East Asia: Politics, Economy, and Society

POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EAST ASIA
The University of Mississippi
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course is an introduction to the political economy of East Asia. In the past decades the economies of East Asia (broadly defined to include all the Asian countries east of Myanmar) have generally performed well compared with the rest of the world. Political scientists and economists, among others, have offered various and often opposing explanations for East Asia's high growth, as well as for the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 - 1998. A large part of the debates center on the role of the state in the economic development of East Asia. Therefore, starting with an overview of the performance of East Asian economies, this course shall examine the development strategies and policies of the major economies in the region. Conflicting arguments shall be discussed and analyzed and by the end of the semester students are expected to have developed sufficiently sophisticated skills and understanding for their further study of the political economy of East Asia.

This course has a heavy reading load and links to the readings will be posted and updated on this web page throughout the semester, so students should visit the course web site regularly. It is essential for students to read (often critically) the required materials before class and attend all class sessions. Class participation accounts for 16% of the course grade.

There will be three essay assignments, one scheduled mid-term exam, and one final exam for the course. The essay assignments will be posted on BlackBoard and account for 24% of the grade. The mid-term exam in class on Thursday, October 4 accounts for 20% of the course grade. The final exam will start at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4. It accounts for 40% of the course grade.

Note

Beginning in Fall 2006, grades lower than C in political science courses will not be counted toward the political science major.
If you can not open the PDF files you may need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
If you can not open the PowerPoint files you may need to download and install the free PowerPoint Viewer.