Spring 2014

semester status
Active

QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES SEMINAR

Level
Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
0
Number
236B
CCN
72033
Times
W 4-7p
Location
400 Harris Room (119 Moses Hall)
Course Description

This course is intended to be a seminar in which we discuss research designs which have succeeded. Few causal inferences in the social sciences are compelling. We carefully examine successful examples to see why they work. The seminar is also a forum for students to discuss the research designs and methods needed in their own work. It should be particularly helpful for students writing their prospectus or designing a major research project. The seminar will be supplemented by lectures to cover the statistical and computational material needed to understand the readings such as matching methods, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, and Bayesian, maximum likelihood and robust estimation. Applications are drawn from a variety of elds including political science, statistics, economics, sociology, and public health.

Prerequisites

Political Science 236A/Statistics 239A (The Statistics of Causal Inference in the Social Sciences) or equivalent. Experience with R is assumed.

JUNIOR SEMINAR: HUMAN RIGHTS, GLOBAL POLITICS, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
10
Number
191
CCN
72579
Times
Tu 12p-2pm
Location
60 Barrows
Course Description

This course examines the interplay among domestic politics, international relations and international law in the creation, diffusion and enforcement of human rights norms. It considers the theories, principles and concepts related to human rights and their role in global politics and international law, the role of national and international institutions and actors in the current international human rights regime, recent developments in human rights law and their impact on the relations among states.  We will also discuss current debates about how to enforce human rights norms, including whether military intervention is justified.

 

The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.

 

Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.

 

Subfield:  International Relations

Prerequisites

Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed) with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3.  Students must place themselves on the waitlist through TeleBEARS in Phase 1. Selection will occur around November 8, 2013.  Continued enrollment in the seminar will be contingent upon maintaining your overall UC GPA at 3.3 (i.e., an overall UC GPA of a 3.2999 will not suffice).  Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar

JUNIOR SEMINAR: BRINGING HUMAN RIGHTS HOME

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
9
Number
191
CCN
72576
Times
Th 2p-4p
Location
123 Dwinelle
Course Description

Why are human rights not part of debates about domestic public policy and legal reform in the United States? The United States played a leading role in the creation of the post-World War II international human rights regime and has often championed human rights as a foreign policy goals. Yet human rights have been marginal to debates about social and economic equality at home. We will examine the history of human rights in the United States since the New Deal, asking how and why the New Deal’s embrace of human rights was supplanted by a narrower focus only on constitutional and civil rights. We will also examine the consequences of this narrower framework, as well as why human rights may now be coming home. 

 

The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.

 

Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.

 

Subfield:   American Politics

Prerequisites

Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed) with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3.  Students must place themselves on the waitlist through TeleBEARS in Phase 1. Selection will occur around November 8, 2013.  Continued enrollment in the seminar will be contingent upon maintaining your overall UC GPA at 3.3 (i.e., an overall UC GPA of a 3.2999 will not suffice).  Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar

CHINESE FOREIGN POLICY

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
0
Number
128
CCN
71756
Times
TuTh 1230p-200p
Location
56 Barrows
Course Description

Covering the history and analysis of Chinese foreign policy from the inception of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to the present, this course aims at providing the student with a sufficient factual base, alternative theoretical approaches, and some of the methodological tools found useful in studying Chinese foreign policy. Emphasis is placed on the external and domestic determinants of Chinese foreign policy, Sino-American and previous Sino-Soviet relations, the changing nature of China's relations with her Asian neighbors in the context of a newly emerging East Asian regional system. Special attention will be given the debate on "the rise of China," and its economic, political and military implications for the region and the world. At its conclusion, the student will hopefully be ready to do useful research and writing in this field, be capable of integrating his/her learning in this course with that derived from other areas of international relations and more general knowledge of modern China, and be able to form intelligent opinions on questions of national policy dealing with Asia in general and China in particular.

Subfield: International Relations

 

Note: Course description is from Spring 2012

Prerequisites

A background in Chinese politics or modern history (POLISCI 143A, B, C or D, History 13B or a similar course) and/or a background in international relations theory is highly recommended.

ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR AND PUBLIC OPINION

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
0
Number
169
CCN
71838
Times
MW 400p-530p
Location
174 Barrows
Course Description

This course deals with the ways in which individual citizens may have an impact on American politics through the electoral process.  The course will therefore focus on the political opinions and behavior of citizens as reflected in cross-section surveys of the national adult population, rather than studies of elected officials or other political elites.  Special attention will be paid to the role of partisan identification and policy-related preferences in presidential elections, to the distribution and origins of public opinion on important political issues, and to the determinants of electoral participation or turnout.

In previous years, this course in electoral behavior was offered as one of two alternative versions of PS 161, the department’s core undergraduate course in political behavior. This year, however, it is being offered as PS 169, in order to avoid confusion with the other version of PS 161.

There will be two lectures weekly and some additional discussions in smaller groups.  Those smaller group sessions will sometimes be held in the teaching lab operated by the Data Laboratory (in the basement of Barrows Hall), where students will carry out their own computer-based analyses. Grades will be determined by a final examination and several quizzes and exercises, as well as participation in class discussions.

Prerequisites

This is an advanced course in two respects, for it presupposes both a basic knowledge of the American political system and a familiarity with political inquiry based on quantitative evidence of the sort provided by modern survey research.  Both a course in American Politics and at least one course in statistics or quantitative methods beyond PS3 are therefore prerequisites for the course.

JUNIOR SEMINAR:SUSTAINING GROWTH AND CONTROLLING ITS CONSEQUENCES

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
8
Number
191
CCN
71891
Times
M 10a-12p
Location
BRIE (2234 Piedmont)
Course Description

A Research Seminar on Economic Adaptation to Twin Challenges in the Global Economy.

 

The course will consider the two challenges generated in the era of the Third Globalization:  1) How will countries adapt to the profound transformation of production? 2) Can the challenge of containing climate change be met while sustaining growth? 


The background materials for the course will be two recent books:  The Third Globalization:  Can Wealthy Countries Stay Rich?  and Can Green Sustain Growth: From The Religion to the Reality of Sustainable Prosperity?

 

After several weeks of discussion, students will be expected to select a research problem from one of the two themes.  A significant research paper will be the primary requirement. The course assumes the ability to do a significant research paper.

 

The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.

 

Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major. 

 

Subfield:   Comparative

**For administrative questions, please contact Dr. John Zysman at zysman@berkeley.edu

Please note, during the week of February 2nd through 7th, class will be held at BRIE (2234 Piedmont) on Wednesday, Feburary 5th.

Requirements

A one page note stating your interests, a summary of your grades and course work, and research experience is required. A additional writing sample may be requested.  An interview for class admission will be required.

Please submit the one page statement to zysman@berkeley.edu.

 

 

Prerequisites

Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed) with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3.  Students must place themselves on the waitlist through TeleBEARS in Phase 1. Selection will occur around November 8, 2013.  Continued enrollment in the seminar will be contingent upon maintaining your overall UC GPA at 3.3 (i.e., an overall UC GPA of a 3.2999 will not suffice).  Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar.

MASS MEDIA AND AMERICAN POLITICS

Semester
Spring 2014
Units
4
Section
0
Number
109J
CCN
71621
Times
TuTh 1230-2P
Location
101 BARKER
Course Description

This course examines mass media from varying perspectives – social, psychological, political, economic, and cultural – and gives students the intellectual tools to engage and critically interpret and consume mass media. We focus on the role of the media in limiting, creating, and shaping political power. We will look at how the media covers politics and political actors, who stands as a gatekeeper to determine which events, issues, and individuals get coverage, and how they are covered. We will also explore the basic concepts of political psychology and discuss how they intersect with the political messages people receive on a daily basis. We will ask tough questions about the media’s role: how well does the media serve us as a watchdog and conduit of information, what are the limits of media influence, and how can media help make institutions more effective in a democratic system. 

RESEARCH WORKSHOP IN THEORY

Level
Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
1
Section
0
Number
291T
CCN
72066
Times
M 12P-2P
Location
202 BARROWS
Course Description

This course is a  seminar which can be taken for 0- 2 units, Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory with the following course description:

A forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress by graduate students. To receive credit for the course, the student will participate fully, including, as asked, either making a presentation of work in progress or serving as lead  discussant for another student's work. Appropriate works-in-progress include  (but are not limited to) a paper in preparation for submission to a journal, a dissertation prospectus (including early drafts), a dissertation chapter, or a job market paper. Anyone working on theory is welcome.