Fall 2014

Should nations intervene in other countries to prevent human rights abuses or famine? On what principles should immigration be based? Should wealthy states aid poorer states, and if so, how much? Is it ever right to go to war? And if so, when, and with what means? We will examine different traditions in moral thought and use these tools to make reasoned judgments about these and similar difficult moral problems such as these in world politics.

This course falls within the International Relations subfield.

Please note the description is from Spring 2013

What is governance? How should we explain its emergence? What are its implications for public policy and democracy? This course uses debates about contemporary governance to examine four approaches to political science and political theory. The approaches are rational choice theory, institutionalism, Marxism, and poststructuralism. The course looks at the narrative that each approach provides of the origins and workings of governance since 1979, and at the way these narratives embody theoretical commitments about rationality and power, structure and agency, and democracy. It thus promotes an awareness of the way questions about contemporary governance are inextricably linked to philosophical and normative commitments. This course has a required discussion section.

Please note that this description is from Spring 2013.

Do elections produce governments that reflect the public will? Do they favor competent leaders over incompetent ones? This class introduces students to recent research on these questions, focusing on presidential elections. It explores topics such as citizens’ ability to judge politicians, whether elected leaders represent their constituents’ interests, and the degree to which public officials exploit their power to aid their reelection bids. We critically examine evidence that voters judge candidates based on superficial traits, such as their faces, that they are duped into voting against their economic interests by wedge issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, and that they are shortsighted, usually remembering only recent successes and failures by their political leaders. Through reading and writing, students will learn to evaluate research about politics and to understand the statistical tools used to study American government.

Please note that this description is from Fall 2012.

An inside look at how political campaigns operate from the people who run them. Class material will be directed toward students who are interested in direct involvement in campaign politics or who are looking for a greater understanding of the political process. Students will be required to develop a complete written campaign strategy document in order to fulfill class requirements. Students will be expected to follow political and campaign news through the news media and be prepared to discuss those developments in class. Serious lectures, discussion and classroom exercises on campaign strategy and message development and delivery, with a special focus the role of political media. This section will focus predominantly on campaign advertising, news media coverage, the emerging role of the Internet, and other means by which candidates communicate their message to the voters.

Subfield: American Politics

Please note that the description is from Fall 2013.

Analysis of principal institutions, function, and problems of the Presidency and the federal executive branch. Special attention will be given to topics of presidential leadership, staffing, executive-legislative relations, and policy formation. Comparative reference to executive processes in other political systems.

Please note that the description is from Fall 2012.

This course is an introduction to the methods employed in empirical political science research. We will cover basic topics in research design, statistics, and formal modeling, considering many examples along the way. The two primary goals of the course are: (1) to provide students with analytic tools that will help them to understand how political scientists do empirical research, and (2) to improve students' ability to pose and answer research questions on their own. There are no prerequisites.

Please note that the description is from Summer 2013.