Public Affairs 5700: Rebuilding Failed and Weak States

By the end of the course, students should be able to talk confidently about the stages of building (and re-building) nation-states, explain how economic security and similar concepts relate to political stability, and recognize the “classic cases” of nation-state collapse and recreation. Students should feel comfortable recalling details about the nations examined in the course, including their inner cleavages, and should be able to accurately describe how other powers (NGOs, other nations, etc.) can impact the growth/decline of countries. Students will also become well-versed in the current norms of the international system.

By the end of this course, students should successfully be able to:

• Demonstrate ability to write a clear, concise, evidence-based public policy report
• Identify and explain in writing the democratization concepts govern modern western nations
• Identify the sources of conflict
• Identify and explain in writing examples of peace regime transitions
• Describe the democratization and political institutional factors necessary for peaceful regime transitions 
• Describe the specific political institutions and actors that led to ‘peaceful’ regime transitions in Ukraine from August 1991 February 2010
• Describe the specific political institutions and actors that led to ‘forceful’ regime transitions in Ukraine from September 2013 to March 2014 
• Identify and explain in writing examples of implosions
• Describe the factors leading from weak state to collapse
• Describe the specific cleavages that led to the Rwandan Genocide
• Identify and explain in writing examples of external military interventions
• Compare and contrast ‘successful’ and ‘unsuccessful’ external military interventions

This course may require materials. Consult your instructor's syllabus for details.

Class Participation: 15%

• Class attendance and discussions (max 5%)
• Online Chat Forum (1.25pts per forum; max 5%)
• In-class Congressional Testimony (max 5%)

Measuring Democracy Assignment: 10%

Group Project: Class Debate 10%

Two Case Analyses (20% Each): 40%

Final Exam (undergraduates) or Final Paper (graduates): 25%

Description: Transitioning to democracy and post-conflict nation-building are not spectator sports. Therefore, this is a participatory class. Students are expected to complete readings and actively participate in class discussions, mock Congressional Testimonies, online forums, and group projects. Cell phones are NOT to be used at all during this class. Laptop use is permitted during class SOLELY for notetaking for THIS class. 

Class participation represents 15% of total grade and is divided as follows:

• In-Class Attendance and Discussion. Critical assessment of the readings constitutes a major portion of each class activity. Thorough preparation is essential. The primary source of your learning in this course will take place in the classroom as you and your colleagues share your insights and engage each other in debate on alternatives or appropriate aid provision strategies. Although the assigned readings provide background material, attending class is essential, and is necessary for a satisfactory grade. Your in-class discussion participation represents 5% of your final course grade.
• Online Chat Forum Discussions (both undergraduate and graduate students): During the semester we will watch two films related to the course’s case studies. The first film is PBS’ “The Ghosts of Rwanda”, a graphic and searing documentary on the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The second film is PBS’ The Lost Year in Iraq”, a firsthand account of the challenges, failures, and ‘successes’ of the first year of US occupation of Iraq after external military intervention. We will examine these films in the context of their application to the democratization and rebuilding concepts discussed in class. For each of the films, each student will provide their personal, EVIDENCE-BASED assessment of the events depicted in the film via an online posting and will also be required to provide no less than two responses to classmates’ postings. 
  
  During the scheduled class period, the instructor(s) will be online and responding to online chat postings. Chat postings are expected to contain college level thought and analysis and to maintain OSU’s standards for online civility. Your online chat discussion participation represents 5% of your final course grade. We will also have other online discussions on technical and current event topics. Congressional Testimony Exercise Participation. After viewing an actual US Congressional Testimony online, we will have a class period wherein students will be separated into two groups and will engage in class in
  
  Guidance for acceptable personal posting and response postings:
  • Personal Postings
    • No less than two and no more than four paragraphs long
    • Each paragraph must be more than one sentence
    • Discuss what are the key democratization and rebuilding points
    • Stay focused and concise and do not delve into editorializing and hyperbole
    • Use active voice and the technical writing principles discussed in class.
  • Response Postings
    • No more than two paragraphs long
    • Address the key points and evidence presented in the student posting
    • Can be supportive or respectfully critical.
    • Use active voice and the technical writing principles
• Congressional Testimony Exercise Participation. After viewing an actual US Congressional Testimony online, we will have a class period wherein students will be separated into two groups and will engage in class in a mock Legislative Committee debate arguing the pros and cons of a specific USAID funding allocation or a State Department development decision. Your Congressional Testimony participation represents 5% of your final course grade.

(Both undergraduate and graduate students)

Collaboration optional

Description: Your first assignment will be to select a country of interest to you and examine its Freedom House rating score and categorization (free, partly free, and not free) over the last ten years. Drawing on secondary sources, you are to evaluate whether Freedom House has made the correct assessment. You will turn in a written analysis that includes three components: a summary of the Freedom House score and evaluation over the last ten years; a brief summary of key events in that country that pertain to the criteria that Freedom House uses in its evaluation; and an analysis of whether Freedom House has made the appropriate evaluation.  Your written analysis should be 1.5 to 2 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font with 1” margins. For each of these requirements that you breach, your grade for that case will decrease by 1/3 letter grade (i.e. A- to B+). Please either place your assignment in the relevant folder on the course’s Canvas website in MS Word format. 

You may do the assignment individually or in small groups of two to three people. If you elect to do the assignment with others, you will all receive the same grade. This assignment represents 10% of your final grade. In selecting a country, do not pick established democracies (i.e. those that Freedom House rates as “free”).  Instead, select a country that Freedom House has labeled as “partly free” or “not free”. For graduate students, you should select the country for which you plan to do your final paper. You cannot select one of the three countries we will examine in the cases: Ukraine, Rwanda or Iraq.

(Both undergraduate and graduate students):

During the semester, we will examine three cases of state failure and how one aid provider, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has attempted to assist these nations in the transition to democracy. The states for examination include: Ukraine, Rwanda and Iraq. For each case, your assignment will be to review the latest budget request and justification by USAID to the US Congress for the nation in question. More specifically, you will assess whether USAID has appropriately planned its expenditures in light of conceptual material we will cover in class. Think of yourself as a Congressional staffer writing a brief to a legislator on the congressional oversight committee. What’s USAID asking for? Will the agency’s proposed programs increase the chances of democratic consolidation? Why or why not? What else should USAID be doing? 

While there are three cases for examination during the quarter, you are only required to undertake TWO of the three cases. If you elect to undertake all three case studies, the lowest grade will be dropped. Of the two cases that will count, each is worth 20% of your final grade. 

Your written case analysis should be 4-5 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font with 1” margins. For each of these requirements that you breach, your grade for that case will decrease by 1/3 letter grade (i.e. A- to B+). Due dates for each case are listed in the course calendar. Please either place your assignment in the relevant folder on the course’s Canvas website in MS Word format.

The expectation is that everyone will read the case materials and think about the case questions regardless of whether you are turning in a case analysis that day.

Students will be separated into three groups to study and evaluate a sovereignty/separatism and ethnicity conflict and present informed, cogent arguments to support or refute the establishment of statehood. Again, thorough preparation is essential and it is expected that each group will use concepts discussed in class to support their respective arguments. The case study The Declarations of Independence: The Moldova-Pridnestrovie Conflict will provide the debate context. However, additional outside research is critical for supporting each group’s debate. All members of the group will receive the same grade and this group project represents 10% of your final course grade.

(undergraduate students only) / Final Paper (graduate students only):

During Finals Week, undergraduates will take an in-class final exam that assesses your knowledge of the content and concepts of the material covered in the course. The exam will cover all readings and class sessions. The exam will be composed of a series of short answer questions. The final exam represents 25% of your total course grade.

Graduate students enrolled in the course must complete a research paper examining and assessing development efforts in the transitioning or failed state you chose for the measuring democracy assignment. The paper can focus on the activities of one development organization (e.g. USAID) or multiple organizations. You should follow the basic outlines of the case analyses, but should also feel free to deviate from this structure by adding components as appropriate. 

The final paper should be 7-10 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font with 1” margins. You should cite all references. For each of these requirements that you breach, your grade for that case will decrease by 1/3 letter grade (i.e. A- to B+). The final paper is due by midnight on the same day as the Final Exam. The paper represents 25% of your total course grade.

As was the case with the Measuring Democracy assignment, you can do this assignment individually or in small groups of two. If you elected to do the measuring democracy assignment with other students, you are welcome to keep the group together, perform the assignment individually, or form a new pair. If you elect to form a new pair, you must team with someone who selected the same country as you for the measuring democracy assignment.