Political Science 263, European Political Economy

Winter 2000-2001

Professor: Alfred P. Montero	Office: Willis 407
Phone: x-4085 (Office) 645-9603 (Home)	Email: Amontero@carleton.edu
Office Hours	Class Web Page

Course Description

An introduction to the politics of the European region during the post-World War II period. The course will examine the historic class compromises and institutions that undergirded the emergence of advanced capitalism in the West European countries. Students will examine the political conditions that gave impetus to the creation, maintenance, crisis, and decline of Keynesian economic policies, social welfare states, social democratic partisan alliances, cooperative industrial relations, and subnational polities and development patterns. The course will also examine the rise and reform of the project of European integration, including analyses of the common market, the pitfalls of regional governance (the "democratic deficit" of the European Union), enlargement, and the project for monetary integration.

What is Expected of Students

Students will be expected to read, think, criticize, and form arguments. That will require keeping up on reading assignments and attending class regularly. Students must be fully prepared at all times to discuss the readings and concepts from previous lectures. The best students will be critical but balanced in their assessments, and will develop coherent arguments that they can defend in their writing and their in-class discussion.

Reading Materials

The six required books for this course have been ordered and are presently on sale at the college bookstore. The texts are:

Peter J. Katzenstein. 1985. Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe Ithaca: Cornell.

Peter Hall. 1986. Governing the Economy: The Politics of State Intervention in Britain and France. New York: Oxford.

Lowell Turner. 1998. Fighting For Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Richard M. Locke. 1995. Remaking the Italian Economy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Helen Wallace and William Wallace. 2000. Policy-Making in the European Union. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peter J. Katzenstein, ed. 1997. Tamed Power: Germany in Europe. Ithaca: Cornell.

In addition to these texts, this course requires your study of a number of other readings from diverse sources. In order to facilitate your access to these materials, I have placed multiple copies on closed reserve at the library. Also, in order to reduce your costs, I have placed the required materials, including books, on closed reserve. Students are advised to make readable copies of these materials early during the course.

In addition to the readings, this course recommends your use of select multimedia materials. These items include assorted National Public Radio reports accessible through the class web page, CD-ROMs and videos produced and distributed by the European Union. Brief portions of these multimedia items will be presented during class as a part of the lectures, but you may view and listen to these materials in their entirety during non-class hours.

I will occasionally distribute handouts and clippings from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Minneapolis/St. Paul newspapers, and the internet at the beginning of class. Students are also invited to check out links to course relevant web pages on the professor's web page and the class page. Materials on the course's web page will be updated during the semester and will supplement rather than duplicate the substance of the lectures and the readings.

Grading

Assessment of the students in this course will be based on their performance on three short writing assignments, a "floating" comprehensive exam, and in-class participation. The grade breakdown follows:

First Writing Assignment	15%
Second Writing Assignment	20%
Third Writing Assignment	25%
The Comprehensive Exam	25%
Class Participation	15%

The Writing Assignments

The purpose of the writing assignments is to provide the students with an opportunity to reflect more thoughtfully on both the theories and empirical cases of the course. These assignments must be turned in before or on the due date specified below. Late work will receive no credit.

Paper #1: Students will select one of the following countries: Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In a five-six page (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, paginated) essay, students will be asked to specify:

1. the political economic regime
2. the dominant kind of economic policies
3. the behavior of organized labor, and
4. macroeconomic performance

Students will then be asked to assess the validity of the globalization argument in light of what they have discovered in their empirical analysis. In addition to the required readings, and in particular the Katzenstein book (Small States in World Markets), I will place files with materials covering each of these countries on closed reserve at the library. A brief handout will provide further details regarding this assignment at least one week before the paper is due. I encourage students to work on this assignment in small groups.

Paper #2: Students will select one of the countries from the first cohort listed above and one of the following countries: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Next, students will select one of the following three policy areas: macroeconomic reform, welfare reform, and industrial relations. In a five-six page (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, paginated) essay, students will compare their two selected country cases to determine which reform experience produced the "best results" during the 1970s-90s period. As with the first paper assignment, a brief handout will provide details at least one week before the paper is due.

Paper #3: Students will select a European Union member state and, using available reading materials, government and EU documents, students will articulate that member's position on select policies - competition, regional policy, enlargement, social/labor market policy, monetary integration. The paper will be 8-pages (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, paginated). Complete footnote citation and bibliography must be included. An explanatory handout of the assignment and of the required bibliographic format will be distributed at least two weeks before the assignment is due. The EU simulation will complement this paper assignment.

The Comprehensive Exam

Format: take-home essay exam. Beginning with session 3 and ending with session 6, students will be presented with a set of questions and may choose one per session and compose a 4-5 page answer. The comprehensive exam will "float" until we conclude our study of particular countries and the major institutions of the European Union. Students will have two weeks after the session outline containing the exam questions is distributed in class to complete the assignment. The difficulty level of the questions will increase over time.

The comprehensive exam will test the ability of the student to (1) become familiar with particular empirical cases, (2) build and apply simple causal arguments about issues and problems specific to these cases, and (3) identify similarities and differences in the politics of addressing these questions across national cases. The format of the exam provides students with the opportunity to divide their workload so as to accommodate their assignment schedules in other courses. A handout will answer frequently asked questions regarding the floating exam at the top of session 2.

Class Participation

Communicating your insight into the subjects analyzed in this course is an integral part of the learning experience. In no way do I consider class participation a residual category for subjectively determining the final grade. In this course, I will evaluate your performance in both formal, scheduled presentations and informal class discussion. All oral arguments and presentations will be assessed on structure, relevance, insight, and style. The following are structured presentation formats that will be used in this course:

1. A simulated debate between British and French "reformers."
2. A simulation of the German industrial relations system.
3. A two-day simulation on the European Union.
4. Small group discussion sections on Locke's Remaking the Italian Economy and preparatory study group sections for the EU simulation.

The Grading Scale

I will be using the following grading scale in this course:

Academic Misconduct

Given the fact that academe relies upon the ethical conduct of scholars, students are held to the same standards in their own work. Any act of academic dishonesty or misconduct will be referred to the Office of the Associate Dean. For further information, see Carleton College's Academic Honesty in the Writing of Essays and Other Papers and the section on "academic honesty" in Academic Regulations and Procedures, 2000-01. Both are available in Laird 140.

Special Needs

Students requiring access to learning tools/special schedules approved by Student Support Services should contact me at the beginning of the course.

NOTE: Readings must be completed for the dates assigned below.

Session 1: The Class Compromise of "Embedded Liberalism"

Introduction (Jan. 3, Wednesday)

The Antecedents of Class Compromise: Historical Causes of Social Democracy (Jan. 5, Friday)

Katzenstein, Small States in World Markets, Chapter 4.

Patterns of Adjustment to the Great Depression: The Large and Small West European Economies Compared (Jan. 8, Monday)

Peter Gourevitch. 1986. Politics in Hard Times: Comparative Responses to International Economic Crises. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 17-54. (On reserve).

Keynesian Demand Management and Industrial Policy (Jan. 10, Wednesday)

Katzenstein, Small States in World Markets, Chapter 2.

The Political Institutions of "Democratic Corporatism" and the Keynesian Welfare State (Jan. 12, Friday)

Katzenstein, Small States in World Markets, Chapter 3.

Session 2: Stagflation and Globalization: The Crisis of the Keynesian Welfare State Model

The Crisis of Keynesian Demand Management (Jan. 15, Monday)

Paulette Kurzer. 1993. Business and Banking: Political Change and Economic Integration in Western Europe. Ithaca: Cornell, Chapter 3. (On reserve).

Jonas Pontusson. 1992. "At the End of the Third Road: Swedish Social Democracy in Crisis." Politics & Society 20, no. 3 (September): 305-32. (On reserve).

The Globalization Argument (Jan. 17, Wednesday)

Thomas Friedman. 1999. The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization. New York: FSG, selected pages. (On reserve).

Rebuttals to the Globalization Argument (Jan. 19, Friday)

Geoffrey Garrett and Peter Lange. 1991. "Political Responses to Interdependence: What's "Left" for the Left?" International Organization v. 45 (Autumn): 539-64. (On reserve).

Paul Pierson. 1996. "The New Politics of the Welfare State." World Politics v. 48 (January): 143-79. (On reserve).

Group Assessment of Garrett and Lange's and Pierson's Rebuttals (Jan. 22, Monday)

Geoffrey Garrett. 1998. Partisan Politics in the Global Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press, Chapter 6. (On reserve).

Session 3: Between Liberalism and Étatisme: The United Kingdom and France

Two Distinct Patterns of Reform?: The U.K. and France (Jan. 24, Wednesday)

Peter Hall, Governing the Economy, Chapters 4 & 7 (chapters 3 & 6 recommended).

Comparative Observations of Institutional Adjustment in the U.K. and France (Jan. 26, Friday)

Peter Hall, Governing the Economy, Chapters 5 & 8 (chapter 10 recommended).

"Savage Capitalism" versus "Humane Capitalism"? (Jan. 29, Monday)

Economist articles on "New Labour" and French politics. (Handout).

SHORT PAPER #1 IS DUE (Jan. 26, Friday)

Session 4: Reforming Capital-Labor Relations in Germany

Reforming Germany's "Social Market Economy" (Jan. 31, Wednesday)

Peter Hall, Governing the Economy, pp. 234-42.

Turner, Fighting for Partnership, Chapters 1-2.

Library Session/London Trip (Feb. 2, Friday)

Mid-term Break, No Class (Feb. 5, Monday)

Bargaining for Rights: Capital, Labor, and the State in Germany (Feb. 7, Wednesday)

Wolfgang Streeck. 1984. "Neo-Corporatist Industrial Relations and the Economic Crisis in West Germany." In Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism, ed. John H. Goldthorpe. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (On reserve).

Turner, Fighting for Partnership, Chapters 3-5.

Negotiating Through Permanent Crises (Feb. 9, Friday)

Turner, Fighting for Partnership, Chapters 6-7.

Economist articles on German labor politics. (Handout).

Simulation #1: Tripartite Collective Bargaining in Germany (Feb. 12, Monday)

Session 5: Composite Economies and the Politics of Embeddedness in Italy

Making Sense of Italy: The Puzzle and the Argument (Feb. 14, Wednesday)

Locke, Remaking the Italian Economy, Chapters 1-2.

Embedded Ties and the Italian Industrial Relations System (Feb. 16, Friday)

Locke, Remaking the Italian Economy, Chapters 3-4.

Remaking Regional Development and Internationalization (Feb. 19, Monday)

Locke, Remaking the Italian Economy, Chapters 5-6.

Session 6: Democratic Transition and "Socialist Neoliberalism" in Spain

Transition and Consolidation of Democracy (Feb. 21, Wednesday)

José María Maravall and Julián Santamaría. 1986. "Political Change in Spain and the Prospects for Democracy." In Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Southern Europe, Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead, eds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. (On reserve).

Juan Linz. 1993. "Innovative Leadership in the Transition to Democracy and a New Democracy: The Case of Spain." In Innovative Leaders in International Politics, Gabriel Sheffer, ed. Albany: SUNY Press. (On reserve).

Industrial Restructuring Under Socialist Government (Feb. 23, Friday)

Rand W. Smith. 1998. The Left's Dirty Job: The Politics of Industrial Restructuring in France and Spain. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, Chapters 5-6. (On reserve).

Session 7: The Institutions of the European Union

The Slow Evolution of the Project of European Integration (Feb. 26, Monday)

Wallace and Wallace, Policy-Making in the European Union, Chapters 1-2.

SHORT PAPER #2 DUE (Feb. 26, Monday)

The Maastricht Convergence Agenda and the Common Market , Part 1 (Feb. 28, Wednesday)

Wallace and Wallace, Policy-Making in the European Union, Chapters 4 & 6.

The Maastricht Convergence Agenda and the Common Market , Part 2 (March 2, Friday)

Economist articles and EU documents on monetary convergence. (On Reserve).

Policy Areas and Domestic Interests (March 5, Monday)

Choose any two of the policy chapters from Wallace and Wallace's Policy-Making in the European Union.

and

Choose two of the following from Katzenstein's Tamed Power: Germany in Europe:

Jeffrey J. Anderson, "Hard Interests, Soft Power, and Germany's Changing Role in Europe."

Paulette Kurzer, "Placed in Europe: The Low Countries and Germany in the European Union."

Michael P. Marks, "Moving at Different Speeds: Spain and Greece in the European Union."

Christine Ingebritsen, "Pulling in Different Directions: The Europeanization of Scandinavian Political Economies."

Simulation #2: Negotiating Change in a Multiple-Level Game: The Council of Ministers, the Commission, and the European Parliament (March 7, Wednesday; March 9, Friday)

PAPER #3 DUE (March 14, Wednesday)