Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Office - Barbelin Hall, Room 105C
Office Hours: Monday and Friday 10:00 to 1:30 and by appointment
Phone: 610.660.1752 or 610.660.1917
Fax: 610.660.1284
Email: wwidmaie@sju.edu
Education
University of Texas at Austin, Department of Government, Ph.D.
Boston University, Department of International Relations, M.A.
Cornell University, Departments of Government and Economics, B.A., Magna Cum Laude
Professional Experience
Wesley W. Widmaier received his Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Texas at Austin, his M.A. from Boston University in 1991, and his B.A. from Cornell University in 1990. His research interests pertain to constructivism and international relations theory, international monetary relations, Keynesian and Galbraithian economics, and the interpretation of crises and their role as mechanisms of regime change. He is currently working on a manuscript addressing the social construction of the turning points of the 1930s-1940s and 1960s-1970s and their effects on state and societal interests in cooperation.
Courses Taught
Introductory Courses
POL 1031Introduction to Comparative Politics
A comparative analysis of political values governing structures and policy-making styles in selected countries. Investigates the linkage between economic and political development, along with the challenges that poses for democracy.
POL 1051Introduction to International Politics Freshman Seminar syllabus
writing intensive course
An introductory survey of the major approaches, interpretations and problems in the field of International Politics. Topics include the balance of power, diplomacy, war, the great powers, civilization order, international political economy and environmental diplomacy.
Interdisciplinary not Political Science
IRT 2001 Theory and Method in International Politics writing intensive course syllabus
Research Methods in International Relations *may be used by POL SCI majors in lieu of POL 1511 with permission of the chairman.
This course exposes students to some classical theories in international and comparative studies. It will also introduce students to different methodologies appropriate for performing undergraduate research in International Relations. Throughout the semester, students will work on developing and completing their own research project, and the final product will be a significant paper.
International Politics
POL 2541
POL 2545U.S. Foreign Policy syllabus
Examines fundamental themes, processes and tendencies in U.S. foreign policy with special attention to the Cold War and its aftermath.
POL 2611Theories of International Relations syllabus
Over the past decade, IR theory debates have been reshaped by a series of major developments: The end of the Cold War and disintegration of the Soviet Union left the U.S. the sole remaining superpower. International capital markets assumed a new importance, as recurring currency crises not only undermined growth but also spurred new efforts at economic cooperation. Revolutions in communications and transportation technologies increased sensitivities to cultural and economic differences and engendered the rise of both new social movements and more nebulous terrorist organizations. In the context of these changes, this course provides an introduction to both “classic” IR texts and innovative recent efforts. It further seeks to help you to develop your critical thinking and written communications skills through a sustained and focused engagement with these debates. Finally, this class prepares you for upper-division seminars, in which you will continue to address these issues.
This course provides a basic introduction to evolving Classical and Keynesian debates over the international political economy and domestic autonomy. Over the semester, we will trace these debates as they evolved from the early period of the Classical gold standard, through the Great Crash and Great Depression, the Bretton Woods era, the stagflationary crises of the 1970s, and into the more recent era of globalization. By the end of the semester, students should understand basic controversies over fiscal, monetary, and incomes policies, comparative advantage and the balance of payments, and fixed or floating exchange rates, as well as be able to situate such debates in the broader political context.
POL 2651America and World Economy syllabus
This course examines American economic development through to the rise and possible demise of the United States as a global hegemon. It addresses shifting historical views of the role of the state in the domestic economy and U.S. foreign economic policies. It specifically covers foundational debates between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, the interplay of U.S. expansionism and slavery, the rise of the U.S. as an industrial power, the Great Crash and Great Depression, the New Deal, supply-side economics, and current challenges in the context of demographic shifts and globalization.
Seminar
POL 2721Seminar in Political Economy syllabus
This seminar examines theoretical debates over international economic cooperation, contrasting approaches which stress the importance of the international distribution of capabilities, domestic interest groups, and ideological forces. Students will complete original papers which evaluate these approaches in the context of empirical cases, and will present their findings to the class at the end of the semester.
Publications
Articles in Refereed Journals
“Exogenous Shocks or Endogenous Constructions? The Meanings of Wars and Crises,” (with Mark Blyth and Leonard Seabrooke), International Studies Quarterly Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 2007), pp. 747-759.
“Constructing Foreign Policy Crises: Interpretive Leadership in the Cold War and War on Terror,” International Studies Quarterly Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 2007), pp. 779-794.
“Where You Stand Depends on How You Think: Economic Ideas, the Decline of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Rise of the Federal Reserve,” New Political Economy Vol .12, No. 1 (March 2007), pp. 43-59.
“Micro- or Macro-Moralities? Economic Discourses and Policy Possibilities,” (with Jacqueline Best), Review of International Political Economy Vol. 13, No. 4 (2006), pp. 609-631.
“The Construction of Crises and the Transformation of Russian Interests: From State Failure to Market Failure in the Post-Cold War Era,” (with Lisa A. Baglione), International Relations Vol. 20, No. 2 (2006), pp. 193-209.
“The Meaning of an Inflation Crisis: Steel, Enron and Macroeconomic Policy,” Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics Vol. 27, No. 4 (2005), pp. 553-571.
“The Democratic Peace is What States Make of It: A Constructivist Analysis of the US-Indian ‘Near Miss’ in the 1971 South Asian Crisis,” European Journal of International Relations Vol. 11, No. 3 (2005), pp. 431-455.
“Theory as a Factor and the Theorist as an Actor: The ‘Pragmatist Constructivist’ Lessons of John Dewey and John Kenneth Galbraith,” International Studies Review, Vol. 6, No. 3 (2004), pp. 427-445.
“The Social Construction of the ‘Impossible Trinity’: The Intersubjective Bases of Monetary Cooperation,” International Studies Quarterly Vol. 48, No. 2 (2004), pp. 433-453.
“The Keynesian Bases of a Constructivist Theory of the International Political Economy,”Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2003), pp. 87-107.
“Constructing Monetary Crises: New Keynesian Understandings and Monetary Cooperation in the 1990s,” Review of International Studies Vol. 29, No. 1 (2003), pp. 61-77.
“Systemic Interpretations and the National Interest: Presidential ‘Lessons of Vietnam’” (with Jonathan B. Isacoff), International Relations, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2003), pp. 175-193.
Book Reviews
G. C. Peden (ed.), Keynes and His Critics: Treasury Responses to the Keynesian Revolution, 1925-1946, Reviewed in Journal of British Studies (January 2006).
Bruno Ventelou, Millennial Keynes: An Introduction to the Origin, Development, and Later Currents of Keynesian Thought, Reviewed in Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 59, No. 3 (2005), pp. 408-410.
Francis J. Gavin, Gold, Dollars, and Power: The Politics of International Monetary Relations, 1958-1971, Reviewed in Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 7, No. 3 (2005).
Eric Helleiner, The Making of National Money: Territorial Currencies in Historical Perspective, Reviewed in Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 37, No. 4 (2004), pp. 489-492.
Chapter and Articles in “Revise and Resubmit” or Under Review
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“Incomes Policies and the U.S. Commitment to Fixed Exchange Rates, 1953-1974,” Orderly
Change: International Monetary Relations Since Bretton Woods (ed. David Andrews) Cornell University Press (2008).
“Trade-offs and Trinities: Constructing the Social Barriers to Cooperation,” Prepared for Rawi Abdelal, Mark Blyth, and Craig Parsons (eds.) volume on Economic Constructivism, under review.
Journal Articles
“Review Essay: Pushing Back on the Norm Cascade: Constructivism and Mass Forces in the International Political Economy,” review essay, pending submission
“Towards a More Social Economy: The Institutional Insights of Veblen, Commons, and Keynes,” article in process.
“The Rhetorical Polity: The Construction of Crises in American Politics,” article in process.
“Economic Understandings and Corporate Social Responsibility: From Common Interests to Enlightened Self Interests,” article in process.
“‘Please Better Shut Their Mouths’: German Influence on U.S. Macroeconomic Policy under the Carter Administration,” article in process.
“Resisting Rhetorical Temptation: Interpretive Restraint in Eisenhower’s Construction of the Sputnik ‘Crisis’,” article in progress.
