Course Activities

Course activities are broadly defined below. Detailed instructions and grading rubrics will be uploaded to the course website and introduced in class.

Review Videos – 25% of Overall Grade

At the beginning of the semester, students will form teams of 2-3 students. Several times throughout the semester, the instructor will select a topic in informal politics and your team will prepare a Review Video reviewing one academic article on that topic. The instructor will provide detailed instructions and a grading rubric in a separate document, but the basic steps are:

1. As a team, search for a relevant article. Submit a list of 4-5 articles to the instructor. The instructor will choose one of these for your team to review.


2. Individually, read and outline the article. Critically evaluate the article’s research question, arguments, research design, data, methods, analysis and conclusions.


3. As a team, compare notes and produce a 10-15 minute Review Video reviewing the article.


4. Individually, watch all the Review Videos outside of class.


5. As a class, critique and discuss the Review Videos in a Review Roundtable.

Literature Review – 25% of Overall Grade

Throughout the semester, each student will also undertake several milestones leading up to an original Literature Review and Research Proposal. The instructor will provide detailed instructions and a grading rubric in a separate document, but the basic milestones for the literature review are:

1. Preliminary Consultation – schedule preliminary consultation out-of-class


2. Literature Review, Draft – submit for feedback and schedule consultation


3. Literature Review, Final Version – submit for a grade – 25% of Overall Grade

 Research Proposal – 25% of Overall Grade

The first half of the Research Proposal is the Literature Review, mentioned above. The instructor will provide detailed instructions and a grading rubric in a separate document for the second half of the research proposal, but the basic milestones are:

1. Proposal, Draft – submit for feedback and schedule consultation


2. Peer Reviews – return to peers and discuss in class


3. Presentation – present and discuss proposal in class


4. Proposal, Final Version – submit for a grade – 25% of Overall Grade

Oral Exam - 25% of Overall Grade

Students will schedule a one-on-one oral exam with the instructor at some point before the end of the semester. An oral exam review sheet will be provided to students and this will include the list of questions which students may be asked during the oral exam. The oral exam will test a student’s knowledge of:

1. General concepts of patronage and clientelism, as well as their causes and effects.


2. Instances of patronage and clientelism in Asian democracies.


3. Methods used to study informal politics.

Class Sessions and Preparation

Class sessions will be divided into one of three types:

1. Lecture & Discussion


2. Article Review Roundtables


3. Skills Workshops
   
   
   
   1. How to Write a Literature Review
   
   
   2. How to Write a Research Proposal
   
   
   3. How to Conduct Fieldwork and Interviews on Sensitive Topics
   
   
   
   

Students are expected to prepare for class in advance and participate in classroom discussions. Preparation for class will entail:

1. Complete reading assignments


2. Watch Article Review Videos


3. Prepare questions for the instructor and peer presenters  

Activity-ILO Matrix

Course activities support Intended Learning Outcomes in the following way.

Schedule & Deadlines

Grading Rubric

Attendance Policy

Class attendance is essential to students’ achieving the Intended Learning Outcomes; however, students must also balance learning with other life priorities. As a result, this course allows students to have TWO FREE ABSENCES during the semester. After two free absences, each unexcused absence will subtract 5% from the student’s overall grade. Arriving to class late, or leaving class early, by more than 10 minutes will be counted as half an absence.

Excused absences will not affect students’ grades and do not count as the student’s two free absences. Excused absences require:

• a note from a doctor, in the case of a medical emergency


• a note from an administrator, if absent due to an official university event


• the instructor’s discretion, in the case of a family emergency (e.g., funeral)

Absences due to the following reasons will not be excused:

• trouble with a vehicle, parking and traffic

• vacations


• jobs and internships


• absence due to working on homework or a class project

Materials

Week 1 – September 11 – Overview of Patronage and Clientelism

• Syllabus 

Week 2 – September 18 – Patriarchy, Patrimonialism and the Patrimonial State

• Weber*


• Landen 

Week 3 – September 25 – Neopatrimonialism

• 1994 Bratton and Vanderwalle*


• Bach


• Lewis

 Week 4 – October 2 – Neopatrimonialism in Asian Democracies

• Reidhead*


• ...

Week 5 – October 9 – Video Review Roundtable on Neopatrimonialism

• Article Review Videos

 Week 6 – October 16 – Party Linkages and Clientelism

• 1970s articles on clientelism


• Lawson. Party Linkages


• Kitschel

Week 7 – October 23 – Clientelism in Asian Democracies #1

• Hicken. APRS


• articles on clientelism in NE Asia

Week 8 – October 30 – Clientelism in Asian Democracies #2

• articles on clientelism in SE Asia 

Week 9 – November 6 – Video Review Roundtable on Clientelism

• Article Review Videos 

Week 10 – November 13 – Crony Capitalism

• 2014 Fukuyama*. Machine politics vs corporate lobbying


• 2007 Tilly 

11. Week of November 20 – Crony Capitalism in Asian Democracies #1

• David Kang


• additional readings on crony capitalism in NE Asia

12. Week of November 27 – Crony Capitalism in Asian Democracies #2

• article on crony capitalism in Philippines*


• additional readings on crony capitalism in SE Asia

13. Week of December 4 – Video Review Roundtable #3 on Crony Capitalism

• Article Review Videos

14. Week of December 11 – Fieldwork & Interviews for Studying Patronage & Clientelism

• qualitative methods papers* 

15. Week of December 18 – Quantitative Methods for Studying Patronage & Clientelism

• quantitative methods papers 

16. Week of December 25 – Present & Discuss Proposals

17. Week of January 1 – Present & Discuss Proposals

18. Week of January 8 – TBD