Critical Reading Note

Critical reading note: 1000 words 10%+- (Due 29th of April)

Students will be required to write two critical reading notes during the semester. A reading note should critically assess the reading for one of the course topics. At a minimum it must discuss the required reading for the week. You must read all the required reading and no more than 2 additional readings.
A critical assessment is not the same as giving criticism (finding problems and shortcomings), and neither will it be sufficient to merely summarise the content of the texts. A critical reading note should include your analysis of the texts. What is the author’s main argument? How do they support this argument? What is the broader debate on this topic, and where do these texts fall in that debate? What are the similarities and differences between the texts?
The reading note should be 1000 words (+/- 10%, excluding bibliography and footnotes), and must be submitted prior to the seminar in which the topic is being discussed.

Required reading:
Johnson, Tana, and Johannes Urpelainen. “International Bureaucrats and the Formation of Intergovernmental Organizations: Institutional Design Discretion Sweetens the Pot.” International Organization 68, no. 01 (2014): 177-209.

Mitchell, Sara McLaughlin, and Paul R. Hensel. “International Institutions and Compliance with Agreements.” American Journal of Political Science 51, no. 4 (2007): 721-37.

Additional Reading:
Abbott, Kenneth W., Philipp Genschel, Duncan Snidal, and Bernhard Zangl, eds. International Organizations as Orchestrators. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Grigorescu, Alexandru. “The Spread of Bureaucratic Oversight Mechanisms across Intergovernmental Organizations.” International Studies Quarterly 54, no. 3 (2010): 871-86.

Hafner-Burton, Emilie M., Edward D. Mansfield, and Jon C. W. Pevehouse. “Human Rights Institutions, Sovereignty Costs and Democratization.” British Journal of Political Science 45, no. 1 (2013): 1-27.

Hawkins, Darren G., David A. Lake, Daniel L. Nielson, and Michael J. Tierney, eds. Delegation and Agency in International Organizations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Koremenos, Barbara. “When, What, and Why Do States Choose to Delegate?” Law and Contemporary Problems 71, no. 1 (2008): 151-92.

Mansfield, Edward D., and Jon C. Pevehouse. “Democratization and the Varieties of International Organizations.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 52, no. 2 (2008): 269-94.

Pollack, Mark A. “Delegation, Agency, and Agenda Setting in the European Community.” International Organization 51, no. 1 (1997): 99-134.

Vaubel, Roland. “Principal-Agent Problems in International Organizations.” The Review of International Organizations 1, no. 2 (2006): 125-38.