Class Notes for Political Sociology, Fall 2003, Goertzel

December 5:   Is George Bush an International Terrorist as Bretton Barber, a high school junior in Dearborn Heights, Mich., who is deeply interested in civil liberties, argued with a T-shirt that got him sent home from school on Feb. 17.   Noam Chomsky, MIT linguist, is known for denouncing the US as terrorist.  He blames global capitalism for the 9-11 attacks.    But the Turkish Government is prosecuting Chomsky as a terrorist.  People on the left such as Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky tend to define "terrorism" as repression by the state, based on the fact that this causes more misery for people.  They argue that the U.S. is a terrorist state.  Governments tend to define terror as action by non-governmental, clandestine groups.

  Velupillai Prabhakaran   wanted by Interpol -  Abimael Guzmán  -  Osama binLaden -  Bommi Baumann



Nov 24:   DeTocqueville Democracy in America site.   Summary of DeTocqueville's Democracy in America   Bowling Alone. 
Nov 19:  work on country powerpoints
Nov 17:  Why Brazil Isn't Argentina.  Arab Human Development Report.  Bush speech. 
Nov 12.  Discussion of Huntington's "Class of Civilizations"  World Map.  How many "civilizations" are there in the world?  In particular, is the Moslem world a different civilization? History of Clash Between West and Arabs.  Bin Laden's speech October 2001.  Mark Helprin on the war with militant Islam.  Some comments on Huntington. 

Nov 10:    Six billion people on the planet, 900 million in wealthy countries.  Per capita income about $25,000.  3,2 billion in low income countries with a percapit GNP of $430.  1.6 million in middle income .  Infant mortality, in the US 8 out of 1000.  Finland, Scandinavian 4 or 5.  179 out of 1000 die in the first year.  108 in Cambodia.  Overpopulation, population growth.  We find that economic growth comes first, then populationi growth goes down. 
  Economic organization.   Marx.  Profit and greed is the source of poverty.  Poverty came from capitalism.  Capitalist countries were the wealthiest in fact, so the theory was modified to say that it was "imperialism" - European exploitation of Africa and Asia.  Asian Tigers:  S. Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand.  Very rapid development by integrating into the world economy.  India & China ran into problems when they isolated themselves from the world economy. 
 Globalization and Development: Tanganyika case  debate between The Nation and The Economist on the WTO.    WTO Seattle Videos 

The "Doha" round was two years ago, most recent round was in Cancun which broke down.
 
The Economist's view:  free trade reduces poverty, the breakdown of the Cancun talks was a setback that will hurt the poor more than the rich.  Trade helps prosperity.  Trends in the 30s was down, after WWII was up, due to free trade.  More globalization rather than less is the route out of history.  Look at Korea (South).  Globalizing countries grew 5% p er head in the 1990s.  Africa is getting poorer because it is being marginalized from the world economy.  Benefit outweight the costs.  THE WTO is the best forum have, not a corporate dominated dictatorship, it is  forum where governments negotiate.  It is highly dekocratic, one country can block votes there.  Poor countries can challenge the rich.

The Nation's view:  Economist is the "home of high church free traders" vs. "Nation "proud and feisty voice of dissent".  The present global system is in peril.  The Nation thinks this is a good thing.  Globalization as we know it cannot endure.  A top-downs ystem dominated by institutions in washignton DC.  Designed to serve global finance and multinational corporations.  People will resist the "immoral practices allowed in the system."  Growing crisis of overcapacity, insufficient purchasing power.  Morality:  "like waving a crucifix at vampires"  A race to the bottom, exploitation of poorest people.   Americans are implicated as the consumer nation tht buys good produced under circumstances we would not tolerate.  Workers are glad to have jobs but know they are exploited for lower costs and lower prices.  There are many strikes in poor countries.  Laws for corporate governance were written by corporate lawyers and bankers.  Poor countries stood up against the rules.  A heroic and promising moment.  Will this system survive if the US economy collapses due to excessive borrowing from abroad.  This is the end of an era, we are in crisis. 

Nov 5 - Democrats to Control Senate, Assembly.  See:  Courier-Post Online.  Trenton Times.   NJ.com.  Philadelphia Inquirer. 
Nations ranked:  http://www.gritty.org/Pages/Projects/Terrorism/RightsRanking.htm
Sources of international Statistics:  http://www.lib.umd.edu/MCK/STATS.html
CIA world factbook;  http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Rankings of 200 countries:  http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ICPINT/Resources/GNIPC.pdf
World Bank methods:
The Economist Country Profiles.  
Nov 3- New Jersey Voter Information:  Eagleton Institute.  The Battle for the Legislature '03    Legislative Districts.  Guide to  NJ Politics (Governor, US Legislature).   Does local politics matter?  The Camden Master Plan  presents a plan for what we would like to have happen in the City.  The North Camden Plan presents a vision for one neighborhood in Camden.  Are political forces needed to make this happen?  Does the choice of a leader matter in this regard?  The DEP has a plan for stopping sprawl in NJ, but they took down the "BIG MAP"  Do the politicians address this?  Do they address the other issues that tax payers want resolved?
Oct 29:  Work on Force Field Analysis assignment. 
Oct 27 - Future Analysis.   Force field analysis.  Another WEB site on Force Field Analysis.  An example. 
Oct 22 - Viewing of video Faces of the Enemy.   Some information on this video is available in a critical review of the book that went with it. There is also a Study Guide available.  Malaysian Leaders speech about Jews.    Bush's critique of Malaysian leaders comments on Jews.  Paul Krugman's commentary. 
Oct 20.  Discussion of mid-term.  Essays were problematic.  Answers are in WEBCT. 
Discussion of a project which I since decided to make an extra-credit project.  It will involve using a  PowerPoint Template  and incorporating data from online Data Sources.  Examples could be in New Jersey, e.g., , unpopularity of McGreevy paralleling Gray Davis?  Or for an even more difficult challenge, consider the situation in Bolivia this week.  What would you advise the Governor of New Jersey or the new President of Bolivia?

If we have time we will see part of the video Faces of the Enemy.  We are interested in this for the insight it gives into the psychology of politics.
      
Oct 13:    Washington Post Exit Poll on California Recall.  Republicans Ponder the Center.  Schism at Rutgers over Israel/Palestine.   Review for Midterm  In studying for the exam, remember that the readings on this page were assigned and should be studied carefully.  The links on the Class Notes page illustrate and expand on points made in class - you are not responsible for everything in them, just for the points made in class.  The reading on Theoretical Models in Political Sociology is an important starting point, and it would be good to go over the online quiz we had on that reading.  The theoretical models are outlined in the Guide to Using Theoretical Models in Political Sociology.  There will be short answer and essay questions as well as multiple choice.  Here are some review questions:

1. How would the California recall elections be analyzed from the perspectives of class, elite and pluralist theories?
2. What were the four reasons Thomas Friedman (on the same file with Charles Krautheimer) gave for our invasion of Iraq?
3. Why does Paul Krugman think the tax cut movement is a "con"?
4. What was the key issue in the Alabama gubernatorial election, and what happened?
5. What are the four types of generations in Strauss and Howe's model of generational change?
6. What trends in American society tend to be progressive?  Which tend to be cyclical?  What variables seem to be stable over time?
7. What are the two conflicting strategic approaches to winning an election in the U.S.? 

Oct 8:  The California Recall Election (Oct 7) as a case study.  This election will be covered extensively today's newspapers, so check for recent coverage. Ny Times Coverage.  LA Times   Hummers to Harleys.  California's New Trend:  Big-Tent Republicans. Joan Didion, review of  "Where I Was From"  NYT Book Review, Sept 28, 2003.
Oct 6: Today, we are looking at trends. The 2001 Strategic Environmental Report offers an overview of this topic, although the applications are for Interior Designers. Here are some points from the Report:
p. 2 trends are changes over long periods of time in social, technological, economic, ecological and politica areas
        The future is determined by choices, trends and events
Trends include:  2 - the aging of America; 6 - increasing racial and ethnic diversity; 9 generational cycles; 14  convergence of technology;  15 integration of technologyh into new environments;  19  wireless computing;  25 ergonomics;  29 declining environmental concern;  30  global warning;  35 e-economy; 38 productivity increases;  42 occupational change;  50 declining national sovereignty;  51  regional diversity in US increasing; 56 energy gap. 
 Trend Graphs: Here are some on the Internet courtesy of the Del Mar College Dept. of Social Sciences:  Sociology charts and graphs.
And here are ones done by students in our class: 
Bertha Boateng:  Would you vote for a black president?
Donna Gamble - Belief that blacks are inherently inferior
Indoreel Ghosh - fear of walking in one's neighborhood
Elizabeth Joseph:  Part Time Work
Emine Klick:  Divorce
Russell Lolar:  Confidence in the Supreme Court
Anne Meletiche:  Abortion after a rape.
Andrew Milloy:  Faith in the Military
Stephen Napoli - money spent on drug rehabilitation
Robert Pferisch - children not living at home
Kerra Russell - unemployment
Kristina Rauer - educational achievement
Sylvia Tadros - confidence in  congress
Kristina Taylor - Veterans years of service
Andrew Wilson - Vocabulary Words
Quiana Young - school prayer in the public schools.
September 29 -  NY Times Campaign Page.  Story on Bush '04 Readying for One Democrat, Not 10 
We will go to http://www.icpsr.umich.edu:8080/GSS/homepage.htm  to access the General Social Survey, a nationwide survey which has been done almost every year since 1972.  It has an online statistical program which can be used to recode and cross-tabulate variables.  We will select one variable as an example:  partyid.  We will recode this into three categories :  Democrat, Independent and Republican, then we will do a cross-tabulation by year.  To do these things we click on "analyze" on the GSS instructions and follow the instructions.  We will then copy the resultant trend data into Excel and use it to plot a graph.  Your next assignment is to do the same two things with one other variable.  Instructions for using Excel are available at:  http://www.canberra.edu.au/cts/training/websters/xl97book/Contents.htm
September 24:   Generational Trends in American Society.     September 11, 2001 as a Turning Point.  PowerPoint.  Streaming Video.  History Channel Speeches.
September 22 - Discussion of  campaign politics, as illustrated by the Bush campaign and Karl Rove.  Information on candidates is available at:  http://www.politics1.com/p2004.htm.  New Poll Shows Clark in lead.  Survey Results.  NY Times Campaign Page. 
Sept. 17 -  Discussion of Welfare Reform North Korea cases as posted by Russell and Andrew (See Discussion Lists, Main on WEBCT)
Discussioin of Tax Reform issue.  Krugman and Mitchell argue opposite sides.  Voters don't know which economist to believe, tend to vote their gut feelings, vote for lower taxes and higher spending\.  NY Times Coverage of California Recall Election. Edwin Fulner of the Heritage Foundation on cutting taxes.   Grover Norquist.   Sweden votes down Euro.  Times reporter says:   some say the Swedish vote reflected the emotions of a Continent whose people feel remote from ruling elites and who sense that the European project negates their democratic aspirations. "This was an antiestablishment cry," said Goran Rosenberg, a leading Swedish columnist. "This was a sign or a warning, and not just for Sweden."  
NYT Sept 10:  Alabama voters overwhelmingly reject $1.2 billion tax increase, delivering crushing blow to Gov Bob Riley, Republican who had staked his political career on vote; his ambitious plan was to close $675 million budget deficit, ease taxes on poor and catapult state's school system from among nation's worst to one of best.

September 15:  .  Discussion of Patriot Act.  Bush's CounterTerrorism Proposals Could Be a Hard Sell.  
 Reading referred to in class:  Reading:   Patriot Act.  Bush's CounterTerrorism Proposals Could Be a Hard Sell.  Discussion of issues posted on the class discussion board:  Ten Commandments in Court;  Liberian Invasion.  Application of Theoretical Models to issues in recent NY Times:  Concern grows about war in Iraq.  Poorer Countries Pull out of WTO Talks.  Malpractice Suits Capped at $750,000 in Texas.  Powell Visits Kurds.  Redistricting in Texas.   Union and Chrysler reach pact.  
Sept. 10.  Visit from Organizing Institute, AFL-CIO,  lecture on theoretical models.
Sept 8:  Can Dems admit that the Iraq war has been a success?  by Anthony Schiavo
             When will anyone admit that it has been a huge fraud?  by Robert Sheer
            These two articles appeared on the op-ed page of the Sept 4 Philadelphia Inquirer.  How can two intelligent writers reach such opposite conclusions when faced with the same objective situation?  

Bush's Address last night.  Analysis on NY Times.   Ethical Analysis:  should we have gone to war in Iraq? Frameworks for Ethical Argument.  

Sept 5 -  We will get acquainted and go over the mechanics of the course.  If need be, we can go to the computer lab and work on signing up for WEBCT.

    The syllabus discusses the nature of political sociology as an area of sociology.  We can begin with policy choices or decisions or outcomes that are difficult to understand or that we would like to be able to influence.  These can involve ethical as well as empirical and tactical questions.  Some examples:

    *  why did the US go to war in Iraq?  Why is the French position different?  What should we do?
    *  why does the US have the kind of health care system it does, and why does the one in Canada differ?  Can or should we change it?  Why did the Clinton reforms change?
    *  why was welfare reformed in the 1900s?  Why was the system set up in the 1960s?  What kind of system should we have?
    *  why did Argentina collapse economically in 2001 while Brazil did not and Chile is booming?
    *  why did Reagan begin a "star wars" system in the 1970s?
    *  what caused the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001?
    *  why did the Soviet Union and other similar systems collapse?  
    *  why is North Korea building a bomb and what can or should be done about it?
    *  what should or could the Democrats do to win the presidency from George W. Bush in 2004?
    *  what can or should be done to:  protect the environment, end abortion or end restrictions on abortion, stop urban sprawl, lessen poverty and inequality, end terrorism, etc. etc.
     *  we can go back in history.  When I was a student I was involved in the movement against the Vietnam War, as recorded in my FBI File.

    What political issues interest you?  What outcomes would you like to help promote?