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POL S 522 A: International Political Economy

  • Spring 2024
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Meeting Time: 
T 1:30pm - 4:20pm
Location: 
SMI 107
SLN: 
19176
Instructor:
Prof. Aseem Prakash
Aseem Prakash
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Syllabus Description:

 

International Political Economy (POL S 522)

Aseem Prakash

Spring 2024

  

Class Time:               Tuesday, 1:30‐4:20 p.m.  

Class Location:         Smith 107

Office Hours:             By appointment 

Office:                        39 Gowen                                         

E‐mail:                       aseem@uw.edu 

 

 

Course Objective

This is a survey course for doctoral students interested in the study of International Political Economy (IPE).  IPE covers a wide range of subjects. It includes studying how global markets and economic connections (via trade, FDI, capital flows, aid, and remittances) shape global politics or domestic politics/policy, or how global political arrangements such as inter-governmental and private regimes shape domestic politics and policy. Scholars also reverse the independent variables and dependent variables and study how domestic factors shape national-level responses to global/regional regimes, etc. And of course, we can throw in the interactions of domestic and international factors to explain the dependent variable of our choice. The range of issue areas covered by scholars is also impressive – from traditional suspects such as regimes, trade, finance, and foreign aid to newer suspects such as policy, diffusion, environmental issues, labor, and human rights. Scholars increasingly (and thankfully) examine both state and non-state actors in the study of IPE.  In terms of methods, while statistical techniques (specifically, cross-sectional time series) tend to dominate, there are a fair number of case studies, survey work, formal models, and increasingly field experiments. Given the complexity of the field, my objective is to expose you to important concepts and themes in IPE. This would allow you to assess state of the art and identify specific issues you wish to examine in more depth and detail in your work.

 

Readings

Given the short duration of the quarter system and the relatively large array of topics covered by IPE scholars, designing a comprehensive syllabus is a challenge. I have decided to assign articles that cover important IPE debates, especially the new and emerging issues.  All readings are available on Canvas.  

 

Course Expectations

This doctoral seminar requires active student participation. I expect you to energetically and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions and the collective learning processes.

Student Presentations

For every session, students will present and critique the assigned articles. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) summary and critique, and email it to me by Monday 1200 noon.

 

How to structure your memo? Assume a prominent journal has requested you to review the assigned article. How might you evaluate it? First, identify the big idea, the intuition behind and the motivation for the paper, and eventually the core research question. Situate this in the relevant literature. Then, evaluate the clarity of the key hypotheses, the appropriateness of the empirical methods, and the data employed to test them. Next, assess if the findings are interpreted correctly. Finally, ask yourself: did this paper move forward our understanding of IPE? If so, how? If not, why not?

 

The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class presentation. To minimize transaction and governance costs, I will assign the articles. You are free to “trade” (1 for one is the exchange ratio) among yourselves and arrive at an equilibrium that suits your intellectual tastes.

 

I strongly recommend that you save all the memos generated in this course because they will be very helpful in preparing for the IR or PE comprehensive exams.

 

Class Participation

To have a meaningful discussion, please review all readings prior to the class. Those not assigned to present any reading should email 2-3 discussion questions to me. I will forward them to the class. This one-page “Discussion Questions” memo should reach me by Monday, 1200 noon. Please provide a short discussion on how your questions relate to the theoretical or empirical issues raised in the assigned readings (you are not obliged to cover all). You are encouraged to relate these readings to articles you may have reviewed in other seminars. As scholars, you must learn to cumulate knowledge: drawing connections with readings across different seminars is, therefore, a very good exercise.

 

Research Proposal

A five-page (single-spaced) research proposal is due May 28. Treat this as a first cut for a grant proposal or your MA/PhD proposal. One-page proposal outlines are due April 30. The research proposal could be structured as follows:

 

Research Puzzle:      What is the central issue you want to study, and why is it theoretically important? It might be helpful to identify your dependent variable(s), the independent variable(s), and the logic connecting the two.

 

Research Context:   How does your topic speak to the IR literature? What are the relevant concepts or models? What are the research contributions?

 

Research Design:     What is the appropriate research strategy to examine your research puzzle? What are your hypotheses? Are they falsifiable? What are your data requirements? How would you analyze and interpret the data?

 

Contributions:          What new theoretical insights is your research expected to provide? What are the implications for future IR research?

 

Evaluation

Key questions memos                                             30 points

Article critique:                                                        30 points

Class Participation                                                  20 points

Research proposal:                                                  20 points

 

 

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

 

Class Schedule

 

Session 1, March 26

Getting Started

 

1.    P. Gourevitch. 1978. The second image reversed: the international sources of domestic politics. International Organization. 32: 881-912. DANIEL

2. Murdie and A. Hicks. 2013. Can International Nongovernmental Organizations Boost Government Services? The Case of Health. International Organization, 67: 541-573. ELIZABETH

3. Barry, C. Clay, and M. Flynn. 2013. Avoiding the Spotlight: Human Rights Shaming and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly, 57: 532–544. KAYLA

4. Stone, Y. Wang, and S. Yu. 2021. Chinese Power and the State-Owned Enterprise. International Organization, 1-22. BOBBY

5. Baccini, M Lodefalk, R Sabolová. 2024. Economic Determinants of Attitudes Toward Migration: Firm-level Evidence from Europe. International Organization, 78:67-102. CANDELA

Session 2: April 2

Regimes and International Organizations

 

  1. Chwieroth. 2007. Testing and Measuring the Role of Ideas: The Case of Neoliberalism in the International Monetary Fund. International Studies Quarterly, 51: 5‐30. SALLY

 

  1. Lall. 2017. Beyond Institutional Design: Explaining the Performance of International Organizations. International Organization, 71: 245-280.  MINJI

 

  1. Doshi, J. Kelleyand B. Simmons. 2019. The Power of Ranking: The Ease of Doing Business Indicator and Global Regulatory Behavior. International Organization, 73: 611-643. RYAN

 

  1. Alexander, and B. Rooney. 2019. Vote-Buying by the United States in the United Nations, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 168–176. BOBBY

 

  1. Dellmuth, J. Scholte, J. Tallberg and S. Vwehegen. 2021. The Elite–Citizen Gap in International Organization Legitimacy. American Political Science Review, 1-18 CHAN

 

Session 3, April 9

Trade

 

  1. Mansfield and D. Mutz. 2009. Support for Free Trade: Self-Interest, Sociotropic Politics, and Out-Group Anxiety. International Organization, 63: 425-57. JI HYEON

 

  1. Osgood, 2018. Globalizing the Supply Chain: Firm and Industrial Support for US Trade Agreements. International Organization, 72: 455-484. ZHAOMIN

 

  1. Greenhill, L. Mosley, A. Prakash. 2009. Trade-based Diffusion of Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986–2002. American Political Science Review. 103: 669-690.  CANDELLA

 

  1. L Dolan, and H. Milner. 2023. Low-Skilled Liberalizers: Support for Free Trade in Africa. International Organization. 77: 848-870. DANIEL

 

  1. In Song Kim. 2017. Political Cleavages within Industry: Firm-level Lobbying for Trade Liberalization. American Political Science Review, 111: 1-20. ELIZABETH

 

Session 4, April 16

Foreign Direct Investment

  1. Büthe and H. Milner. 2008. The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment into Developing Countries: Increasing FDI through International Trade Agreements? American Journal of Political Science, 52: 741‐762. SIYU

 

  1. Beazer and D. Blake, 2021. Risk Is Relative: Heterogeneous Responses to Institutional Risks for Foreign Investment, International Studies Quarterly. 65, 3: 594–605. BOBBY

 

  1. Robertson and E. Teitelbaum. 2011. Foreign Direct Investment, Regime Type, and Labor Protest in Developing Countries. American Journal of Political Science, 55: 665–677. CHAN

 

  1. Gertz. 2018. Commercial Diplomacy and Political Risk, International Studies Quarterly, 62(1): 94–107.  KAYLA

 

  1. Sung Eun Kim. 2018. Media Bias against Foreign Firms as a Veiled Trade Barrier: Evidence from Chinese Newspapers, American Political Science Review, 112: 954-970. SALLY

 

 

Session 5: April 23

Finance, Money, and Currency

  1. Pepinsky. 2012. Do Currency Crises Cause Capital Account Liberalization? International Studies Quarterly, 56: 544–559. ZHAOMIN

 

  1. Oliver, R. Jablonski, and J. Hastings. 2017. The Tortuga Disease: The Perverse Effects of Illicit Foreign Capital, International Studies Quarterly, 61: 312–327. JIHYEON

 

  1. Frantz. 2018. Elections and Capital Flight: Evidence from Africa, International Studies Quarterly, 62(1): 160–170.  MINJI

 

  1. Trung A Dang, Randall W Stone, Multinational Banks and IMF Conditionality. 2021. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 375–386.  ELIZABETH

 

  1. Allen MO. Unbundling the State: Legal Development in an Era of Global, Private Governance. International Organization. 2023;77(4):754-788. RYAN

 

1-page proposal is due

Session 6:  April 30

Financial Economy

  1. Tomashevskiy, Economic Statecraft by Other Means: The Use and Abuse of Anti-Bribery Prosecution. 2021. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 387–400.  SIYU

 

  1. O'Mahony 2013. Political Investment: Remittances and Elections. British Journal of Political Science, 43: 799-820. DAN

 

  1. Tertytchnaya, C De Vires, H. Solaz, and D. Doyle. 2018. When the Money Stops: Fluctuations in Financial Remittances and Incumbent Approval in Central Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. American Political Science Review, 112: 758-774. RYAN

 

  1. Lipscyand H. Lee. 2019. The IMF As a Biased Global Insurance Mechanism: Asymmetrical Moral Hazard, Reserve Accumulation, and Financial Crises. International Organization, 73: 35-64. BOBBY

 

  1. Quinn, T. Sattler, and S. Weymouth. 2023. Do Exchange Rates Influence Voting? Evidence from Elections and Survey Experiments in Democracies. International Organization. 77:789-823 KAYLA

  

Session 7, May 7

Migration

  1. Blair, G. Grossman G, and J. Weinstein. 2022. Forced Displacement and Asylum Policy in the Developing World. International Organization. 76: 337-378. JI HYEON

 

  1. Sheppard and J. von Stein. 2022. Attitudes and Action in International Refugee Policy: Evidence from Australia. International Organization. 76: 929-956. CANDELA

 

  1. Denney and C. Green. 2021. Who Should Be Admitted? Conjoint Analysis of South Korean Attitudes toward Immigrants. Ethnicities, 21(1), 120-145. CHAN

 

  1. Castellano, N. Dolšak, and A. Prakash. 2021. Willingness to Help Climate Migrants: A Survey Experiment in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh. PLOS ONE, 16(4), e0249315. ELIZABETH

 

  1. Berthélemy, M. Beuran, and M. Maurel 2009. Aid and Migration: Substitutes or Complements? World Development, 37(10). MINJI

   

Session 8, May 14

Policy Diffusion

  1. Graham ER, Shipan CR, Volden C. 2013. The Diffusion of Policy Diffusion Research in Political Science. British Journal of Political Science. 43:673-701.  DAN

 

  1. Genovese, F. Kern, and C. Martin. 2017. Policy Alteration: Rethinking Diffusion Processes When Policies Have Alternatives, International Studies Quarterly, 61(2): 236–252. SALLY

 

  1. Elkins, A. Guzman, and B. Simmons. 2006. Competing for Capital: The Diffusion of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1960-2000. International Organization, 60: 811-46. ZHAOMIN

 

  1. Jones and A. Zeitz, 2019. Regulatory Convergence in the Financial Periphery: How Interdependence Shapes Regulators’ Decisions, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 908–922.  CANDELA

 

  1. Adolph and A. Prakash. 2022. Does the Economic Decline of the West and the Rise of China Encourage NGO Crackdown? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 51(2), 429-443. RYAN

 

Session 9: May 21

Foreign Aid

  1. Findley, A. Harris, A., H. Milner, and D. Nielson. 2017. Who Controls Foreign Aid? Elite versus Public Perceptions of Donor Influence in Aid-Dependent Uganda. International Organization, 71: 633-66. MINJI

 

  1. Desai and H. Kharas, 2018. What Motivates Private Foreign Aid? Evidence from Internet-Based Microlending, International Studies Quarterly, 62(3): 505–519. ELIZABETH

 

  1. Honig and C. Weaver. 2019. A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators. International Organization, 73: 579-610. BOBBY

 

  1. A Burcu Bayram, Catarina P Thomson, Ignoring the Messenger? Limits of Populist Rhetoric on Public Support for Foreign Development Aid, International Studies Quarterly, 202. JIHYEON

 

  1. Uji, J. Song, N. Dolsak and A. Prakash. Public Support for Climate Adaptation Aid and Migrants: A Conjoint Experiment in Japan. Environmental Research Letters, 2021, 16: 124073.  KAYLA

 

 Project proposal turned in

Session 10, May 28

Environmental Issues

  1. Tingley and M. Tomz. 2014. Conditional Cooperation and Climate Change. Comparative Political Studies, 47(3), 344-368. SIYU

 

47. Nela Mrchkovska, Nives Dolšak, Aseem Prakash. Morality Meets Menu: Investigating the Impact of Moral Appeals on Vegetarianism through a Conjoint Survey Experiment. Climatic Change, 2024,
177:38 (with ) SALLY

 

  1. Bechtel and K. Scheve. 2013. Mass Support for Global Climate Agreements Depends on Institutional Design. PNAS, 110 (34) 13763–13768. ZHAOMIN

 

  1. Gaikwad, F. Genovese, and D. Tingley. 2022. Creating Climate Coalitions: Mass Preferences for Compensating Vulnerability in the World's Two Largest Democracies. American Political Science Review, 116 (4), 1165 - 1183. CHAN

 

  1. Aklin and M. Mildenberger. 2020. Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change. Global Environmental Politics, 20(4), 4–27. RYAN
Catalog Description: 
Theories of international political economy. Focuses on the emergence and development of the modern world system, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and the institution of the nation-state system. Examines the political economy of trade, investment, and the international division of labor from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Prerequisite: POL S 521.
Credits: 
5.0
Status: 
Active
Last updated: 
January 24, 2024 - 1:27am
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