An examination of the American political system, its institutions and processes. Topics studied include political behavior, the Constitution, the Congress, the Presidency, the courts, and current foreign and domestic issues. Recommended to students who have not had an adequate secondary school preparation in American government. [SS]
This course reviews the main issues and problems confronted by the international system and the literature devoted to them. The course deals with phenomena such as peace and war, integration and disintegration, economic and military assistance, formulation and execution of foreign policy. Special emphasis is placed on stability and change in the global system. [SS]
A survey of governments and politics in the industrialized and Third World countries. The course examines the question of what it means to compare political systems and explores the historical setting, nature of political participation, political values, governmental structures, and political performance of selected countries in Western Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America. [SS]
This course introduces students to several of the most important thinkers and themes in the tradition of political theory. The topics and texts of the course vary, but students can expect to confront such issues as justice, equality, and power, and to read both classic and contemporary authors.
This course examines the role of racial and ethnic minority groups in United States politics. We will focus on four main minority groups (Blacks, Latinos/Hispanics, Asian Americans and American Indians) assessing their access, engagement, and influence in governmental processes historically and today. Specific topics covered include: the social construction of race, how race has shaped American political institutions over time, minority political attitudes and behavior, and the degree to which racial and ethnic minorities are represented in various levels of government. A strong focus will be placed on the salience of race in the post-Obama era. [GM1, W]
Examines what state and local governments do and why. Topics include state constitutions; state legislative, executive, and judicial processes and policymaking; state and local budgets, taxes, and spending; county, municipal, special-district, and school-district governments and services; state and local parties, elections, interest groups, and media; intergovernmental relations; Native American tribes, homeowner associations, and associated states; and selected policy issues such as civil rights, crime, business and economics, health care, and environmental protection. [SS, V, W]
This course explores how law shapes and is shaped by political, social, and cultural contexts. Focusing on the U.S., students will examine: formal legal institutions and actors, including courts, judges, lawyers, and police; law in everyday life, legal consciousness, and varying perceptions of law's legitimacy; and the gap between law's promise and law's practice. Special attention will be paid to the impact of racial and ethnic disparities on policing, courts, and criminal justice. [SS, GM1, V]
Elections rest at the heart of America's representative democracy. This course offers a general introduction to the U.S. elections, with special attention paid to electoral campaigns. We will explore such questions as: What legal structures shape how American elections are conducted. What strategies do candidates follow to win elections? What is the purpose of political parties in elections? Do race, gender, religious, and other social identities affect electoral outcomes? What role do media play in elections?
This course explores how politics influence each step of the U.S. policy making process. We will explore how political dynamics shape why some issues get on the agenda while others do not; why some solutions are considered and others ignored; and how citizens, interest groups, elected officials, and bureaucrats sway policy outcomes. We will examine these questions using case studies of several current economic, social, regulatory, and foreign policy issues in the U.S. [SS, W]
It is impossible to understand the expansion of the US's international role in the past two hundred years without knowledge of our country's relationship to the rest of the Americas, particularly the nations in Latin America. This course introduces students to the United States historical relationship with Latin America from the early 1800s to the present day. Students examine events and US policies from multiple ideological and national lenses, critically evaluating the debates that color so-called ''objective'' accounts of history.
Analysis of selected sub-Saharan states with particular attention to common institutional features such as ethnic pluralism, weak political parties, dominant public bureaucracies, dependence on external forces, and the problems associated with them, especially limited capacity to innovate, rural stagnation, ethnic competition, corruption, and military intervention. The South African situation is likewise examined.
After a brief introduction to the political geography and history of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe before World War II, this course focuses on developments in this region during and after the Cold War. The final section of the course examines the post-1989/90 transition process toward democracy and a market economy in Russia, the other post-Soviet states, along with Central and Eastern Europe, including the Balkans.[GM2, SS, V, W]
There are two main types of political regime: democracy and everything else. Historically, democracies have differed from non-democracies in two key ways: (1) they have permitted citizens to remove governments regularly and peacefully, and (2) they have not killed large numbers of their own citizens. Why did the West democratize early? Why has most of the developing world democratized since the 1970s? Under what conditions do regimes (i.e., democracies and non-democracies) achieve long-term stability? [W]
This course examines Latin American political history since the Iberian conquest. Topics include colonialism and its legacies, the rise of the oligarchy, industrialization and populism, Marxist revolutionary movements, military coups and dictatorships, the neoliberal turn, the third wave of democratization, the recent resurgence of the left, and the even more recent reversal of the left turn. The course employs various theoretical approached to explain broad regional patterns as well as important cross-national differences. [W]
This course examines democratization and democratic breakdown from the First Wave of Democratization (1828-1922) through the Third Wave (1975-95). We ask why stable democracies first emerged in Europe; why stable democracies broke down in interwar Europe and Cold-War-era Latin America; and what caused the Third Wave of Democratization. In closing, we discuss the democratic exuberance of the immediate post-Cold-War-period. [W]
This course analyzes post-Cold-War political regimes. We proceed regionally, examining contemporary political systems in (1) Latin America, (2) Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, (3) sub-Saharan Africa, (4) China, and (5) the Middle East. We ask why these regions, and different countries within these regions, have different types of regime (e.g. democratic, competitive authoritarian, full authoritarian). We close by asking whether Western democracies are in crisis, and whether the post-Cold-War era is over. [W]
The course examines topics such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the struggle for domination in the Arab World, the role of the superpowers in the region, and the politics of oil. An analysis of international political processes in some of the Middle Eastern countries is used to examine explanations for the foreign policies of these countries. The course assesses different solutions to problems confronted by the nations of the Middle East. [GM2, W]
Global Environmental Politics bridges international politics and environmental issues, offering an explicit focus on environmental problems and policies in the global context. Students in this course will study the development of global environmental regimes and analyze the successes and continuing deficiencies of political responses to various environmental issues, such as air pollution, water quality, and waste management, climate change, and energy use. [SS, V, W]
Investigates the dynamics of wealth and power at work in the contemporary world. The course combines the analysis of politics, governance and institutions, and the production and distribution of wealth with the study of the social, cultural, and moral contexts in which power operates and wealth is created. The goal is to equip students to analyze various economic and political dimensions of the contemporary world, focusing specifically on the function and limits of the market system, the impact of the ''globalization'' of international trade and finance for nation-states and democratic politics, the causes of poverty and the problems of ''underdevelopment'' facing the world's poorest countries, the lasting impact of the 2008-2009 financial collapse and economic crisis, and the importance of relations of class, gender, and ethnicity for the distribution of wealth and power around the world.
A study of the rules of public international law, especially as they are related to the development of international organizations. Attention is paid to the emergence of global organizations and regional organizations, including the United Nations, NATO, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Efforts to regulate and limit international conflict, within and outside of international organization, are discusses.
This course explores the major analytical perspectives on the sources of stability and conflict in East Asian international relations and evaluates them by using empirical evidence from the East Asian region since the ''clash civilizations'' in the nineteenth century up to the current regional order. Topics for discussion include U.S. strategy in East Asia, the impact of the rise of China on regional security, nuclear proliferation, territorial disputes, nationalism, economic interdependence and regionalism. [GM2, SS]
Examining the fashion system, a multi billion dollar worldwide industry, this course raises issues of appearance, beauty, gender, and sexuality; power, liberation, and oppression; class distinctions and equality. To develop a political theory of fashion, the course studies the practice and production of clothes and style, and analyzes texts from literature, sociology, history, and cultural studies. [W]
This course explores classic texts, questions, and debates addressed by contemporary African American political theory. We will ask: What are the similarities, differences, and overlaps among varying strains of African American political thought? How do they each deal with core concepts of freedom, identity, citizenship, and community? How do they respond to one another through time? Throughout the course, we will consider our times in light of this history of political thought. [GM1, H, V, W]
An examination of selected theoretical texts from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. The separation of political theory from religious discourse, the rise of the state, and the development of liberal and democratic thought are examined. Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau are usually treated. [SS, V, W]
This course studies the theoretical and political struggle to define American politics that took place among Puritans, radical democrats, liberal individualists, and liberal nationalists. Early nineteenth-century reactions to the liberal founding are also explored. Authors studied often include Winthrop, Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, the Federalists, Emerson, and Douglass. [W]
The themes of racial conflict, equality, the rise of the state, social darwinism, education, and the changing role of women are explored. The course does not emphasize the historical contexts of ideas, but seeks to discover what is true and relevant for the present in texts written from the Civil War to the present. [W]
This course examines both the political goods that are associated with capitalism (freedom, democracy, etc.)-and challengers (classic and contemporary) who argue that this economic form has rather more problematic social effects. We will read texts that address a wide range of questions, ranging from poverty, to capitalist labor markets, to the marketization of greater domains of life (e.g. bodily organs, water, education), to the impact of market values on democratic practice. [SS, V, W]
This course examines Americans' political views and behaviors, including what citizens think about and do politically, as well as why they make the political choices they do. Topics include the causes and effects of partisanship; whether Americans' political choices are ''rational''; who tends to vote (and why); the impact of values and group identities on political choices; political persuasion and influence; and the role of cognition and emotion in political decision-making. [SS]
This course examines the sources and conduct of Chinese foreign policy from both historical and theoretical perspectives. The first part of the course explores major factors that influence China's foreign relations, including the international system, domestic politics, and nationalism. The second half of the course turns to the practice of Chinese foreign policy over a wide-range of issue areas, such as China's relations with the United States, trade, regionalism, nuclear proliferation, energy and climate change. [SS]
This course provides a practical introduction to quantitative political analysis. First, we will explore experimental research methods widely used by private companies, governments, and political organizations. Second, we will learn how to visualize political data effectively. Throughout the semester, you will study a political topic -- any topic -- of your choosing. This course is designed to gently introduce quantitative methods to students anxious about working with data. [W, SS]
Acquaints students with social science inquiry-the process by which political scientists develop research questions and attempt to find answers. The course explores various approaches to political inquiry, ways to structure and critique arguments, methods to conceptualize a research question and develop causal models, means to create a testable hypothesis, and how to evaluate various methods of data collection. The final section focuses on data processing, analysis, and introductory statistics. Helps evaluate political science material and to enables them to undertake a social science research project.[W]
Explores American federalism as a system of democratic self-rule and share rule, and examines how federal-state-local government relations shape law, politics, and policy in the United States. Topics include: covenantal origins and constitutional theory of American federalism; historical transformations; legal, political, administrative, and fiscal dynamics of intergovernmental relations; and the impacts of federalism on such policy issues as civil rights, business and the economy, taxation, environmental protection, and foreign affairs. [GM1, SS, W]
Constitutional adjudication as a political process which generated and manages social conflicts regarding the basic allocation of governmental authority in the American system. Topics include judicial review, limits on executive and legislative power, federalism, and the court and social change. [W]
This course examines the development of constitutional doctrine as it relates to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Topics include freedom of expression, church-state relations, and freedom of the press. [W]
Many of the social conflicts that the law considers relate to claims of right grounded upon conceptions of liberty as a fundamental value of the constitutional system of the United States. This course explores the concept of liberty, its place in United States law and politics, and its application to questions of constitutional and political rights. Topics include privacy, and criminal justice. [W]
Many of the social conflicts that the law considers relate to claims of right grounded upon conceptions of equality as a fundamental value of the constitutional system of the United States. This course explores the concept of equality, its place in U.S. law and politics, and its application to questions of constitutional and political rights. Topics include discrimination on grounds of race, gender, etc., and remedial programs such as busing and affirmative action. [W]
This course will explore patterns of political, social, and economic inequality in the United States through the lens of the American state. Specifically, we will investigate how U.S. governmental institutions and public policies create, reproduce, or mitigate intersecting forms of inequality for individuals and groups. Topics will include how political institutions and policies regulate citizenship, rights, political participation, representation, social welfare, finance, education, incarceration, and military service. Students will also conduct original research projects. [GM1, W]
This course explores the dynamics of executive politics, with primary emphasis upon the structure and operation of the United States Presidency. Topics include the organization of the Presidency and the Executive Branch, models of presidential power and leadership, the process of presidential selection, relationships with other parts of the political system, and executive politics and public policy. [W]
This course analyzes the process of lawmaking in the United States Congress within the context of the legislative process generally. Topics include the structural and functional development of the institution, the rules and norms which govern interaction, congressional elections, leadership and party organization, relationships with other parts of the political system, and public policy. [W]
Major changes are taking place in governance, decision making, and relations between the people, institutions and states that form the European Union. These changes are the main topics covered in this course: the origin and history of European integration, common agricultural policy, monetary integration and relations with other parts of the world. Each year, with a select focus on one EU member and one specific policy, the class will participate in the Mid-Atlantic European Union simulation, held in Washington, DC.
This course explores the various ways in which globalization is (re)shaping the concept and practice of international as well as national security. Throughout the course, we will examine the major concepts and issues in the globalization of security from both at theoretical and empirical standpoint. Topics for discussion include migration and national security, terrorism and asymmetric warfare, defense privatization, economic sanctions, and collective security. [W]
A study of the formulation, implementation, and effects of U.S. foreign policy. The course will examine and analyze U.S. defense and foreign policy vis-à-vis Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa; the decision-making community, and such concepts as globalism, imperialism, nuclear and limited war, insurgency, threat perception, confrontation and coexistence, and foreign policy ethics. [W]
This course comprises an assessment of armed violence at the onset of the 21st century. Armed conflict is both a very timely matter of inquiry and an enduring concern stretching back to the earliest days of interactions among human communities. This course surveys and critically examines theoretical and empirical scholarship on the causes of war and armed violence. The course seeks to probe the causes of contemporary conflict and to examine some of its distinctive characteristics. On the basis of these discussions, the course also evaluates the effectiveness of a range of strategies for preventing, abating, and terminating war and armed conflict. [SS, V, W]
This course studies those nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers most discussed by political theorists today. We will attempt to chart both the institutional forms of, and theoretical responses to, modern power. Hegel, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Weber, and Foucault are often studied in this course. [W]
This course explores the historic tradition of conservative political theory. To do so, the course will untangle the competing strains of conservatism and assess their influence on the contemporary political scene. The course will dedicate particular attention to the rise of what has been termed the New Right and it will treat topics such as anticommunism, traditionalism, the culture wars, and immigration. [SS, V, W]
An offering on a subject selected by the instructor to meet student and departmental needs as conditions permit. Announcement of the subject is made in advance.
A combination of independent activities including selected reading, satisfactory completion of an internship or working assignment in a public agency, and a written report covering both reading and work assignments. Limited in enrollment by the availability of acceptable projects.
Subjects are chosen and arrangements are made to suit the needs of each student in consultation with the instructor.
This seminar deals with the challenges to American foreign policy in the contemporary world. It compares the predictable environment of the Cold War and the competition with the Soviet Union to the unchartered waters of the post-Cold War era. The seminar begins by analyzing alternative paradigms of today's world both in terms of the distribution of power (uni-, bi-, tri-, or multi-polar system) and in terms of the fundamental nature of international conflict (state-based power politics, clash of civilization, religious fundamentalism). It then examines possible U.S. responses to this ''deregulated'' world dealing with classical dilemmas of American foreign policy (e.g. isolationist tendencies vs. interventionism, U.S. as a world policeman vs. a ''reluctant sheriff''). The seminar will cover U.S. policy vis-a-vis different regions and countries (Europe, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Russia, the Peoples' Republic of China) and toward a variety of issues (human rights, weapons of mass destruction, NATO expansion). Satisfies exposure to international politics subfield. [W]
This course examines the relationship between law and social movement activism. The course explores whether or not the use of the legal system by social movements contributes to their attempts to advance reforms. Particular attention will be paid to the development of law by the following social movements in the United States: the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the movement for gay and lesbian rights, and the animal rights movement. Satisfies exposure to U.S. politics subfield. [W]
This course examines the relationship between the evolution of the personalities of members of the United States Supreme Court and their decision making. Particular attention will be paid to the application of the ''life cycle'' paradigms to the jurisprudence of various justices. Satisfies exposure to U.S. politics subfield. [W]
This will be an advanced course on the challenges as well as the opportunities for further integration that face the European Union. Drawing the lesson from centuries of divisions, tensions, conflicts and war, European leaders initiated what can now be regarded as the most successful experiment of regional integration in the world. This course analyzes the process of European integration since 1945 by reviewing the EU's history of enlargement, its main institutions and key policies. Satisfies exposure to international politics subfield. [GM2, SS, W]
In this course we will study some dimensions and themes of politics that can be reached by literature differently than by traditional works of political theory. We will read classic texts and think about their political meanings, understanding politics in its broadest sense. Works that may be treated in the course include Sophocles, Three Theban Plays, Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, and Don Dellilo, White Noise. Satisfies exposure to political theory subfield. [W]
This course explores the concept and practice of nationalism, with a particular emphasis on the role that it plays in world politics. We will survey the main concepts and theories in the study of nationalism, identify the major actors and processes in the politics of nationalism, examine the emergence of nationalism as a major force in international relations, and investigate various links between questions of national identity and interstate cooperation or conflict. [GM2, SS, W]
Should theorists just describe the world or, in cases of injustice, should they endeavor to change it? This course will explore an interconnected set of efforts to fulfill this latter task, through a wide variety of texts concerning power, domination, and the possibility of liberation. Although we will begin with Marxist concerns for class and exploitation, the second half of the course will interrogate forms of violence associated with race, normality, and gender. [W]
Liberal democracies typically promise equal benefits and rights to all citizens. But who gets to count as a citizen and who is excluded from all (or part) of its benefits? This course will explore the contested ideal of citizenship and chart a variety of ways that this ideal is undermined. Special attention is dedicated to mass incarceration and racial exclusion within the United States. [SS, GM1, V, W]
This seminar explores the main actors and processes of global governance. We will assess the role of power, international institutions, transnational networks, and ideas. Specific topics of inquiry include global economic governance, the environment, third-world state building, international justice, military intervention, nuclear proliferation, and global terrorism. We will apply competing analytical approaches to different issue areas, as the intersect with nature and management of global governance in the 21st century. [SS, GM2, W]
Government 420 is an advanced seminar in Latin American politics that focuses on present-day issues. The course proceeds thematically, examining topics such as party systems, presidentialism, neopopulism, democratic deconsolidation, economic and social inequality, deindustrialization and informalization, new social movements (including indigenous movements), the decline of Catholicism and rise of Protestantism and secularism, the problem of homicide, the regional policy landscape, and the vital, persistent issue of state ineffectiveness. [W]
This course examines the political development and function of the U.S. political economy. We will explore how political institutions and policies shaped economic arrangements from the founding to the present, and how economic interests, inequality, and identity influence U.S. politics today. The course will also explore in depth four aspects of U.S. political economy: the rise of finance, the welfare state, business regulation, and organized labor. This seminar will devote considerable attention to original research. [W]
The culmination of the extraordinary political process of negotiating a Brexit plan with the EU, its resounding failure in the British parliamentary vote, and the apparent splintering of major British political, economic, and socio-cultural institutions as the public grapples with Brexit's ramifications -- all will continue to play out in complex ways for the foreseeable future. The focus of this course is on comparative understanding Brexit's ramifications for British politics. [W]
Immigration has shaped the United States’ population, its culture, and its politics since before the formal founding of the country. The United States has often called itself ‘a nation of immigrants’. Despite this claim, immigrants have faced significant political and social exclusion. In this course, we will examine the ways in which immigration dynamics have shaped who is seen as an American, the laws which have been implemented, American governmental institutions, and American public opinion. [W]
An independent research project on a topic to be selected by the student and approved by the department. A student must undertake such a program for two semesters to graduate with honors. [One W credit only upon completion of both 495 and 496]