Problem Based Learning Exercise #2

POLS 324

In our readings for today and throughout much of this course, we will discuss issues related to globalization.  In reading through the literature, several themes emerge:

• issues relating to the status of the state (i.e., it's decline or continued efficacy) and the continued potency of sovereignty as a central force in the global political economy (related to this is the impact of international law on state action);

• debate over whether or not globalization is new or has been happening for many centuries;

• discussion over the roles and empowerment of non-states and especially individuals in the global political economy.

After I split the class into three groups, I will assign each group one of these three topics to investigate.  Your job is to find evidence using the web, and other materials that you can access (e.g., your readings), that supports or refutes a particular argument (e.g., the the state is indeed in decline; or that globalization has been going on for many years).  You will one-half an hour to develop your evidence and case and then you'll present it as a group to the class.