ARC Internal and Foreign Affairs Russia and China Political Science Essay

Prepare and submit a written essay of approximately 500-750 words that answers the question “Why do some states have high capacity (are strong states) while others have low capacity (are weak, or fragile, states)?”

Your essay should demonstrate your understanding of the concept of state capacity, how it is measured/indicated, and what factors influence the relative capacity of modern states through a systematic comparison of three states.

• Include a thesis statement in the introductory paragraph that directly and explicitly answers the question. The thesis should identify the factor(s) you think best explain differences in state capacity based on your systematic analysis.
• Briefly summarize and describe your observations about the state capacity (relative strength or weakness) of each of the three states.
• Identify the most important factor(s) that explains the similarities or differences in state capacity, based on a systematic comparison of the three selected states.
• State at least one hypothesis about the cause of state capacity (strength or weakness) based on your observations and explanation.
• Identify the theoretical approach and/or argument that your hypothesis is most consistent with (among the theoretical approaches presented in Chapter 2 or Chapter 1 of the Introducing CP text.

What To Do (the process)

1. Select three case studies.
   • Select two (2) states from those included as cases in the text and listed in the Country and Concept feature on page 49 of the text, EXCEPT the United States. Your options are Brazil, China, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, United Kingdom.
   • Select any one (1) other state included in the Fragile Staes Index (there are 178 of them!) based on your own interest or curiosity. One caveat is to ensure that it is a state for which you can find appropriate comparable observable data as what you learn about in the case studies in Chapter 2.
   • In your selection, think about the Comparative Method research design and consider whether a most similar systems (MSS) or most different systems (MDS) design is more appropriate. Hint: There is no “correct” design to use.
2. Observe and gather data about the historical development of the selected states, focusing on their current capacity (strength or weakness).
   • Review the case studies of the two (2) states you’ve selected. Each case study (Chapter 2 pages 50-76) describes the historical development of the state and its relative strength or weakness.
   • Use CountryWatch (Links to an external site.), available via the Los Rios Libraries Research Databases (requires you to log in using your student ID), to gather relevant and comparable information about the one (1) other state you selected.
     • Select Intelligence Zone (from the menu at the top), then select Country Reviews and then the country from the pulldown menu Read the following information (at least):
       • Under the Country Overview heading, look at the Country Detail to read the overview and see key economic and population data.
       • Under the Political Overview, read the History and Political Conditions sections, and check out the Freedom Rankings.
       • Under the Investment Overview, take a look at the Corruption Perceptions Index.
3. Systematically compare and analyze the relative capacity (strength or weakness) of each of the three states to identify possible explanations for the similarities or differences in states’ capacity.
   • In addition to the observations made about the historical development review the Fragile States Index (Links to an external site.) score and indicator trends for each of the three (3) states you’ve selected.
     • Follow these suggestions for Using the Fragile States Index (FSI) (Links to an external site.).
       • Select Indicator from the menu to identify and read general descriptions of each indicator included in the overall evaluation of a state’s score, rank, and relative change.
       • Select Data from the menu and you will see a menu of options. Good ones to select are Country Dashboard (for state-specific data) and Comparative Analysis (to compare the trend lines for multiple states, by indicator).
     • If you want to read more about the methods and indicators, you can download the Fragile States Index Methodology (Links to an external site.) guide.
4. Develop an argument about why some states have relatively higher capacity than other states, based on your observations and comparisons. In developing your argument consider:
   • Which factors of state capacity (strength) are most influential in explaining the relative strength or weakness of each state?
   • How do the three (3) states you selected compare to each other in terms of overall strength and weakness and with respect to the influential factors?
     • Is there evidence that those with similar capacity are influenced by similar factors? Why or why not?
     • What factors may account for differences in capacity across states? Why and/or how?
   • What hypothesis can you generate about the cause of state strength or weakness based on your observation and comparative analysis of the selected states?
     • At a minimum, propose one possible causal relationship. (Think about making a statement in the form “If a state X, then its capacity is likely to be Y.”)
   • With which theoretical approach and/or arguments is your hypothesis most consistent (or directly based)?
     • Does your hypothesis relate to the theoretical approaches and/or arguments outlined in Chapter 2 about why states are weak or strong? If so, which and how?
     • Does your hypothesis reflect one of the theoretical frameworks presented in Chapter 1? If so, which and how?