PS420/520: International Organization Ronald B. Mitchell PS420 Home   Syllabus   Assignments   Lecture Notes

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
PS 420/520: International Organization
Prof. Ronald Mitchell

MIDTERM EXAMINATION #2: Explaining Institutional Design

Basics:

• Read and answer the full exam carefully. Ask the professor or GTF if you have questions.Two parts: 10 multiple choice questions (10% of grade); essay (90% of grade)For the three questions of the exam, use one or more exam books. On each exam book put your Student ID# (NOT your name) and your Exam book number and total (e.g., 1 of 2, 2 of 2).Recommended time allocation: 10-15 minutes on multiple choice; 65-70 minutes essay. Exam ends at 11:20am.
• Cheating of any sort will not be tolerated. Handing in your exam will be considered to constitute your acceptance of the U of O Student Academic Integrity Guidelines. Do and hand in only your own work.

Three medium answer questions -- you MUST answer ALL THREE questions:

1. Common or Differentiated Obligations: Compare the Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in terms of the extent to which they have common or differentiated obligations. You will lose 20% of your grade if you do not answer this question.

• Clearly identify which has more differentiated obligations and which has more common obligations.
• Using the concepts from the course, identify which aspects of problem structure best explain this difference in institutional design.
• Should we expect this difference in institutional design to be typical of the difference between international security agreements and human rights agreements?

2. Type of Inspection and Verification Procedures: Compare the Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons to the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) Agreement in terms of their provisions regarding inspection and verification of whether member countries are fulfilling their obligations. You will lose 20% of your grade if you do not answer this question.

• Clearly identify which has carefully designed inspection procedures and which does not.
• Using the concepts from the course, identify which aspects of problem structure best explain this difference in institutional design.
• Should we expect this difference in institutional design to be typical of the difference between international security agreements and international trade agreements?

3. Type of Response System: Compare the Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons to the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in terms of their provisions for trying to change the behavior of states so they are less likely to engage in "bad" behavior and more likely to engage in "good" behavior. You will lose 20% of your grade if you do not answer this question.

• Clearly identify the difference between the approach each agreement takes to changing state behavior.
• Using the concepts from the course, identify which aspects of problem structure best explain this difference in institutional design.
• Should we expect this difference in institutional design to be typical of the difference between international security agreements and international health agreements?

Links to agreement texts: 

• Treaty On The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons: http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/npt/text/npt2.htm

  Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) Agreement: http://www.itcilo.it/english/actrav/telearn/global/ilo/blokit/mercoa.htm

  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/e1cedaw.htm

• United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/FinalDeclarationHIVAIDS.html

You should also read the following chapters in Managing Global Issues to help you in thinking about differences in problem structure and in institutional design in the issue areas of security, trade, human rights, and health:

• Ch. 6: Economics: International TradeCh. 10: Health (This has not been an assigned reading, so, in particular, make sure you read this!)Ch. 11: Human Rights
• Ch. 16: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons

Preparing for the midterm:

This will be an IN-CLASS MIDTERM (NOT a take-home). You may and should prepare for the exam before class using your notes and any of the readings. I recommend that you write out your proposed answer to determine how much you will actually be able to write in the allotted time (1 hour 20 minutes total but you will need probably 15 minutes to do the multiple choice part of the exam). You will need to enter the class without ANY written materials and must write your exam answer during the allotted time without reference to any written material (whether written on paper OR the back of your hand!). Anyone found using notes written prior to entering the exam will be failed immediately and asked to leave the exam room.You MAY discuss this exam with other students as part of your preparation for the exam. However, you may NOT collaborate in writing an outline or a full exam as part of your pre-exam preparation. Instead, if you talk with other students about the exam, you should then plan out your OWN strategy for writing your exam. Each exam should be quite different than all other exams that are turned in. You may NOT consult with other students or otherwise collaborate on this exam once you enter the classroom.Make sure you bring enough exam booklets to the classroom on the day of the exam. Exam books will be exchanged with the GTF to ensure that all students begin with blank exam books.Grading criteria: Two general criteria: content and quality of argument. A good exam will:

• Demonstrate skill in applying the theoretical concepts related to problem structure to well-chosen cases.Will reference concepts from the readings (and, if possible, mention their authors) as well as concepts developed in class lectures.Use appropriate examples well to illustrate the theoretical claims being made.
• Use well-written English.

In case you run out of time for the exam, it will help to provide an outline of that part of the paper that you would have written had you had more time. If you do run out of time, make sure to spend the last three minutes of the exam putting the other components of the argument you would have made AT THE END of your exam. This will allow us to give you some credit for that part of your answer that you have not had time to complete. Of course, those who complete their answers in prose will receive better grades than otherwise equivalent answers only in outline, but those in outline form will receive better grades than those that simply end halfway through the argument.

This Exam Will Include Ten  (10) MULTIPLE CHOICE questions on it that will start on the next page!