MVZ483 The International Relations of the V4 Countries

Fakulta sociálních studií
jaro 2014
Rozsah
1/1/0. 6 kr. Ukončení: zk.
Vyučující
Eszter Simon, Ph.D. (přednášející)
Mgr. et Mgr. Veronika Velička Zapletalová, Ph.D. (pomocník)
Garance
prof. PhDr. Petr Kaniok, Ph.D.
Katedra mezinárodních vztahů a evropských studií – Fakulta sociálních studií
Kontaktní osoba: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Dodavatelské pracoviště: Katedra mezinárodních vztahů a evropských studií – Fakulta sociálních studií
Rozvrh
St 15:15–16:45 U43
Předpoklady
-
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je určen pouze studentům mateřských oborů.

Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 48 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/48, pouze zareg.: 0/48
Mateřské obory/plány
Cíle předmětu
Course Description The common historical heritage and close proximity of the Visegrad (V4) countries make it crucial that we understand the shared and diverging interest of these countries in order to determine those areas where these states may strengthen their influence by working together. It is also important to understand the foreign policy choices of states in our immediate vicinity. Accordingly, this course will introduce students to the foreign policies of the V4 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland). In order to develop the analytical skills and abstract/theoretical thinking of students, the foreign policy choices of the V4 countries will be discussed in a theoretically driven framework. The course will start with a short introduction in which students acquire a working knowledge of the political systems and the most important domestic political issues of these countries. The course will then proceed by introducing students to some basic approaches used in the analysis of state’s foreign policy choices. As much as possible, this section will rely on studies relevant for this region. The last and largest section of the course will discuss the relations of the V4 countries to different organizations, regions, countries around the world, including the EU, Russia, and China. Learning outcomes By the end of this course, students will be able to: • Describe the domestic political context (institutions, culture, history, politics) motivating the foreign policy choices of the Visegrad countries • Become aware of the complex relationship between Central European states in their dealings with each other and the extra-Visegrad world. • Become familiar with the way theories should be applied to historical cases • Make theory-driven analysis of the foreign policies of the V4 countries
Osnova
  • Note on Academic Honesty Plagiarism and cheating are considered unacceptable academic practices. Plagiarism is understood as any usage of text of other author(s) – identical or paraphrased borrowing of an idea – without proper referencing. This includes copying or borrowing from other students or handing in work prepared by someone else than the student. For word by word references, please use quotation marks as well as references. For referencing consult the APSA style manual: http://www.ipsonet.org/data/files/APSAStyle Manual2006.pdf. The fact that you employ someone else's argument will not affect your grade negatively as long as you provide references. However, the instructor will make every effort to screen out cases of plagiarism. Any student caught on plagiarism will see their exercise receive a zero for a grade. If the same student will be caught on plagiarism a second time, the student will fail the course. Description of Classes SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION Week 1. Course Introduction Aim: This class’s aim is threefold: 1.) to get to know student expectations of the course and their conception of Visegrad countries, 2.) introduce students to the instructor and each other 3.) to review the syllabus and delineate expectations toward the course. Compulsory reading: - Homework assignment for next class: students are asked to check the validity of some of the information in the week 2 readings (such as governing party, parliamentary parties, name of prime minister, foreign minister, head of the republic) in order to call attention to the swiftly changing political landscape. Week 2. Introduction to Hungarian and Polish Politics Aim: This class as well as the next one aims at giving students a general introduction and working knowledge of the politics, economics, and history of the V4 countries to contextualize their foreign policies. Compulsory reading (one half of the class reads one, the other half the other reading): • Gebert, Constanty. 2010. “Poland since 1989: Muddling through, wall to wall (chapter 7).” In Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989, edited by Sabrina Ramet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 139-161. • Bozóki, András and Eszter Simon. 2010. “Hungary since 1989 (chapter 10). ” In Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989, edited by Sabrina Ramet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 204-232 (no need to read 213-214 on the political and electoral systems as it has changed). Homework assignment for next class: students are asked to check the validity of some of the information in week 3 readings such as governing party, parliamentary parties, name of prime minister, foreign minister, head of the republic) in order to call attention to the swiftly changing political landscape. Week 3. Introduction to Czech and Slovak Politics Aim: The aim of this class is to introduce students to the politics of Slovakia and the Czech Republic and relate this information to what they have learnt about Hungary and Poland at week 2. This class will also start preparing students for their final paper assignment by discussing the rules of academic argumentation. Compulsory reading (one half of the class reads one, the other half the other reading): • Skalnik Leff, Carol. 2010. “Building democratic values in the Czech Republic since 1989 (chapter 8).” In Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989, edited by Sabrina Ramet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 162-181. • Harris, Erika. 2010. “Slovakia since 1989 (chapter 9).” In Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989, edited by Sabrina Ramet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 182-203. SECTION 2: THE THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF ANALYZING FOREIGN POLICY. Week 4: A Constructivist explanation of Czech-Russian Relations Aim: Besides ensuring that students understand what rhetorical action is, students will be introduced to the difference between constructivist and positivist research. The class will also focus on the relationship between Russia and the Slovak Republic and will complement the discussion of week 14. Compulsory reading: • Kratochvíl, Petr, Petra Cibulková, and Vít Beneš. 2006. “Foreign policy, rhetorical action and the idea of otherness: The Czech Republic and Russia.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 39(4): 497-511. Week 5: Leader-driven Analysis: the Operational Code Analysis Aim: This class will be a purely theoretical class which serves the dual aim of ensuring that students understand the psychological foundations and the requirements of operational code analysis and introducing them to the major elements of social scientific research (research question, theory, hypotheses, variables,), including the rationale for using and building theories. Readings: • George, Alexander. 1969. “The ‘Operational Code’: A Neglected Approach to the Study of Political Leaders and Decision-Making” International Studies Quarterly 13 (2): 190-222 Homework assignment for next class: Students will be required to write 10 hypotheses related to foreign policy at least 4 of which will have to be related to V4 countries. They will have to clearly determine the dependent and independent variables of each hypothesis. Deadline: Beginning of class, week 5. Week 6: No class. Students will be required to attend a lecture by Dr. András Bozóki (Central European University) at a later date in the term. Note that the attendance of this lecture is compulsory and you may not choose to miss it. Week 7: Two-level games: Explaining Polish and Hungarian Accession Negotiations Aim: to make students understand that the analysis of domestic political factors and their influence on foreign policy can be made systematically. The secondary aim of the class is to explicate the nuts and bolts of theory-driven analysis. Compulsory readings: • Simon, Eszter. “Two-Level Games and the EU: A Case Study of Hungarian and Polish Accession Negotiations.” Unpublished manuscript (12 pages) Homework assignment for next class: Students will be assigned to groups and the each group will be assigned a workshop topic. As a first step in preparation for the workshop, students will write a 4 page long summary of the problem they were assigned. This summary does not have to be a fully rounded essay, maybe a draft or an outline, but rules of referencing must be adhered to. Deadline: beginning of class, week 8. Week 8: Path Dependency and the Foreign Aid structure of V4 Countries Aim: to give feedback to students on the lessons of the hypothesis exercise at week 5 by (anonymously) showing some good and problematic examples from their work and analyzing them; to make students understand what pass dependency is and how this approach is used to analyze the foreign aid practices of V4 countries. Compulsory readings: • Szent-Iványi, Balázs and András Tétényi. 2008. “Transition and Foreign Aid Policies in the Visegrád Countries: A Path Dependent Approach” Transition Studies Review 15(3): 573-587. • Meszerics, Tamás. 2004. “Domestic Sources of Hungarian Foreign Policy: Causes of Continuity” In Reshuffling the European Chessboard, edited by Marek Stastny and Barbora Gabrelova. Bratislava: Institute for Public Policy, 78-83. Week 9: Student presentation workshop. SECTION 3: THE RELATIONS OF THE V4 COUNTRIES WITH EACH OTHER AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORD Week 10: Intra-Visegrad Relations Aim: To discuss the possibilities and limits of the Visegrad cooperation with regard to the European Union; to help students find a final paper topic. Compulsory Reading: • Dangerfield, Martin. 2008. “The Visegrád Group in the Expanded European Union: From Preaccession to Postaccession Cooperation.” East European Politics & Societies 22(3): 630-667 Homework assignment for next class: in groups student will put together a 15 minute presentation outlining the problem they were assigned, discuss government reaction to it, and suggest a solution. Deadline: week 9 Week 11: The relationship of V4 countries and China Aim: to introduce students to the role China plays in the foreign (economic) relations of V4 countries. Compulsory reading: • Fürst, Rudolf. and Gabriela Pleschová. 2010. “ Czech and Slovak Relations with China: Contenders for China’s Favour.” Europe-Asia Studies 62 (8): 1363-1381. Week 12: Russia and the V4 Countries Aim: To understand the nature of the relationship with the V4 countries with a focus on Poland. Compulsory readings: • Freire, Maria Raquel. 2012. “Russia at the Borders of Central Europe: Changing Dynamics in Foreign Policy Relations.” In Regional and International Relations of Central Europe. Edited by Zlatko Šabic and Petr Drulák. Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan, 125-144. Week 13: NATO and the Security Policies of the V4 countries Aim: to make students see what roles can small states play in large security organizations through the example of the Czech Republic. Compulsory reading: • Michta, Andrew A. 2006. The Limits of Alliance: The United States, NATO, and the EU in North and Central Europe. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 99-124. Week 12: European Union: the Lisbon Treaty, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic Aim: to discuss the current role of V4 states in Europe from the point of view of the role of domestic politics in foreign policy making. Compulsory readings: • Lewis, Paul G.2010. “Poland: Domestic Discord makes for a problematic partner.” In National politics and European integration: from the constitution to the Lisbon Treaty, edited by Maurizio Carbone. Chelthenam, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishers, 108-125. • Henderson, Karen. 2010. “Czech Republic and Slovakia: party politics and the travails of ratification.” In National politics and European integration: from the constitution to the Lisbon Treaty, edited by Maurizio Carbone. Chelthenam, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishers, 197-214.
Výukové metody
Socratic method, group work, pair work, interactive lectures, problem-based learning
Metody hodnocení
Continuous assessment: • Regular class attendance Students may only miss two classes during the semester. For any additional classes missed, students must present a valid proof of the reason (doctor’s note in case of illness, obituary in case of death of a family member, etc.) in order to pass the course. If a valid proof is presented, the quizzes will be averaged on the basis of the number of quizzes actually written (minus the worst two – see details below). Attendance of the workshop is compulsory. Missing a class does not exempt students from submitting each exercise in a timely manner. • Active participation in class Students are expected to actively participate in class by asking and answering questions, and offering comments on the readings. Students will be asked to complete a few small exercises throughout the course the results of which will count against their participation grade. • Weekly Quizzes There is a substantial amount of reading for this course. Students are expected to finish readings prior to each class and bring a copy of the readings with them to class. To make sure that each student prepares regularly and, thus, to ensure the possibility of classroom discussion, each class will start with a short 10-minute quiz on the required readings for the given week. Quiz questions will be general, not requiring deep understanding of readings. Quizzes will consist of five short questions each worth 20 points (∑ 100). If a student fails to attend a class, his/her quiz will earn him/her 0 point. However, the results of the worst two quizzes will be automatically dropped when calculating the final grade. • Workshop presentation: Students will prepare group presentations (no more than 5 groups) on topics of current relevance. Topics may differ from year to year, depending on actual political developments. Students will be graded on the quality of their projects, the quality of the presentation and the degree of interaction in the Q&A periods. Students will be graded on the basis of their preparation for and presentation at the workshop. General expectations toward and guidelines for presentations: • Presentations should be between 10-15 minutes. They will be cut short if you run over time. • Start preparing in time and prepare thoroughly. • Prepare an outline for your presentation. Do not write your presentation word-by-word. It often makes presenters read out their presentations. This is not a reading aloud exercise. • Speak loudly and toward the audience. • Presenting in a foreign language is not easy. If you are not sure of yourself, practice your presentation at home. This is also a good way to measure the length of your presentation. • Focus on the important points. • While there is no sure recipe of a good presentation, it is recommended that o You start with announcing the topic of your presentation and say what your argument is and/or what steps you are taking your audience through to make your arguments. o to make sure your main points get through, you may want to repeat them a few times. o the concluding part gives you another chance to stress what the main points of your argument were. Final assessment: Students are required to submit a final paper, in which they will have to make a theoretically driven comparative study of at least two V4 countries. For this individual assignment, students are encouraged to work on the same topic as they did for their presentations. But if students wish, they may tackle any other topics that are related to the foreign relations of the Visegrad countries within or without the realm of issues discussed during the course. However, students will have to take a scholarly approach to them and analyze them from a theoretical point of view. Students will have to submit the paper in print following the same formal criteria: • Length: 45000 ± 200 words (approximately 10 pages) • Times New Roman font; font size 12; 1.5 spacing; 2 cm margins • Essays should come with a cover page, stating the title of the paper, the title of the course, the name of the student and the instructor, the name of the university, and the academic term. • They should have a short, 1-2 paragraphs-long introduction in which students state the position the research question, the theory used, the case analyzed and their argument;. a body, which contains a short summary of the theory, a short summary of the case analyzed and the analysis itself; and a paragraph-long conclusion, in which students summarize their argument and findings. Papers will be graded according to the quality of: • the research questions (students are advised to choose research questions that inquire into causal relationships, research questions should be small enough to be exhausted in the paper) • the succinct description of the theory applied (BA students may not have to use a theory) • the short summary of the cases studied (how much are they related to the research question? How clearly do they summarize the cases? How much has the cases summary been made with an eye for the theory/analysis?) • the analysis (does the student use the terminology of the theories? If so, how well?) Grading Policy When calculating the final grade, the assessment criteria discussed above will be taken into account with the following weight: In-class participation: 20% Quizzes: 30% Workshop presentation: 20% Final paper: 30%
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Další komentáře
Předmět je vyučován jednorázově.
Předmět je zařazen také v obdobích jaro 2015.