Special Topics in Political Science (490-0-20)

Topic

Non-State Governance

Instructors

Ana Arjona
Scott Hall, Room 237
Office Hours: http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/ana-arjona.html

Meeting Info

Scott Hall 319 ExperimentalLab: Wed 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This graduate seminar explores diverse forms of non-state governance—situations in which non-state actors structure social, political, and economic life, provide services, or do both at once. We begin by clarifying what "governance" is and mapping major approaches. We then examine a range of actors that govern territories, markets, and/or populations, including traditional authorities, NGOs, international organizations, and rebel and criminal groups. Throughout the course, we engage scholarship on how and why non-state actors take on governing roles, how they build and sustain legitimacy, how local populations respond, and the consequences of these institutional arrangements.

Registration Requirements

Graduate students only

Learning Objectives

Students will learn major approaches to studying governance and gain an understanding of why and how different types of non-state actors govern territories, markets, and populations, as well as the consequences of these arrangements. They will also strengthen their ability to read scholarship critically by assessing the strength of theoretical arguments and the quality of research design.

Teaching Method

Seminar

Evaluation Method

Participation (10%), three response memos (30%), one presentation (10%), and a final paper (50%).

Class Materials (Suggested)

Lust, Ellen M. Everyday choices: The role of competing authorities and social institutions in politics and development. Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Cammett, Melani. Compassionate communalism: Welfare and sectarianism in Lebanon. Cornell University Press, 2014.

Brass, Jennifer N. Allies or adversaries: NGOs and the state in Africa. Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Barnes, Nicholas. Inside criminalized governance: How and why gangs rule the streets of rio de janeiro. Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Graduate Students.