Informal Institutions (449-0-20)

Instructors

Jordan Gans-Morse

Meeting Info

Scott Hall 212: Tues 1:00PM - 3:50PM

Overview of class

This seminar focuses on contemporary scholarship regarding international law as it intersects with international relations. The topic of international law is a place to study the interaction of material, power and normative forces, and a place where one can employ all of the newest methods and approaches in political science. The new international law scholarship is being built in an unusually interdisciplinary fashion. We will be reading work that builds on economic theories, sociological theories, and traditional international relations approaches. We will also be examining questions of broad interest within political science and sociology-- the social construction and influence of norms in international affairs, the importance of murky issues like legitimacy and fairness in shaping public perceptions and actor behavior, and how institutions of international law including international treaties and international courts implicitly and explicitly shape the international political process and state behavior.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, the aim is that students will:

Possess a rigorous conceptual command of the institutionalist approach to political science.

Be prepared to develop research focused on the role of informal institutions.

Be familiar with methodological tools for analyzing illicit or informal political behavior.

Teaching Method

Seminar

Evaluation Method

Participation and research paper

Class Materials (Required)

None