Spring 2017

We are currently experiencing a global expansion of judicial power. In stable democracies, transitional societies and even autocracies, courts have become central actors in national politics and policymaking. Today, major political controversies often end up in court and are decided by judges, rather than by elected legislators serving in national parliaments. How do we explain this tremendous growth of judicial power and courts newly expanded roles in politics and policymaking? And what are the consequences of this judicialization of politics and policymaking for majoritarian institutions and democratic practices? 

This course provides an introduction to the political science of law and courts. This is not a course on constitutional law, and the focus will not be on the development of legal doctrines or the reasoning of important cases. Instead, we will evaluate law and courts as political institutions and judges as political actors and policy-makers across different types of political systems. Topics will include: the foundations of judicial independence, the relationship between the courts and other branches of government (e.g., judicial oversight of the bureaucracy), the sources of judicial power, the rights revolution and the role of courts in democratic consolidation. Courts in the U.S., France, Egypt, Turkey and Taiwan will be examined.

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 Politics

Note: This description is from Spring 2015

Homelessness, global warming, corruption, bankrupt pension systems, educational inequality... This course explores what we can learn in general about the way societies try to address and solve difficult and seemingly intractable public problems. Can we attribute success or failure to institutions and their capacity to solve problems? Are problems difficult to solve because they are so complex and we lack know-how or because of a failure of political will? What are the characteristics of organizations or communities able to solve problems proactively or creatively? How do public problems get politically framed and how are they used to mobilize constituencies? The course draws on literature in public administration, public policy studies, and democratic theory to try to better understand some of the major social, political, environmental, and economic problems of our contemporary world.

Note: This description is from Spring 2014

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 course examines public opinion in American Politics and how to measure it.  The course considers the nature of public opinion, survey methods, the role of polling in opinion expression, opinion formation, citizen knowledge, the role of media in shaping opinion, the effect of opinion on policy, and political polarization.

Course themes:

1. What is public opinion and in what ways is it expressed?

2. How do surveys perform as measures of public opinion and what is their role in our democracy? Are they accurate? What do they measure?

3. What are the implications of the changes in technology for surveys?

4. Are citizens knowledgeable? Are they rational or self-interested?

5. Is the public polarized?

6. How does the media influence public opinion?

7. What role does opinion play in shaping policy?

NOTE: This description is from Spring 2015

This course examines the nature and scope of American constitutional principles as developed in history: the philosophical foundations of individual rights, modern civil rights law, federalism, the jurisdiction of the federal courts, the separation of powers, executive power in foreign and domestic policy, the taxing power, and the commerce power. 

This course will employ the case method of law school, but will also incorporate methods and perspectives seldom found in law schools today, namely, understanding the nature of constitutional interpretation as it emerged from the natural law and English common law traditions, how the art of jurisprudence has evolved and become controversial in modern times, and how the other two branches of the federal government have affected our understanding of the Constitution. The course will seek to illuminate the myriad aspects of the Constitution in an unusual way: we’re going to read it like a book.

Among key questions the course shall consider include: How does the work of judges differ from that of elected officials?  What principles ought to guide judges in interpreting the law? Was the establishment of “judicial review” a logical corollary of having a written constitution, as Chief Justice John Marshall argued, or was it a “power grab” by a Federalist-dominated federal judiciary?  What role do the political branches play in interpreting the Constitution, and to what extent should judges defer to their constitutional judgments?  What is the proper balance between national powers delegated by the Constitution and the powers reserved to the states by the same document? What is the “police power,” and how it is inferred from the logic of the Constitution? Above all, is it necessary to go beyond the Constitution to understand it?

Instructor: Steven F. Hayward 

Email: steven.hayward@berkeley.edu 

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

This course examines patterns of political and economic change in Latin America over the course of the twentieth century.  Readings focus on industrialization and the advent of populism, the collapse of democracy and the rise of bureaucratic authoritarian regimes during the 1960s and 1970s, democratization, democratic consolidation, as well as economic liberalization and its aftermath. Readings focus on five country cases: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela.  Discussions frame the Latin American cases in terms of broader debates in comparative politics. 

Subfield:   Comparative Politics 

Students who took PS 191 "JUNIOR SEMINAR: LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS" with Professor Post cannot take this course due to the substantial similarity in course content

The welfare state is widely regarded as an endangered species. To some, it has become an unaffordable luxury. Heavy social spending may have been acceptable during boom times, but in today's competitive, globalizing environment, "economic" concerns must take precedence over "social" concerns, the "production" of wealth over its "redistribution." To others, the welfare state is not just expensive, but pernicious. Social spending fuels a "culture of dependency," encouraging idleness and setting "poverty traps" from which recipients cannot (or will not) escape. Thus, it is time to "end welfare as we know it."

This course, operating from a comparative, cross-national perspective, presents a different understanding of the welfare state. First, the welfare state is not an "it," but a "they." Welfare states vary tremendously from one country to the next, whether measured in terms of size, instruments, or objectives. Second, although social and political considerations shape welfare policy, economic considerations are no less critical. In other words, rather than operating on parallel tracks, "social policy" and "economic policy" are tightly coupled. Third, "ending welfare as we know it" is not synonymous with ending the welfare state. Social spending is fueled by powerful forces, including economic, so that contemporary welfare reform is as much
an exercise in reallocation and reorganization as in budget-cutting. 

Please note that this description is from Fall 2012.

This course examines the politics and policy of contemporary Japan, applying a range of theoretical perspectives to analyze both recent history and current events. After a brief historical review, we survey the core political institutions of the postwar era, examine patterns of political interaction, and investigate current debates over policy issues. We focus particularly on political change since 1993, including the new electoral system and party realignment. Specific topics include social issues, the economic crisis, political and economic reform, U.S.-Japan relations, defense and foreign policy.

Subfield:   Comparative Politics

Please note that this course description is from Fall 2013