POS BC 3425 Colloquium on the Politics of Development in Asia
Fall 1998
Elizabeth Wishnick 

This course will explore the economic, international, political, and social aspects of development in Northeast and Southeast Asia. We will seek to understand the reasons for the region's period of impressive economic success as well as the sources of the current crisis. As we take a detailed look at the cases of Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, we will ask the following questions: Was the Asian economic miracle really a myth? How are political and economic problems in these countries related? What are the international consequences of the current economic crisis in Asia? What do social problems in these countries tell us about their long-term prospects for economic development?

Prerequisites

Students are expected to have taken Comparative Politics and some familiarity with the history, politics, and economics of East Asian countries would be helpful. Students also should feel comfortable with economic terms relating to development issues.

Course Format and Requirements

This course is designed to involve students actively in the study of contemporary issues in Asian development. Students will be graded equally on their participation in class discussion and their research paper. During each class, there will be a 20-minute lecture by the instructor on a topic related to the required readings. The lecture will provide an introduction to each session's main topic for discussion. The rest of the class will be devoted to student presentations and discussion.

1. Oral presentation   20%

This course requires reading and discussing the materials assigned for each meeting. Each student will be responsible for leading the discussion during one session. This discussion will relate to specific issues and themes raised by the required readings, although relevant outside materials may be used as a supplement. This presentation will count for 20% of the final grade.

2. Class Participation   30%

a. Students will submit a one-page reaction paper, commenting on the required readings, for each class meeting, and retain one copy to use in class discussion. The grades for these assignments will account for 10% of the student's overall participation grade. These sheets must be submitted at the beginning of each class. Late assignments will not be graded.

b. Each student will be asked to select a current news item relating to Asian development and summarize it for the class in a 10-minute presentation. This will count for 10% of the students' overall participation grade. Articles may be found in newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, or the Financial Times, or in magazines such as Business Week, The Economist, or the Far Eastern Economic Review. All can be found in the Barnard Library.

c. All students are required to do the readings for each session and participate in the discussion by asking questions, making comments on presentations, or replying to the instructor's questions. Participation in class discussion will count for 10% of the student's overall participation grade.

3. Research Paper   50%

Students will prepare a 20-25 page research paper relating to one of the topics covered during the course. This is a 3-part assignment involving handing in 1) a topic statement, 2) an outline including brief summaries of 5 articles and 5 books used, and 3) the research paper. All assignments must be handed in by the end of the class on the dates indicated in the syllabus. Students should follow the guidelines for footnotes and bibliographies used in Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers.

4. Grading

a. oral presentation   20%

b. class participation   30%

(presentation of news article, ten question/comment sheets,

participation in class discussions)

c. topic statement, outline and research paper   50%

Students who hand in assignments late will be penalized a half grade per day. Incomplete are discouraged and will only be granted in case of a verifiable emergency.

Readings

All books may be purchased at Labyrinth Books at 536 West 112th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue).

All readings are available in the Reserves area of the Barnard Library. They are listed by the author's name. Students may also borrow the articles from the instructor in order to make copies.

Required for Purchase:

Frederic Deyo, The Political Economy of East Asian Industrialism, 1987
Mark L. Clifford, Troubled Tiger, 1998
Chalmers Johnson, Japan: Who Governs? 1995
Andrew Macintyre, Business and Government in Industrializing Asia, 1994
Jonathan Rigg, Southeast Asia: The Human Landscape, 1997
Ezra Vogel, The Four Little Dragons, 1991

Recommended for Purchase:

Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers, 1996

PART I:   Paths to Development

Week 1 (9/9) Introduction: Economic Development in East Asia--From Dynamism to Crisis

Ezra Vogel, The Four Little Dragons, ch 1

Asiaweek, "The Essential Crisis Guide"

Recommended:

Danny Leipziger, Lessons from East Asia, pp. 1-29

Week 2 (9/16) Theories of Development: The Role of the State and the Market in Development

Ezra Vogel, The Four Little Dragons, ch 5

Frederic Deyo, The Political Economy of East Asian Industrialism, Ch 1-4

Andrew Macintyre, Business and Government..., ch 1, pp. 1-18

Paul Krugman, "The Myth of Asia's Miracle"

Recommended:

Danny Leipziger, Lessons from East Asia, pp. 541-562

Part II:   Northeast Asia

Week 3 (9/23) The Debate on the Japanese Model

Chalmers Johnson, Japan: Who Governs, ch 2-3, 5-7

Kent Calder, Strategic Capitalism, introduction pp. 1-22, ch 8 pp. 245-277

Andrew Macintyre, Business and Government, pp. 41-58, 91-109

Week 4 (9/30) No class

Special guest lecture by Dr. Brian Murray, AIG, on "China and the Asian Financial Crisis" to be scheduled in November or December. Readings for this lecture will be assigned later.

Week 5 (10/7) Japan's Economic Crisis

Asiaweek, "Running On Empty"

Edward J. Lincoln, "Japan's Financial Mess"

Yamada Atsushi, "Change-Proof Finance Ministry"

Fujiwara Sakuya, "Japan's Financial Woes and the Hopes for a Big Bang"

The Economist, "Japan's Economic Plight," "The Japan Puzzle"

Nukazawa Kazuo, "The Japanese Economy: From World War II to the New Century"

Week 6 (10/14) South Korea's Economic Development

Alice Amsden, Asia's Next Giant, pp. 79-113

Andrew Macintyre, Business and Government..., ch 5

Mark Clifford, Troubled Tiger, Ch 3-5, 7-9, 16-18

Recommended:

Gordon White, Developmental States in East Asia, ch 3 pp. 68-104

Danny Leipziger, Lessons from East Asia, p.155-209

Week 7 (10/21) South Korea in Crisis

Mark Clifford, Troubled Tiger, Ch 22-23

The Economist, "The End of the Miracle"

Far Eastern Economic Review, "Give Me Your Sick," "Unlocking the Citadel," Remaking Korea Inc."

Korea's Economy 1998, pp. 1-10, 17-27

Tong Whan Park, "South Korea in 1997"

PAPER TOPIC STATEMENT DUE

Part III:   Southeast Asia

Week 8 (10/28) South East Asian Development

Jonathan Rigg, Southeast Asia, Ch 1-2

Andrew Macintyre, Business and Government, Ch 6-10 (especially ch 7 and 8)

Week 9 (11/4) South East Asian Economic Crisis

Suchitra Punyaratabandhu, "Thailand in 1997"

Judith Bird, "Indonesia in 1997"

Toshio Watanabe, "Lessons of the Southeast Asian Meltdown"

Selections from Asiaweek, Far Eastern Economic Review and The Southeast Asian Financial Crisis to be assigned later; hand-outs

PART IV:   International Aspects of Development

Week 10 (11/11) Regionalism: Concepts and Problems

Kenichi Ohmae, "The Rise of the Region State"

Jordan and Khanna, "Economic Interdependence and Challenges to the Nation-State"

Robert A. Manning and Paula Stern, "The Myth of the Pacific Community"

Gilbert Rozman, "Flawed regionalism: reconceptualizing Northeast Asia in the 1990s"

Week 11 (11/18) Economic Linkages and Contagion

Kent Calder, "Japan's Crucial Role in Asia's Financial Crisis"

Takahashi Johsen, "Will Japan Trigger the Next Crash?"

The Economist, "Asia Trembles Again"

Paul Dibb, David D. Hale, Peter Prince, "The Strategic Implications of Asia's Economic Crisis"

Shalendra Sharma, "Asia's Economic Crisis and the IMF"

Devesh Kapur, "The IMF: A Cure or a Curse?"

OUTLINE WITH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY DUE

PART V:   Social Consequences of Development

Week 12 (11/25) Natural Resources and Development

Kim Jung Wk, "Korea, Land of Environmental Risk"

Hidefumi Imura, "Japan's Environmental Balancing Act"

Jonathan Rigg, Southeast Asia, Ch 7-8

Daniel Yergin, Dennis Eklof and Jefferson Edwards, "Fueling Asia's Recovery"

Lyuba Zarsky, "The Prospects for Environmental Cooperation..."

Week 13 (12/2) Excluded Groups and Development: Issues of Gender, Income, and Class

Kyung Ae Park, "Women and Development: The Case of South Korea"

Jonathan Rigg, Southeast Asia, Ch 3-6

Hand-outs

Week 14 (12/9) The Asian Crisis Reconsidered

Linda Y.C. Lim, "Whose 'Model' Failed? Implications of the Asian Economic Crisis?"

Donald K. Emmerson, "Americanizing Asia?"

Joseph E. Stiglitz and Lyn Squire, "International Development: Is It Possible?"

The Economist, "Asia Values Revisited," "Yet Another Asian Value"

PAPER DUE ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 14 BY 6PM