International Organization (Course number POL 550, Intructor: James Raymond Vreeland, Professor 2.0)

International Organization (Course number POL 550)

Classroom location: Corwin Hall 127
Class day & time: Wednesday, 1:30-4:20pm

Instructor: James Raymond Vreeland
Email: jrv@princeton.edu
Office Location: 2-N-5 Green Hall

Office hours: Thursday, 2-5pm
(to make an appointment through WASE – click here)

This web-syllabus is designed to be used throughout the semester. Below you will find links to the readings for each of the 12 class sessions. Students visiting this page for the first time should read through the entire syllabus: the course description, the course requirements, and the course outline. If you have any questions or comments about the web page or the course, please contact me.

Course Description

Feb 26: The World Bank

Mar 4: Regional versions of the BWI's

Mar 11: The EU

Mar 25: The United Nations – General Assembly and Security Council

Apr 1: The United Nations – peacekeeping missions and human rights treaties

Apr 8: Institutional design and proliferation

Apr 15: International courts and the enforcement of international law

Apr 22: Rising Chinese institutions

Apr 29: IO's – democratization and data production

Course Description:

What are International Organizations (IOs) and what role do they play in world politics? In this course we will study various IOs, considering their historical origins, ostensible functions, the international and domestic political forces that impact their operations, and their effectiveness.

We will begin the course by addressing some overarching theoretical and methodological issues so that we have a core set of analytical tools we can apply to our study of specific IOs. From a theoretical perspective, we will consider various paradigms, such as realist, liberal, bureaucratic, and constructivist. From a methodological point of view, we will be concerned with questions of endogeneity and non-random selection. That is, separating the circumstances under which IOs take action from the inherent effects of their actions.

Delving into specific IOs, we begin with the Bretton Woods institutions: the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. We then turn to regional versions of these institutions as well as the European Union. Next, we study the United Nations (General Assembly, Security Council, human rights, and peacekeeping operations). As we close out the semester, we turn to broader themes, such as the design of international institutions, international courts and the enforcement of international law, and the changing landscape of international organizations as emerging markets – mainly China – assert themselves as bigger players on the international stage.

The challenges of trying to understand the interests, institutions, and information of actors in an international context are great, and much remains to be learned. The course is designed not just to familiarize students with IOs, but also to stimulate their curiosity about questions that really have yet to be answered satisfactorily. An important goal of the course is also the equip students with the analytical tools required to address such questions.

Requirements:
The course has four basic requirements: (1) participation as a paper presenter, (2) participation as a discussant, (3) ungraded short writing assignments, and (4) a paper.

(1) Participation as a paper presenter (25%):
I would like to run the first part of each class like an APSA panel. Each paper will be presented by one student – with slides – and a 9 minute time limit. There will be about 6 papers each week, so this should take an hour.

Why are we going to do this? Distilling the essential parts of a paper is a skill. Many scholars don't have it. This is why many presentations are unfocused and go over time. In this course, you are going to master the short presentation. This skill will serve you well. We will have about 66 papers to present, and there are currently 14 students enrolled. So you can expect to make about 5 presentations throughout the semester. We'll assign the papers on a rotating basis, according the alphabetic order. (So, during week 2, Mr. Amusu will go first, followed by Ms. Barron, etc.) We are going to have fun with this aspect of the course, and you're all going to leave this class as expert presenters!

(2) Participation as a discussant (25%):
After the presentations, we'll take a break. Then we'll do the "discussant" part of the class. Obviously, half the class won't be presenting each week (e.g., Ms. Zeng will not present week 2). On weeks where you are not a presenter, you will serve as a discussant. You should plan to have 5-10 minutes of comments prepared. This part of the class will be less structured. Students will be encouraged to pose questions and make suggestions. The discussion should highlight critiques of the week's readings – and offer constructive ideas to pursue in future research projects.

(3) Ungraded short writing assignments (10% – students are required to submit assignments each week for credit, but the content is ungraded):

Short assignments are designed to help you build toward your final paper. The key to good writing is writing a lot – without anxiety. And the key to writing a long paper is putting together a series of components of a paper. So, the short assignments will be (1) weekly, (2) ungraded, and (3) pertain to various aspects of your eventual long paper: the question, the literature, your theory, your method, your analysis, and your results.

The main requirement here is to submit evidence of progress on the final paper each week. Students are welcome to re-submit the same aspect of their paper multiple times with additional development. Below, I propose a series of assignments that may be useful to follow. But as a student's specific project unfolds, it may make sense to deviate from this proposed plan.

Short writing assignments:

CLICK HERE FOR ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Note that there are 9 assignments listed, but we have 12 weeks of class. That's because some assignments will take more than one try :-)

All short written assignments are due electronically by 10am on Wednesday before class. Please upload them to Blackboard. Assignments should be double-spaced with 12-point font and (at least) 1 inch margins.

(4) A paper.

The paper can be co-authored and all papers (co- or single-authored) will be held to the same standard. One approach is extending a replication of previously published research.

Course Outline

Feb 5: Introduction