Political Science Courses

Courses in Political Science

American National Government

This course will serves as an introduction to the American political system. The three branches of the national government and the roles of political parties, elections, public opinion, interest groups, and other political actors will be addressed.

Introduction to Political Theory

This course offers an introduction to and exploration of selected topics in Political Theory. The word theory comes from the Greek root theoria, which translates loosely to vision. Theory, then, is a way of seeing or making sense of the world around us. At its best, political theory provides us with frameworks of understanding that illuminate the political world around us and allow us to grasp the dynamics that are at play in our institutions and practices. Theory provides powerful tools of critique that allow us to explore power and privilege in politics and envision a different path forward. Theory can be pragmatic and radical, narrowly realist in its thinking or sweepingly idealist in its imaginative scope. Theory does not always provide right or wrong answers about the best way to approach politics but rather trains us to reflect deeply about political life and ask better questions. Traditionally, Political Theory has been rooted in the Western tradition, in the canon of European thinkers, who have made tremendous contributions to how we think about freedom, leadership, citizenship, and sovereignty. Some of our most significant conceptual tools come to us from this tradition. Along with them, we inherit their myopia on questions of race, power, and privilege, and it is important to grapple deeply with their ideas but also to examine them with a critical eye and note their silences and make them speak to the problems of our time. This course begins with an introduction to these foundational concepts and then adds on to and broadens what it means to be canonical by including a range of critical perspectives. We will engage with profound thinkers on race and class, on anti-colonialism and radical resistance and conclude the semester by interrogating the thin line between democracy and totalitarianism. In this class, we will encounter texts by Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Marx, but also DuBois, Gandhi, Fanon, Arendt, and others, reading them in chronological order with an eye toward changes in concerns and concepts across time. We will explore the connections between theory and practice in our conversations and work to apply these complex concepts to contemporary issues in politics, society, and culture in our practice of theoria.

Comparative Politics and Government

This course is designed to introduce students to Comparative Politics (the study of domestic politics around the world), one of the main subfields in political science. The course will address concepts and theories of comparative politics such as democratic and non-democratic institutions, modernization and development, political culture, systems analysis, and public policy. The course will apply these concepts and methods of comparative politics to understanding political phenomena and outcomes in different regions of the world, such as, Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. The political experience in each case will be studied in the context of its own cultural and historical settings. Such an approach will allow us to see the differences within a particular form of government. We shall inquire, for example, why Chinese communism is different from communism in the former Soviet Union; what factors are responsible for both the endurance of and challenges posed to democratic institutions globally; and why do economic and social welfare institutions differ across capitalist economies.

Advanced Placement in Political Science

Advanced placement credit for entering first-year students. A. U.S. Government. B. Comparative Politics. POLS 156 cannot be counted as credit toward a POLS major.

International Politics (formerly POLS 270)

An analysis of continuity and change in world politics, focusing on the units of analysis; patterns of conflict and competition, cooperation and order, and constraint; the structure of the international system; the international agenda and emerging trends and issues such as globalization and terrorism; and the current state of world order and its future.

On-Campus ES Course

On-Campus Extended Studies course in Political Science.

First-Year Seminar

A seminar on a theme related to political science. Open only to first-year students.

Political Parties (formerly POLS 310)

Parties, public opinion, elections, and voting behavior in the context of the American political system.

African American Politics

This course focuses on how the continuing struggle for Black political empowerment has helped influence and shape the current African American political community. An interdisciplinary approach incorporating economics, history and sociology will be used to gain an overall understanding of the African American community and its critical influence upon the American political system.

State and Local Government

The theory and especially the practice of subnational government in the U.S. Topics include intergovernmental relations; government institutions; elections, parties, and interest groups; taxing, spending and economic development activities; and policy problems besetting state and local governments and metropolitan areas.

Equality and Justice

This course will investigate multiple dimensions of equality and justice through a broad exploration of classical, modern, and contemporary political theory. Some of the questions raised by this course will include, does an abstract principle of equality necessarily lead to just outcomes? How do political societies negotiate between multiple and competing claims of justice? What role does power and privilege play in these debates? We will begin by reading some of the core thinkers in political theory, such as Locke and Rousseau, and critically analyze their ideas. We will then expand our scope by examining three key areas: feminism, gender, and sexuality; race, power, and privilege, and finally conclude by turning to an exploration of the possibility of achieving justice for historic political inequality. Doing so will allow us to not only broaden the conversation by including a multiplicity of voices, but it will also allow us to theorize what a politics of difference might actually entail. In each of these areas, we will cover a range of thinkers throughout history. In the women, gender, and sexuality section, we will read a wide array of thinkers such as Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, bell hooks, and Judith Butler, among others, to examine the struggle for women's rights from the suffragist movement, to black feminism, to the queering of politics. In the race, power, and privilege section, we will start with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and their contrasting (but also complementary) views on the civil rights struggle, read the poetic work of James Baldwin, and then explore in depth Michelle Alexander's work on 'The New Jim Crow' that will allow us to think deeply about race in contemporary America. Finally, in the concluding section, we will take a step back and look broadly at a wide range of solutions for coming to terms with the presence of past trauma and histories of injustice, from truth commissions to communal trials to archives of memory.

Contemporary Political Ideologies

The underlying theme of this course is the contemporary crisis of liberal democracy. We are witnessing the phenomenon of a gradual shift away from democracy to authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, in countries from Russia, Brazil, and Hungary, to Turkey, India, and the United States. Is democracy dying? Are we witnessing the end of the democratic century and the global ascendance of autocracy? Is American democracy in danger? What will democratic failure look like in the twenty-first century? And what will come after? Will the ethno-nationalist and far right parties in Europe and elsewhere continue to rise? Why is there extreme polarization in political discourse in mature democracies? Is the proliferation of conspiracy theory, which is anti-ideological, a threat to liberal democracy? Why does the Chinese autocratic model appeal to the peoples and leaders in the developing world? Is the notion of democratic decline around the world an exaggeration or scholarly hyperventilation? The course will answer these and other questions by examining the forces that have contributed to the regression of liberal democracy. In particular, we will focus on the ideologies challenging liberal democracy: Globalism, 'Neo-Fascism,' Populism, Nationalism, and Asian authoritarianism (Xi's new type of one-party authoritarian system).

China and India in the 21st Century

Why do the two Asian giants, India and China, with more than 38 percent of the population of the world, matter to the rest of the world at the beginning of the 21st century? What are China's superpower prospects? Will nuclear India attain great power status? What is the future of communism and the prospect of political freedom and democracy in China? Is Indian democracy stable? What are the sources of instability of Indian government? The dynamics of ethnic minorities in China? The future of secularism in India? The nuclear dynamics in Sino-Indian relations? These questions and many others will be explored in this course.

Government and Politics of Western Europe

Political systems of selected countries in Western Europe; their historical and cultural settings; parties and elections; decision-making; problems of foreign policy. Considerable attention to the European community, the movement toward economic and political integration and its impact on political systems of member countries. May count towards European Studies minor.

Introduction to Environmental Policy

This course examines the different actors, interests, and institutions that aim to govern or regulate the environment and its resources. Students will learn how environmental policy has evolved over time to deal with changing needs and threats, ranging from domestic pollution issues to longer-term threats such as climate change and drought. Much of the course material will focus on environmental policy at the federal level in the US, though students will also look at more local and international efforts to address the global issue of climate change. Throughout the class, we will also examine the societal implications of environmental threats and policy in order to better understand how environmental outcomes and policies affect issues such as inequality, health, and global conflict.

Topics in Political Science

An examination of selected topics in political science.

Internship in Political Science

Supervised participation in a special (and usually competitive) internship program outside the University.

The Legislative Process

Focus on the U.S. Congress. Examines rules, procedures and structures of Congress, as well as sources and motivations of legislative behavior. Emphasis is on the development of an understanding of how Congress works and why Congress as an institution and individual members of Congress function as they do.

The Presidency

Seeks first to develop students' understanding of the powers and imperatives of the American presidency, as well as an understanding of the president's role in the American political order. Primary attention also given to examination of presidential success in office: what makes a good president, what citizens look for in a president, what strategies and/or behaviors are more or less likely to result in successful presidencies.

Research Design and Writing in Political Science

The course provides an overview of some of the quantitative and qualitative research methods political scientists use to draw conclusions about the political world. It also teaches students the writing skills specific to political science. By the end of the course, it is expected that students would have learned how to find an interesting topic and pose a research question; how to obtain and analyze data (qualitative or quantitative); how to read and think critically and use various methods of inquiry--theoretical, historical, comparative, behavioral, and post-behavioral; and how to formulate a thesis statement and write a scholarly literature review. Students are required to (1) write a series of short essays that engage with a variety of research tools and methods (argument, critique, textual analysis, content analysis, discourse analysis, participant-observation method, interviews, etc.); (2) engage in peer review exercise, and (3) write a literature review, a research proposal, and/or an analytical or argumentative paper. They receive feedback from the instructor on each assignment and are expected to revise drafts in response to comments received. To satisfy the major's requirement in political science, a student must earn the grade of C or above in the course.

The Politics of Race

This course explores the centrality and significance of race in the modern American political system. The course covers, but is not limited to, the role of race in electoral politics, urban politics, the political and social attitudes of Americans and the debates about the scope and function of the federal government.

Politics of Civil Rights and Liberties

Analysis of civil rights and civil liberties policies in the United States and of the processes that produce those policies. Emphasis will be on policies relating to the practice of democracy (freedom of expression and associated freedoms), criminal justice, and "discrimination". Treatment of the policy process will include an examination of the roles of judicial, legislative and executive branches and the activities of interest groups.

Governments and Politics of the Middle East

This course focuses on the Middle East in international politics as well as the internal politics of the region. Special attention is given to the rise of the state system, the dynamics of modernization, major political movements, ideologies, religions and social and economic change.

Muslim Political Thought

This course is an exploration of the resurgent tradition of Muslim political thought. It begins with an examination of the canonical thinkers Al-Farabi and Ibn Khaldun and then proceeds to Hourani's account of the confrontation and engagement of Arab theorists with a largely European liberalism. Their readings, critiques, adaptations, challenges to, and expansions of liberalism remain powerful in the shaping of contemporary Muslim political thought. It then turns to an exploration of key texts of political Islam, including controversial works by Qutb and Maududi. It closes with an examination of Women and Islam through an exploration of contemporary debates surrounding the issue of veiling.

American Political Thought

An introduction to American political thought that concentrates on important debates and controversies that have contributed to shaping American political life.

Government and Politics of Russia and the CIS

Examines the origins and nature of Bolshevik movement and the 1917 revolution; the ideological and institutional sources of the Soviet state and party structures; Stalinism as totalitarian experiment; the erosion of the Soviet system; its economic decline and crisis; the reasons for the failure of the Gorbachev reform effort; the Moscow coup and implosion of the system; subsequent Russian political and economic reforms; selected events in some CIS republics. May count towards European Studies minor.

Politics of Developing Nations

An introduction to the similarities and unifying characteristics of heterogeneous developing nations. Emphasis on diversities to be found in different regions of the Third World. The focus is on issues and problems and not countries and regions, though case studies are used for illustrative purposes. The course covers theories and approaches to the study of the Third World; changes in the Third World (political, economic, governmental and regime); contemporary issues (hunger and famine, multinationals, foreign debt and the New International Economic Order); and Third World ideologies and movements (nonalignment, developmental socialism, anti-Americanism and Islamic revivalism).

African Politics

This course surveys issues in and approaches to the study of African politics. Special emphasis is placed on the African development crisis through an accounting of varying levels of success and failure across the continent. Specific concerns include: governance, civil and interstate war, international political economy and the development of the state system.

Political Psychology

This course examines the psychology behind political attitudes, preferences, and outcomes. Concepts in psychology such as personality, group identity theory, or other cognitive heuristics can offer new ways to think about contemporary issues in political science. After all, many important political decisions such as vote choice or policy preferences are guided by social preferences or biases, rather than more objective or "rational" approaches to make choices. Throughout this course, we will understand how such internal preferences or biases can guide and influence political outcomes. For example, how do our partisan, ideological, or ethnic group identities affect the political information we select, or the policies we support? How might appeals to fear, resentment, or prejudices impact electoral outcomes? Or why do misinformation and conspiracy theories linger in the public's mind for so long?

American Foreign Policy

The process of formulating and implementing American foreign policy. The development of American traditions regarding foreign policy, the main factors influencing American foreign policy since World War II and specific policies toward regions and countries of the world.

Global Issues

An analytical survey of global issues: their essence, management and political implications. The course starts with a theoretical framework for the study of leading global issues, such as global security, population growth, global political economy, food, ethno-nationalism, terrorism, human rights, consumption of non-renewable resources and the integrity of the environment. Institutions, values and policies are emphasized in the context of growing interdependence among nations and related issues of integration and conflict.

International Law

Contemporary problems relating to law and legal institutions in the global community. The nature, sources, and application of international law; international instruments; membership in the international community; state and non-state actors; duties and responsibilities at the global level; war and peace.

Topics in Government and Politics

An examination of selected topics related to political science.

Senior Seminar

This course, offered in multiple and independent sections, focuses on theory and analysis in the various fields of the discipline and in the discipline as a whole.

Independent Study

Intensive reading and research in American politics, political theory, comparative politics and/or international politics. Permission of instructor and department required. May not be taken pass/fail.