Political Turbian Paper

PLEASE NOTE! THE VIDEO IS EMBEDDED BELOW BUT THE FORMATTING IS AWKWARD. PLEASE ACCESS THE VIDEO THROUGH THIS LINK AND NOT THE EMBEDDED VIDEO BELOW! The video is from YouTube and you can click on “CC” for captions if necessary.

The short paper on the Romanian revolution as presented in the 1990 Koppel Report video “Death of a Dictator” will be a FORMAL 2-3 page ANALYSIS of the Romanian revolution of 1989 focusing on what YOU see as the most important variables regarding why this revolution occurred. You must use the appropriate contextual and explanatory concepts we’ve considered in the audio lectures and the text. This is NOT a video review, but an analytical paper. I’ve seen the video; I don’t need it described or reviewed. I want an analysis of the revolution using the analytical concepts discussed in the audio lectures and the text.

The video is embedded below but the external link is better for full screen viewing. Closed captioning (subtitles) are available on ANY YouTube video. Just click the CC tab at the bottom of the screen.

Please remember: One page is TOP MARGIN to BOTTOM MARGIN. Please use 1 inch margins all around and a standard font in 10 or 12 point (Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman, please). A title page is required so you do not need to put information (other than page numbers) in headers! Include a formal references (footnotes or endnotes and bibliography, OR author/date [parenthetical] and ‘works cited’ page). Refer to Turabian chapters 15-19 and the appendix for proper formatting.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions!

Course concepts outline.html

WEEKS 12-13: OUTCOMES and CONCLUSIONS lectures/Van Inwegen chapters 8-9

• WATCH VIDEO: Koppel Report 1990 “Death of a Dictator” – Revolution in Romania https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8DQ-Axi1V0
• Assignment (week 13): Short analytical paper on Romanian revolution video (“Death of a Dictator”) = 50 points

 

1) OUTCOMES OF REVOLUTION

A) Importance of re-establishing legitimacy

B) Institutionalization (definition)

(1) System of justice/judiciary

(2) Enforcement of justice – military and police

C) Consolidation (definition and functions)

D) Impact – positive? Progressive?

E) New ideas but often maintaining elements of former regime is necessary

(1) Conservative

(2) Moderate

(3) Radical

F) Political values (see Easton’s definition of politics) and new policies

(1) Conservative

(2) Moderate

(3) Radical

(G) Techniques to protect and maintain new institutions

(1) Compromise freedom and equality for security?

(a) Positive = if eventually improves capability to compete and is temporary

(b) Negative = if results in long-term authoritarian policies (Bolsheviks, Cuba, China, Napoleonic France)

(2) Some evidence that post-revolutionary states more likely to engage in international conflict with consequences

(H) Objective measurements of improved quality of life for population (GDP, quality of life, casualties?)

(I) Some evidence that high levels of revolutionary violence result in more violence post-revolution

2) STUDY OF REVOLUTION

A) Consensus by scholars of revolution

(1) General identifiable process

(2) Structural preconditions are important

B) Debate by scholars of revolution

(1) Basic definition of revolution

(2) Structure versus Agency

(3) Questions about predictive power

3) CONCLUSIONS – REVOLUTION IS RARE – Five critical conditions – necessary and sufficient if occur simultaneously for revolution (see: James DeFronzo, Revolutions and Revolutionary Movement 5th edition, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2015: 9-26)

A) Mass frustration which results in popular uprisings among rural and urban sectors of population

B) Dissident elite political movements (wealthy, powerful, intellectual, skilled) that engage in contending claims to authority

C) Unifying motivations that result in broad unified support for radical and rapid change in regime (for example: liberal, modernist, nationalist, religious, Marxist, etc.)

D) Political crisis that threatens administrative legitimacy and coercive capability of government (for example: defeat in war; catastrophic natural disaster; economic disaster; loss of critical economic or military support from abroad)

E) Permissive or tolerant international environment that results in no threat of intervention to arrest revolution or will imply support