Course Information
Course title
Political Science (Ⅰ) 
Semester
110-1 
Designated for
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DIVISION  
Instructor
CHANG, KUEI-MIN 
Curriculum Number
PS1005 
Curriculum Identity Number
302E10110 
Class
02 
Credits
3.0 
Full/Half
Yr.
Half 
Required/
Elective
Preassign 
Time
Friday 6,7,8(13:20~16:20) 
Remarks
Restriction: students whose last two digits of their student ID are divisible by 3 with the remainder of 2
The upper limit of the number of students: 80.
The upper limit of the number of non-majors: 10. 
 
Course introduction video
 
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning
Course Syllabus
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Course Description

This one-year course is an introduction to the field of political science through a survey of the major issues and questions of politics from a comparative perspective. The first semester will be devoted to understanding how and why countries become democracies, and when democracies remain stable forms of government. After an introduction to important issues within political science (such as what is politics, what is the comparative approach, what is the state, what are the fundamental differences between authoritarian and democratic governments), we will investigate questions about how modern democracies function. Is economic development critical to stable democracy? Does a population need particular cultural characteristics for its government to function democratically? What are the effects of regime type on economic growth and government performance? How important are political parties to democracy? The goal of these themes is for students to develop analytic tools for understanding various political systems and evaluating the proper nature of our society.
In the second semester, we will explore a choice of topics, such as human rights, political ideologies, secularisms, social movements and contentious politics, economic inequality and welfare states, nationalism and national identity, and so on. Parallel goals of this semester include developing research and writing skills. Together, these objectives help form the foundation for future coursework in the discipline and should help students make informed judgments about the political world around them.

Meeting info for the first three weeks:
Meeting Link: https://ntucc.webex.com/ntucc/j.php?MTID=m693eac0ae7bd6167a6124d334df769ac
Meeting number: 2514 122 2424
Password: qsVSTPCD778 

Course Objective
This one-year course helps form the foundation for future coursework in political science and should help students make informed judgments about the political world around them. 
Course Requirement
The course grade will be based on two exams (60%), weekly reading comments and questions (20%), and discussion section participation (20%).  
Student Workload (expected study time outside of class per week)
 
Office Hours
Appointment required. Note: By appointment. 
Designated reading
There are no required books for purchase. Three books from which relatively long sections have been assigned have been placed on reserve. These are Clark, Golder, and Golder, Principles of Comparative Politics; Shively, Power and Choice: An Introduction to Political Science; and Garner, Ferdinand, and Lawson, Introduction to Politics. Book chapters from other books, and journal articles, are available on NTU COOL.
The Course Reserves section is located on the first floor of the Koo Chen-Fu Memorial Library.  
References
 
Grading
 
No.
Item
%
Explanations for the conditions
1. 
Exams 
60% 
The two in-class exams are open-book exams. You may consult lecture notes and course readings. You may choose either English or Chinese to write your exams. The use of electronic devises is not permitted. The final exam is cumulative. The midterm will be on November 12 and the final will be held on January 7. We arrange for your two exams to be graded by different TAs, which we hope helps to even out the disparities that may arise from differences among graders. The exams are intended to assess whether you are doing the reading and attending the lectures. A grade of A means you answered each question accurately and fully. If you ever have a concern about how you have been graded, the first step is to bring your concerns to the person who graded your work. The policy for doing so is the following: (1) You must, in writing, describe what you feel constitutes the correct answer. (2) You must, in writing, describe how your work meets the standard described in (1). Your grader will then read and evaluate your arguments for a different grade, and will reply in writing. If you ask to have the grade reconsidered, the grader has the right to change your grade to a better grade, change it to a worse grade, or leave it unchanged. 
2. 
Reading comments and questions 
20% 
You are expected to form a study group of 3 to 5 students and sign up on NTU COOL by September 26. Each group is responsible for posting comments and questions, either in English or Chinese, on one of the weekly assigned readings through the discussion section on NTU COOL. The deadline is 17:00 on Thursday. Please limit your postings to six lines of text. In your comments, you should address at least one of the following: (1) What is the author’s research question and why is it important? (2) What is the author’s argument? (3) Is the argument convincing and why? (4) Does the evidence provided by the author support the argument and why? Your questions can be specific to the reading (e.g. theories, methods, and evidence) or about a broader issue related to the reading. You will be assigned a group if you have not signed up for one by September 26. The grade for reading comments and questions will be based on knowledge of the material and on your understanding of how this knowledge applies to related political issues. 
3. 
Discussion sections 
20% 
Discussion sections begin the second week of class. The teaching fellows will conduct the discussion in Mandarin. The weekly discussion sections offer an opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion about topics covered in lecture and in the assigned readings. We will structure the discussion according to the questions posted on NTU COOL the day before. Each group is expected to have read other groups’ postings and actively participate in the discussion. The participation grade will be based on attendance and the quality of participation in section discussions.  
 
Progress
Week
Date
Topic
Week 1
9/24  Introduction 
Week 2
10/1  What Is Politics? 
Week 3
10/8  Frameworks for Understanding Politics 
Week 4
10/15  The Origins of the Modern State 
Week 5
10/22  Democracy and Dictatorship: Conceptualization and Measurement 
Week 6
10/29  The Economic Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship  
Week 7
11/5  The Cultural Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship 
Week 8
11/12  Mid-Term Exam 
Week 9
11/19  Democratic Transitions 
Week 10
11/26  Democracy or Dictatorship: Does It Make a Difference? 
Week 11
12/3  NTU Sports Day 
Week 12
12/10  Varieties of Dictatorship  
Week 13
12/17  Varieties of Democracy 
Week 14
12/24  Elections and Electoral Systems 
Week 15
12/31  Make-up holiday for the National Founding Day 
Week 16
1/7  Final Exam