Political Science 1AB3/E Tutorial Manual

Winter 2018

[NOTE: This is an abbreviated version of the tutorial guide that I provide to

your Teaching Assistants. It will provide you with information that is useful
for your tutorials and your written assignments]
Welcome to Political Science 1AB3!

The manual below offers an overview of what we will be doing in the upcoming semester.
Specifically, it offers a week-by-week breakdown of your tutorials – and, correspondingly,
outlines what you will need to prepare to be ready to actively engage your students.

Our tutorials this semester will focus on three things:

1. Developing basic research skills
2. Applying those skills to hypothetical political scenarios
3. Presenting individual research findings in a simulated academic conference
environment

In addition to what follows, we (the TAs and I) will be meeting as a group once a week. These
meetings will offer further instruction, including exercises that you can use in your tutorials to
enhance the process of learning basic research methods. The meetings will also provide you
with the opportunity to offer feedback, ideas, and the best strategies that we can use to engage
our students.

Please keep up with the class material by reading the overheads posted on Avenue on a weekly
basis. Although you are not expected to cover this material in tutorial, it will at least provide you
with a heads-up on what was discussed in class.

Tutorial schedule:

Week 1: January 15-19

Introduction: The primary goal of this tutorial is to motivate and excite our students about the
course.

Arrive early so that you can organize the physical space of your tutorial room. If you can move
the chairs in your room, arrange them in a circle rather than with all chairs facing forwards
towards you: We want to encourage students to speak with each other rather than just with you,
the TA.

Introduce your students to each other and to the course. In the first part of the course we will be
exploring the field of Comparative Politics. Have you ever wondered why some states are rich
while other states are poor? Why some states are democracies while other states are
dictatorships? One way of attempting to answer these questions is via the comparative method.
What are the underlying variables that make states similar or different?

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In the second part of the course we will focus on topics in international relations. Is politics
between states somehow different than politics within states? Why does war seem to be such a
recurrent feature of the international system? How do we explain and understand issues like
terrorism, genocide, nuclear proliferation, and international law?

Ask students which topics in comparative politics or international relations they find most
interesting – economics, security, human rights, law, the environment, etc. This will allow you
to segue into the main task this term: the research paper. Students will be working on a number
of assignments that will ultimately culminate in an 8 page argumentative research paper.

The process starts with each student choosing a topic in comparative politics/international
relations that they find interesting (you will assist students with selecting a topic next week in
tutorial). I have provided a list of EXAMPLE topics on the syllabus:

What factors explain the recent emergence of ‘populist’ regimes in some liberal-democratic
states?

Are democratic states less likely to wage war than non-democratic states?

Why did the Syrian civil war begin? What factors explain its subsequent trajectory?

Has economic globalization increased or decreased international inequality?

Is nuclear proliferation a global security threat?

Has the US “war on terror” been effective? Are there other ways of responding to the threat of
terrorism that might be more successful?

Is American power in decline? If so, what effect will this have on the international system?

Why does the international community forcefully intervene in some humanitarian emergencies
but not in others?

What role (if any) has the International Criminal Court played in protecting global human rights?

Do international sanctions work?

Has the World Trade Organization successfully leveled the field for global trade? Are
developing and developed countries able to take equal advantage of the Organization and its
rules?

Tell students that they can use this list of questions for inspiration if necessary – but to
develop their own final research question. In fact, many of these questions are too broad as
they are currently stated.

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After selecting a question, students will think through how to answer it. That brings us to the
paper proposal, which is due in tutorial the week of February 5-9.

There are two parts to the paper proposal:

A). The proposal itself (2 full pages in length): What is your research question? Why is
your question worth exploring? What is your hypothesis – what do you think you will
find? Discuss how you will answer your research question - What case/evidence will you
be looking at and why? If you are using the comparative method, what countries are you
comparing and why?

B). An annotated bibliography. Each proposal should include 5 peer reviewed academic
sources. For each source include a short (1 or 2 paragraphs) summary of the main
argument and how it relates to your specific research question.

The proposal should be 2 full pages in length – plus the annotated bibliography.

The paper proposal will form the basis of the argumentative research paper (which is due in
tutorial the week of April 2-6). The proposal will allow you (the TA) to offer some guidance
early in the research process. Has the student selected a good critical case/comparative study?
Will the case/evidence/comparison allow them to actually answer their research question? We
want to ensure that the research strategy does not rely on anecdotal or ad hoc evidence.

Prior to handing in their final research paper, students will have an additional opportunity to
acquire valuable feedback. Students will be presenting their research findings to their tutorial in
February or March (with presentation dates to be selected in tutorial the week of January 29 –
February 2). Please note: students will be presenting their research FINDINGS, not their
research proposal. Accordingly, the paper (a good first draft) must be written prior to the
presentation date (even though the final due date for the paper is April 2-6).

Outline the value of the research presentation: Each student will have an opportunity to develop
and deliver an independent oral presentation (no longer than 5 minutes). The presentation will
provide each student with the opportunity to have their hard work appreciated by more than just
one person (i.e. more than just you, the TA, will be exposed to their research). Finally, it
provides an opportunity for each student to receive valuable feedback from the class - feedback
that can be incorporated into the final hard copy of their paper.

Tell students that the presentation-based tutorial sessions will be like miniature academic
conferences. As such, it is expected that students who are not presenting in a given week will be
actively engaged in their colleagues’ presentations. PLEASE EMPHASIZE THIS POINT.
Offering constructive feedback will form a large part of the participation mark this term (as part
of the 10% of the term grade allocated to participation). Emphasize the constructive part of
constructive feedback – we are all involved in the learning process together. Our goal is to
assist and elevate each other so that each of us can write the best possible paper.

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Ask each student to think about a research topic before next week’s tutorial.

How to choose an essay topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjOZtHqb_q0&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE5Jmt4V7iE8t
m50&index=23

Week 2: January 22-26

Forming a good research question - where to begin? In this tutorial, the goal is to assist students
in developing their research question. Have students gather together into smaller groups (no
more than 5 students per group). While in group, each student should identify some area of
comparative politics/international relations that they are interested in and that they believe merits
further study. Within-group discussion can be used to help each student focus their pre-existing
interest into a good political science research question. Encourage students to develop a research
question that can be answered with empirical evidence (i.e. direct them away from overtly
normative questions). You should circulate around and make certain that everyone is starting out
on the right track.

Once students have a good idea of the topic that they wish to research this term, begin a
conversation about gathering evidence. How do you answer a research question? You need to
gather evidence. There are two types of evidence that we can rely upon: Primary evidence and
secondary evidence. This class will focus on secondary evidence (i.e. answering research
questions based upon other academics’ research – Political Science 2NN3, by contrast, focuses
on the strategies that can be used to gather primary evidence).

Students will be answering their research question based upon an analysis of peer-reviewed
academic literature. Emphasize the importance of relying on peer-reviewed sources when
conducting academic research. Demonstrate some of the key Political Science databases, how to
do an effective search of the academic literature, how to find the best database for a student’s
research paper (try to get 1 or 2 students to indicate the issue area they are interested in for their
major paper and use this to structure the conversation).

Watch the following for guidance:

What is peer review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4JJbkpLPQI&index=18&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE5J
mt4V7iE8tm50

Scholarly vs popular resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv-
e9ZvsbOA&feature=youtu.be&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE5Jmt4V7iE8tm50

Search vs research:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=minZ0ABVqyk&index=35&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE
5Jmt4V7iE8tm50

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Library databases:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZcXpOAcc04&index=16&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE
5Jmt4V7iE8tm50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAKwiNNjbB4&index=17&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE
5Jmt4V7iE8tm50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDS8vQqm80E&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE5Jmt4V7iE8
tm50

Google scholar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsTPZItV3No&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5ooJegDE5Jmt4V7iE8t
m50

https://library.mcmaster.ca/sites/default/files/Google%20vs%20Google%20Scholar%20vs%20Li
brary%20Databases.jpeg

How to choose keywords:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoujP8KoK7E&feature=youtu.be&list=PLjB7x34VHLf5oo
JegDE5Jmt4V7iE8tm50

Week 3: January 29 – February 2

The skill to be emphasized this week is how to write a good research paper.

There is no one formula for writing a good research paper. For some reason (largely having to
do with the way they were instructed in high school), many students seem to believe that there is
a strict formula that they must follow – for example that an essay has only five paragraphs.
Disabuse them of these notions.

That said, there are certain elements that all research papers should contain. Outline those
elements. Describe the structure of an argumentative essay. Give them some rules of thumb –
general rules that apply in most (but not necessarily all) circumstances.

The following is an essay writing resource from the University of Guelph. This resource does
not map up perfectly with the assignment for this course – but it is a good resource for
identifying important elements in essay writing:
http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/sites/default/files/writing_artssocsci.pdf

The link below is to an essay writing guide hosted at the University of Ottawa. Again, the
resource does not map up perfectly with the assignment for this course – but it is a good resource
for identifying important elements in essay writing:
http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/sites/socialsciences.uottawa.ca/files/writingandstyleguide2010-
2011_001.pdf

Here is a much smaller guide that contains helpful hints on writing a strong paper:

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https://www.mcgill.ca/politicalscience/files/politicalscience/political_science_essay_writing_gui
delines.pdf

An extended discussion of thesis statements:

http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/ccds/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.ccds/files/3.pdf

Each research paper should have a thesis. In this light, have students break off into groups of 5.
Each group should come up with a hypothesis related to the following research question:

Few analysts predicted that Donald Trump would win the U.S. Presidential election: On
November 8, 2016, The New York Times put the odds of a Trump victory at just 15%
(http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html?_r=1).
And yet, Trump did win the election. Why was Trump able to win the election despite
the nay-sayers?

Each group should clearly state the independent and dependent variables in their hypothesis - and
explain why these variables might be associated with each other. How would you test these
hypotheses?

Assign students to a presentation week. The available weeks are February 26 – March 2, March
5-9, March 12-16, March 19-23, and March 26-29 (Note: Friday, March 30 is a school holiday
– do not schedule presentations for this day). Presentations should be limited to 5 minutes per
student. It is important to stick to this time limit – otherwise there will not be enough time for
every student to present and receive feedback.

Remind students that they will be presenting their completed research (not their paper
proposals) to the tutorial during their presentation week.

Week 4: February 5-9

The topic this week is how to give a good oral presentation.

Many students are extremely anxious about the prospect of presenting their ideas. Because of
this, they may view the research paper presentation as an onerous task to be swiftly completed.
Remind them of the value of this exercise. Encourage them with useful strategies on how to
effectively deliver information.

Start off by having students assemble themselves into groups of no more than 5. Tell each
student group to write down 5 things contained in a good presentation and 5 things contained in a
poor presentation. Reassemble the tutorial and list the best of these (good and bad) elements on
the board.1

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Thanks to Leeanne Romane at Mill’s Library for this exercise.

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Tell your students: Standing at the front of the room and simply reading your research paper is
not effective! Your presentation should be an interesting summary or your research, not a
recitation of your paper. Why should your audience care? What is it about your topic that is
interesting? What have you found that is unexpected? And above all – what is it that you want
your audience to learn? To be able to do this well, students should write a short presentation
guide for themselves - a document that is separate and distinct from their actual research paper.

http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/oralpresentation

http://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/oral-presentation-
handout.original.pdf

https://people.ucsc.edu/~pullum/goldenrules.html

The paper presentation is intended to be a dynamic exercise. Accordingly, the tutorial as a whole
is expected to question the presenter subsequent to the presentation. Model the process of asking
good constructive questions. Remind students that the goal of our questions is to further the
learning process – our questions can help clarify, strengthen, and further develop the presenter’s
argument.

Week 5: February 12-16

Have students divide up into groups of no more than 5. Present the following scenario on the
relationship between free trade and development:

You are the Prime Minister of a medium-sized developing country (population 35 million and a
per capita income of $4,500). While your country has engaged in international trade for a long
time (primarily exporting raw materials), it has done so behind selective tariff walls. These tariff
protections are designed to protect local industry from foreign competition. However, your state
is under growing pressure from its main trading partners (the United States and Europe) to fully
liberalize trade. To that end, you have been presented with the opportunity to sign an
international free trade treaty. Your trade partners will fully liberalize trade with you if you will
reciprocate. Failure to sign the treaty might lead to retaliatory actions by the United States and
Europe. You must decide whether to sign that treaty.

Questions to consider:
- What do we know about the relationship between free trade and development?
o Does free trade dis/advantage every state?
o Does it matter what you are trading?
o Is there any validity to the Dependency theory argument?
- What sort of leverage can developed countries exercise against developing countries?
- Are economic growth and Development synonymous?

TAs
The main goal of this exercise is to get students to reflect upon the relationship between free
trade and economic growth. Is the Dependency theory model correct? What determines whether

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a state will be successful or unsuccessful in taking advantage of free trade? What type of
pressure can a Developed state exert on a developing state (think beyond trade – to issues of
foreign aid, support at the United Nations, etc.)? Finally even if free trade leads to an increase in
GDP/capita, are economic growth and Development (think human development here)
synonymous?

Student groups should discuss the scenario for the first 25 minutes of tutorial (the lecture
overheads are a useful starting point for research). The rest of class should be a structured
conversation that illustrates both the economic and the political issues at play. Does unequal
state power play a role in structuring international agreements?

February 19-23 – Reading Week: No Tutorial

Week 6: February 26 – March 2

This week will be occupied with student research presentations. Students will offer a five minute
summary of their research findings.

Week 7: March 5-9

Student presentations continue this week.

Week 8: March 12-16

A third week for presentations.

Week 9: March 19-23

A fourth week for presentations.

Week 10: March 26-29

This will be the last week for presentations.

Week 11: April 2-6

Have students divide up into groups of no more than 5. Present scenario 2.

You are part of a group of high-level American security advisors. The President has brought to
your attention a classified document offering irrefutable proof that a state in the Middle East, one
with whom you do not enjoy cordial relations, will have nuclear weapons capability within one
month. That state, for its part, maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
American allies in the region are pressing the President to launch a pre-emptive military strike to
disable the nuclear capability before it is too late. How will you advise the President?

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Questions to consider:
Is nuclear proliferation a critical national security threat? Under what circumstances?
Can proliferation promote stability? Under what circumstances?

TAs
The goal of this assignment is to engage students in the debate on deterrence. A case can be
made that nuclear weapons promote stability rather than instability. This view relies upon a
number of assumptions that may or may not be tenable.

Student groups should discuss the scenario for the first 25 minutes of tutorial (the lecture
overheads are a useful starting point for research). The rest of class should be a structured
conversation of the nuclear dilemma. What is the appropriate response to nuclear proliferation?

Ask your students whether their recommendation would change if they were an advisor from the
Department of the Environment or the Department of Social Welfare. Does “where you stand
depend upon where you sit” (to paraphrase Graham Allison in the Essence of Decision Making –
who was himself drawing upon “Miles’ law”).

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Marking guide for the paper proposal:
Your marking commentary should focus on the big picture. Has the student developed a
workable research question? Have they constructed a reasonable roadmap for their research? Is
their case/comparison an adequate basis for drawing larger inferences? Have they identified good
peer-reviewed sources? Please email your comments to students within two weeks of the
proposal’s submission (this will give students sufficient time to incorporate your feedback into
the first draft of their research paper).

Below I have provided some examples of the types of commentary that have been directed at
paper proposals in past years.

Example 1
Your proposal starts off with a good research question: “Why did the U.S. intervene in Kosovo
and not in Rwanda?” Remember, however, that this is a Political Science paper and not a history
paper. As such, it is important to use this historical case as a way of shedding light on the
present rather than the past. What does this case tell us about the nature of humanitarian
intervention in the present? What does it tell us about the power of international law? What
does it tell us about the nature of U.S. foreign policy? In other words, it is important to set a
present (and more general) context for your examination of this particular historical case.

One more point – for the main paper, don’t feel the need to limit yourself to just 5 academic
sources. Let your investigation take you to as many sources as are necessary to prove your point
– in this case, my guess is that you will need to read more extensively about NATO, Rwanda,
and Kosovo (and, yes, there are articles arguing that the U.S (or any state for that matter) only
intervenes when it serves the national interest (particularly those written from the standpoint of
Political Realism)).

Example 2
You have highlighted an interesting research question: to what extent does the media
(particularly the partisan media) influence American voters and thereby have an effect on
election results. The difficulty going forward will be in isolating the causal effect of news
coverage from all the other concurrent variables that might also affect Americans’ attitudes
towards political candidates. There is also the issue of direction – does watching a Republican-
oriented news source cause someone to become more Republican in their political orientation -
or is someone who is already Republican in orientation more likely to watch a Republican-
oriented news source? In other words, you need to think about how you will prove that the
partisan media is responsible for any shift (or continuity) in political opinions/voting patterns
that you identify.

There are various methodological approaches to dealing with this research topic – consider, for
example, the study by Gerber et. al. “Does the Media Matter? A field Experiment Measuring the
Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behaviour and Political Opinions,” American Economic
Journal: Applied Economics, 1, 2007, pp35-52

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Example 3
Your proposal sets out an interesting research question: what is the relationship between the size
of government and economic growth.

Going forward, there are some things to consider.

First and foremost, most of the evidence you have assembled supports the notion that big
government is the enemy of economic growth. At the same time, you note that there are
circumstances where governmental intervention in the economy might be beneficial (particularly
in developing countries). It is important that you spend a suitable amount of time considering
this qualification (consider, for example, the extensive literature on the “developmental state”).
At what point does government intervention become a net negative?

Moreover, there is, undoubtedly, literature which contests the blanket assertion that in developed
countries government size (as such) is an economic negative. You should explore this literature,
if only to demonstrate that it is wrong. Consider here the arguments of Paul Krugman (on this,
see the fascinating back and forth that takes place over Reinhart and Rogoff’s work – for a quick
summary see http://www.newstatesman.com/economics/2013/05/reinhart-and-rogoff-call-
civility)

I notice that most of your sources are Economics journals – which is fine to an extent. But
consider the possibility that these texts are working within a common (and limiting) epistemic
framework. There are other ways of understanding the workings of both the economy and
government. Try doing some research through the Political Science journals (e.g. Review of
Radical Political Economy, Review of International Political Economy, New Political Economy,
etc.) to get a different point of view.

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