AVAILABLE NOW! See below for copies of the final exam study guide and the final exam take-home essay questions. In addition, I have posted assignments from a previous quarter. It is highly likely that the written assignments in this class will be very similar to or exactly the same as those that appear below. If you wish to get a head start, then, you would be well served by looking very carefully as the assignments below. At the bottom of the page, you will also find "tips" for preparing for the midterm and final exam.
1. FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE • Winter 2008

Click on the link above to download a copy of the study guide for the final examination.
2. FINAL EXAM ESSAY QUESTIONS • Winter 2008

The final exam is composed of a take-home essay portion and in-class test. You can download the essay questions here (available as a PDF file). Read the assignment and questions carefully. If you have any questions, please let me know sooner rather than later. You can e-mail me directly or ask questions in class next week.


FINAL EXAM QUESTION (Previous class)

Students: Please review the following multi-part question for the final exam. Either the exact same question or something very similar will appear on the final exam, so be prepared.

You have been asked by the incoming superintendent for the Los Angeles country school district to explain why American students do relatively poorly in mathematics and other subjects. As student of comparative politics, of course, you learned that one important why to answer questions about complex social phenomenon is through comparative analysis. To this end, your first step is to set up a mixed design to identify certain key variables. Your preliminary research has revealed the following information (NOTE: for the purposes of this question, consider all the information below to be factually correct and accurate):

  • South Korea, which is very different from the United States in terms of its level of economic development, type of educational system, social and cultural values and practices, and so on, has the highest mathematical problem-solving scores in the world.
  • Canada, which is very similar to the United States, scores significantly higher than the United States with regard to mathematical literacy (Canada is 5th while the US is 25th).
  • In Belgium, the scores on mathematical literacy vary widely between the country's two ethnic groups, the Flemish and the Walloon: thus, while the mean scores on the math scale for the Flemish community were higher than those in the best-performing OECD countries, Finland and South Korea, the means scores for the Walloon community were only "average" (and very close to the US score).
  • The US spends more on education than most other countries, but Finland spends the most. However, in general, Finland ranks very high in terms of international scores on mathematics, while the US has among the lowest scores.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BASED ON THE INFORMATION ABOVE (FOR THE FINAL EXAM, ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDED):

a. Logically speaking, can South Korea be compared to the US? If so, what specific comparative strategy should be used? Provide a brief, but accurate explanation that refers to key principles of comparative methodology.

b. Logically speaking, can Canada be compared to the US? If so, what specific comparative strategy should be used? Provide a brief, but accurate explanation that refers to key principles of comparative methodology.

c. What specific sub-national comparison could be used? In this comparison, what would be the basic logic and strategy? (HINT: a sub-national comparison focuses on cases within a country.) Provide a brief, but accurate response.

d. Would it make sense to compare the United States and Finland? Why or why not? (HINT: think about this question carefully; consider what a comparison could tell us about a specific variable.)
Mini-essay Assignment No. 3 (Previous class)

Answer ONE of the following two questions:

1. Many observers-journalists, pundits, religious leaders, politicians, and even academics-argue that Arab Islamic culture is inherently and fundamentally inhospitable to democracy. As a comparativist who understands cultural, structural and rationalist approaches, you are extremely skeptical of such arguments. Your task, then, is to write an essay that refutes the simplistic premise that “Arab Islamic culture” and democracy are forever incompatible. In so doing, you must integrate insights from all three research traditions (cultural, structural and rational) and you must support your argument with useful, relevant, and logically compelling comparisons.

2. You have been asked by a group of prominent American Christian leaders to explain why Islam is not a religion of violence and terrorism. At the same time, you must also explain why there seems to be such a strong and intimate connection with Islam and terrorism today. In other words, you need to resolve, in the minds of these Christian leaders, a seeming paradox: How can Islam be both a religion of peace and of violence at the same time? You must, of course, answer this question as a comparativist, and, specifically, as a comparativist who understands contemporary cultural, structural and rationalist approaches. Make sure you draw from al three research traditions to support your argument and that you support your argument with useful, relevant, and logically compelling comparisons. Click here or on the link above to download complete assignment
Mini-essay Assignment No. 2 (Previous class): The World Bank has hired you as an outside consultant. Officials in charge of poverty reduction efforts have asked you to help them develop a better understanding of the seemingly intractable problem of poverty in Jamaica. After reviewing Jamaica's economic, political, and social history, you provide an initial report-an executive summary on the major obstacles to economic development and poverty reduction. What factors will you focus on and why? What are your proposed solutions? What are the limits, if any, on domestic action taken by the Jamaican government? How important are external, or broader structural, factors? Click here or on the link above to download complete assignment
General Comments/Feedback for Mini-Essay No. 1 • Because of the large number of students in this class (46 students), I cannot provide detailed feedback on every student paper, at least if I hope to get your papers back to you in a timely fashion. For this reason, I have prepared this “general feedback” document. Obviously, the comments in the attached file do to apply equally to all students, and some comments may not apply at all. Still, every student likely can gain something from a careful review of the comments I make here. Click to download the entire file

[NOTE: The following assignment will be your first mini-essay]

Mini-essay Assignment No. 1 (Previous class): Write a short evaluation of John Stossel's argument in “Stupid in America” as a comparativist, focusing primarily on the (comparative) methodological aspects of Stossel's argument. For an example, see my blog entry, “Is John Stossel Stupid?” available at http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/tclim/ weblog/stossel.htm. Your essay will be due on January 23. Further details will be announced in class.

DOWNLOAD ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON MINI-ESSAY NO. !

Click here for some reading suggestions to help you with the assignment.
Here are some general tips for preparing for the final examination:
  • Save and review all of your quizzes. Make sure you not only "know" the answer to the questions, but that you understand the answers (and questions). This may require you to go back to the readings. If you still have difficulty understanding the answer, then do no hesitate to contact me for clarification.
  • Read carefully and read for understanding. Make sure you understand the main point of each major and minor section in each of the chapters. In chapter 2, for example, one of the sections is entitled "The logic of comparative analysis" (p. 34). After reading this section, you should know what is meant by the term logic and what the "logic of comparative analysis" means. On this point, it is also important to understand that the words, terms and phrases used in the text often have very specific meanings.
  • Pay particular attention to boldface words and terms. All the words or terms in boldface have a corresponding entry in the glossary (pp. 291-309). You should know and understand the meaning of all these worlds.
  • Do not ignore figures/boxes/tables. Figures, boxes and tables are separated from the main text for a reason, namely, for emphasis, illustration, or extended discussion. Students are expected to master this material, too.
  • Ask questions. If you are confused or simply lost, you need to ask questions, whether in class, by e-mail or in person (during my office hours or after class). This is a simply point, but from experience, I know that most students who are having difficultly or struggling with the material rarely, if ever, ask for help. I am here to help, but I cannot do anything if you do not let me know.
  • Constantly review course material and try to apply the concepts you study to the "real world." If you stay on top of the course material--if you don't let yourself forget what you studied last week--the mini-test and the final examination should be relatively easy. Indeed, the tests themselves are not designed to be difficult: the questions are primarily descriptive or definitional. At the same time, the analytical questions will be much, much easier to handle if you have really understand the concepts. Generally speaking, understanding, even mastery, is achieved through focused effort and "practice"--lots and lots of practice, which, in the context of this class, means a daily effort to see how you can apply the methodological and theoretical to the problems and issues you encounter in your daily lives.