Fall/Winter Timetable

POL328Y1Y L0101

Politics and Government in South Asia

Themes

This course introduces students to politics in South Asia in the period after independence from colonial rule. The course pays greatest attention to the region’s largest country, India, but will also incorporate the experiences of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The themes discussed during the course will be those that are important both to South Asia as well as to a general study of politics in developing countries. Topics include the colonial legacy, patterns of state formation, democracy and authoritarianism, state institutions, political parties, ethnic and identity politics, class, social movements, the political economy of growth and redistribution, foreign relations, and regional conflicts. The course will begin with an overview of the colonial legacy and the historical process of political change in the four countries. It will then be organized thematically and will analyze the experiences of individual countries as it relates to specific topics.

Texts

TBA

Format and Requirements

One two-hour lecture per week. Course requirements TBA.

Prerequisites

POL201Y1 or (POLB90H3 and POLB91H3)

Exclusions
POL328H1 or POL357Y1 (taken in 2012-13)