GV941

DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

COURSE OUTLINE 2001-2002

Dr. Todd Landman                                                                                                                                           Room 5.409

Deputy Director, Human Rights Centre                                                                                                       Phone/Fax: 44-(0) 1206-872129

Department of Government                                                                                                                           Email: todd@essex.ac.uk

University of Essex                                                                                                                                          Web: www.essex.ac.uk/government

 

Development, democracy, and human rights have become the three dominant ideals for the start of the 21st Century. The 'third wave' of democratization, begun in 1974, has spread democracy from Southern Europe, to Latin America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia such that at least nominally, over 60% of the world's countries are considered democratic. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, an increasingly large number of countries are now party to a series of important human rights treaties at the international and regional level. The world has also seen remarkable success stories in economic development, where post-war strategies for development have produced remarkable growth rates, inward investment, and technological innovation. In the Vienna Declaration and Programme for Action of 1993, 171 nation states declared that 'democracy, development, and the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.'

 

These positive developments in the world have another side. Many of the third wave democracies suffer from a serious gap between the presence of formal electoral procedures and the absence of effective rights protection, suggesting that the world is now divided between electoral and liberal democracies. The growth in international and regional human rights regimes has seen the formal acknowledgement of human rights by independent nation states, but rights in practice are not protected across many of these same states. Finally, the post-war developmental experience has shown greater concentrations of wealth within and between countries, continued patterns of poverty and deprivation, and persistent social exclusion. Moreover, the findings of empirical research in political science raise serious doubts about the declared inter-relatedness of development, democracy, and human rights.

 

AIMS

With these remarks in mind, the primary aim of this course is to teach students to think critically about the politics of development, democracy, and human rights. The course focuses on different strategies of development and their relationship with democracy and human rights, the origins and maintenance of democracy in the modern world, and the process of democratization and its impact on the global protection of human rights.

 

 

OBJECTIVES

To achieve this aim, the course introduces each of the three main concepts, interrogates them theoretically and empirically, and then examines the complex relationships between and among them. In addition, students will learn how various methods of comparison help draw conclusions about the connections between development, democracy, and human rights; how to collect and analyse empirical evidence (both qualitative and quantitative) using the library, data analysis software, and the Internet; and how to present evidence and construct good arguments from a political science perspective.

 

PREREQUISITES AND ELIGIBILITY

This course does not have formal prerequisites, but interested students should have a working knowledge of microeconomics and macroeconomics, the principles of social scientific analysis, and basic concepts in politics and political theory. This is a graduate course only, and is therefore available for all MA students in the Government Department. It is also one of the Government core courses for the MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights. Students on the LLM in the International Law of Human Rights wishing to take this course as an outside option need to obtain approval from the course supervisor.

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE STRUCTURE

This is a twenty-four week course split into two ten-week terms and one four-week term. The course is structured around the following six main topics:

 

1.      Knowing the World                                                                            [Weeks 1-3]

2.      Development                                                                                       [Weeks 4-8]

3.      Development and Democracy                                                        [Weeks 9-12]

4.      Human Rights                                                                                 [Weeks 13-16]

5.      Democracy and Human Rights                                                     [Weeks 17-21]

6.      Development, Democracy, and Human Rights                         [Weeks 22-24]

 

Each week, different aspects of each topic will be presented and examined critically, while the final weeks of the course seek to integrate the main topics. The course is conducted through an intensive two-hour seminar for which IT IS EXPECTED THAT ALL STUDENTS DO ALL OF THE REQUIRED READING. The seminar is highly interactive and requires the full participation of all students.

 

READING

The course uses a combination of core texts, journal articles and book chapters, and other supplementary readings. The core texts are available in Waterstones on campus and are on short loan in the library. Other essential readings are held in the library behind the circulation desk and are catalogued by author with an XD call number. Readings are clearly identified by each week in this course outline.

 

Core texts:

 

M. Todaro (1999) Economic Development, 7th edition, London and New York: Longman, selected chapters

 

Weeks 1-8

M. Lewis-Beck (1980) Applied Regression: An Introduction, London and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

 

Weeks 9-12

A. Przeworski, et al. (2000) Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Weeks 9-12

D. Forsythe (2000) Human Rights in International Relations, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

 

Weeks 13-17

J. Foweraker and T. Landman (1997) Citizenship Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Analysis, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Weeks 18-21

 

Journal articles and book chapters:

 

J. Gray (1999) 'What Globalization is Not', in False Dawn: Delusions of Global Capitalism, London: Granta

 

Week 1

M. Lichbach (1997) 'Comparative Politics and Social Theory' in M. Lichbach and A. Zuckerman (eds.) Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Week 2

T. Landman (2000) 'Comparative Politics and Human Rights' University of Denver Human Rights Working Papers, No. 10

(http://www.du.edu/humanrights/workingpapers/index.html)

 

Week 3

R. Wade (1992) 'East Asia's economic success: Conflicting Perspectives, Partial Insights, Shaky Evidence', World Politics, 44: 270-320.

 

Week 5

Burkhart, R. E. and Lewis-Beck, M. (1994) 'Comparative Democracy, the Economic Development Thesis', American Political Science Review, 88 (4): 903-10.

 

Week 9

 

Landman, T. (1999) ‘Economic Development and Democracy: The View From Latin America’ Political Studies, 47 (4).

 

Week 12

Poe, S. C. and Tate, C. N. (1994) ‘Repression of Human Rights to Personal Integrity in the 1980s: A Global Analysis’, American Political Science Review, 88 (4): 853-72.

Week 15

 

D. Rustow (1970) 'Transition to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model' Comparative Politics, 2: 337-363.

 

Week 19

J. Foweraker and T. Landman (1999) 'Individual Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Inquiry' British Journal of Political Science, 29 (2): 291-322

 

Week 20

S. Zanger (2000) 'A Global Analysis of the Effect of Political Regime Changes on Life Integrity Violations, 1977-1993', Journal of Peace Research, 33.

 

Week 21

J. Donnelly (1999) 'Democracy, Development, and Human Rights', Human Rights Quarterly, September.

Week 22

 

The following academic journals are helpful for the course:

 

American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, World Politics, Human Rights Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Journal of Democracy, Democratization, Oxford Development Studies, The New Political Economy, International Comparative Law Quarterly, World Development.

 

These journals are available in the library, while some of them are available on-line from the computers in the library.

 

The following web sites are helpful for the course:

 

Human Rights Watch

www.hrw.org

World Bank

www.worldbank.org

International Monetary Fund

www.imf.org

One World development site

www.oneworld.org

United Nations

www.un.org

United Nations Development Programme

www.undp.org

Derechos Internet Human Rights Resource

www.derechos.org

Witness

www.witness.org

 


 

COURSEWORK AND ASSESSMENT

Students are required to write two essays of 3,000 words each, a country report of 5,000 words, and final exam. The first essay is due in seminar in Week 8, the second is due in seminar in Week 18, and the country report is due in seminar in week 21. The essays can use the core texts and readings from the course as main sources, and can be supplemented with other readings listed in the course outline or elsewhere. Essay titles will be distributed in seminar. Guidelines for the country report are at the end of this course outline.

 

The Department applies a school rule of 3 marks per working day for all work submitted late. It is a very serious academic offence to submit written work in which text has been taken from the work of someone else, whether another student or from a book or article without proper bibliographical referencing. The university regards this as CHEATING, for which the penalties are very severe (please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate Handbooks for the Department's policy on late essays, extensions, and plagiarism).

 

THE UNIVERSITY'S FINAL DEADLINE FOR ALL COURSEWORK IS 4 PM ON FRIDAY, OF WEEK 23 - FRIDAY, 10 MAY 2002.

 

The coursework is weighted as follows:

 

Essay 1:                      15%

Essay 2:                      15%

Country Report:       20%

Examination:             50%

 

COURSE CONTENT AND ORGANISATION

 

Part I: Knowing the World (weeks 1-3)

This section of the course seeks to map the current state of the world in terms of development, democracy, and human rights, while at the same time showing students the different theoretical perspectives and analytical techniques that have been used to understand and explain that world.

 

Required reading and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Week 1: J. Gray (1999) 'What Globalization is Not', in False Dawn: Delusions of Global Capitalism, London: Granta; Todaro, Chapter 1: Economics, Institutions, and Development: A Global Perspective', pp. 3-23.

 

Is a world of free markets and political freedom possible? Does globalization mean we are headed in the same direction toward a unified model of society and politics? Is history over? What is the distribution of global income and resources? What has been the spread of democracy over the last 30 years? What is the current status of the international human rights system?

 

Week 2: M. Lichbach (1997) 'Comparative Politics and Social Theory' in M. Lichbach and A. Zuckerman (eds.) Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Why do we need theories? What is the difference between normative and empirical political science? What are the key differences between rationalist, culturalist, and structuralist perspectives for analysing development, democracy, and human rights? Does one theory dominate the social sciences? Can there be a theory of everything (TOE)?

 

Week 3: T. Landman (2000) 'Comparative Politics and Human Rights' University of Denver Human Rights Working Papers, No. 10

(http://www.du.edu/humanrights/workingpapers/index.html)

 

What are the key trade-offs between different methods of comparative analysis? Is there one best method for studying development, democracy, and/or human rights? Is there a false dichotomy between quantitative and qualitative analysis?

 

Additional reading for Part I:

 

Any of the UNDP Human Development Reports.

 

T. Landman (2000) Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics, London: Routledge, Chapters 1-3.

 

D. Held, A. McGrew, D. Goldblatt, and J. Perraton (1999) Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, and Culture, Cambridge: Polity Press.

 

Part II: Development (weeks 4-8)

This section of the course outlines the main issues, concepts, theories, and strategies of development. It examines narrow and broad conceptions of development, mainstream theories of development, and three dominant strategies of development, including import substitution (ISI), export promotion, and neo-liberal structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). These strategies are examined through a comparison of the developmental experience of East Asia and Latin America.


 

Required reading and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Core Text: M. Todaro (1999) Economic Development, London and New York: Longman, earlier editions are also fine.

 

Week 4: Todaro, Chapters 2, 3; R. Wade (1992) 'East Asia's economic success: Conflicting Perspectives, Partial Insights, Shaky Evidence', World Politics, 44: 270-320 (please read at least half of this article).

 

How is the world economic structured? What is the 'typical' developing country? Why is economic growth the dominant theme of Post-war development theories and strategies? What has been the evolution in development theory since the 'linear stages' period? How are values and attitudes important for development? What are the main tenets of neo-liberalism? Why has neo-liberalism become so dominant? Upon what evidentiary base does neo-liberalism make its claims?

 

Week 5: Todaro, Chapters 4 and 5; R. Wade (1992) 'East Asia's economic success: Conflicting Perspectives, Partial Insights, Shaky Evidence', World Politics, 44: 270-320 (please read the remainder of this article).

 

What fuels economic growth? What factor endowments are deemed important for economic growth? What has been the historical experience of growth? Is growth with equity possible? How can the distribution of income be conceived and measured? Is inequality needed for growth?

 

Week 6: Todaro, Chapters 6 and 7

 

What fuels population growth? How has population growth been theorized and explained? Was Malthus correct? What are sensible population policies? What causes unemployment? Why is unemployment a problem? What is the informal market?

 

Week 7: Todaro, Chapters 8, 9, and 10

 

What explains massive urbanization and why is it a problem for development? What problems are associated with urbanization? What causes rural-urban migration? How has agricultural been transformed? Is the agricultural sector in need of special protection? How can rural development be promoted? What impact does development have on the environment? What is sustainable development? What are the transnational implications of development and environmental degradation? What can be done about global environmental problems?

 

 

Week 8: Todaro, Chapters 12, 13, and 14

 

Why is trade important? What are 'terms of trade'? Is free trade a panacea? Are export promotion and import substitution mutually exclusive strategies for development? Does regional and/or economic integration make sense? What makes up a country's balance of payments? What is the standard macro-stabilization package imposed by the IMF and World Bank? What explains the debt crisis?

 

ESSAY I DUE IN SEMINAR

 

 

Additional readings for Part II:

 

J. Brohman (1996) Popular Development, Oxford: Blackwell.

 

Guillén, M (2001) The Limits of Convergence: Globalization and Organizational Change in Argentina, South Korea, and Spain, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 

J. N. Pieterse (2001) Development Theory: Deconstructions/Reconstructions, London: Sage Publications.

 

A. Sen (2000) Development as Freedom, New York: Oxford University Press.

 

O. Törnquist (1999) Politics and Development: A Critical Introduction, London: Sage.

 

Any of the UNDP Human Development Reports.


 

Part II: Development and Democracy (weeks 8-12)

This section of the course examines the relationship between development and democracy. It examines whether democracy can be seen as a result of economic development or whether democracies are better at promoting economic development than non-democracies. It does so through global, and regional comparative analysis using primarily quantitative evidence. The seminars and readings stress the importance of systematic and rigorous comparative analysis for making valuable inferences about the connections that are made between development and democracy. In addition to the substantive discussion, students will learn the basics of regression analysis as it forms the basis for testing empirical relationships in global comparative studies. Regression analysis is also employed in Parts V (Democracy and Human Rights) and VI (Development, Democracy, and Human Rights).

 

Required reading and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Core Texts: A. Przeworski, et al. (2000) Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World, 1950-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; M. Lewis-Beck (1980) Applied Regression: An Introduction, London and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

 

Week 9: Przeworski, et al., Introduction, Chapter 1; Lewis-Beck, Chapter 1. Burkhart, R. E. and Lewis-Beck, M. (1994) 'Comparative Democracy, the Economic Development Thesis', American Political Science Review, 88 (4): 903-10.

 

Does economic development cause democracy? Are democracies better at promoting development than non-democracies? What kind of evidence would we need to answer these questions? What kind of method is appropriate? How do we define and operationalise the concept of democracy? How do we define and operationalise the concept of development? What are the world patterns in democratisation? What is the fundamental purpose of regression analysis? What is its most basic functional form? How can it help us understand empirical relationships?

 

Week 10: Przeworski, et al., Chapter 2; Lewis-Beck, Chapter 2;

 

What is a regime change? What is the effect of economic development in regime change? Does economic development help a regime change from non-democratic to democratic? What are the assumptions of regression analysis? What happens if these assumptions are violated? What is a parameter estimate and how do we know it accurate? What does it mean to make a statistical inference? Why does it matter for the study of development and democracy?

 

Week 11: Przeworski, et al., Chapters 3,4; Lewis-Beck, Chapter 3

 

Are some regime types better at promoting economic development than others? Is there a developmental trade-off between democracy and autocracy? Does political instability breed economic instability? What is the purpose of multivariate regression? How is different than bi-variate regression? What are the limitations to regression analysis?

 

Week 12: Przeworski, et al., Chapter 5, Conclusion; Landman, T. (1999) ‘Economic Development and Democracy: The View From Latin America’, Political Studies, 47 (4).

 

Why and how does population growth matter for economic performance? What is the interaction between population growth and economic growth? Does the type of political regime matter for population growth? Is there such a thing as a poverty trap? Why is it that per capita income increases more in democracies than non-democracies? Why is dictatorship particularly hard on woman? Why do China and India warrant special attention? Does the relationship between economic development and democracy differ for Latin America?

 

Additional reading for Part III:

 

K. De Schweinitz, (1964) Industrialization and Democracy: Economic Necessities and Political Possibilities, New York: Free Press.

 

D. Held (1996) Models of Democracy, 2nd Edition, Cambridge: Polity Press.

 

Helliwell, J. F. (1994) 'Empirical Linkages between Democracy and Economic Growth', British Journal of Political Science, 24: 225-48.

 

T. Landman (2000) Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction, London: Routledge, Chapter 4.

 

T. Landman (2001) 'Economic Requirements of Democracy' in J. Foweraker and P. B. Clarke (eds) The Encyclopaedia of Democratic Thought, London: Routledge 2001, pp. 434-438.

 

Lipset, S. M. (1959) ‘Some Social Requisites from Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy’, The American Political Science Review, 53: 69-105.

 

– – (1960) Political Man, London: Mercury Books.

 

– – (1994) ‘The Social Requisites of Democracy Revisited’, American Sociological Review, 59 (February): 1-22.

 

Luebbert, G. (1991) Liberalism, Fascism, or Social Democracy: Social Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in Inter-war Europe, New York: Oxford University Press.

 

Moore, B. (1966) The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World, Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

 

Rueschemeyer, D., Stephens, E. H., and Stephens, J. (1992) Capitalist Development and Democracy, Cambridge: Polity Press.

 

Part IV: Human Rights (weeks 13-17)

 

This section of the course outlines the evolution of the international and regional human rights systems and considers ways in which the international human rights regime place limits on state behaviour. It examines the universe of actors that work for and against realising effective human rights protection. It considers the different categories of human rights and how they relate to themes raised in earlier parts of the course. This section also lays the groundwork for the two final sections of the course.

 

Required readings and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Core Text: D. Forsythe (2000) Human Rights in International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Week 13: Forsythe, Chapters 1, 2

 

What are the historical, theoretical, and legal foundations of human rights? What are the different human rights that are protected? How does an international human rights 'regime' challenge the traditional 'Westphalian' system of states?

 

Week 14: Forsythe, Chapters 3, 5

What are the international and regional systems for human rights protection? How do the European, African, and Latin American systems compare in their promotion and protection of human rights? Do they offer a programme for the realization of developmental objectives?

 

Week 15: Forsythe, Chapters 4, 6; The Draft Inter-American Democratic Charter

 

Is the establishment of an international criminal court good or bad? Should justice be retributive or restorative? What has been the experience of the ad hoc criminal tribunals? Can human rights be the basis for a foreign policy? Does the promotion of human rights require a hegemonic world power? What is the difference between the US and the EU with respect to its human rights foreign policy?

 

Week 16: Forsythe, Chapters 7, 8, 9; Poe, S. C. and Tate, C. N. (1994) ‘Repression of Human Rights to Personal Integrity in the 1980s: A Global Analysis’, American Political Science Review, 88 (4): 853-72.

 

What role can non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups from civil society play in the process of development and the promotion of human rights? Does the proliferation of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the developing world help or hurt development? Do TNCs violate or promote human rights? Can there be ethical investments? What does the global analysis of human rights violations tell us? Are the findings surprising?

 

Additional reading for Part IV:

 

T. Beugenthal (1995) International Human Rights in a Nutshell, West Information Pub Group.

 

S. Davidson (1993) Human Rights, Buckingham and Philadelphia: Open University Press.

 

T. Dunne and N. J. Wheeler (1999), Human Rights in Global Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

K. Hutchings (1999) International Political Theory: Rethinking Ethics in a Global Era, London: Sage.

 

P. Jones (1994) Rights, London: Macmillan.

 

A. H. Robertson and J. G. Merrills (1996) Human Rights in the World, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.

 

H. J. Steiner and P. Alston (1996) International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, and Morals, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Part V: Democracy and Human Rights (weeks 18-21)

 

Popular accounts of human rights concentrate on their legal, normative, and philosophical evolution, while neglecting the historical struggle for rights. This section of the course concentrates the relationship between states and citizens, and how rights have been 'made' through struggle. This relationship is explored through theory and history, and the examined through four liberalizing authoritarian cases in Southern Europe and Latin America. This examination offers a different perspective the 'third wave' period of democratization, including processes of liberalization, democratic transition, democratic consolidation, democratic transformation, and the key differences between 'electoral' and 'liberal' democracies.

 

Required reading and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Core text: J. Foweraker and T. Landman (1997) Citizenship Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Analysis, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Week 17 Foweraker and Landman, Introduction, Chapter 1

 

What is the difference between citizenship rights and human rights? What are the historical periods in the development of citizenship rights? Are there core rights vs. other rights? What is the difference between rights 'in principle' and 'rights in practice'? Can rights be 'made' through struggle?

 

Week 18 Foweraker and Landman, Chapters 2, 3

 

ESSAY II DUE IN SEMINAR

 

What is meant by 'universal rights and particular restrictions'? How do rights impact on social movements? How can social movements impact on rights? What are modular forms of collective action? What is a wave of protest? Why is the comparative method useful to examine the relationship between rights and movements? Can rights and movements by measured?

 

Week 19 Foweraker and Landman, Chapters 4, 5; D. Rustow (1970) 'Transition to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model' Comparative Politics, 2: 337-363.

 

What are the contours of citizenship in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Spain? Why is there a gap between rights-in-principle and rights-in-practice? Is the pattern of political liberalization the same across all cases? What can you tell from the contours of social movements in these four cases? Are there waves of protest? What do the peaks look like? What has been the shift in demand making across the cases and time periods?

 

Week 20 Foweraker and Landman, Chapters 6, 7; J. Foweraker and T. Landman (1999) 'Individual Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Inquiry' British Journal of Political Science, 29 (2): 291-322

 

What does the statistical analysis tell you about the relationship between citizenship rights and social movements over time? Is that relationship the same across the four cases? What does the analysis tell you about the relationship through time? Is it the same across the four cases?

 

EASTER HOLIDAY

 

Week 21 Foweraker and Landman, Chapter 8; S. Zanger (2000) 'A Global Analysis of the Effect of Political Regime Changes on Life Integrity Violations, 1977-1993', Journal of Peace Research, 33.

 

COUNTRY REPORT DUE IN SEMINAR

 

What is the difference between democratic transition and democratic transformation? What new insights does the 'popular' perspective add to the extant accounts of democratization? Why is 'civicness' a contentious notion for explaining democratization? How does the global comparison offered by Zanger add to our understanding about rights and democracy?

 

Additional reading for Part V:

 

J. M. Barbalet (1988) Citizenship: Rights, Struggle, and Class Inequality, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

 

D. Beetham (1999) Democracy and Human Rights, Cambridge: Polity Press.

 

L. Diamond (1999) Developing Democracy: Towards Consolidation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

 

T. H. Marshall (1963) 'Citizenship and Social Class' in Sociology at the Crossroads and Other Essays, Londo: Heinemann, 67-127.

 

T. Risse, S. Ropp., and K. Sikkink (1999) The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Part VI: Development, Democracy, and Human Rights (weeks 22-24)

 

This section of the course synthesizes the main themes of the course and examines critically the so-called 'Vienna consensus', which claims that 'democracy, development, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing'.

 

Required reading and questions for seminar discussion:

 

Week 22: J. Donnelly (1999) 'Democracy, Development, and Human Rights', Human Rights Quarterly, September.

 

Why is Para 8 of Vienna Declaration and Programme for Action problematic? How do the key findings of empirical political science address the claims made in Para 8? What should be the goal of the international system? What has been the ideal combination of democracy and capitalism?

 

Week 23: Review: concepts and terms

 

Week 24: Review: theories and relationships

 


Country Report Guidelines

At the beginning of the academic year, students will be assigned a country upon which to write a 'country report'. This report should be in the style of reports found in the World Bank's World Development Report, Amnesty International's Annual Reports, or the US State Department's Country Reports. The report is meant to utilise the various technical skills learned throughout the year, including data collection and analysis, inclusion of graphics and images in word-processed documents, and presentation and exposition. Students are wise to collect information and data on their country over the academic year (library, Internet, and other sources). Marks will be awarded for the thoroughness of the report. The report should not exceed 5,000 words and the guidelines below specify approximately the number of words for each section. The following information must be included in the report:

 

Basic statistics: map, size (area), population, main exports and products, form of government (e.g. parliamentary, presidential, military, dictatorship, authoritarian), electoral system (e.g. plurality, proportional, hybrid), date of latest constitution, main political parties, current leader.  This section should not exceed two pages.

 

Political history: general overview of country's political history, including (if applicable) date of independence; major political events; wars, revolutions, or military coups; experiences with democracy, current political situation. This section should not exceed 500 words.

 

Development Indicators: please provide time series data (post-1950) on the main development indicators, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Domestic Product per capita, income distribution, inflation, imports and exports, infant mortality, urban population. The data and discussion should not exceed 2000 words.

 

Political Indicators: where applicable, please provide time-series data (post-1950) on the main political indicators of the country, including number of free and fair elections, protection of political and civil liberties, governments and their party composition, voter turnout for national elections The data and discussion should not exceed 2000 words.

 

Summary statement: provide a general summary statement about the future prospects for development, democracy, and human rights in your country, which reflects on the data and other information that you have presented. This statement should not exceed 500 words.

 

Overall, students should concentrate on evaluating and analysing the trends that they find in the indicators for their particular country using the conceptual and theoretical insights they obtain through lectures, classes, and/or seminars.

 

Throughout the year, you will be given small exercises that help you learn how to identify sources of data for your country report, how to use spreadsheet software to make simple graphs and charts, and how integrate figures and charts into world-processed documents using Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, and Word.