
22:627-657]
call
number: JX1901.J6
status:
not provided
Eduard
Ziegenhagen (1986)
The Regulation of Political Conflict
[source:
book]
call
number: not needed
status:
provided
David
Kowalewski and Dean Hoover (1995)
Dynamic Models of Conflict and Pacification:
Dissenters,
Officials and
Peacemakers
[source:
book]
call
number: not needed
status:
provided
Christian
Davenport (1995)
“Multi-Dimensional Threat
Perception and State Repression: An Inquiry Into Why States Apply Negative
Sanctions”
[source - Professor]
Ron
Francisco (1996)
“Coercion
and Protest: An Empirical Test on Two Democratic
States”
[source - American
Journal of Political Science: 40: 1179-1204]
call
number: JA1.M5
status: not provided
Will
Moore. 1998.
“Repression and Dissent:
Substitution, Context and Timing.”
[source - American Journal of Political
Science 42: 851-73.]
call number: JA1.M5
status:
not provided
7) Dependency (oct. 14th)
James
Petras (1986)
“The Political Economy
of State Terror: Chile, El Salvador and Brazil”
[source
- Crime and Social Justice 27:
88-109]
call
number: HV6001.C673
status:
not provided
David
Kowalewski and Dean Hoover (1994)
“Dissent and Repression
in the World System: A Model of Future
Dynamics”
[source - Professor]
Katherine
Barbieri and Christian Davenport (1997)
“Pacific Inducement or Terroristic Impulse: An
Examination of Dependency and State Repression”
[source - Professor]
David
Richards, David Sacko, and Ronald Gelleny
(1998)
“Money with a Mean Streak: Foreign Economic
Penetration and Government Respect for Human Rights”
[source
- Professor]
Noam
Chomsky and Edward Herman (1979)
The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism
[source:
book]
call number: E840.C48
status: not provided
8) Military/Militarization (oct. 21st)
John
Taylor (1991)
Indonesia’s Forgotten War: The Hidden History of East Timor
[source
- Professor]
Ricardo
Falla (1994)
Massacres in the Jungle: Ixcan, Guatemala,
1975-1982
[source
- Professor]
Christian
Davenport (1995)
“Assessing the Military’s
Influence on Political Repression: An Examination of Different Hypotheses”
[source - Professor]
Ward
Churchill and Jim Vander Wall (1990)
Agents of Repression: The FBI’s Secret Wars Against the Black Panther
Party and the American Indian Movement
[source: book]
call number: HV8141.C46
status: not provided
William
Stanley (1996)
The Protection Racket State: Elite Politics, Military Exhortion, and Civil War in El Salvador
[source - Professor]
9) Development (oct. 28th)
Robert
Goldstein (1981)
“Political
Repression and Political Development: The Human
Rights
Issue in 19th Century Europe”
[source
- Comparative Social Research 4:
161-198]
call
number: HM48.C64
status: not provided
Dallin,
Alexander, and George Breslauer (1970)
Political Terror in Communist Systems
[source: book]
call number:
status: not provided
Charles
Tilly (1990)
Coercion, Capital and European States
[source: book]
call
number:
status:
not provided
S.N.
Eisenstadt (1971)
Political Sociology: A Reader
[source: book]
call
number:
status:
not provided
10) Economic Doctrine/Policy (Nov. 4th)
Paul
Buchanan (1989)
“State
Terror as a Complement of Economic Policy: The Argentine
Proceso”
[source – chapter in Dependence, Development, and State Repression]
call
number: HD75.D46
status: not provided
Admantia Polis (1989)
“State
Repression and Development: The Case of Turkey”
[source – chapter in Dependence, Development, and State Repression]
call
number: HD75.D46
status: not provided
Mahmood Monshipouri (1987)
Political Repression and Economic Growth in
the Developing
Countries
[source
- Professor]
David
Pion-Berlin (1983)
“Political
Repression and Economic Doctrines: The Case of
Argentina”
[source
- Comparative Political Studies
16(1/April): 37-66] call number: JA1.C64
status: not provided
10) Student Projects –
theoretical development and data collection (nov. 11th)
11) Student Projects –
collection and preliminary analysis (nov. 18th)
12) Student Projects –
first draft presentation
(nov. 25th)
13) Student Projects –
revision/presentation (dec 9th)
14) Student Projects –
final draft/submission/mailing (dec. 14th)
2)
data notes:
standard based
event based
sources:
newspapers (local,
international)
human rights agencies
government agencies
eyewitness accounts
expert evaluation
what could be coded:
action:
violent/non-violent; type;
intensity (frequency):
scope: how many people
effected, cost
location:
agent (target and
sanction)
outcome:
death, damage, psy (fear, intimidation)
3) Theoretical Explanations/notes
Big questions:
What causes it?
Why does it vary?
How does it vary?
How can it
be stopped?
1) Strategic response to domestic
threats
2) Group conflict: comp
3) Hierarchy: order
rational:
de swann,
habitual: de la boetie, van den berghe
combination:
gurr, davenport