Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
[Please note that this class will be conducted online. The instructor will provide the link for the online classes].
This course examines the historical major economic, political, and social changes in the Asia-Pacific economy. These include factors contributing to increases in economic performance, changes in the form of government, technological change (including industrialization), and episodes of integration and disintegration of the global economy. Can there be development outside of a state structure? What is the role of economic organizations of society in development? These are some of the questions that we examine in these, and in so doing, we will survey some of the major theoretical approaches to understanding the politics of economic development.
Emphasis is on institutional changes in how societies organize economic and political activities as well as on variation in development among geographic regions. Using this background, the course takes up some key issues facing nation-states, including foreign trade and investment, debt, aid, and agents of change. Political economy is a core course for any political science degree at any level. The knowledge and the ability to methodically and empirically analyse how politics and economics interact is fundamental in the scientific and empirical study of politics and international relations.
能力項目說明
Upon satisfactory completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Read original articles in political science and international relations, political economy, economic history, and development studies journals;
2. Have the knowledge and skills to analyse and evaluate the various theoretical approaches to political economy;
3. Understand how the international economic system operates and understand the various mechanisms by which economies develop;
4. Apply political science, economic and development theories and analysis to historical and contemporary episodes of contemporary political-economic issues;
5. Understand the different perspectives and theories of development and change in the modern era;
6. Analyse the competing interests, motivations and rhetoric of key stakeholders and interest groups;
7. Conduct research and think critically and to develop academic writing styles to suit different purposes;
8. Understand the issues and processes described and to relate them to current affairs and present-day issues of significance;
9. Write well-structured, coherent, and concise essays that synthesize ideas as presented in discussion, readings, and research materials.
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
Course schedule and required readings:
Sep 10 Introduction to the course
Sep 17
Olson, Mancur. 1993. “Dictatorship, Democracy and Development.” American Political Science Review 87 (3): 567-576.
Olson, Mancur. 1996. “Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk: Why Some Nations are Rich and Others Poor.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 10 (2): 3-24.
Harford, Tim. 2006. The Undercover Economist. New York: Oxford University Press. (Chapters 8, 10)
Sep 24/ Oct 1 (all students will write a summary)
Bates, Robert. 2001. Prosperity and Violence: The Political Economy of Development. New York: Free Press.
Oct 8/Oct 15/Oct22
White, T. Lynn. 2009. Political Booms: Local Money and Power in Taiwan, East China, Thailand and the Philippines. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. (Chapters 1, 4, 5)
Haggard, Stefan. 1990. Pathways from the Periphery. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. (Chapters 1, 2, 6)
Video: “Inside Japan Inc.”
Oct 29/Nov 5
Fields, Karl J. 1995. Enterprise and the State in Korea and Taiwan. Ithaca: NY: Cornell University Press. (Chapters 1, 2, 3)
Video: “Big Business and the Ghost of Confucius”
Nov 12/Nov 19
Wade, Robert. 1990. Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. (Chapters 1, 2, 3)
Video: “Industrial Policy”
Nov 26
Nooruddin, Irfan. 2012. Coalition Politics and Economic Development. New York: Oxford University Press. (Chapters 1, 2, 3)
Dec 3/Dec 10
Clark, Cal and Alexander C. Tan. 2012. Taiwan’s Political Economy: Meeting Challenges, Pursuing Progress. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishing. (Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5)
Video: “The Fight for Democracy”
Dec 17
Heo, U. and Tan, AC. 2003. ‘Political Choices and Economic Outcomes: A Perspective on the Differential Impact of the Financial Crisis on South Korea and Taiwan’, Comparative Political Studies, 36(6), pp. 679–698. doi: 10.1177/0010414003254192.
Tan, AC., 2001. “Taiwan: Sustained state autonomy and a step back from liberalization,” in Shale Horowitz and Uk Heo (eds.) The political economy of international financial crises: Interest groups, ideologies, and institutions, pp.165-176. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Tan AC. 2009. “The Politics of Financial Reform in Taiwan: Actors, Institutions, and the Changing State. Asian Affairs: An American Review 36(4): 201-212.
Dec 24
Magcamit MI. and Tan AC. 2015. “Crouching tiger, lurking dragon: understanding Taiwan's sovereignty and trade linkages in the twenty-first century.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 15(1): 81-112
Clark C., Tan AC. and Ho K. 2018. “Confronting the Costs of its Past Success: Revisiting Taiwan’s Post-authoritarian Political and Economic Development.” Asian Politics & Policy 10(3): 460-484.
He, Tian. 2020. Transforming the East Asian developmental state: Democratic mobilisation and the role of the middle class. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics 6 (2): 109-126.
Dec 31
Manacsa RC. and Tan AC. 2012. "Strong republic" sidetracked: Oligarchic dynamics, democratization, and economic development in the Philippines. Korea Observer 43(1): 47-88.
He, Tian. 2020. “Towards a theory of the transformation of the developmental state: Political elites, social actors and state policy constraints in South Korea and Taiwan.” Japanese Journal of Political Science, 21(2), 47-67. doi:10.1017/S1468109919000197
Thurbon, Elizabeth. 2020. “The Future of Financial Activism in Taiwan? The Utility of a Mindset-centred Analysis of Developmental States and Their Evolution.” New Political Economy, 25:3, 320-336, DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2018.1562436
Video: “Will Robots Disrupt East Asia’s Development Model? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_-3K0lPDL0)
Jan 7 Final exam
Course requirements:
1) Summaries (15%). Students will be assigned to summarize three (3) readings for the whole semester. The summary must contain the main arguments of the readings – theory, hypotheses, findings, and conclusions. In writing the summary, students are also required to submit three (3) questions from or about the reading that can be used for class discussion. The summary will have a word count of 900-1000 words (not including the discussion questions). This summary will be submitted to the instructor and the teaching assistant 24 hours before class time.
2) Reading presentation (15%). Each student will be assigned to do two (2) presentations of the readings in class – one presentation in each half of the semester – of the reading that they have been assigned to summarize. Each presentation should be 15 minutes in length. To do the reading presentations, students are required to prepare five (5) presentation slides (PowerPoint) that contain the main points of the arguments presented in the reading. The presentation slides will be submitted to the instructor and the teaching assistant 24 hours before class time.
3) Class attendance and participation (10%). As this class is a postgraduate-level paper, students are expected to have read the materials/readings prior to each class. The seminar format of the class requires students to meaningfully participate in the discussion of the readings assigned for the class day.
4) Final exam (60%). This in-class closed-book three (3) hour final exam is scheduled on the last lecture day (January 7, 2025) of our semester. The final exam is an assessment of the student’s mastery and knowledge of all the materials (lectures, readings, films, etc.) covered in the course this semester.