| Week |
Course Content |
| Week 1 |
Introduction – The Legalization of World Politics
Theme: Defining our terms. What is ”Legalization”?
Key Readings:
Abbott, Keohane, Moravcsik, Slaughter, & Snidal (2000), ”Legalization and World Politics,” International Organization. |
| Week 2 |
Realism & The Skeptical View – Is IL a ”Cheap Talk”?
Theme: If the system is anarchic, does law matter at all?
Key Readings:
Mearsheimer (1994), ”The False Promise of International Institutions.”
Goldsmith & Posner (2005), The Limits of International Law. |
| Week 3 |
Rational Institutionalism – Law as a Tool of Cooperation
Theme: Law as a solution to coordination and collaboration problems.
Key Readings:
Koremenos, Lipson, & Snidal (2001), ”The Rational Design of International Institutions.” |
| Week 4 |
Constructivism & The Power of Norms
Theme: Logic of Appropriateness vs. Logic of Consequences.
Key Readings:
Finnemore & Sikkink (1998), ”International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.”
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244019832703
https://www.ejiltalk.org/a-constructivist-theory-of-international-law/
https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/eab48e6a-0bf8-4b4e-9b90-38fdf95bf089/content
https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/wps/gus06/gus06.pdf
|
| Week 5 |
same as above (Week 4) |
| Week 6 |
Domestic Politics and International Commitments
Theme: Why do governments sign treaties? Credible commitments and domestic signaling.
Key Readings:
Simmons (2009), Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Intro & Theory). |
| Week 7 |
Legal Mobilization – How Citizens Use Law
Theme: My core thesis—law changes the domestic political agenda and empowers specific actors.
Key Readings:
Simmons (2009), Mobilizing for Human Rights (Empirical Chapters).
Dai (2005), ”Why Comply? The Domestic Constituency Mechanism.” |
| Week 8 |
Regime Type & The Rule of Law
Theme: Do autocracies behave differently toward IL than democracies? |
| Week 9 |
Methodological Interlude – How to Measure ”Compliance”
Theme: Selection effects and the ”Screening vs. Constraining” debate.
Key Readings:
Von Stein (2005), ”Do Treaties Constrain or Screen? Selection Bias and Treaty Compliance.”
Simmons & Hopkins (2005), ”The Constraining Power of International Treaties: Theory and Methods.” |
| Week 10 |
Backlash and Withdrawal – The Current Crisis
Theme: Why are states leaving the UNFCCC, ICC or the WHO? |
| Week 11 |
Human Rights – The Ultimate Test Case
Theme: Why would a state give up sovereignty over how it treats its own people?
Key Readings:
Hathaway (2002), ”Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?” |
| Week 12 |
International Trade and Investment Law
Theme: Credible commitments in the global economy. |
| Week 13 |
The Law of War and Force
Theme: Can law regulate the ”High Politics” of security?
Key Readings:
Morrow (2007), ”When Do States Follow the Laws of War?”
Valentino, Huth, & Croco (2006), ”Covenants without the Sword: International Law and the Protection of Civilians in Times of War.” |
| Week 14 |
Global Warming Governance & Decarbonization
Theme: Collective action and the limits of soft vs. hard law.
Key Readings:
Victor (2011), Global Warming Gridlock.
Bodansky (2016), ”The Legal Character of the Paris Agreement.” |
| Week 15 |
Group Thinking, Debate, and Discussion: Part 1 (Looking backward) |
| Week 16 |
Group Thinking, Debate, and Discussion: Part 2 (Moving forward) |
self-directed
learning |
01.Participation in professional forums, lectures, and corporate sharing sessions related to industry-government-academia-research exchange activities.
02.Viewing multimedia materials related to industry and academia.
|