Y107 INTRO TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Module 4 – Challenge 1

Economic policy in a globalized world

 

 

Purpose and Deadline

This assignment asks you to reflect on connections between economic policy and globalization to reinforce the following learning outcomes:

• 1 Explain how and why states are involved in the management of markets and property
• 2 Describe political, economic, and social globalization and the arguments for and against each

Please submit your answers in electronic form, either in MS Word or PDF format, using this naming scheme: LASTNAME-Module 4-essay challenge.

Deadline: Friday March 4

 

Description

Please respond to the following claim with a short argumentative essay [250-500 words].

Claim: Social democracy is the best way to benefit from economic globalization

 

Specifications for a satisfactory grade

You need to assess whether or not this is a defensible claim—both in general terms and for your selected countries. Additionally, you need to take a clear stance for or against the claim with your own argument.

A satisfactory essay will include three basic components:

• An introductory paragraph with a clear stance and summary of your

For example: “I will argue against the claim for these reasons …” [a succinct

summary of the argument that you will develop later].

 

• An explicit evaluation of the claim in its own

Sample questions: Are there reasons to believe it’s true or not? Is it partially or completely accurate?

 

• Your core argument with supporting theory and evidence from required readings, online lessons, and other relevant knowledge from either textbook cases studies or previous

 

Tips to prepare your essay

Challenge essays are drawn from current module topics, but you can draw from several sources besides your textbook. Below is an analytical strategy to collect relevant information for this assessment.

Step 1: analyze the claim

Suppose you had this claim: “Legitimacy is unnecessary for political stability.” As a first step, you need to unpack the claim in terms for constituent components. Look for keywords that identify relevant terms and evidence:

 

 

Key terms	Key evidence
Legitimacy	Pakistan [chapter 1]
Political stability	Other relevant cases

Note that you might need to interpret terms. Have you already seen related terms? If so, then you can recall their conceptual definition. If not, you will need to interpret them and figure out connections to studied concepts. For example, political stability is related to order, civil wars, etc.

On the evidence side, sometimes the claim might mention a particular case study. If not, you have to think about relevant cases–from readings or your own separate knowledge—to specify the claim.

Step 2: evaluate the claim

First, figure out whether the claim is making a general proposition—that would apply to all countries—or whether it’s circumscribed to a country or region [if the claim included that specific information]. Claims could also combine general and specific

propositions. Your job is to “unpack” the claim and see if any or all of its parts make

sense.

Step 3: Craft your own argument to write your essay

Please follow the following structure.

• Introduction: State your position [“I will argue against the claim…”; “The claim is true …”, ]
• Review the claim’s argument: Is it sound? Are the assumptions questionable? Is

the conclusion unwarranted?

• State your own argument: Define concepts; illustrate point with examples; conclude with brief summary

I suggest writing the introductory paragraph at the end after you have written your argument, so you can provide a clear stance and succinct summary of your argument.

For both steps 2 and 3, you might benefit from separately listing these basic components.

 

Assumptions	Conclusion[s]

 

You can then ask yourself whether the claim and your own argument make sense.

Does either conclusion follow from its respective assumptions?