This course introduces students to the institutions and processes of U. S. politics. It covers all of the fundamental principles and important decisionmakers, giving to students the necessary breadth and understanding to take more advanced and more specialized courses. In addition, it prepares students to evaluate the guiding values of the polity, both in theory and in practice.
How do we understand the fall of Apartheid in South Africa, the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Iran, the troubles of Russia's post-Communist regime, and China's attempt to blend communism with capitalism? This course provides students with the tools to understand these and other questions about how politics works around the globe. The study of comparative politics focuses on the basic foundations of political life and how these institutions differ in form and power around the world. This introductory course deals with such central concepts as nation and state, citizenship and ethnicity, political ideology, religious fundamentalism, revolution, terrorism and political violence, the relationship between politics and markets, democracy and authoritarianism, electoral systems and different forms of representation, development and globalization. These concepts are investigated through a number of country case studies, which may include the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, China, Iran, India and South Africa, among others.
What are the causes of war between states? What conditions help make peace more likely? Is the international distribution of economic assets just? Why is it so difficult to increase the amount of cooperation between states? What role can non-states actors play in international politics? These are just some of the questions considered in this course. By focusing on the interaction of contemporary and historical international actors--including states, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations--this course examines the interplay of political, economic, social, and cultural factors that influence the international distribution of power and wealth and contribute to world conflict and cooperation. Specific areas of study include causes of interstate war, terrorism, economic globalization, and international law and organizations.
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the enduring masters of political thought (Plato, Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Marx) who enhance our understanding of the political order and its values by asking questions with clarity and determination.
This course is an introduction to the construction of knowledge in the social sciences, and in political science particularly. In the first half of the course, students study the tools and methods used in political science. Students explore the connections between normative and empirical claims, uses of evidence, and theory building and testing. They ask how theoretical ideas are generated and how they inform the world around them (both explicitly and implicitly). In the second half of the course, they focus on the concept of power, central to any study of politics, to ask: how do actors use claims, theories, and data to reinforce or subvert dominant power structures? This class provides students the tools and perspective to become more thoughtful interlocutors and more critical consumers of information by helping them better understand the process(es) of knowledge construction. This is a required course for the major.
Students work collaboratively to produce and grow an undergraduate journal on politics. Students recruit and edit submissions to the journal. Students also consider additional opportunities to bring research to new audiences, such as developing spin off opinion pieces, interviews with the authors, or other events on campus. In doing so, students engage in discussions about the purpose and value of academic research and the possibilities and problems with disseminating information. Students gain skills in editing, research, social media, and project management. This work is a collaborative process and involves team work.
In this course students learn about the functioning of the United Nations and participate in a Model UN conference. Students research contemporary issues facing the UN and debate these issues from the perspective of a selected country. Fees may be required to cover conference costs. Course may be repeated.
PG 221 is the required .25-credit activity course for students preparing for the Politics and Government Department's faculty-led short-term study abroad experience in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The course will explore the interconnected themes of nationalism and internationalism, with a particular focus on the European context. Students will develop knowledge relating to European political systems, international law, and international organizations and develop cohesive plans for on-site study in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Brussels. The course will culminate in a 10-day study abroad program in the Netherlands and Belgium, offering students a hands-on learning experience with visits to key political and cultural institutions. Instructor permission is required.
In this course, students disseminate political information to a larger audience. The form and the content can change. Possibilities include the production of a blog, a podcast, video explainers, a journal, or other medium. The focus could be about political science research, state politics, or issue specific information. Students will learn about the challenges and possibilities of producing politically relevant and engaging material for a variety of audiences. In doing so, students will also consider how the production and dissemination of such information can alter politics.
This course focuses on government and community actions designed to address this global pandemic in the United States. In this discussion-based class, students will apply lessons from political science and history to try and understand these unfolding events. We will consider the responses from multiple and overlapping jurisdictions including school districts, localities, states, and federal institutions, asking questions about the causes and consequences of different choices. Students will consider the impact on our lives and the nation.
Race is central to understanding American politics.This course asks the questions: what does race mean; how has it changed over time; what is the relationship between race and ethnicity and power; and what is the role of race in American politics. This course examines these questions by looking at a variety of historical and contemporary moments, and a variety of political forces including electoral politics, social movements, government institutions, and everyday politics. By the end of this course, students should be able to talk critically about the evolution of the concept of race in America, identify how race shapes our political language and outcomes, and evaluate contemporary racial politics.
This class focuses on environmental policy making and policy in the United States, emphasizing developments since the emergence of the modern environmental movement in the late 1960s. It offers an overview of environmental policymaking institutions and the key policies of the national and state governments, and explores the challenges that have come with the emergence of new issues and interests in the environmental policy field. The class gives special attention to the strengths and weaknesses of current policies and the prospects for significant reform of the "green state."
Immigration politics and policy define the nation, its borders, its community, and its identity. Through an exploration of the political history of immigration, students gain insight into the reconstruction of American identity. The class looks at the rhetoric, the movements, the institutions, and the actors central to the politics of immigration to understand the current system and future political possibilities. Specific policy issues such as refugee and asylum policy, border enforcement, immigration detention, and birthright citizenship are considered.
This course explores many visions of the corruption of the American republic, exploring concerns grounded in the liberal and civic republican and constitutional traditions, commitments to and deviations from the core commitments of the American 'creed,' religious values, pluralism, the partisan and ideological 'spirit of faction,' and the abandonment of the hope that, to borrow from Richard Rorty (through James Baldwin), we can 'achieve' a country. The reading list includes books that engage broad themes in American politics and American political development, and this course exposes students to those themes while working through the multifaceted meanings of corruption, and the political consequences of these perceptions of corruption.
This course focuses on the US presidency. In the first part of the course students read two great books on the presidency and the American political system, Richard Neustadt's "Presidential Power" and Stephen Skowronek's "The Politics Presidents Make" as tools for understanding the evolution of the presidency as an institution and its relationship to the larger constitutional system. In the second half of the course students trace the growth of presidential power over the course of US history, focusing on executive management of the bureaucratic state and control of foreign affairs, and consider the implications of this development for the republic.
The course focuses on the historical development of the legislative and executive branches, focusing on the interactions between Congress and presidents in policy making process. Some offerings of the course focus heavily on the presidency, and others are more focused on Congress; recent offerings have used a single presidency as a long case study of problems in presidential leadership and the workings of the legislative and executive branches. Prospective students may wish to consult the instructor.
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.
In a government based on "consent of the governed," elections are fundamental. They provide citizens with the opportunity to choose their leaders, and in the process pass judgment on the past performance of officials and broadly indicate the direction they want government to take in the future. This course approaches the study of parties, elections, and campaigns through the lens of presidential and congressional elections, focusing on the purpose, process, and problems of electing our nation's leaders. It looks at how the system works, how it came to be, what citizens want it to accomplish and what it in fact accomplishes, and what the possibilities and limits of reform may be. At the end of the course, students should be able to give an in-depth, well reasoned, and historically informed answer to the question, "Is this any way to run a democracy?"
Examination of the role of the Supreme Court in the American constitutional systems with particular emphasis on its role in establishing a national government and national economy, and in protecting the rights of individuals. Views Supreme Court from historical, political, and legal perspectives to understand its responses to changing interests and conditions.
There is widespread pessimism about the performance of American national government over the last 35 years. This course examines this gloomy conventional wisdom, exploring its analytical and ideological roots and its critique of American political institutions and public policy. The class then interrogates it, first by examining contrary arguments and evidence and then in a series of student-led case studies of government performance in specific policy areas. Students produce major term papers that assess the successes and failures of some public policy. The course aims at helping students to come to grips with the complexities of policymaking, the strengths and weaknesses of national governmental institutions, and the extent to which the pessimism that marks so much of contemporary political discourse is justified.
This course introduces students to the nature, functions, and processes of law. The course surveys criminal and civil trials in the U.S., England, and France, appellate deliberations in several countries, constitutional courts and public law, and specific extra-judicial legal institutions. The latter third of the course details lessons of the first two-thirds by case study of litigation in the United States.
The course surveys the state of civil liberties in the U.S. and the world. Primary emphasis is given to institutions in the United States and how they enforce, obstruct, or affect the protection of civil liberties. Specific topics include free expression, free belief, freedom of religion, and emerging rights and claims.
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.
This course introduces students to the theory and practice of research about public opinion. Students learn about the creation and manipulation of public opinion, its measurement and study, and the implications of findings for the practice of democratic republicanism in the U.S. and abroad. Instruction includes projects in survey research and content analysis, so that students master the techniques of public opinion research as well as the theories.
This course in American politics focuses on key questions about local governance. Students explore institutional structure, civic engagement, local economics, and demographics to understand how decisions are made, power is wielded, and community needs are met. Students interact with local practitioners. Students could engage in sustained field work throughout the term.
What is the relationship between government institutions and the U.S. economy? How have moments of crisis forged the economic and political reality of America today? This course begins with a critical examination of capitalism and the free market before turning to the issues of globalization and deindustrialization. Together, students will tackle questions regarding what can and should be done about the crisis of poverty and income inequality in the United States.
Why authoritarianism? This course looks at non-democratic forms of political rule, investigating the rise, persistence, and decline of authoritarianism around the world. The course will consider ideological, institutional, international and other factors, drawing from historical as well as contemporary cases. In addition to understanding authoritarianism, we will consider the emergence of illiberalism as a newer tendency in democratic politics, and its possible relationship to democratic decline and collapse. Students will be encouraged to focus on their own particular regions of interest in order to broaden our comparative focus and discussion.
Why are the world's most successful examples of economic and political modernization of the last 50 years all located in Asia? Is the explanation Confucian culture? Japanese imperialism? American aid? Or is it something about the domestic political institutions? And what are the trade-offs of these institutions? This course employs the tools of comparative political economy to analyze eight Asian cases in seeking answers to these questions.
This course offers an intellectual history of the evolution of the interdisciplinary research program concerned with issues of economic development, exploitation and political change. Working in the field of comparative political economy, students examine the classical theories of eighteenth and nineteenth century political economy and political sociology (Smith, Marx, Spencer, Durkheim, Weber), post-WWII neo-classical theories of modernization and development, and theoretical approaches at the global level in the wake of the collapse of the dominant modernization paradigm. Students apply these theories to contemporary puzzles of development, underdevelopment and political change and address broader issues of the growth of knowledge in the social sciences.
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.
The roots and extent of America's involvement in world affairs; ideological, institutional, and strategic factors shaping U.S. foreign policy since WWII. America's responsibility and influence on global conditions. Approaches to analyzing American foreign policy.
This course examines the creation, function, and influence of international organizations in global governance. We explore why states join institutions that may limit their sovereignty and how these organizations can impact state behavior. Through theories, case studies, and simulations, students critically analyze power dynamics within global institutions like the UN and WTO, and in regional bodies like the EU and ASEAN. The course encourages reflection on how international organizations shape and are shaped by power structures, considering whose interests are served and how marginalized voices are represented in--or excluded from--the institutions that "run the world."
This course examines the configuration of word politics and how claims of individual and group rights challenge the current global framework. Students examine the role of the state as a meaningful purveyor of rights and material goods. They also analyze and critique alternative approaches to organizing human populations in an increasingly globalized world. It is easy to say that the world's poor deserve a better material existence. It is much more difficult to determine where the duty to provide resources lies, and how individuals, states, and organizations might achieve better outcomes. Students examine these issues from the perspective of states, international organizations, and non-governmental entities.
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.
This course examines the causes of and means of preventing terrorism and other forms of political violence. Students will consider definitions of terrorism and what separates terrorism from other kinds of violence. Why do some political groups turn to violence while others try to affect change through the political system? We will explore the similarities and differences between different violent groups, such as al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and White extremists. Why and how do groups use violence to achieve their goals? How does the internet and social media facilitate recruiting? And how is political violence best addressed by the state? We will engage these and other questions as the class focuses on understanding and preventing terrorism and political violence.
This course examines the current relationship between the United States and Canada. After a brief overview of U.S. and Canadian political institutions, and initial efforts to distinguish American and Canadian political culture, this course then focuses on contemporary issues in the complex political, economic and social relationship between the two states.
The course examines the constitutional law of U.S. national security policy. It explores classic constitutional issues, such as separation of powers, war powers of the President and Congress, intelligence operations, and treaty-making, as well as contemporary policy issues, such as domestic wiretapping, and the internment and trial of suspected terrorists.
Empires have existed since the pre-modern era, and until the mid-twentieth century imperial states were the dominant form of government. Today, no state refers to itself as an empire--yet the term is still widely used. Some call modern American foreign policy "imperialist." Other react that American power is a stabilizing force. The purpose of this course is to examine critically the meaning of the term "empire." What do empires have in common? What are the political causes of empire, and what are its effects on the colonizer and the colonized? What are the common attributes of this form of governance across time and space? Is economic dominance without political conquest "imperial" in any meaningful sense of the word? If the United States has an empire, what exactly does this mean? Do American interactions with other peoples reflect earlier patterns of imperial dominance, or do users of the term "empire" (perhaps willfully) mischaracterize the phenomenon of benign American hegemony? Students attempt to answer these questions through critical examination of historical forms of empire and contemporary accounts of American political and economic policy. Students should complete PG 103 and have a basic familiarity with international relations theory and social science methodologies prior to taking the course.
This course examines ancient Athenian political philosophy and applies the questions raised in those texts to contemporary political challenges. In light of the ideas, words, and deeds of thinkers from ancient Greece, students ask themselves: 'how shall we live, and what shall we do in our time?' Thinkers studied typically include Homer, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Plato. The course also explores Greek satire and tragedy.
What is the relationship between sex and the state? When--and to what ends--does the state regulate sexuality and gender? In this course, students will explore feminist, trans, and queer critiques of the state and consider how those critiques align or misalign with white supremacist, abolitionist, and anti-capitalist critiques of the state. Together, we will learn about U.S. values, laws, economic relations, and technologies, and we will ask how, both historically and currently, the regulation of sex (both as sexuality and as biological sex) is used to preserve the power of the U.S. state.
This seminar explores recent trends in the field of political theory. Contemporary political theory focuses predominantly on new thinking related to justice, identity and democracy. Theories of distributive justice (developed by John Rawls) or communicative action (offered by Jürgen Habermas) often serve as a starting point the reconsideration of political community central to contemporary political theory. In the process of questioning the boundaries of modern political community, the inclusiveness of democracy, or the fairness of justice, political thinkers have moved beyond institutional definitions of politics and democracy. Rather, the subject (in all its forms: political, cultural, or social) and language have emerged as important points through which to understand "the political." As a result, this seminar addresses the politics of identity reflective of race, class, sexuality, gender, or location at work in the formation of democratic community and practice. Recent theories with this attention toward identity at their foundation have suggested new ways to think about democracy by emphasizing deliberation, new forms of citizenship, plurality, and a dissociation of democracy from the nation-state. Issues at the transitional level also closely related to these questions of democracy, including nationalism, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonial politics, are also addressed in the course.
What is justice? How should society be governed? What is the good life? Questions like these, while abstract and philosophical, underpin all international political disputes, and understanding them is a first step towards resolving the conflicts inherent in international relations. This course seeks to draw connections between the problems of international politics and the world of political philosophy. It traces the history of political thought, from ancient Greece and its protean ideas of both realism and idealized governance through the hard-nosed politics of Machiavelli and Hobbes and the modernized idealism of Kant and Grotius up to the present-day thinking of such international relations scholars as Morgenthau, Waltz, and Walzer. In doing so, the class explores the connections linking political thinking and events across time, taking lessons from different times and applying them to the problems of today. The course concludes by examining four case studies of real policy problems, including humanitarian intervention, the role of international law, and the invasion of Iraq, through the lens of political theory.
In the words of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, "Europe was created by history; America was created by philosophy." The history and character of the United States cannot be understood without careful examination of the ideas, theories, and philosophies that underpin the American nation. This course examines the various strands of American Political Thought, beginning with the early political thought of the Puritans. Much attention is paid to the theories that unite the United States, such as the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, as well as those ideas that have divided the nation, such as race and slavery during the Civil War. The course concludes by considering the enduring tensions in American liberalism and the modern civil rights era.
This course interrogates intersectionality as an approach to the study of politics. Students will study the history and theory of intersectionality and will engage current debates about the application, benefits, and limitations of the intersectional method. In the second part of the semester, students will undertake an archival, group-based research project as a way to test the intersectional method.
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.
Can ideologies, when put into practice, live up to the utopian dreams of their visionaries? Or will they degenerate into dystopian nightmares? In this course in political theory, students study many of the ideologies that have shaped politics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They explore the core theoretical texts of nationalist, anarchist, socialist, liberal, and Islamist movements, including Marx, Mao, Mussolini, Qutb, and others. Finally, they reflect on the (perhaps utopian) ideals that shape these movements and on how those ideals have influenced politics and political arrangements.
This course explores contemporary issues in political theory related to questions of citizenship, membership, and power. Students reflect on the structures and practices that determine who wields power, who holds citizenship status, who counts as a member of a political community. Students also explore the relationship between economic and political arrangements.
Looking at the interaction between religion and politics in the United States, students explore various understandings of the relationship between church and state, the treatment of minority religious communities and the influence of religion on the formation of American identity, institutions and policies. Students investigate various theoretical approaches and U.S. political development to provide a foundation for evaluating how religion and politics influence each other in the current moment. Topics include political behavior, public opinion, organizationsl activity, and public policies in areas such as gay rights, environmental policy, and immigration.
Students engage in a series of seminars on the Washington state legislative process learning from experts in the field and engage in simulations of some of the core conflictual processes. Students learn about the difficulties of budgeting, the rules of the state legislative chamber and how they impact outcomes, the role of political parties and legislative leaders and industry lobbyists, as well as how to conduct legislative research, create sample legislative proposals, and write about state politics for the general public.
State governments are often overlooked, however, states wield tremendous power over the daily lives of citizens. A citizen's life can look very different depending on what state she lives in. The course takes a comparative approach to understand this critical level of U.S. politics. Why is marijuana legal in some states and not others? Why are the systems of public education so different? A comparative look allows students to ask why states respond differently to similar policy questions, considering the potential role of historical, cultural, economic and political contexts as well as variations in institutional arrangements. After delving into factors that alter the political opportunity structures in states, students turn to case studies. Looking at particular states and particular policy issues allows one to see how and why politics and political outcomes vary across states.
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.
This course examines courts as political actors. Why do political actors create courts? Why do legislators, executives, and bureaucracies obey them? Do courts take political, economic, and social factors into account when determining how to rule? We will examine these topics through a broad-based comparative inquiry, drawing on materials from around the world: North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region.
How do different societies weigh civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights? Is there a "standard" approach to rights such as abortion access, non- discrimination, and free speech? Are the rights that many Americans consider "self-evident" seen as such in other societies, and what rights do other societies recognize that are curiously absent in the American legal context? This course invites you to step outside the American debate on rights to consider alternative approaches. Students will accomplish this by reading, analyzing, and discussing cases from around the globe, in particular cases from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Topics include abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, indigenous rights, and religious freedom.
This course is designed to familiarize students both with the institutions of the Japanese political economy and with a breadth of issues relevant to a deeper understanding of how political and economic processes actually work in Japan. It is comparative in nature and deals primarily with issues since 1945.
Although China can lay claim to both the world's longest continuous civilization and the first modern state, in just the past half century, China has experienced tumultuous political revolution, sweeping reform and most recently painful retrenchment. This begs the questions: Will the growing divisions between rich and poor, coastal and provincial, urban and peasant tear China apart? Can the center hold? Can the Chinese political economy, its environment, and indeed the world accommodate not only a billion capitalist workers and consumers, but also embrace the same number of potential citizens demanding a political voice in their future? Will China's "rise" be peaceful? These questions are empirical, not rhetorical, and their answers are as important as they are uncertain. Students employ the analytical tools of comparative political economy to frame appropriate questions and weigh those factors most relevant to this remarkable story of socio-political and economic development: political and economic, social and cultural, structural and historical, domestic and international.
This course is designed to guide students in developing a deeper understanding of key social science concepts and theories regarding identity, ethnicity and nationalism. Students learn how to employ the comparative social science method to better understand compelling political and social issues that are becoming increasingly relevant and contentious under the conflicting conditions and aspirations of globalization, localization and nativism in the early 21st century. These concepts and methods are employed to analyze the complex processes accompanying the emergence, development, evolution and fragmentation of national identity in the geographic region known as Greater China, but these tools and understandings apply not just to Greater China, but to other ethnic groups, nations and cultural imaginaries of the world.
A broad survey of politics in a region often characterized by poverty, political instability, authoritarianism, populism, corruption, and violence. The course explores some of the major approaches to Latin American politics by focusing on political institutions, political culture, non-state actors, and civil society. The course is organized around key themes that are illustrated using a number of cases, which may include among others, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, and Brazil.
The course examines the intersection of environmental issues with politics and policy-making on a global as well as a local scale. It explores international structures and efforts to deal with environmental problems, a wide range of particular environmental challenges such as climate change and conservation, and the different experiences of individual countries in trying to use and manage their natural resources. Throughout, the relationships between political and natural systems are explored, with a particular focus on the ways in which politics and policy can both produce effective strategies and new difficulties for handling environmental challenges.
What are the political and economic implications of natural resource endowments? Why is international cooperation on natural resource governance and, especially, climate change so difficult? This course addresses these and other pressing questions through a broad overview of the politics of natural resources. The course begins by examining how oil and other minerals influence political and economic development, and why mineral rich countries appear more likely to engage in war and conflict. It then focuses on other resources, namely water, forests, and clean air, and evaluates the role that governments and international cooperation play in ensuring access to them. The course culminates in a section on politics of climate change at the local and international level. This course is appropriate for students who want to explore politics and governance of natural resources in an analytical and systematic manner.
How do diverse societies approach questions of governance within and across borders? When does ethnic diversity lead to domestic conflict, and when can institutions bridge ethnic divides? Are states less likely to go to war with states they consider "ethnic brethren"? Students use theory and concrete examples to examine how political scientists measure and compare ethnicity and its effects around the world. While reference to the U.S. and Europe will be made, the emphasis will be on states in the Global South, including South Africa and India.
In her landmark work on feminism and international politics, Cynthia Enloe encourages scholars to ask, "Where are the women?" when trying to understand international relations. This course introduces students to feminist analysis of international relations by engaging both theoretical and practical questions about women's experiences in the world. From a foundation of ethics, the course builds to address the place of gendered analysis in international relations issue areas such as security, political economy, and migration.
Despite the centrality of human rights in multilateral institutions, many aspects of international human rights -- as defined by international law -- are controversial, and their implementation at global and domestic levels remains incomplete. This is a survey course on human rights that analyzes the gap between human rights in theory and human rights in practice. Students explore the following questions: What are global human rights? Can we identify patterns of human rights violations, particularly for marginalized groups? What role do international law and institutions play in promoting human rights? How do non-governmental organizations affect human rights globally?
This course considers the evolution of the idea of morally justifiable warfare, primarily in the Western context. Students trace just war theory from the ancient world to the present day, with attention to both religious and secular theoretical texts. The course encourages students to think about recent and contemporary international relations through the lens of just war theory.
Much of the study of international relations has been driven by questions about war. Regardless of individuals' views on any particular war, everyone agrees that war is costly. The most obvious costs are in military expenditure and human lives. However, there are many ways of calculating cost, particularly as it relates to war. This course considers how much weight to give these additional factors in answering the question, "What are the costs of war?" The course looks at human, environmental, economic, social, and political costs of war to deepen students' understanding of what war claims from belligerents and what costs are paid by combatants and noncombatants alike.
What is meaningful work? The vast majority of the human population will spend the bulk of their waking hours in the workplace; how do we begin to interrogate and evaluate the purpose and meaning of our own work while also attending to the historical struggle for labor's recognition? The primary objectives in this course will be to historicize and normatively evaluate the struggle of various historical labor movements and their impact on the making of the American political state. Students will develop a nuanced and robust body of knowledge that critically interrogates the battles to protect workers with a particular eye towards building intersectional solidarity among the working class. Only by understanding how these historical labor movements coalesce and help form our contemporary landscape of work can we begin to normatively evaluate and postulate greater forms of liberation.
Students in this capstone course study major theoretical approaches to contemporary questions in politics and government. The course brings students into conversation across a broad array of approaches and traditions, applying the unique perspective of each to major questions about democracy and power around the world today. Students are expected to participate regularly in seminar discussions and may be responsible for leading class sessions and completing a major project. Students who wish to complete a senior thesis should consult the requirements to enroll in PG 490.
This is an optional thesis course in Politics and Government. Students who wish to complete a thesis do so in the spring semester of their senior year (having completed the field-specific capstone course in the fall semester of the senior year). In the course, students complete much of the thesis work independently under the supervision of the thesis instructor. Students are permitted to enroll in PG 490 by satisfying these criteria: successfully completing PG 410, 420, 430, 440, or 441; developing a prospectus for the thesis project in consultation with a field advisor during the fall semester of the senior year; participating in a consultative meeting with both the field advisor and the thesis instructor before the end of the fall semester of the senior year.
Conducting original, independent research is central to the experience of a student studying Politics and Government. This activity credit course pairs a student with a PG professor to collaborate on a research project in progress. The student contributes to the project through tasks that may include data collection, cleaning, and coding, secondary research developing a literature review, interview or survey administration, and beginning of quantitative or qualitative analysis. Specific details for each project will be specified in a written proposal prepared by the student and professor and approved by the department chair. The proposal will include (1) a description of the research project; (2) the tasks for the student research assistant (3) the student's learning objectives and (3) the number of hours and supervision expectations. At the end of the semester, the student prepares a written summary of the experience, reflecting on skills obtained, challenges faced, knowledge acquired, and experiences gained through the assistantship.
Independent study is available to those students who wish to continue their learning in an area after completing the regularly offered courses in that area.
Independent study is available to those students who wish to continue their learning in an area after completing the regularly offered courses in that area.
Students complete 120 hours of field experience at a site prearranged in consultation with the department and internship coordinator. In addition, the student works with a faculty mentor within the department to develop an individualized learning plan which must be pre-approved by the department and completed alongside the field experience. The learning plan is tailored to integrate the field experience with relevant scholarship, linking the major to practical job experience. One unit of PG 498 may count toward the major.