Final Exam Review Questions

Here are some broader questions to get everyone thinking about synthesizing readings and lectures for the final exam...note that these may be much broader in scope than the questions that actually show up on the final, but you should be able to think through the concepts in each.

Week of October 8, October 15th- Regimes Types and Regime Change

• -Why did scholars of the transition paradigm (O'Donnell, Schmitter, Linz, Stepan, among others) propose a theory of regime change that was "teleological" (e.g., arguing that regimes 'progress' from authoritarian to democratic)? What are the limits to this theory, if any (think of Carothers' critique)?
• -When scholars label regimes as "democratic," do they really mean "liberal democratic?" What is the difference between a "liberal" regime and a "democratic" one, in Zakaria's view? Is it possible to have regime "liberalization" without "democratization?"
• -What sort of "hybrid" regimes have scholars (such as Diamond) proposed? Does the hybrid regime model improve on the traditional "transition paradigm" in terms of explaining political reality? Is it possible to have too many categories of hybrids, such that every single political system in the world's countries has its own label?
• -Why might (liberal) democracy as a regime type actually hinder economic development or economic progress?

Week of October 22, October 29--the United Kingdom and European Union

• -Does the United Kingdom have a unique historical legacy that produced its unusual political system (constitutional monarchy, Westminster system), or did the political system allow history to happen as it did?
• -Is the European Union a "supranational" body, or does it remain inherently "intergovernmental?" In other words, does the notion of a European political identity--compelling states to compromise and unite not only on economic policy but social domestic policy and conceptions of citizenship--trump individual state identities? Is it possible for the two to coexist, and as the European Union expands, will the dynamic change?
• -What are some of the main issues behind the admission of new states (especially Turkey) into the EU? Why is EU 'enlargement' so controversial for some EU member states and for some outside (non-European) countries?

Week of November 3--Russia and the Postcommunist World

• -Is there really a "postcommunist" legacy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and how has this legacy (if it does exist) affected society? Think about Howard's argument about civil society, and McFaul's about political regimes.
• -What might we classify Russia today in terms of regime "type?" Can it be considered a hybrid regime, and if so, what sort of regime is it? Think of the various hybrid regime typologies that we've looked at (Diamond, Levitsky/Way), and how Russia might fit under these different hybrid subtypes.
• -Does Putin's recent reform of the Russian political system (notably his change from President to Prime Minister) represent an entrenched pattern of autocracy, as Hassner suggests?

Week of November 10--China's Postcommunist Communism

• -Are economic reform and political reformed necessarily linked? Does China show that it is possible to have economic reform without political reform (contra Lipset's argument), and what role do foreign countries play in this process? Would reforms (economic or political) have happened differently without the interference of foreign countries?
• -What role does nationalism play in the new Chinese regime under Hu Jintao (and formerly under Xiang Jemin)--has nationalism replaced communism as the dominant ideology linking Chinese citizens together and allowing the ruling Communist Party to consolidate power? How might the political issues with Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang provinces throw the idea of a united Chinese "nation-state" into question?
• -How has communist ideology shaped the Chinese political experience in comparison to the Russian one?
• -Which country--India, China, or Russia--demonstrates the biggest challenge to the West in economic terms? Which demonstrates the greatest political or social challenge? Does regime type play a role in the West's conception of economic, political, or social threat (e.g., is India less threatening because it is technically "democratic")?

Week of November 17, November 14--Society, Development, and Disorder

• -What, in Migdal's view, makes states inherently "strong" or "weak?" Is it possible to have the coexistence of a strong state and a strong society?
• -What are the different approaches (models) that Laitin and Brubaker suggest for understanding ethnic conflict, and how do these methodological approaches differ from "theories" about ethnic conflict? What might be an example of a specific theory (as opposed to a methodological approach) of ethnic conflict?
• -Does ethnic diversity necessarily imply a higher possibility of ethnic conflict, as Bates (and Laitin/Brubaker) discuss?
• -What exactly is "corruption," and how do our changing definitions of the concept lead us to different understandings of where and when it actually occurs?