Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Kent State University/Capitalism and Democracy (Spring)

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Course name
Capitalism and Democracy
Institution
Kent State University
Instructor
Mark Cassell
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Political Science
Course dates
2019-01-14 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-05-07 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
10


The course examines the conceptual definitions of capitalism and democracy and outlines theoretical perspectives on their relationship. Drawing on a variety of international and historical examples, we explore the arguments as to why these two institutional systems might support, or instead undermine, each other. The Wikipedia assignment will supplement a median-length research paper.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Jbracale Compilation and Translation Bureau
Jdicke16
Zparker777
Royo322
Kflynn12 Wethersfield, Connecticut
Dbattis3 The First Chechan War
Ericngros
Matthewdrago Rapprochement
Cdalfons History of Singapore Singapore parliament
Dtaylo78
Emorale9
Polymoog19 Russian Federation

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Tuesday, 15 January 2019   |   Thursday, 17 January 2019
Assignment - Introduction

Readings:

  • Almond, Gabriel 1991. Capitalism and Democracy PS: Political Science and Politics 24(3): 467-474

Questions to consider:

  1. What is the relationship between capitalism and democracy?
  2. How does Almond define capitalism and democracy?
  3. Can you think of current examples that support the causal

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 January 2019   |   Thursday, 24 January 2019
Assignment - What do we mean by democracy?

Readings:

  • Dahl, Robert. 2000. On Democracy New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, Chapters 1-7.

 Recommended readings:

  • Schumpeter, Joseph. 2010. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. London: Routledge Press.
  • Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (2015). The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton University Press.

Questions to consider:

  1. How does democracy develop?
  2. What are the conditions that favor democracy?
  3. How many countries are currently democratic?
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:

Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 29 January 2019   |   Thursday, 31 January 2019
Assignment - What are the varieties of democracy?

Readings:

  • Dahl, Robert. 2000. On Democracy New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, Chapters 9-12.

Questions to consider:

  1. What are the limits of democracy?
  2. How do different electoral systems shape democracy?
  3. What are the conditions for democracy?

Writing Assignment:

  • Half-page research paper topic proposal due in class January 31st.
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Exercise

Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 February 2019   |   Thursday, 7 February 2019
Assignment - Features of Capitalism

Reading:

  • Bowles, Samuel, Richard Edwards, and Frank Roosevelt 2005. “Chapter 6: Capitalism as an Economic System” in Understanding Capitalism.
  • Cryan, Dan, Sharron Shatil, and Piero. Introducing Capitalism: A Graphic Guide. Pp. 1-51

Recommended:

  • Coates, David. 2016. Capitalism: the Basics, London: Routledge Press.

Questions to consider:

  1. What features distinguish capitalism?
  2. How did we get capitalism?
  3. What are the conditions the enable capitalism to flourish?
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise

Evaluate an article

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 February 2019   |   Thursday, 14 February 2019
Assignment - Varieties of Capitalism

Readings:

  • Bresser-Pereira, Luiz Carlos. 2012. “Five Models of Capitalism” Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 32(1): 21-31.
  • Soskice, David and Peter Hall. 2001. “An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism” in Soskice and Hall (eds.) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford Press. Read pages 1-33 and skim the rest.

Recommended:

  • Albert, Michel. 1993. Capitalism vs. Capitalism. London, Whurr Publishers.
  • Thurow, Lester.  2012. Head to Head. New York, Harper Collins.

Questions to consider:

  1. What are the different models of capitalism?
  2. What do they share in common? What are their differences?
  3. What is a coordinated market economy?
  4. What is a liberal market economy?
Assignment - Add to an article

Exercise

Add a citation

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 February 2019   |   Thursday, 21 February 2019
Assignment - Capitalism Promotes Democracy

Readings:

Recommended readings:

  • Inglehart, R. (2000). Globalization and postmodern values. The Washington Quarterly, 23(1), 215-228.
  • Mcfaul, M. (2000). Russian democracy: Still not a lost cause. The Washington Quarterly, 23(1), 161-172.
  • Novak, M. (2013, September 24). Democratic Capitalism. National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/2013/09/democratic-capitalism-michael-novak/
  • Hadar, L. (2013, March 13). How Capitalism Saved Chile. The American Conservative.

Questions to consider:

  1. How does capitalism support democracy?
  2. How is peace connected to capitalism?
  3. What are Friedman and Bush's arguments?

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 February 2019   |   Thursday, 28 February 2019
Assignment - Capitalism Undermines Democracy

Readings:

  • Charles Lindblom. 1984. “The Market as Prison” in The Political Economy (eds.) Thomas Ferguson and Joel Rogers. (Blackboard Learn)
  • Crain, Caleb. (2018, May 14).  Capitalism a Threat to Democracy? The New Yorker Magazine.
  • Dahl, Robert. On Democracy, Chapter 14.

Recommended:

  • Löwy, M. (2015). Capitalism Vs. Democracy in Europe. Against The Current, 30(178), 10-12.
  • Stilwell, Frank. 2012, Political Economy: The Contest of Economic Ideas, Oxford University Press, Australia
  • Howard, M & King, J 1976, ‘Introduction,' in M Howard & J King (eds.), The Economics of Marx: Selected Readings of Exposition and Criticism, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, pp. 9-47

Questions to consider:

  1. What are the threats to democracy?
  2. What role do corporations play in shaping public policy?
  3. Why has authoritarianism been making a comeback?
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Political Science

Sociology

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 March 2019   |   Thursday, 7 March 2019
Assignment - Capitalism as an Authoritarian Tool

Reading:

 

Questions to consider:

  1. How has capitalism enabled authoritarian regimes to strengthen their power?
  2. Does China point to a new model of economic and political development?
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

In class - Discussion

Thinking about Wikipedia

Milestones

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 March 2019   |   Thursday, 14 March 2019
Assignment - Dark Money Film

        Readings:

Recommended:

Question to consider:

  1. How does money affect elections?
  2. How do other countries do campaign finance?
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 March 2019   |   Thursday, 21 March 2019
Assignment - Can Democracy Promote Capitalism

Readings: 

Recommended:

  • Moore, Barrington.  1993. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Reprint edition. Boston: Beacon Press.
  • Huber, Evelyne, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and John D. Stephens. “The Impact of Economic Development on Democracy.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 7, no. 3 (July 1, 1993): 71–86.
  • Therborn, Goran: The Rule of Capital and the Rise of Democracy,” New Left Review 103:3-41.
  • Diamond, Larry. (2012, January 24). Why East Asia – Including China – Will Turn Democratic Within a Generation. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/why-east-asia-including-china-will-turn-democratic-within-a-generation/251824/

Questions to consider:

  1. How does Olson view the relationship between democracy and development?
  2. What is it about democracy that enables markets to thrive?
  3. Is promoting democracy in the Middle East a pathway to prosperity?

Writing Assignment:

  • First Draft of research paper due in class March 21st. 
Assignment - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 2 April 2019   |   Thursday, 4 April 2019
Assignment - How does Democracy undermine Capitalism

Readings:

  • F.A. Hayek Road to Serfdom, Chapter 5 “Planning and Democracy.”
  • Przeworski, A. (1992). The Neoliberal Fallacy. Journal of Democracy,3(3), 45-59   

Recommended:

Questions to consider:

  1. How does democracy stifle capitalism?
  2. What evidence is there that elections lead to market failures and market distortions?
  3. What is the neoliberal fallacy?
  4. What is Hayek’s argument?
Assignment - Polish your work

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 9 April 2019   |   Thursday, 11 April 2019
Assignment - Democracy and the Global Financial Crisis

Reading:

  • Cassell,  Mark. 2019. “The Global Economy and the “Great Recession” in K. Larres and R. Wittlinger (eds.) Understanding Global Politics London: Routledge Press.
  • Blyth, Mark. 2013. The Austerity Delusion: Why a Bad Idea Won Over the West Foreign Affairs, 92(3) (MAY/JUNE 2013), 41-56.

Recommended Readings:

  • Gosling, J. J., & Eisner, M. A. (2013). “The Great Recession” Economics, Politics, and American public policy. Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe.

Questions to consider:

  1. Is the global recession an example of capitalism harming democracy or democracy harming capitalism?
  2. What led a US recession to become a global recession?

Writing Assignment:

  • Peer review of a colleague’s research paper due April 11.

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 16 April 2019   |   Thursday, 18 April 2019
Assignment - Global Financial Crisis

Film: The Great Euro Crisis

Reading:

  • Krugman, Paul. 2011. Can Europe be Saved? New York Times Magazine, January 11.

Questions to consider:

  1. What contributed to Europe’s economic crisis?
  2. What democratic steps need to occur for Europe’s capitalist systems to function?
  3. Is capitalism compatible with democracy in Europe?
In class - In-class presentation

Guiding questions

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 23 April 2019   |   Thursday, 25 April 2019
In class - Student Presentations

Week 15

Course meetings
Tuesday, 30 April 2019   |   Thursday, 2 May 2019
In class - Student Presentations
Assignment - Final Exam and Paper

Final Exam  12:45-3pm  Final paper Due on May 7th.  

Assignment - Reflective essay

Guiding questions

Assignment - Original analytical paper

Write a paper going beyond your Wikipedia article to advance your own ideas, arguments, and original research about your topic.

Assignment - Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
  • Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.

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