WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER COLLEGE
BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE DIVISION
GENERAL COURSE OUTLINE
PSC 250 Comparative Politics (3-0) 3
Course Course Course Title Lec-Lab Credit
Prefix Number Hours
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Explores the politics of selected countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and/or the Middle
East. Examines economics, social and political patterns and problems in different nations.
TOPICAL OUTLINE
I. Introduction and a Framework for Studying Comparative Politics
II. Examination of Western and Non-Western Countries with respect to political parties, political
culture, governing institutions, and policies
III. Review and Overview
METHOD OF PRESENTATION
1. Lecture
2. Films
3. Required texts
4. Articles
5. Class discussions and simulations
6. Guest lecturers
STUDENT OUTCOMES (The student should . . . )
1. Explain and compare the significant types of political systems existing in the world today and
describe a real life example of each.
2. Critique newspaper articles and apply them to concepts from the text.
3. Investigate and explain the politics and economy of one major county in depth.
4. Compare and analyze elements of the political and economic systems of one country to that of
another.
5. Compare and evaluate the politics of different countries by placing them on a continuum between
democracy and authoritarian rule.
METHOD OF EVALUATION
1. Written and oral journal article reviews
2. Annotated scrapbooks of newspaper articles
3. Class simulation
4. Country background reports
5. Written and oral exams on assigned readings
TEXTBOOKS
Dunn. American Government in Comparative Perspective, 2nd ed. Allyn & Bacon
Mahler, Gregory S., Comparative Politics: An Institutional and Cross-National Approach, 4th ed,
Prentice Hall, 2002.
Prepared by: Bobby Summers
Fall, 2006
