PS 12: Introduction to Political Science
Instructor: Rod Kiewiet, 332b Baxter Class meeting times: Monday -- Wednesday -- Friday, 1-2 pm Location: 25 Baxter
Course Description
In this course we will use basic principles of political theory to analyze phenomena ranging from anarchy to democratic representative government to totalitarianism. I have assembled a fairly eclectic set of readings, which I hope you will find to be of value. In addition to the readings, you will also view three movies that bring some of the topics covered in this class to the big screen. There are no recitation sections.
Because much of the material covered in the lectures is not covered in the readings, regular attendance will be required to obtain a good grade (which means at least a C if you choose to take the course on a pass-fail basis). Your grade will be based upon two 4-5 page papers and a closed-book final. Please save all your work in a .pdf file, but turn in paper copy instead of emailing it to me or to one of the TA's. After it has been graded, your work will be placed in one of the baskets, marked accordingly, on the table outside my office on the third floor of Baxter Hall.
Files
Announcements
I handed out copies of some chapters from Thinking Strategically, by Dixit and Nalebuff. They should be read after Evolution of Cooperation. If you do not have a copy of this reading, please let me know.
The first movie of the term, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, will be shown on Wednesday night at 8:00 P.M. in 25 Baxter.
The second movie of the term, Thirteen Days, will be shown on Wednesday night, Oct. 19th at 8 P.M. in 25 Baxter.
IMPORTANT: On Friday, Nov. 11th, class will meet in BBB 24, instead of Bax 25, at the usual time, 1-2 pm.
Links
Below are some pointers to places on the Web where you can find out more about some of the topics we've discussed in class.
- The St. Peteresburg Paradox
Go to http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/paradox-stpetersburg for a very nice discussion of this gambling problem. Even though I am not aware that this game has actually ever been played, it is particularly useful for demonstrating the nature of utility functions, declining marginal utility, and risk aversion.
- Evolution of Cooperation
Axelrod's work has inspired a large amount of subsequent research. The following articles do a nice job of summarizing this research and evaluating what is good about it and what is not so good. The first is "Twenty Years on: The Evolution of Cooperation Revisited," by Robert Hoffman, in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation . It is at http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/3/2/forum/1.html
The second is a review of Axelrod's follow-up book, The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration, by Ken Binmore. It also appears in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, and can be found at http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/1/1/review1.html