Democracy gives people control over their government on a collaborative and inclusive basis, via operational and selectional constraints, thereby reducing the government's dominating power. This set of seminars will focus on why the formula requires control, not participation, and why it gives control to people severally, not to the people as a body; it will explore the operational constraints, such as the rule of law, and the selectional constraints, such as electoral process, on which it seeks to build control; and it will investigate the point of democratic control.

Focused on analytical models of political institutions, this course is organized around canonical models and their applications. These include: voting models, menu auctions, models of reputation and cheap talk games. These models are used to explain patterns of participation in elections, institutions of congress, lobbying, payments to special interest groups and other observed phenomena.

The ups and downs of the so-called "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States is one of the major themes of the history of the twentieth century, and the one figure who embodies that association in all its many contradictory guises is Winston Churchill, who actually coined the phrase. For Churchill's relationship with the United States was much more nuanced and complex (and, occasionally, hostile) than is often supposed, and it will be the aim of this course to tease out and explore those nuances and complexities (and hostilities), in the broader context of Anglo-American relations.

This course will focus on the causes and consequences of China's relations with Latin American countries in the 21st century. Part I will examine the economic and environmental dimensions of China-Latin America relations through two dynamics: trade and development finance. Part II will cover political and security dimensions, including defense cooperation, regional integration, and US-China competition. Students will produce a policy paper outlining a current challenge for a Latin American country navigating its relationship with China and recommending policy solutions.

This course examines the legacies of mass atrocities and institutions and processes that governments and citizens have used to address them, referred to as transitional justice. This may include truth commissions, criminal trials, reparations programs, and institutional reforms, among others. In this course, we will compare different approaches to transitional justice adopted in several Latin American countries from the 1980s to the present. Students will explore core concepts in transitional justice theory and will gain insight into the challenges transitioning societies face in their efforts to address difficult pasts.

This course examines the political dimensions of Islam. This will involve a study of the nature of Islamic political theory, the relationship between the religious and political establishments, the characteristics of an Islamic state, the radicalization of Sunni and Shi'i thought, and the compatibility of Islam and the nation-state, democracy, and constitutionalism, among other topics. Students will be introduced to the complex and polemical phenomenon of political Islam. The examples will be drawn mainly, though not exclusively, from cases and writings from the Middle East.

This course introduces students to political theory by having them think about political action. We will explore topics such as voting, illegal protest, revolution, social movements, boycotts, whistleblowing, and public shaming. In the process, we will examine some of the most important and enduring problems in political theory. Readings will be drawn from canonical theorists such as Weber, Hobbes, Marx, Mill, and Tocqueville, as well a wide range of contemporary authors.

An introduction to the institutions and political processes of American government and democracy. Topics will include the Constitution and American political tradition, federalism, political institutions, elections and representation, interest groups and social movements, civil rights and liberties, and the politics of public policy

Why are some states democracies while others are authoritarian dictatorships? Why does ethnicity seem to be at the heart of so much conflict in the world today? And why are some countries rich and others poor? This course is an introduction to the study of politics and political life in the world outside the United States, covering developed and developing countries. It examines how nations and states form and why some fail; how social movements can promote social justice; how democracy functions around the world; and whether capitalism and democracy can coexist.

This course introduces major theories of international relations (IR), uses them to explain historical and contemporary IR policy issues such as the rise and fall of powers, the outbreak and outcome of war, human rights, global environmental regulation, development, and the power of international law. The course also offers training how to write academic analyses, real-world policy memos, and media opinion pieces. It is designed as preparation for specialized IR courses and research, as well as jobs in foreign policy.

POL 300 equips students with foundational research design and methods in political science, empowering them to critically evaluate evidence, analyze complex political phenomena, and produce rigorous, credible research. POL 300 consists of three components: The weekly lecture covers topics in research design and methods. The weekly precept discusses lecture materials and prepares students to complete problem sets. The practicum applies research design principles to one of several specific topic areas, led by faculty instructors who mentor students in developing independent research projects. POL 300 is open to Politics juniors only.

A study of the fundamental questions of political theory as framed in the context of the institutions and writings of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, from the classical period into late antiquity and the spread of Christianity in Rome. We will canvass the meaning of justice in Plato's "Republic", the definition of the citizen in Aristotle's "Politics", Cicero's reflections on the purpose of a commonwealth, and Augustine's challenge to those reflections and to the primacy of political life at all in light of divine purposes. Through these classic texts, we explore basic questions of constitutional ethics and politics.

A study of the structure of the American constitutional system and of the meaning of key constitutional provisions. Students will critically evaluate competing theories of, and approaches to, constitutional interpretation.

This course provides an introduction to the political science of law and courts. Topics typically include: bargaining and decision making on the U.S. Supreme Court; political struggles over doctrine within the judicial hierarchy; the politics of Supreme Court nominations; juries as political institutions; court packing, jurisdiction stripping and judicial intimidation.

This course provides a realistic introduction to how public policy is made in the United States. It examines how people and political institutions come together to create and implement public policy. The course combines cutting edge social science with cases, simulations, and role playing exercises to provide students with concrete skills and practical tools for actual policy making.

Students will engage with broad questions of democratic health in the U.S. They will also gain direct training on original data collection. The data elements of the course focus on factors that can serve as objective indicators of access to the rights and privileges of democratic citizenship in the U.S., across time and geography. In short, students will develop their research skills while helping to build a public good - the first democracy index of the United States that accounts for subnational differences in the quality of democracy due to racial climate and institutional context.

This course offers a friendly and practical introduction to data science for social science. Mathematical notation used in the course will be minimized. The course focuses on learning computing and programming tools for managing and analyzing data, as well as understanding the conceptual foundations behind different approaches to data analysis. By the end of the course, students should be able to summarize and visualize data, evaluate causal claims, use linear regression for data analysis, quantify uncertainty, and work with professional tools such as R and RStudio.

This course starts students on the path to asking and answering their own research questions for political science and public policy. We will think carefully about causal claims, and how to assess them with real world data. We will learn how to use regression, quasi-experiments and machine learning for inference and prediction. This includes knowing the limits - practical and ethical - in working with such techniques. The course is aimed particularly at those writing quantitative Junior Papers/Senior Theses, and others seeking to consume, produce and communicate empirical research. We will use the R language and statistical environment.

Examines the role of political institutions in facilitating or hindering economic prosperity. We start with the basic tools of political economy - collective action, elections, and delegation. These tools are then applied to the problems of controlling rulers, and the persistence of inefficiency.

Why do governments choose the economic policies that they do? How do states govern the flow of goods, money, people, and pollution across borders? How does that shape elections and patterns of political contestation? This course explores these and other questions while surveying the international politics of climate, migration, money and finance, and trade. We analyze a range of theoretical approaches and apply those theories to modern and historical cases. In a series of interactive case studies, students step into the shoes of political leaders contending with real-world economic policy challenges.

Governments have tremendous power over our lives and thus the competition over who controls them is always intense and often violent. This course will study various ways in which violence is used to political ends. The larger goal of the course is to understand the sources of violence in political competition and the conditions under which political disputes can be peacefully resolved. We will discuss many different kinds of violence and regularly use in-class group activities to debate the material and flex our critical thinking skills.

Appointments to the United States Supreme Court are now central events in American political life. Every vacancy unleashes a bitter struggle between the parties and among organized interests. Then, once the seat is filled, new justices typically vote in highly predictable ways. In this seminar we will review what happened over the last 90 years but also why, with what consequences, and what the future likely holds. Because the story of Supreme Court appointment politics largely reflects the emergence of a new American politics, understanding appointment politics offers a way to understand the new world of American politics.

This course explores the political relationship of the military to the state and to society. It introduces students to the core concepts of civil-military relations, including civilian control, professionalism, and military intervention. The course engages significant cases from global twentieth-century history and surveys contemporary military politics around the world. Topics include coups d'état, responses to protests, and democratic transitions.

How did China grow from a very poor country 40 years ago to a major player in the global economy? Can China's economy continue to grow rapidly? This course examines China's economic growth and its consequences, reviewing classic literature and recent advances in the study of China's political economy in both political science and economics. Four main questions will be addressed. How has China implemented economic reforms? What have been the consequences of the reforms? How is China developing its economy and polity in the digital age? How has China's political-economic development been shaped by, and in turn influenced, the global system?

American law protects racist hate speech, pornography, and (much) lying. Other countries permit more restrictions on harmful speech, should we? Or will that undermine truth-seeking, political competition, and other values? Should speech be regulated instead by social norms, social media companies, and universities? Is "cancel culture" a problem? And what should we - as political communities and universities - honor and memorialize? How should we balance recognition of heritage and inclusion of people from diverse cultures and historically marginalized groups? Seminars will include debates. Active weekly participation required of all.

Dissidents from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland, among others, considered integrity of thought and word to be exercises of political responsibility. The work of the philosopher or author was political engagement, just as such, since tyranny was possible because of ideology, "the lie". Political participation and freedom remained for those who thought and spoke the truth as they understood it.This seminar explores a select group of dissidents, each of whom encouraged the "solidarity of the shattered" through the political responsibility of intellectual, existential, and spoken truth.

This course will examine the history, contemporary reality, and likely future of higher education, especially in the United States but also abroad. We will consider the changing and often conflicting ideals and aspirations of parents, students, instructors, and administrators from classical Rome to Christian institutions in the European Middle Ages to American athletic powerhouses today, seeking answers to fundamental practical, economic, and political questions that provoke vigorous contemporary debate.

The senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students complete a substantial piece of research and scholarship under the supervision and advisement of a Princeton faculty member. While a year-long thesis is due in the student's final semester of study, the work requires sustained investment and attention throughout the academic year. Required works-in-progress submissions, their due dates, as well as how students' grades for the semester are calculated are outlined below.

This first half-semester course covers empirical strategies commonly used in the social sciences. Topics include randomization tests, multiple testing, partial identification (with an emphasis on Lee bounds), instrumental variables, difference-in-differences, and regression discontinuity and kink designs. The course emphasizes practical implementation and examines the limitations of widely used tools, as well as recent research aimed at addressing these challenges. By the end of the course, you are expected to be able to apply these methods correctly in your own research.

Basic mathematical concepts essential for formal and quantitative analysis in political science research. Course prepares students for advanced courses offered in the Department, e.g., POL 573-576. Topics include calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory. Some applications to political science are introduced. The course is aimed for both students with little exposure to mathematics and those who have taken some but wish to gain a more solid foundation. No prerequisite.

A general introduction to the field of comparative politics, with an emphasis on principal theoretical approaches and major problems and theories. POL 521 is the first course of a 2-semester sequence of 'The Study of Comparative Politics'. It focuses on the macro foundations of political institutions and regimes: state formation, identity and nation formation; democratization; authoritarianism; political violence and contentious politics; collective action and social movements; theories of political change and political modernization.

The course provides an overview of authoritarian political systems. We begin by identifying the two key challenges facing authoritarian rulers--"managing contestation from within" (the threat of coups) and "contestation from below" (the threat of revolution). We then focus on institutions (elections, parliaments, and parties) and other strategies (repression, propaganda, and censorship) dictators can use to address these threats. Special attention is paid to working papers and recently published work to give students a sense of the state of the field. Working knowledge of game theory and statistics is helpful but not required.

State capture refers to the control of state institutions by firms and government officials so as to influence economic policies and regulation in their favor. It has become one of the main drivers of corruption and misgovernance in developing countries, with major implications for state capacity and economic development. The goal of this course is to document and analyze state capture, discuss institutional reforms that would prevent it, and limit its corrosive impact on state capacity and democratic norms.

This seminar introduces students to both old and new work in the study of bureaucracy. The emphasis of this course is on bureaucratic politics. This perspective touches on a range of questions that have long animated scholars of comparative politics. What is the relationship between bureaucratic organization and state capacity? Why do rulers adopt merit-based selection procedures when doing so undermines their authority? How much discretion should bureaucrats be afforded when interpreting laws and implementing policies? Through what mechanisms do politicians capture bureaucrats and what tools do bureaucrats have for resisting?

Seminar examines mass political behavior from a comparative perspective and attempts to explain how people become involved in politics, how they form political opinions, and how their behavior influences political outcomes. Seminar covers a range of behaviors, including learning about politics, information processing, political participation, and voter decision-making. For each of these behaviors, two questions are posed: What are the causes and consequences of the behavior? To what extent and how do these causes and consequences depend on institutional or cultural/ historical settings?

Part of a two-course sequence of the core curriculum in American politics. Provides an introductory survey of American political behavior through a sample of major theories and methods in the study of citizens' views and actions regarding politics.

A general introduction to the field of international relations, with an emphasis on the principal theoretical approaches and major problems and theories in the field. Students emerge from the course with an ability to situate theories and empirical claims in the broader historical, conceptual and empirical context of debates and literatures. This course explicitly prepares students for the IR field exam.

A study of fundamental questions of political theory framed in the context of the institutions and writings of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, from the classical period into late antiquity and the spread of Christianity. Topics include the meaning of justice in Plato's Republic, the definition of the citizen in Aristotle's Politics, Cicero's reflections on the purpose of a commonwealth, and Augustine's challenge to those reflections and to the primacy of political life at all in light of divine purposes. We consider both the primary texts and secondary literature debates to equip students with a working mastery of this tradition.

This class is a doctoral-level introduction to research design and statistical methods for empirical analysis in social science. The class introduces the chief goals of statistical analysis and the causal inference framework, focusing on the importance of specificity in estimands and the properties of statistical estimators, the potential outcomes framework, the definition of causal effects, the mechanics of randomized controlled trials, and prominent research designs for causal inference with observational data. The class has no mathematical prerequisites. Students will learn the statistical software R.

This is the second class of the quantitative methods field sequence in the PhD. in Politics; it is meant to be taken after POL 572. The class covers causal inference and program evaluation methods at a graduate level, as well as advanced topics in statistics such as nonparametric estimation and partial identification. POL 572 is a prerequisite of this class.

This course builds on POL 575, to further develop the analytical foundations for examining problems in collective choice. Topics include vote buying, multilateral bargaining, strategic information transmission, strategic voting with incomplete information, career concerns, and strategic experimentation. Readings combine textbooks and research literature.

This course is a research seminar in political economy of interest groups. Interest groups lie at the heart of politics and democratic process. Understanding why groups are organized and how they influence elections and various public policies is critical to our understanding of political representation. This course examines the ways that citizens, firms, institutions, various types of governments attempt to make their voices heard in the political process both in the United States and other countries.

This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will emphasize Beijing's relations with the US as well as examine its dealings with the USSR, Asia and the developing world. It will explore the changes and continuities in the PRC's foreign policy during three periods; 1) the era of Mao Zedong's dominance, 2) the reform era begun under Deng Xiaoping and 3) the turn back toward authoritarianism since the advent of Xi Jinping.

As the United States has increasingly looked to its federal government to provide policies and protect rights that benefit its population, how have the branches of government risen to the occasion? Where have they struggled? What obstacles have they faced? What complexities have arisen over time? This course is an investigation of the institutional, political, and legal development of the unique "American state" in the contemporary era.

Analyzes the historical construction of race as a concept in American society, how and why this concept was institutionalized publicly and privately in various arenas of U.S. public life at different historical junctures, and the progress that has been made in dismantling racialized institutions since the civil rights era.

The course examines major moral controversies in public life and competing conceptions of justice and the common good. It seeks to help students develop the skills required for thinking and writing about the ethical considerations that ought to shape public institutions, guide public authorities, and inform citizens' moral judgments in politics. We focus on issues that are particularly challenging for advanced, pluralist democracies such as the USA, including justice in war, terrorism and torture, market freedom and distributive justice, immigration, refugees, and criminal justice in conditions of social injustice.

This course provides students with an intensive overview of the rapidly evolving geopolitical, economic, and ideological rivalry between the world's two most powerful states: the United States and China. The course is intended both for masters students intending to pursue careers in the analysis, formulation, and execution of public policy, and for PhD candidates, many of whom are involved in research and teaching.

Analysis of political change and the operation of political institutions in the development process, with emphasis on the interaction of political and economic factors. Various definitions and theories of political development are examined and tested against different economic, ethnic, geographic, and social contexts.