Concentrates on those socialist schools?Christian socialism, utopian socialism, Marxism, Fabianism, and anarchism?that have proved to be the most successful. Presents their major theories and examines the usefulness of such theories in helping us to understand and, in some cases, alter the world in which we live.
This course offers an introduction to contemporary African politics. Our goal is to introduce students to the most pressing problems African countries have faced since independence. Questions motivating the course include: (1) Why state institutions weaker in African than in other developing regions? (2) What explains Africa’s slow economic growth? (3) What can be done to improve political accountability on the continent? (4) Why have some African countries been plagued by high levels of political violence while others have not? (5) Can or should the West attempt to “save” Africa?
Offered every other year. 4 points. Examines legal, political, and economic issues in government regulation. Covers such classic debates and issues as the historical origins of regulation, the legal philosophy of administrative regulation, the relationship between courts and agencies, the political and social conflicts surrounding regulatory politics, and the role of law in state formation.
Provides an understanding of election processes in the United States through different theoretical approaches to the study of campaigns and elections and the testing of empirical hypotheses. Analyzes campaign strategies of political candidates, the use of polls and media in campaigns, and the effects of issues and personalities on election outcomes. Evaluates the role of presidential primaries and elections in the functioning of a democracy.
Offered every semester. 4 points. Interpretation of the Bill of Rights, the Civil War amendments, and other rights in the U.S. Constitution through the reading of Supreme Court opinions. Topics include freedom of speech and press; free exercise of religion and separation of church and state; the right of privacy; rights of the criminally accused; equal protection of the law against race, gender, and other discrimination; and the rights of franchise and citizenship. Cases are read and discussed closely for their legal and philosophical content.
This course is about using logic to think about issues of public policy and evidence to do the same thing. One way to think about this course is it is sabermetrics (logic and evidence applied to baseball, and in Moneyball) applied to vastly more important topics than baseball: making schools better, designing health policy and dealing with climate change (with tons of other policy applications possible, but we will focus on these three).
Why do we participate in politics? Who tends to participate? When are we most likely to participate? Political scientists have traditionally focused on factors such as demography, socioeconomic status, mobilization, electoral institutions, and social norms to answer these questions. However, scholars have recently begun to explore the possibility that genetic differences may, at least in part, help to explain individual differences in political participation.
Offered every year. 4 points. Theories of political strategy with emphasis on the theory of games. Uses of strategy in defense and deterrence policies of nations, guerrilla warfare of revolutionaries and terrorists, bargaining and negotiation processes, coalitions and the enforcement of collective action, and voting in committees and elections. Secrecy and deception as political strategies and uses of power, with some applications outside political science.
Detailed study of the nature, historical development, and basic principles of international organization. Emphasizes the structure and actual operation of the United Nations.
Comparative study of terrorism as a domestic political phenomenon. Examines foundational issues, economic, psychological, strategic, and social theories of terrorism as well as theories of the cessation of terrorist violence, government negotiation with terrorists, the relationship between terrorists and nonviolent political actors, and the internal political economy of terrorist organizations. Considers terror in the Middle East (especially emphasizing Hamas), nationalist terror (ETA and the IRA), and Maoist revolutionary terror (with emphasis on the Shining Path).
Prerequisite: V53.0300. Offered in the spring. 4 points. Poverty and welfare problems in the United States and the controversies aroused by them. Concentrates on the causes of poverty and dependency among the controversial working-age poor, the history of programs and policies meant to help them, and the enormous impact these issues have had on national politics.
Introduces the comparative politics of South Asia. Analyzes the politics of South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, individually and in a comparative framework. Readings are chosen from across disciplines, including political science, anthropology, economics, and history. The course also uses novels and films on South Asia to illustrate themes highlighted in the readings.
Origin, structure, functions, and dynamics of legislatures in the United States. Although some attention is given to state legislatures and municipal lawmaking bodies, the major emphasis is on the Congress. Readings include a textbook, official sources such as the Congressional Record and Congressional District Data Book, and the new behavioral studies and commentaries.
Examines the relationship between gender politics, legal theory, and social policy. Studies the role that the legal arena and certain historical conditions have played in creating, revising, and protecting particular gender identities and not others and examines the political effects of those legal constructions. Analyzes the major debates in feminist legal theory, including theories of equality, the problem of essentialism, and the relevance of standpoint epistomology. In addition to examining how the law understands sex discrimination in the workplace and the feminization of the legal profession, also addresses to what extent understandings of the gender affect how law regulates the physical body by looking at the regulation of reproduction and of consensual sexual activity. In light of all of the above, considers to what extent law is or is not an effective political resource in reforming notions of gender in law and society.
Study of American political ideas and debate from colonial times to the present. Topics include Puritanism, revolution and independence, the Constitution framing, Hamiltonian nationalism, Jeffersonian republicanism, Jacksonian democracy, pro- and antislavery thought, Civil War and Reconstruction, social Darwinism and laissez-faire, the reformist thought of populism, progressivism and socialism, legal realism, the New Deal and 20th-century liberalism, modern conservatism, civil rights, and war protest. Readings and discussion are based on original and interpretative sources.
Systematic study of the international politics of the Middle East, emphasizing the period since World War II. Emphasis on the relationship among patterns of inter-Arab, Arab-Israeli, and great-power politics, and on the relationship between domestic and external politics. Attempts to relate the Arab-Israeli conflict to interregional politics, the place and role of Turkey and Iran, and the problems in the Persian Gulf.
Study of the American presidency, its origins, and roles, including those of commander in chief; director of foreign policy; leader in legislation, administration, and party affairs; manager of the economy; and dispenser of social justice. The president is also viewed as a decision maker and compared with the heads of other governments. Readings include the works of presidents and their associates, analytical commentaries by observers of the presidency, and biographies.
Characteristics and conditions of war and peace and the transition from one to the other from the perspective of political and social science. Examines the role and use of coercion in global affairs, with emphasis on attempts to substitute negotiation, bargaining, market forces, politics, and law for the resort to massive violence in moderating disputes.