Course description is TBA
Most Americans take for granted their right to vote, whether they choose to exercise it or not. But the history of suffrage in the U.S. reveals the deeply contested nature of the vote in the United States over the last two centuries. Efforts to enlarge the American polity and include previously excluded groups have been countered by doubts about democracy, resistance to suffrage expansion and adoption of measures hindering access to the ballot. This course will consider both the history, the politics and the legal doctrines defining the right to vote in America.
Students who have taken Professor Silverberg's junior seminar "Accountability for International Human Rights Violations" in the past (last offered Fall 2012) cannot take this seminar as it has the same content with just a different title.
Subfield: American Politics
The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars will 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.
Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed). 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 early August 2017.
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.
Subfield: International Relations
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 "International Relations" subfield, and can fulfill an upper-division requirement for the major.
Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed). Students must place themselves on the waitlist through CalCentral in Phase II. Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar. Selection and notification will occur early August 2017.
This course provides an overview of California politics, with a focus on contemporary issues and an analysis of who wields power and why. Specifically, the course will focus on : the demographic, social and economic forces that shape the State's politics- the three official branches of state government (executive, legislative and judicial)- the three unofficial branches (the media, lobbyists and interest groups)- campaigns (candidates, initiatives, consultants, pollsters, political parties and money), local government, the state budget and education policies.
Subfield: American Politics
Please note this description is from Fall 2013
This one-unit course will feature a guest speaker each week discussing an issue currently in the news. The class is open to all students, and there are no prerequisites. The class is offered Pass/Not Pass, based on a final examination. May be repeated for credit.
This course does not count as an upper division Political Science requirement.
The Apperson Product Form # 2833 which will be used for the final examination will be available for purchase at ASUC bookstore.
The methods used to manage the power of the bureaucracy in the American political system. An introduction to theories of organizational behavior. The effects of administration structure upon the creation and distribution of public benefits.
Subfield: American Politics
Please note that this description is from Fall 2013.
This course will focus on the transformative process through which the nations of contemporary Southeast Asia have confronted political crises and instability and the various levels of success with which they have attempted to implement comprehensive programs of reform. This course will analyze several different areas of political activity, such as: state-led initiatives (political economy) regarding development and resource distribution; citizen and opposition movements both within and outside formal state institutions which seek to influence, alter, or overturn state action and policy; institution-building and the cultivation of social capital; and regional and transnational flows of capital and labor which act in alliance with or in opposition to national economic institutions. Specific topics will include a comparative analysis of state policy; the relationship between illicit economies (such as narcotics) and ethnic insurgency; the nascent political voice of religion and ethnicity as nationalist or opposition ideologies; the expansion and influence of local NGOs (legal aid, human rights, women’s rights, etc.); political violence and alternative paths to the expression of discontent; and corruption. After a general overview of Southeast Asia as a regional political theater, we will turn our attention to a series of in-depth case studies.
Please note that this course description is from Spring 2015
French political life has long gravitated around a " Republican model" marked by an unmediated relationship between the citizen and the state, socialization into French values through secular public education, a special vocation for France on the international stage, and an activist state. Recent developments have called the Republican model into question. This course will examine the transformation of France's Republican model-its origins, operations, and responses to contemporary challenges.
Subfield: Comparitive Politics
Please note that the course description is from Fall 2013.
Political Science 143A, the first of a two-semester upper division sequence on modern Northeast Asia, is primarily concerned with the People's Republic of China but also includes segments on China's relations with its immediate neighbors, as well as a look at the components of "Greater China," Hong Kong and Taiwan. Lecture topics will include the Chinese revolution and the old regime, Chinese political culture and the attempt at "cultural revolution," the political and economic dynamics of reform and opening to the outside world, Chinese foreign policy, the Tiananmen incident, and other such topics.
Subfield: Comparitive Politics
Please note that this course description is from Fall 2013
An electronic Clicker is needed for this course. This can be purchased at the book store.
The goal of this course is to explore the conditions that lead to the initiation, escalation, and termination of international conflict as well as the factors that encourage peace between states. The course does not focus on historical description of particular wars but rather provides a broad theoretical treatment of the causes of war and peace. We will first familiarize ourselves with the principles of the scientific study of international conflict. Then we will spend the semester examining various factors that scholars have identified as potentially leading to conflict, such as the distribution of power, arms races, alliances, territory, rivalry, trade interdependence, and domestic politics.
Subfield: International Relations
Students who took PS 191 "Junior Seminar: Scientific Study of International Conflict" with Professor Mattes cannot take this course due to the substantial similarity in course content.