Politics & Government

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Politics & Government

1500 N. Warner St. #1052
Tacoma, WA 98416-1052

Chair

Chris Kendall

253-879-2892

ckendall@pugetsound.edu

Administrative Support

Theresa Williams-Chow

253.879.3186

twilliamschow@pugetsound.edu

What's New in Politics & Government

Explore Europe

Immerse yourself in comparative and international politics while exploring Amsterdam, Brussels, and The Hague.

Program Description

Why do states go to war with one another? What kinds of humanitarian responses do nations owe to one another? How can democratic citizens participate actively in government? How do institutions like Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidency work? What is the nature of the conflict between actors like Israel and Palestine; North Korea and South Korea; or Iran and the U.S.? And what are the possible resolutions to these conflicts?

Students in the Department of Politics and Government (P&G) study the struggle over power, authority, freedom, justice, war, and peace at the local, state, national, and international levels. They examine systemic oppression in all its forms; the ways individuals and groups work to ameliorate their circumstances; and how law, economics, and institutions shape political outcomes around the globe.

Who You Could Be

Policy analyst
Radio journalist
Campaign advisor
Foreign service officer
Nonprofit organizer
Lawyer

Alumna

Erin Budrow '20 on her summer research grant analyzing Captain America comics

"Having this research grant has really allowed me to just kind of dive into something I'm passionate about and marry it with my academic passions, social history, media history, and study something I wouldn't have been able to."

What You'll Learn

How to be an effective citizen and political actor
Skills in analysis, writing, and oral communication
To understand local, national, and international politics broadly
To develop a deeper knowledge in one of the following fields:
- U.S. politics
- Political theory
- International relations
- Comparative politics
- Law, politics, and society

SAMPLE COURSES

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PG 311 Politics of Detention: Criminal Justice, Immigration, and the War on Terror

Detention is one of the most extreme forms of state control. This class explores the theoretical justifications for state detention, the effectiveness of this policy tool, the politics that lead to its use and acceptance, and the impacts of detention, both on the individual and various communities. Looking at the variation across three policy areas, criminal justice, the war on terror, and immigration, highlights what forces are at work on all three and what pulls the practices of detention in different directions, providing leverage on questions of justice, the balance of power, and the role of identity in public policy formation.

Code

Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives

PG 317 Politics and Policy of the U.S. Welfare State

This course focuses on social welfare policy in the United States. The first section of the course explores ideological debates over the welfare state, theories of welfare state development, and the historical development of the U.S. welfare state in comparative perspective. The middle section of the course explores arguments about challenges to political order created by market dynamics, the question of American exceptionalism, and the intersections of race, gender, and welfare in American political development. Then, we focus on core welfare state policies aimed at addressing problems of unemployment, poverty, access to health care, and old age security. The final section addresses questions about the sustainability of the welfare state, in practical, fiscal as well as ideological terms.

Code

Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives

Prerequisites

PG 101; PG 314 recommended.

PG 330 Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in Latin America

How do emerging democracies confront violent pasts while constructing the political institutions for a stable future? Does the need to heal society outweigh individuals' claims to justice for human rights abuses? In this course students examine the choices post-conflict societies have made and continue to confront throughout Latin America. The region has often been characterized by civil war, autocratic government, and grave human rights violations. At the same time, Latin America has emerged as an innovator of institutional forms that have allowed states to confront violence, seek justice, and transition to democracy--a broad array of institutions known collectively as "transitional justice" mechanisms. In the first half of the course students explore the process through which societies in Latin America have sought to come to terms with violent pasts with a focus on specific country case studies. We situate these individual cases in a broader exploration of transitional justice mechanisms, from criminal prosecutions of past leaders to truth commissions that trade amnesty for information. In the second half of the course students will apply these concepts to an in-depth simulation of peace negotiations. Students will represent the interests of a specific political stakeholder while negotiating the form and functioning of transitional justice institutions that might put the country on a path toward peace, justice, and reconciliation.

Code

Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives

Prerequisites

PG 102,103, or permission of the instructor.

PG 335 Global Security

This course explores evolving threats to global peace and stability in the post-Cold War era. The class tests the efficacy of traditional theories about international conflict through the examination of a number of contemporary security problems. Attention focuses on issues that are persistent, politically explosive, and global in scope, such as nationalism, migration, and environmental problems. All have potential for generating violent conflict in the world today.

Code

Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives

Prerequisites

PG 103.

PG 346 Race in the American Political Imagination

Students explore the concepts of citizenship and personhood in the American political imagination as filtered through a racial valence. Perhaps what is most striking about this valence is the way that it and Americans' conceptions of whiteness, citizenship, and personhood has evolved through America's history. Students will consider what role such images play in constructing a "shared" political community, and to what extent the exclusions they engender strengthen or undermine this community.

Code

Knowledge, Identity, and PowerSocial Scientific and Historical Perspectives

PG 360 International Relations of the Middle East

This course begins with a brief historical review of the rise of Islam as a political structure and its impact on the region, as well as the development of the Ottoman Empire and its relationship to Europe and European foreign policies. This discussion will be followed by a focus on colonialism and its effects, in particular the development of nationalism, populism, Islamism and Zionism. From there we will consider ways in which scholars have attempted to analyze and understand Middle East politics and institutions, drawing comparisons to state building, authoritarianism, and democratization elsewhere in the world. This will be combined with an investigation of regional and international politics as they relate to the region, from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the Cold War, and from the Arab Spring onward. This will include a consideration of military conflicts, terrorism, the role of oil and weapons of mass destruction. We will also turn our attention to a number of cases in both their domestic and international politics, which may include but not be limited to Egypt, Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Students will have the opportunity to investigate particular topics and cases through in depth research and writing and presentations.

Code

Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives

Hannah Lehman '17 presenting her summer research — Hannah Lehman '17 received funding through a summer research grant for her study "Migrant Images: Visual Propaganda of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in German and French Cities." The university awards over 50 such grants each summer, allowing students to fund valuable research that they might not be able to conduct otherwise.

Students in PG 399 Cuba from Revolution to Evolution in Havana, 2015.

Mitchell Carlson '18 Presents on his Summer Research Award on Trump supporters — Mitchell Carlson '18 Presents on his summer research award on Trump supporters

Samantha Tigner '17 presents on her Summer Research Award in Argentina — Samantha Tigner '17 presents on her summer research award in Argentina

Robin Jacobson and class in Qatar — At the Msheireb historical museum showing Qatari home life, Professor Robin Jacobson (right) and the class were joined by Moza Al Thani (not pictured), one of Andrew's former students at Qatar University, who shared her own experiences as a Qatari woman during the Migration and the Global City course.

Migration and the Global City in Qatar — Students taking selfies with one of the local interview participants in Qatar as part of the Migration and the Global City course.

Maddie Waddell '14 poses with a demonstrator during her Summer Research Award in Egypt, — Maddie Waddell '14 poses with a demonstrator during her summer research award in Egypt.

Experiential Learning

A sampling of ways our students learn through experiences:

Internships: Congressional offices and immigration law
PG 399 Cuba: From Revolution to Evolution was a traveling study course that included a ten-day visit to Cuba
Will Keyes '20 explored ethnic relations in urban centers in post-Apartheid South Africa with a Pohlad Award
Summer research grants like Lucy Gifford '24, "Women's Roles in Refugee Camps," and Nate Sansone '24, "The Effect of Lung Cancer Stigma on the Ability of Individuals with Lung Cancer in the United States to Live and Pursue Happiness"

STORIES

Students

University of Puget Sound Students Spotlight Undergraduate Research

After returning from a summer studying abroad in East Asia, where she was studying cultural taboos around tattoos, Morgan MacFarlane ’21 had a polished paper ready to publish, but couldn’t find an outlet that would take her…

Arches

Students

Student research aims to help make classrooms safe

Ruthy McBride ’22 is studying a topic that’s controversial in the education community: the role of police in schools. McBride, a politics and government major and African American studies and economics minor, grew up in Los…

Finding Common Ground

As a political scientist who studies war and international conflicts, Seth Weinberger often finds his research intersecting with current events. As the U.S. was deploying troops to the Middle East after 9/11, he was researching…

Where Our Graduates Work

Our alumni work at:

National Public Radio
California Department of Justice (deputy attorney general)
CIA
State Department, East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Colorado State Public Defender (criminal defense investigator)
League of Conservation Voters
Wesleyan University

Where Our Graduates Continue Studying

Our alumni continue their studies at:

Georgetown (Masters in Public Policy)
University of Washington (Law school)
Seattle University (Masters in Sports Business Leadership)
Johns Hopkins University (Masters in Public Health)
University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D., political science)

MEET THE FACULTY

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Lisa Ferrari

Professor, Politics and Government

lferrari@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Ferrari's current research includes work on the moral and security aspects of geoengineering in response to climate change. She teaches courses in applied ethics and international relations.

Read the full bio

Robin Jacobson

Professor, Politics and Government

rjacobson@pugetsound.edu

With a focus on immigration, Prof. Jacobson and has published numerous articles and chapters. She teaches on a variety of topics within the context of U.S. politics, including religion, state politics, and race.

Read the full bio

Karl Fields

Professor, Politics and Government

kfields@pugetsound.edu

In addition to teaching classes on comparative politics and Asian politics and political economy, Prof. Fields has written a book and co-authored several textbooks.

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Alisa Kessel

Professor, Politics and Government

kessel@pugetsound.edu

Prof.

Read the full bio

Chris Kendall

Associate Professor and Chair, Politics and Government

ckendall@pugetsound.edu

Known for pushing students to think outside the box, Prof. Kendall practiced law before completing his Ph.D. and taking up teaching, specializing in international relations.

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Patrick O'Neil

Professor, Politics and Government

poneil@pugetsound.edu

Prof. O'Neil teaches courses in comparative politics. He has published in numerous journals and books, and is author of Essentials of Comparative Politics. His current research focuses on authoritarianism.

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Seth Weinberger

Professor, Politics and Government

sweinberger@pugetsound.edu

Prof. Weinberger teaches courses on U.S. foreign policy, international security, constitutional law, and more. His research centers on congressional-executive war powers in the ongoing armed conflict against al Qaeda.

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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

DOHA, QATAR WITH PG 297

This Connections course co-taught by professors in P&G and Sociology & Anthropology takes students to Doha, investigating the intersection of politics, culture, history, economics, and education.

PACIFIC RIM PROGRAM

Once every three years, a group of students from Puget Sound travels to Asia for nine months of rigorous academic work and experiential learning as part of our Pacific Rim study abroad program.

President Crawford and students working at legislative interns.

PUGET SOUND IN OLYMPIA

Students in this program work in legislative offices and then return to campus to understand how Washington politics compares with other states.