Fall 2014

semester status
Active

Research and Writing

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
66
Number
292
CCN
72353
Times
Tu 12p-2pm
Location
202 Barrows
Course Description

The goal of this yearlong course is to provide a forum in which students propose, develop, and complete a research project that produces a journal-length paper of publishable quality. It is primarily oriented towards second-year Ph.D. students in any subfield (students in other years may participate with the professors’ consent). The course meets regularly during parts of the fall semester and irregularly during the spring semester. In the first few weeks of the course, we discuss the process of moving from research topic to research question; and we survey published articles by recent Ph.D. students/assistant professors, focusing on the structure and nature of the writing and presentation as well the quality of the argument and evidence. We then move to students’ research proposals for the rest of the fall semester. During the spring semester, students meet individually with the course instructors and their advisors, develop and revise drafts of their papers, and present their work at a department “APSA-style” conference. In order to complete the course and receive credit, students must complete the requirements for both semesters.

International Political Economy

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
226A
CCN
72134
Times
Tu 10a-12p
Location
202 Barrows
Course Description

The creation, maintenance, transformation and decay of international arrangements designed to manage or regulate interstate activities relating to trade, money, resources use, technology, and physical environment.

 

Please note that the description is from Fall 2012

Requirements

Please contact Professor Aggarwal to receive a listing of the first week's readings and the course syllabus.

JUNIOR SEMINAR: THE RISE OF CHINA

Semester
Fall 2014
Units
4
Section
8
Number
191
CCN
73008
Times
Tu 12p-2pm
Location
78 Barrows
Course Description

What are the origins and consequences of China’s extraordinary re-emergence on the world stage?  China’s rapid economic growth has in some respects confirmed the power of free markets, but at the same time it has challenged social scientists to think more deeply about the foundations and limits of the market economy.  Furthermore, China’s ever-increasing economic freedom and prosperity has been accompanied by only limited steps toward greater political freedom, contrary to the expectations of many.  This course will provide students with the foundations for understanding how China came to be where it is and the ways in which this is already affecting every sphere of human activity.

Familiarity with China (through personal experience or coursework) will help but is not required.

Requirements

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.

This junior seminar falls within the "Comparative Politics" subfield, and can fulfill an upper-division requirement for the major.

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 II. Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar.  Selection and notification will occur in mid-August 2014.

SELECTED TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS: AUTHORITARIANISM

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
210
CCN
72128
Times
Th 10a-12p
Location
180 Barrows
Course Description

This seminar will examine politics in non-democratic regimes.  How do non-democratic leaders gain power, hold power, or lose power? Topics covered will include economic development, quasi-democratic institutions, media and propaganda, governance, elite politics, democratic and other transitions, and foreign policy.

This course is a PhD-level seminar, intended for students planning to pursue a research career in the social sciences.  As such, we will be reading and discussing research using a variety of methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative empirical methods as well as formal models.  However, students who have not yet had the opportunity to get specific training in one or more of these areas are welcome and should simply engage with the material to the best of their abilities.

 

Undergraduates wishing to join the class should enroll on the waitlist with Telebears and send an email to the instructor at lorentzen@berkeley.edu with your full transcript, briefly outlining why you would be able to contribute to the class at a high level and your commitment to dealing with a much heavier workload than is typical of advanced undergraduate classes.  You will be admitted from the wait list at the discretion of the instructor.

COMPARATIVE POLITICS COLLOQUIUM

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
2
Number
291AS
CCN
72162
Times
Th 12:30-2:00
Location
223 Moses Hall
Course Description
This colloquium exposes graduate students and faculty to work by leading scholars of comparative politics working in diverse substantive areas. Graduate students are expected to read circulated papers of visiting speakers ahead of the colloquium and participate actively in raising questions and making comments.  They are encouraged to meet visiting speakers in their areas of interest in group or one-on-one sessions. The schedule and links to available papers may be found at http://polisci.berkeley.edu/research-and-teaching/lectures-colloquia/comparative-politics-colloquium or http://cpd.berkeley.edu/events/comparative-politics-colloquium/"


Selected Topics in American Government: Race and Immigration

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Units
4
Number
279
CCN
72153
Times
M 10a-12p
Location
291 Barrows
Course Description
The question of how diversity within the U.S. population fits with the American liberal democratic tradition defines much of the nation’s politics. Today, it comes to a head with the dramatic emergence of Latinos, Asian Americans, and other post‐1965 immigration‐based groups; groups that challenge the enduring dialectic between white privilege and African‐American privation throughout U.S. history. The goal of this course is to consider this how racial and ethnic diversity shapes our understanding of political interests, institutions, and identities in the United States, and vice-versa. The substantive topics range from debates about the persistence of racism, the rights of citizenship, the incorporation of plural democratic interests, current debates over public policy, and the like. Course readings span multiple disciplines—most often from political science, but with forays into law, sociology, psychology, history, and philosophy. This is a graduate seminar organized around intensive weekly readings, culminating in an original research paper.
 

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
271
CCN
72152
Times
Th 12:30-2:00
Location
291 Barrows
Course Description

This Seminar is designed to acquaint students with current research approaches in various sub-fields of American Politics.  Particular attention will be given to debates over theory, methodology, and substance. The seminar is not designed to provide a complete survey of the filed.   Students planning to be examined in American Politics are expected to master recommended  readings  on their own and should  review additional readings included  in versions of this seminar offered in the past years. 

 

Please note that this description is from Fall 2013

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS IN POLITICAL RESEARCH

Level
Semester
Fall 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Number
231A
CCN
72135
Times
M 9a-12p
Location
202 Barrows
Course Description

This is a rst course on statistical inference and modeling for use in social science research. It
covers probability and the theory of statistical inference, justications for and problems with common
statistical procedures, and how to apply procedures to empirical social science data to draw conclusions
relevant to positive social theory. We will pay particular attention to the motivation for statistical
inference and modeling from the standpoint of social science. Lectures and reading will primarily
cover theory and simple examples. Problem sets will cover both simple theoretical extensions and
applications of tools we develop to real data.


Required Skills. Students should have completed PS230 or its equivalent with a B or better.
Students should have a working knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, and elementary calculus. The
course is suitable for students with a large range of prior exposure to statistics and mathematics.
Students with Ph.D.-level training in mathematical statistics from a statistics department will not
nd that it pushes their capabilities; students with less background than this should nd at least
some challenges, conceptual or technical. All students capable of gaining admission to a Berkeley
Ph.D. program can fully succeed in this class regardless of prior technical preparation other than the
required skills listed above.

 

Please note that description is from Fall 2013