Course: Political Science 300 (Topics in Political Thought -- Empirical Theory in Political Science, Spring 2008)
Instructor: Craig Curtis (Bradley Hall 486, 677-2492, rcc@bradley.edu)
Texts: 1) Ben-Ari, Moti. 2003. Just a Theory: Exploring the
Nature of Science.
2) Wilson, Edward O. 2004. On Human Nature.
3) Skinner, B. F. 1974. About Behaviorism.
4) Bellah, Robert N., Richard Madsen, William M.
Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven M. Tipton.
2008. Habits of the Heart:
Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Updated
edition, with a new preface.
5) Glazer, Amihai, and
Class meeting information: T TH 1:30 to 2:45 am, Br. 270
Instructor's Office Hours: MW from 1:30 to 2:45 pm, T TH from 9 to 11 am.
Description: This course is designed to be a multi-disciplinary offering on the subject of empirical theory in social science. We are aiming at a lofty goal, understanding how we know what we know as social scientists. Of necessity, our course of study takes us outside the normal boundaries of mainstream political science. The purpose is to lessen the tendency of disciplinary boundaries to function as barriers to understanding. In adopting this mission of crossing disciplinary boundaries we travel on ground less often tread by undergraduate students.
The class is a small one, with only a few students. As such, the course is designed along the lines of a graduate seminar. The purpose is to consider advanced material on the underlying explanations of human behavior in an interactive learning environment. Collaboration is strongly encouraged, except, of course, on the actual preparation of the review essays themselves. There will be few formal lectures, no midterm tests and no final exam. While a graduate seminar would be graded primarily on the basis of the quality of the research paper produced for the seminar, this is not a graduate seminar. The grade will be based on five essays and on your class participation.
Because the learning process is interactive, class participation is essential for the seminar to work. Each of you will be responsible for themselves, but responsible to each of your peers. You must come to class and must be current with the reading assignments. You must prepare conscientiously when it is your turn to lead the discussion. Some of the material may be unfamiliar to you. As such, the reading will be difficult at times, and will require your careful attention. Sometimes you will not understand the reading before you get to class, but you likely will understand by the end of class for that day. Come see me if you are having problems. If, for some reason, you were not able to read the assignment for a class, please let me know before the class so that I will not call on you that day. There will be no repercussions for telling me once or twice that you are not prepared; however, repeated instances of unpreparedness will result in poor class participation marks.
Throughout the class, we shall focus on the following queries: "What is science?" "How do we know what we think we know?" “How do we measure a given phenomenon?” "What connections can we make between the materials that we have read and what we already know?" "What is the underlying theory of human motivation for a given theoretical perspective?" and "What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of perspectives derived from the disciplines we are studying as a way of understanding human behavior?"
Grading: The final grade will be based on the following:
1) Five book reviews (approximately 3 or 4 printed pages each) of the 5 main texts used in the course, the first four of which are worth 15% of the grade. The last one will be worth 20%. Note that you will have the opportunity to redo the first assignment after I have made comments on it. I have posted a model book review in the “course documents” section of Blackboard. This essay is one that I published last year in the journal New Political Science. You might also look in the book review sections of other journals for ideas on how best to write your own essays.
2) Class participation, worth 20% of the grade. 10% of this grade will come from a day in which you lead the discussion. I will circulate a sign-up sheet so that you may choose your dates. The final 10% will come from your daily contributions to the class discussion. This means that I will take attendance each day, and that I will note days that you come to class but are not engaged.
The final letter grade will be assigned according to the following scale:
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F below 60%
Class policies: All students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the reading material assigned for that day. The nature and size of this course makes us all very interdependent. If you sign up to lead the discussion for a particular date, you must meet that obligation. You may trade days freely, but I must be notified of such changes in advance.
Essays are due in class on the date specified. Late essays will be penalized at the rate of 10% of the grade per day. Please follow smart computer procedures – memory system failure will not serve as a valid excuse for late essays and it is the responsibility of the student to keep files containing the essays. I will be flexible with due dates for individual students who come to me before the essay is due with a good reason why they will not be able to finish on time. Due dates are subject to change if the needs of the class so indicate; any changes will be made by the instructor in consultation with the class.
Course Outline
Week I (TH 1-24) Intro and Housekeeping Chores
Week II (T 1-29) Just a Theory? Ben-Ari, Chs. 1-5
Week III (T 2-5) How Scientist Do Their Thing. Ben-Ari, Chs. 6-9
Week IV (T 2-12) Probabilism. Ben-Ari, Chs. 10-end
Ben-Air essay due on Thursday, 2-11.
Week V (T 2-19) Introduction to the Biology of Human
Behavior,
Week VI (T 2-26) Sex and
the Higher Functions, Wilson Chs. 6 - end
Ben-Ari
rewrites due on Tuesday, 2-26.
Week VII (T 3-4) Behaviorism and Determinism, Skinner Chs. 1-4
Wilson Review essay due on Tuesday, 3-4
Week VIII (T 3-11) Skinner and his Applications, Skinner Chs. 5-9
Spring Break
Week IX (T 3-25)
Skinner's Limits, Skinner Chs. 10-14
Skinner Review essay due on Friday, 3-27
Week X (T 4-1) The Social Psychological Approach, Bellah et al., Chs. 1-6
Week XI (T 4-8) American
Political Culture: Private and Public Life, Bellah
et al., Chs. 7-11
Bellah et al. essay due on Friday,
4-10.
Week XII (T 4-15) Political Economy, Glazer and Rothenberg, Chs. Introduction, 1 & 2
Week XIII (T 4-22) The Welfare State, Glazer and Rothenberg, Chs. 3 & 4
Week XIV (T 4-29) The Limits of What Government Can Accomplish, Glazer and Rothenberg, Chs. 5 & 6.
Week XV (T 5-6) Final Thoughts:
last day of class
Glazer and Rothenberg Essay due.
For each of the five books that we will read for this course, you are required to submit a review essay of some 3 to 5 printed pages. You will have the option to rewrite the first (Ben-Ari) essay. Rather than have you attempt to write a book review essay along the lines of those found in the scholarly journals, I have provided focus questions for each book. These appear below.
For Ben-Ari: Most Americans do not understand what it means to apply the scientific method. Either they confuse science with the subject matter of inquiry, or they confuse science with the type of evidence used to argue a point. Your task is to define science, and then argue either that: 1) science is not the only appropriate epistemology upon which policy decisions can be based in twenty-first century America; or 2) science is the only appropriate basis for making policy decisions in America.
For
For Skinner: Most people with only a cursory knowledge of Skinner's work are repulsed by the prospect of widespread application of behavior modification techniques. Despite the fact that the assumption that human behavior can be explained, i.e., can be determined, is common to economics, most social science, and behaviorism, Skinner's ideas have been treated more harshly by the general public. Why is this? What is it about the American political culture that rebels against the idea of behaviorism?
For Bellah et al.: Contrast the methods used
by Bellah and his associates with the methods
commonly used in survey research. Is the sociological/anthropological
approach with its reliance on qualitative data, any less "scientific"
than methods that rely on quantitative analysis of aggregate data? Please
explain your answer in detail.
For Glazer and Rothenberg: The implications of the “Five
Lessons” that your authors use in crafting a summary of their argument
(pp. 141-145) is that government really can only directly cause small changes
in our society. It is true that most
social scientific research explains on a small portion of the variation in the
dependant variable that is being studied and often causal relationships between
independent and dependant variables are poorly understood or even
unspecified. Does this mean that
political science is not a science in that it fails to meet one or more of the criteria
set out by Moti Ben-Ari?
All five essays must be printed on a word processor. Length of the essays is largely irrelevant beyond a certain minimum, and the correlation between length and grades is not very strong. These essays make up the bulk of the grade. They are not long, but they must be well crafted and thought out. I expect polished documents.
While these are reflection essays, and not research papers, some reference to authority is often part of such an essay. You are required to use the American Political Science Association style. A copy of the APSA Style manual can be found in the political science resource room, Br. 490.
Typographical errors and errors of usage and grammar will result in deductions from the grade. I do this because, in the real world, such errors do reduce the value of your work. Edit your essays carefully.
I am sadly compelled to include a word about academic honesty. You must do your own work on every single one of these essays. That means no copying of papers from the internet, or cutting and pasting content from the internet. You must also take great care to cite the sources of your ideas and you must never directly quote any language without appropriate citation. If I do catch someone in this class in an act of academic dishonesty, I will punish that as severely as university rules allow. That will mean an F for the assignment and a report to the Chair of political science, the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences and to the Student Judicial System. You do not want that to happen.