A Unique Opportunity to Study Global Governance

The world faces increasingly complex problems that have taken on global significance - including conflict and peace-building, humanitarian crises and intervention, international economic inequality and instability, and global environmental change.

How are these problems addressed at the global level? And are the mechanisms adopted to address them effective and just?

The M.A. in Global Governance (offered by the University of Waterloo) goes beyond the rigidities and formalities of established academic boundaries by drawing on a variety of disciplines, including economics, politics, history, and environmental studies. Designed to be completed in sixteen months, the program typically consists of two terms of course work; a third term in which students complete a Major Research Paper (MRP) on a specific research topic of their choosing relating to the study of global governance; followed by a fourth term as an intern working on global governance issues in the public or private sector, a research institute or NGO.

“The M.A. in Global Governance is the most well-rounded M.A. program you can find. With courses about political science, economics, and the environment alongside internships, fellowship work, and the chance to further academic literature with a MRP, you receive the whole graduate education experience.”

– Jessica Teeple, 2008 M.A. in Global Governance Cohort

Course Requirements

During the first two terms of study in the MA program, students are normally required to take six courses which must include the Globalization and Global Governance (core course), HIST 605 Global Governance in Historical Perspective (history component), economics component (Econ 637 Economic Analysis and Global Governance or equivalent) and a political science component as well as two electives. In addition, all students participate in the Program Seminar which meets regularly throughout the first and second terms and includes visiting speakers, guest talks and discussions of the research plans of students for the Major Research Papers.

Core Course: GGOV 600 Globalization and Global Governance

Economics component: ECON 637 Economic Analysis and Global Governance or equivalent (students who have higher than second year macro/micro economics are required to take an economics course other than Econ 637)

History component: HIST 605 Global Governance in Historical Perspective

Political Science component: One of the following courses:
GGOV 610/PSCI 688 (UW) Governance of the Global Economy
GGOV 620/ERS/PSCI 604 (UW) Global Environmental Governance
GGOV 630/PSCI 678 (UW) Security Ontology
GGOV 640/PSCI 658 (UW) Human Rights in a Globalized World
GV 760 (WLU)/GGOV 641 (UW) International Human Rights
GGOV 642/PSCI 639 (UW) Global Social Governance
GGOV 650/PSCI 657 (UW) International Organizations and Global Governance

Elective component: Students must take two additional courses chosen from the list of course offerings; subject to approval from the program directorship, students may also take courses offered by other departments.
 

Internship
All students are required to spend the equivalent of one academic term as an intern working on global governance issues in the public or private sector, at a research institute, or for a non-governmental organization. The work-term will normally take place in the third or fourth term of the program. Students receiving the Balsillie Fellowship have the option of counting their internship work at CIGI over the year (which amounts to approximately 10 hours/week over three terms) as meeting the internship requirement for the program. If Balsillie Fellowship winners choose not to take this option and they pursue a regular internship in the third term, their CIGI internship work for the third term can be deferred until the fourth (fall) term.

All students will meet with the Program Officer early in the first term to discuss potential internship options. Students must declare their intentions to the Program Officer by no later than the end of their first semester in the program. A written report (approximately 10 double-space pages in length) arising out of the internship experience will be required and will be evaluated by the Director of the Internship Program of the Global Governance Program on a pass-fail basis. This report is distinct from the MRP, but can build towards it.

Program Seminar Component
In addition to their six courses, all students must attend the program seminar. The seminar will meet regularly (sometimes weekly, but usually less often) on Fridays between 12:30-2:00 throughout the first and second terms. Meetings will include visiting speakers (at both the University and at CIGI) and discussions of the research plans of students for the MRP. A preliminary schedule will be distributed at the beginning of each term. Attendance at the Program Seminar is required, but grades will be assigned on a credit/non-credit (or pass/fail) basis.

Master’s Research Paper
The MRP provides students with an opportunity to pursue a specific research topic of their choosing relating to the study of global governance. The minimum length is 40 pages double-spaced and the maximum is 60 pages double-spaced. Students are encouraged to meet informally with faculty members early in their graduate studies to discuss possible topics for their MRP. Students will need to identify their supervisor and second reader on the registration form they submit in February (see section 4). Both the supervisor and second reader must be satisfied with the MRP, and either can ask for minor or major corrections or reject the MRP outright. Upon its completion, the MRP is assigned a grade by the supervisor and second reader. To complete by the end of the fourth term, students should normally expect to submit a complete draft by November 1. Students also should normally expect to submit a subsequent final draft for grading by November 30.

2011-2012 Course Offerings

Core Global Governance Courses

GGOV 600 Global Governance and Globalization (core Political Science requirement), Instructor: Dr. William Coleman (fall 2011)
This course provides an overview of current scholarly debates relating to the interdisciplinary study of global governance in the context of globalization. It examines competing perspectives on globalization and global governance, and explores the sources and consequences of global power and authority, as well as the key actors, institutions, regimes, and norms of global governance. This course is open only to students in the MA program in Global Governance.

Economics Component

ECON 637(UW) Economic Analysis and Global Governance, Instructor: Dr. Horatio Rus (winter 2012)
This is the core economics course for the graduate program in Global Governance. The class will cover the basic theories of international trade and international finance, as essential stepping stones for an informed analysis of global economic issues. After establishing these foundations, the class will move on to discuss international policy issues. The inefficiency of the lack of cooperation in international trade policy making and the need for multilateral negotiations have long been recognized. However, there is still a significant amount of debate with respect to the specific features of the multilateral trading architecture. The importance of coordination on monetary and financial issues is emphasized by the fragility of the current system. This is showcased by the frequency and rapid global contagion characterizing modern financial crises, and in view of the most recent episodes especially, is a topic of vivid contention. Chronic underdevelopment in many areas of the world is also recognized as a global issue requiring global solutions, while international environmental coordination is becoming increasingly regarded as a precondition for effectively addressing issues ranging from transboundary resource depletion to global warming. These will constitute the main policy areas explored in the second part of the course.

History Component

GV 720 (WLU)/HIST 605 (UW) The History of Global Governance, Instructor: Dr. Daniel Gorman (fall 2011)
This course examines the various ways global actors have identified and tried to solve global problems in the twentieth century. We will study the interactions between international organizations, state actors, non-governmental organizations, and informal interest groups as they have confronted global issues such as war, immigration, international trade, human rights, and environmental and health crises.

Global Political Economy

*GGOV 610/PSCI 688 (UW) Governance of the Global Economy, Instructor: Dr. Bessma Momani (fall 2011)
A survey of the theoretical and public policy debates relating to regulation of the global economy, examined through case studies ranging from international banking an intellectual property rights, to labour and environmental standards and the control of illicit economic activity.

GGOV 611/PSCI 689 (UW) Emerging Economies in Global Governance Instructor: Dr. Kathryn Hochstetler (winter 2012)
Large developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China stand at the centre of much of current international political economy. Their national development efforts profoundly shape their international participation and vice versa. This course will cover theoretical and conceptual debates about the roles of these “middle range” or “emerging” powers, then examine their national economies, before turning to see how they individually and collectively (with the other emerging powers) fit into current global governance.

GGOV 614/PSCI 614 (UW) International Business and Development, Instructor: TBA (fall 2011)
This course will examine the varied roles of international businesses in developing areas. The term international businesses is used to refer to a variety of firms including multinationals, contractual partners of these firms working in developing areas, as well as developing area firms as suppliers of other businesses in industrialized countries. The course will examine the impact of international businesses on the social-economy of developing areas, especially their impact on poverty and development. The course include studies of businesses in a number of countries (including Nigeria, India, China, Pakistan, Colombia, Brazil, and South Africa), the role of free and fair trade networks, as well as the impact of questionable financial transactions.

PO 670 (WLU) Canada and the Global South, Instructor: Dr. Yasmine Shamsie (fall 2011)
This course will explore Canada’s reputation, both at home and abroad, as a strong supporter and defender of the Global South’s concerns. The goal will be to attempt to uncover some of the contradictions in Canadian policy toward poorer nations. The course is organized around broad themes: Diplomacy, Economic Relations and Trade, Aid and Security.

Global Environmental Governance

*GGOV 620/ERS 604/PSCI 604 (UW) Global Environmental Governance, Instructor: Dr. Ian Rowlands (winter 2012)
This course examines the ways in which environmental challenges are being addressed by means of 'global governance' - that is, international organizations and institutions intended to deal with these environmental challenges. Concepts are investigated both to help analyze the relative strengths and weaknesses of existing structures and to suggest ways in which alternative forms of global governance might advance sustainability. Specific organizations and other actors presently active in global environmental governance are given particular attention, as is the management of selected global environmental challenges.

GGOV 621/ERS 606/PSCI 606 (UW) Governing Global Food and Agriculture, Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Clapp (winter 2012)
This course examines the international rules and organizations that have emerged to govern the increasingly global system of food and agriculture. Specific themes to be covered include governance issues related to the rise of global food corporations, agricultural trade liberalization and the WTO, food aid distribution, international agricultural assistance, the global agro-chemical industry, and agricultural biotechnology.

Conflict and Security

*GGOV 630/PSCI 678 (UW) Security Ontology, Instructor: Dr. David Welch (fall 2011)
This is a seminar in the ontology of security. Security is a contested concept, and in this course we ask what it is and how best to pursue it. What do we mean by security? What are we trying to protect? From what? Why? How do we do it? We begin by considering the concept of security in the abstract, and we then proceed to explore various specific conceptions. Along the way we encounter both traditional and non-traditional approaches to security.

GGOV 631/PSCI 679 (UW) Security Ontology – Issues and Institutions, Instructor: Dr. David Welch (winter 2012)
In this course we examine a range of "security" issues on the global agenda--both traditional and non-traditional--and examine recent and possible future institutional and policy responses. Issues examined include nuclear proliferation, terrorism, intrastate conflict, resource and territorial disputes, climate change, drugs, disease, and migration. Students will have an opportunity to research in depth a specific security issue of their choice.

GGOV 633 (UW) Managing Nuclear Risk Instructors: Dr. James Blight and Dr. janet Lang (winter 2012)
This seminar will begin with an examination of history’s closest call to a major nuclear war: the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962. Research on the crisis over the past twenty-five years on the U.S., Russian and Cuban perspectives on the crisis (much of it conducted by the instructors) suggests that the crisis was not anticipated by leaders in Washington, Moscow or Havana; that the crisis spiraled into unprecedented danger primarily due to each side’s ignorance of the motives, capabilities and perspectives of the others; that the crisis came within a hair’s breadth of exploding into catastrophic war; and that this limiting case of nuclear danger holds important lessons for leaders trying to manage nuclear risks in today’s world. Students will have online access to the treasure trove of declassified documents, oral testimony and scholarly analysis of the crisis from all over the world. The seminar will then shift gears to an in-depth consideration of the degree to which the lessons of the missile crisis illuminate the evolving Iranian nuclear crisis—the standoff between Iran and the West regarding Iran’s apparent pursuit of a nuclear weapons’ capability. Each student will work with the instructors throughout the semester to identify a suitable topic for an original research paper which may be primarily historical, or policy-oriented, or a hybrid of the two. The seminar is open to any student with a strong interest in these topics, regardless of departmental affiliation.

Global Justice and Human Rights

*GGOV 640/PSCI 658 (UW) Human Rights in a Globalized World, Instructor: Dr. Andrew Thompson (fall 2011)
The course is a study of international and local responses to human rights abuses in the contexts of economic globalization and proliferation of armed violence. It examines major debates on international human rights. It also deals with specific human rights situations in the developing/transitional countries. Topics include: universalism and cultural relativism, global economic justice, rights to food and health, women's and children's rights, the rights of displaced civilians, human rights and R2P, prospects for transitional justice.

PO 654 (WLU) Comparative Truth Commissions, Instructor: Dr. Jorge Heine (winter 2012)
One of the effects of the “third wave” of democratization that took place in the late twentieth century has been to confront newly democratizing countries with the need to come to terms with their “evil past”, i.e. the human rights violations committed under authoritarian rule. Truth commissions have been, in many (though by no means all) cases the instrument of choice to do so. The purpose of this course is to examine the emergence, main features and evolution of truth commissions, within the broader context of transitional justice, one of the fastest and most exciting areas within the study of democratization. Special attention will be paid to the Chilean and South African Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

PSCI 685 (UW) Special Topics: Democratization in the Middle East, Instructor: Dr. Bessma Momani (fall 2011)
This course examines political liberalization in the Middle East. Theoretical discussions about building the foundation of democracy and the challenges that democratization processes face are explored. Empirical evidence from the recent and historical struggles for democracy in the Middle East are also discussed.

HIST 607 (UW) History of Human Rights I, Instructor: Dr. James Walker (fall 2011)
The course will examine developments in human rights, primarily during the twentieth century. Weekly discussions based on assigned readings will offer students an opportunity to explore such questsions as: What are "human rights" and how are they different from any other rights? Where do human rights come from? Why do they change over time, and by whom and by what means are changes effected? Is there a role for the historian in explaining this process, and can the lessons of history be applied to public policy and to continuing human rights issues? The focus for our study is the formation and evolution of international human rights, but with attention paid to Canadian events to assess the relationship between domestic and global human rights innovations.

HIST 608 (UW) History of Human Rights II, instructor: Dr. James Walker (winter 2012)
In this sequel to HIST 607, students will have an opportunity to pursue a primary research project on an approved topic in the history of human rights. A series of progress meetings and research consultations will lead towards a "conference" where students will present their own research and comment on their classmates' draft papers.

 Multilateral Institutions and Diplomacy

*GGOV 650/PSCI 657 (UW) International Organizations and Global Governance, Instructor: Dr. Veronica Kitchen (winter 2012)
This course will examine the growing literature on international organizations and discuss their impact on global governance. The relevance, impact, and agency of international organizations will be considered. With the growing interdependence among states, international organizations are places where global governance decisions are made.
 
GV 753 (WLU)/GGOV 658 (UW) Special Topics in Multilateral Institutions & Diplomacy – International Organisations and Public Policy, Instructor: Dr. Rianne Mahon (fall 2011)
Students of public policy are increasingly aware that the transnational flow of policy ideas, in which international organisations play an important part, cannot be ignored. This is a true for OECD countries as for the countries of transition and the Global South. In international relations, both rational choice realists and social constructivists recognise that international organisations are not simply instruments of nation states. At the macro level, this course explores international organisations' contributions to transnational or "multilevel" governance and the instruments (both hard and soft) that they can wield. At the micro or meso-levels, it assesses their role in transnational policy diffusion. It does so by focusing first on major international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the OECD and then turns to examine key policy areas such as the environment, food and development. The latter angle makes it possible to trace the relations of competition and cooperation they enter into with each other and with other actors, national and transnational.

PSCI 684: Topics in International Diplomacy: The G20 and the complex process of summit diplomacy (UW), instructor: Dr. Andrew Cooper (fall 2011)
This course locates the G20 within a complex process of summit diplomacy. The course will start with an overview of the concept and practice of concert diplomacy, with special attention to the functioning of re-ordering global order. Both the strengths and weaknesses of this process will be examined. Concerts bring together the states, the leaders, and the officials who dominate international affairs. But this re-configuration can also be contested from a variety of perspectives. Is it a concert of big states? The course will then proceed to examine the similarities and differences between the G20 and earlier concepts of diplomacy. In many ways the G20 at the leaders‘ level builds on prior institutional arrangements, above all the G20 Finance set up during the Asian/IMF crisis of the late 1990s. Some of its culture is derived from the G8. Yet it is the uniqueness of the G20 as a novel forum that stands out. Moreover, unlike the G7 it contains not just states and leaders from the North but opens up rights and responsibilities to the global South, both in terms of the BRICs and middle powers. It operates as a crisis committee, but also has the potential to be a steering committee moving into an array of issues including development. Although a club in terms of many of its features, it is also linked into a wide number of networks. Indeed, much of its work is designed to act as a catalyst for other institutions. If largely a state-centric project of diplomacy there does seem to be some (albeit contested) space for non-state actors to participate.

PO 641 (WLU) Theories in International Relations, Instructor: Dr. Patricia Goff (winter 2012)
This course explores the evolution of the field of International Relations. We examine contending theoretical perspectives with an eye to assessing their respective contributions to an understanding of global politics. We also investigate new directions in IR theory, including the relationship between theory and practice, shifts away from the state as the primary actor, and the move toward ethics and global governance.

PO 670 (WLU) Canada and the Global South, Instructor: Dr. Yasmine Shamsie (fall 2011)
This course will explore Canada’s reputation, both at home and abroad, as a strong supporter and defender of the Global South’s concerns. The goal will be to attempt to uncover some of the contradictions in Canadian policy toward poorer nations. The course is organized around broad themes: Diplomacy, Economic Relations and Trade, Aid and Security.

PSCI 685 (UW) Special Topics: Arctic Governance, Instructors: Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Dr. James Manicom (winter 2012)
This course examines the challenges posed to global governance by evolving geopolitics in the Arctic region. The complexity of the issues of climate change, overlapping boundary claims, and classic and evolving inter-state rivalries are juxtaposed against the concerns of multiple subnational and transnational actors such as indigenous groups, local governments and multinational corporations. The course encourages students to examine the utility of existing paradigms of security, international law and global governance, including from a historical perspective.

Global Social Governance

GGOV 643/PSCI 616 (UW) Global Health Governance, Instructor: Dr. William Coleman (winter 2012)
Health policy-making is changing to reflect a need for more coordination among nation-states and a rising number of international non-governmental organizations, leading to a more polycentric form of global governance. It begins with a review of theoretical texts on globalization and global public policy that assist in understanding changes in scale for policy-making and for policy co-ordination. It then looks at the historical development of global institutions, including the World Health Organization. Finally, it examines case studies of global health policy making, noting how these actions interface with nation-states’ sovereignty and autonomy, and with other sites of global authority.

PO 620 (WLU) The Politics of Social Policy in an Era of Globalisation, Instructor: Dr. Rianne Mahon (fall 2011)
The course explores the politics of contemporary social policy in Canada and across the world in an era of globalisation. In doing so it builds on the major theoretical contributions to the comparative study of welfare regimes (i.e. the varying ways states, markets, families and non-profit agencies deal with social risks). In the past comparative research in this field has focused on 1) class relations as a key determinant of welfare regime form; 2) Western Europe and North America; and 3) cross-national comparison. While recognising the insights this approach has yielded, we will move beyond these limits by including a broader range of social relations/identities (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, religion) and Eastern Europe and the South. Most importantly, we shall move beyond the national scale to consider on the one hand, the implications of the emergence of “global social policy” discourses and, on the other, the social policy role of sub-national sites (e.g. global cities as well as provinces).

*Core Course for the Field