Politics
- ECO 520/POL 577: Economics and PoliticsFocused 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.
- LAO 334/POL 334/SOC 321: Immigration Politics and Policymaking in the U.S.Founded and built by immigrants, the US has a complicated relationship with newcomers. How have politics shaped US immigration policy and the policymaking process? Do members of Congress follow their constituents' preferences? How are immigration messages used by campaigns; with what effects? Why do changing demographics affect immigration policy views? Do immigrants integrate or conform to nativist fears? In thinking about immigrants, why do most Americans think about Latino immigrants and how does this affect US Latinos? We will tackle these and other questions by examining published research and applying it to recent campaigns and debates.
- NES 269/POL 353: The Politics of Modern IslamThis 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.
- NES 365/POL 368: Modern IranWhy is Iran so often in the headlines? Why is what happens in Iran matters so much to the rest of the world? In this course, we try to find some answers to questions about Iranian politics, culture, recent history and society. The class covers Iran's long twentieth century, from the rise of the constitutional revolution to the Islamic revolution of 1979 and its aftermath.
- PHI 332/POL 401/ECS 314: Early Modern PhilosophyTopic: Hobbes and Spinoza on Religion and Politics-- Hobbes began a revolution in our understanding of the material world, human beings and society, and Spinoza extended it in even more radical directions. In this course, we will examine the interconnections between politics and religion in these two original and highly influential thinkers, and how their metaphysics and natural philosophy contributed to their vision of the world.
- PHI 411/CHV 411/POL 407: Free Speech in the Internet AgeThis seminar will examine how the global reach and new technologies of the internet change the theory and practice of free speech. Questions we will discuss include: How do philosophical defenses of the right to freedom of expression, developed in the age of the town square and the printing press, apply in the internet age? How should international conflicts over on-line speech be resolved? Is there a universal human right to freedom of expression or are there only culturally specific free speech regimes? How has the internet facilitated new speech-based harms such as cyber-stalking and revenge porn, and how should these harms be addressed?
- POL 230/SPI 325: Introduction to Comparative PoliticsThis course introduces students to the study of comparative politics, defined as the study of domestic politics in both developing and advanced industrial countries. Course topics include the relationship between capitalism, democracy, and economic development; the implications of political institutional choices (such as electoral systems); the politics of ethnic diversity and conflict; and the dynamics of political mobilization (including protest). The course also provides an introduction to the comparative method, using both "classics" and recent research as examples.
- POL 240/SPI 312: International RelationsThis course introduces major theories of international relations, uses them to explain historical events from 10,000 BC to the present, and investigates contemporary policy issues such as human rights, terrorism, US foreign policy, climate change and global environmental regulation. The course also trains students how to write academic analyses, policy memos and media opinion pieces, thus preparing them for more specialized courses and research in international relations, as well as jobs in foreign policy.
- POL 250: Introduction to Game TheoryThis is an introduction to normal form and extensive form games with and without asymmetric information. Applications include elections and voting, collective action problems, decision-making in legislative bodies and negotiations between countries. The course will be less mathematically demanding than other game theory offerings in the Politics department.
- POL 301/CLA 301/HLS 303: Political Theory, Athens to AugustineA 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.
- POL 313/CHV 313: Global JusticeWhat, if any, norms of justice apply to the institutions and practice of world politics? Topics may include "political realism" and skepticism about global morality; just wars and justice in warfare; ethics of humanitarian intervention; the nature and basis of human rights; world poverty and global distributive justice; climate change; democracy and accountability in global institutions. Readings chosen from recent works in political philosophy.
- POL 314: American Constitutional DevelopmentA survey of the development of American constitutionalism, considered historically as the product of legal, political and intellectual currents and crises. Coverage includes the Founding, the Marshall and Taney eras, the slavery crisis, the rise of corporate capitalism, the emergence of the modern state, the New Deal crisis, and new forms of rights and liberties. Topics include the growth of Supreme Court power, the Court's relation to the states and the other federal branches, and the influence on constitutional understandings of economic developments, reform movements, wars, party competition, and legal and political thought.
- POL 315: Constitutional InterpretationA 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.
- POL 318: Law and SocietyAn examination of courts as unique legal and political institutions with distinctive approaches to resolving disputes and formulating law and public policy. Emphasis is on the American legal system.
- POL 325: The Presidency and Executive PowerTopics to be covered include the origin, nature, uses and limits of presidential power; the presidential selection process; the relationship between the President and other significant political actors--Congress, the Press, executive branch agencies, and the public; presidential accountability and the importance of presidential personality.
- POL 332/HUM 339: Topics in American Statesmanship: Abraham Lincoln's Politics: Concepts, Conflict and ContextCourse will examine the political development, principles and practice of Abraham Lincoln, and especially grass-roots politics in the 19th century Republic, the international context of liberal democracy in the 19th century, the war powers of the presidency, the contest of Whig and Democratic political ideas, the relation of the executive branch to the legislative and judicial branches, diplomacy, and the presidential cabinet.
- POL 335: The Political Economy of the United StatesMany of America's problems are economic in nature, yet politics make the solutions elusive. In "The Political Economy of the United States", this conundrum is explored in detail. We seek to explicitly understand the links between economic outcomes and political processes. Among the concepts explored are special interest influence, the role of money in politics, and regulatory capture. These concepts are brought to life in discussions about key issues and debates such as wealth taxation, the monopolization of social media, and the political effects of economic shocks and de-industrialization.
- POL 336: State Politics and American FederalismVoting rights and election rules, education, health and welfare, and redistricting are just a few domains where U.S. states have broad policymaking authority. This course examines why and how public policy and governing institutions vary across states and considers the implications for citizens. Broad themes include federalism, political institutions, and participation. Topics include federal-state and state-local relations, interstate competition and cooperation, parties and elections, redistricting, and direct democracy. This course also examines public policy in health and welfare, education, budgeting, the environment, and immigration.
- POL 344/AAS 344: Race and Politics in the United StatesThis course examines various political controversies that surround the role of race and ethnicity in American society. These controversies and issues affect public opinion, political institutions, political behavior, and salient public policy debates. Thus this course will assess and evaluate the role of race in each of these domains while also examining historical antecedents. The first half of the course will focus on historical antecedents such as the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement. The second half of the course will focus on the role of race in the 2008-2020 presidential elections.
- POL 345/SOC 305/SPI 211: Introduction to Quantitative Social ScienceWould universal health insurance improve the health of the poor? Do patterns of arrests in US cities show evidence of racial profiling? What accounts for who votes and their choice of candidates? This course will teach students how to address these and other social science questions by analyzing quantitative data. The course introduces basic principles of statistical inference and programming skills for data analysis. The goal is to provide students with the foundation necessary to analyze data in their own research and to become critical consumers of statistical claims made in the news media, in policy reports, and in academic research.
- POL 349: Political EconomyExamines 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.
- POL 351/SPI 311/LAS 371: The Politics of DevelopmentThis course investigates the key political drivers of economic development and human welfare. It explores the effects of geography, historical legacies, policy, incentive design, and institutional capacity on standards of living, including vulnerability to disease and climate risk. Uses theory, comparison, and case studies to motivate discussion.
- POL 385: International Political EconomyThis course examines the interactions between international politics and international economics, as well as between domestic political systems and the global economy. Topics include the World Trade Organization, regional trade cooperation (such as the European Union), multinational corporations and global supply chains, exchange rates, financial crises, the International Monetary Fund and the contemporary anti-globalization backlash. Students will develop a familiarity with social scientific research methods, including how scholars develop and evaluate causal claims. Previous coursework in international economics is not necessary.
- POL 386: Violent PoliticsGovernments 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. Specific forms of violence to be covered include assassination, civil war, ethnic conflict, insurgency, revolution, riots, terrorism, and war.
- POL 420: Seminar in American Politics: Threats to American DemocracyThis course examines the development of American democracy from 1776 to the present, focusing on different moments and events that have threatened its vitality. The class begins with the present day, following the aftermath of the events of January 6 and the 2020 election. We then go back to the nation's beginnings as democracy developed, starting with the threats of the 1780s into the contested election of 1800 and the nation's first partisan turnover. We will then move through the course both historically and thematically, examining when and why certain threats manifest, and how the nation's institutions responded.
- POL 422/GSS 422: Seminar in American Politics: Gender and American PoliticsThis course considers how gender enters and shapes politics, primarily in the US context. It addresses a range of questions that center elections: How did women gain the right to vote? Are women voters really different than men voters? Are women politicians really any different than men politicians? Has women's involvement in electoral and institutional politics changed anything? It also considers how the gendered space of the American electoral system has limited its effectiveness in delivering outcomes desired by some groups of women, what their alternatives might be, and how those alternatives have been and continue to be pursued.
- POL 440: Seminar in International Relations: Politics of International Finance and DevelopmentThis seminar examines how politics affects the international economy, and vice versa. It will focus primarily on the political economy of finance and international development, across nations, issues, and time. We will explore some of the following questions: why are some countries richer than others? Why do financial crises occur? Are countries "punished" for defaulting on their debt? Is foreign aid "effective"? How does financial globalization affect domestic politics and vice-versa? The aim of the course is to equip students with the tools to better understand the relationship between financial globalization and politics.
- POL 502: Mathematics for Political ScienceBasic 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.
- POL 505: Experimental Methods in Political ScienceThe goal of this course is to introduce students to the theoretical and practical features of experimental political science, particularly natural and field experiments. There is a special emphasis on the importance of distinguishing between policy-based and institution-based interventions, with attention given to the promise of the latter for political economy research. The course is divided into three sections. The first section of the course introduces students to the methodological issue. The second section and third sections focus on the design, implementation and analysis of data originating from field experiments.
- POL 511: Problems in Political Theory: Self-DeterminationSelected concepts and problems in political theory. A different topic is treated each year. Topics include justice, equality, liberty, obligation, participation, the nature of political theory, and approaches to interpretation of political theory.
- POL 518/PHI 529: Political Philosophy: The StateWhat is the state or polity? How does it relate to law? Is it necessarily or ideally a corporate agent? If so, can its power be distributed among separate bodies? How does it relate to the people? Can the people be the sovereign? What are the limitations on what, by its nature, the state can or may do? How can or may it act in determining property, finance and the rights of corporations? The course covers questions like these, drawing both on classical figures like Bodin, Hobbes, Locke, Kant and Rousseau and contemporary legal and political philosophers.
- POL 521: The Study of Comparative PoliticsA 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.
- POL 527: Authoritarian PoliticsThe 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.
- POL 544: Introduction to American Politics, Part I: Political BehaviorPart 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.
- POL 549: Seminar in American Politics: American Political DevelopmentThe study of American political development provides a vehicle for exploring how American democracy has come to assume its present form. It emphasizes the intersection between institutional incentives, institutional and "state" development, and political agency. This course examines what we mean by a "state," and how institutional "development" provides a set of analytically distinctive problems for political actors. We give particular attention to the importance of racial, gender, and class divides in the development of the American political system. We discuss theories of political change and best methodological practices.
- POL 550: International OrganizationWhy do states establish institutions and what determines their design and evolution? Do these institutions merely reflect underlying power and interests? The course introduces theories of international institutions, evaluates critical perspectives, and examines applications in the areas of trade, finance, development, security, human rights, and international law -- at the global and regional levels.
- POL 551: Seminar in International PoliticsA 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.
- POL 553/HLS 552/CLA 553: Political Theory, Athens to Augustine: Graduate SeminarA 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.
- POL 571: Quantitative Analysis IThis is a doctoral-level introduction to mathematical statistics for PhD students in Politics and other social and behavioral sciences. The class covers rigorous foundations of probability theory, followed by a formal introduction to classical point estimation and statistical inference. The class covers both finite-sample and large-sample theory, and relies on linear algebra and multivariate calculus at the level of MAT 202 and MAT 203, respectively.
- POL 573/SOC 595: Quantitative Analysis IIISecond course in applied statistical methods for social scientists, building on the materials covered in POL 572 or its equivalent. Course covers a variety of advanced statistical topics, including resampling, non-parametric methods, and maximum likelihood estimation. Material covered corresponds to the quantitative part of the General Exam in Formal and Quantitative Analysis at Level II.
- POL 576: Formal Political Analysis IIThis 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.
- POL 591: Directed ResearchDuring the third semester, each Politics student writes a research paper under the direction of a faculty member.
- POL 599: Responsible Conduct of Research in Political ScienceThis two-day workshop is concerned with the professional obligations of political science researchers. This course is designed to raise those concerns and develop in students an appreciation for the issues that they might confront as they do their work. Topics include the relationship of political science as an academic discipline to democratic politics and institutions, advocacy and objectivity in political science, plagiarism and academic misconduct, human subjects and fieldwork, institutional review boards, funding sources and intellectual integrity, collaboration, and mentoring. Required of all first year Politics graduate students.
- SPI 316/POL 399: China's Foreign RelationsThis 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.
- SPI 324/POL 371: Designing DemocracyIntroducing the study of political institutions as levers of conflict management in ethnically plural, post-conflict national states. Our attention will be focused on ongoing and historical cases of constitutional design. These states will be analyzed in terms of their paths toward democracy, the nature of their internal conflict, and the types of political institutions they have (or are adopting).
- SPI 331/SOC 312/AAS 317/POL 343: Race and Public PolicyAnalyzes 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 institutios since the civil rights era.
- SPI 370/POL 308/CHV 301: Ethics and Public PolicyThe course examines major moral controversies in public life and differing 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 the public's judgments. The course will focus on issues that are particularly challenging for advanced, pluralist democracies such as the USA, including justice in war, terrorism and torture, markets and distributive justice, immigration, refugees, and criminal justice.
- SPI 421/POL 479/CHV 470: Comparative Constitutional LawThis course will introduce students to constitutional government in comparative perspective. In the first half of the course, we will focus on presidential v. parliamentary systems, separation of powers, "fourth branch" institutions and the influence of transnational institutions. In the second half, we will focus on rights and the way that they are interpreted by courts. We will trace the emergence (and decline) of a global constitutional culture and discuss the constitutions of South Africa, India, Germany, France, Hungary, Colombia and Canada with side references to the U.S.
- SPI 561/POL 523: The Comparative Political Economy of DevelopmentAnalysis 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.