In addition to creating new writing prompts for my comparative politics course this year, I have re-arranged the order in which students encounter different topics. Last year’s version of the course was sequenced as follows:
- Methods
- Theory
- State and Nation
- Democracy
- Authoritarianism
- Political Transitions
- Political Economy
- Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution
- Gerhkania simulation
This time around the sequence is:
- Theory
- Nation and State
- Democracy
- Methods
- Authoritarianism
- Political Transitions
- Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution
- Political Economy
- Gerkhania simulation
Why the change? Last year I found myself explicating about research methods used in comparative politics before students had any significant exposure to what actually gets compared. Instead of encountering puzzling real-world situations that might have excited their curiosity, they had to fixate on the mechanics of doing a most similar systems design or a qualitative comparative analysis.
This year these assignments won’t begin until the second third of the semester. I won’t have to rush through my material on methods, and I will have more opportunities in class to ask students “What kind of research design might allow us to compare these cases in a way that allows us satisfactorily answer the question?”