Undergraduate

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.

Instructor: Stephanie Nail

The overwhelming majority of governments throughout history have been dictatorial. Even the recent spread of democracy has not extirpated authoritarian rule: as of 2012 roughly one quarter of all countries are considered full-blown autocracies. Whatever the benefits of democracy, it seems dictatorship is here to stay. This course explores the characteristics and dynamics of non-democratic regimes: how and why they come about, what sustains them, why some people resist them and others do not, and how and why they decline and fall. We will explore a variety of examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Using films and novels in addition to political science literature, we will investigate how dictators maintain their power, how ordinary people react to repression, and the links between dictatorship and security and economic development.

Subfield: Comparative Politics

Note: Course description is from Summer 2014

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

Subfield: Comparative Politics

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 in Spring 2014 cannot take this course due to the substantial similarity in course content. Students who took PS 191 "JUNIOR SEMINAR: The Latin American City: Politics and Policy" with Professor Post in Spring 2018 can take this course as there is no significant overlap in course content.

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.

Course Summary

This course would attempt to explore the multi track dimensions of Politics in South Asia with a special focus in India. During the course, there would be attempt to collectively explore the major milestones in the evolution and growth of politics in India and its implications and impact on contemporary political developments. The course would also assess the major contemporary issues in Indian politics and attempt a holistic understanding of these developments from the perspective of democratic theory in general and south asia politics in particular.

Course Objectives

a)     To familiarize the learner with the contemporary trends in Indian politics

b)     To help the learner locate developments in Indian politics in the wider context of democratic politics in `new` democracies

c)      To sensitize the learners to the `context` of politics in India

d)     To facilitate an in-depth understanding of the Indian politics through the `window` of case studies

Please note you will NOT be able to take Political Science 145A, if you are enrolled or have completed Political Science W145A. This is the in-person variation of the course.

Note: Course description is from Summer 2013

This course will examine the origins and forms of what a legal scholar once called an “odious scourge”: genocide. For years, genocide mainly referred to the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews during World War II. However, since the end of the Cold War events in Eastern Europe, Central Africa, and elsewhere have drawn scholars’ attention to genocide as a political phenomenon that may be studied across regions and time periods. Although ethical and policy concerns will underlie the discussion, as they do whenever genocide is the topic of study, our main objective will be to examine the determinants of genocide and related forms of mass violence.

This course was originally offered as PS124G in Spring 2022.

This course explores the theories, history, and issues in international political economy. International political economy has been described as “the reciprocal and dynamic interaction in international relations of the pursuit of power and the pursuit of wealth.” The purpose of this course is to examine those interactions -- between power and wealth, the state and the market -- from a number of competing perspectives and different levels of analysis. We will focus on the causes and consequences of international trade and monetary relations; the growth of regional integration; the role of hegemony in maintaining the stability of international economic systems; strategies of economic development and transition; the role of multinational corporations in both developing and developed countries; and the drivers and consequences of migration and immigration. Student evaluations will be based on quizzes, short memos, sections, and a final exam.

Civil conflicts—civil wars and terrorist campaigns—are among the major threats to peace in the current system. This course addresses explores why, and to what end, civil conflicts fought. It then focuses in on the question of when, why, and how international actors intervene in civil conflicts—especially to end them. Students will have the opportunity to better understand what we know about civil conflict termination and international intervention in that process. These questions also produce answers about the processes by which peace agreements are signed; why peace sometimes lasts and what can be done to make peace more durable; as well as the longer-term prospects for rebuilding after war. This course draws on different theoretical and empirical approaches to actively ask and answer these questions. It is designed to help you: (1) actively engage with the existing research to begin to understand the causes, strategies, and consequences of civil conflict and international intervention, (2) broaden your theoretical framework in international relations generally, (3) develop your critical thinking and writing on these topics through in-class exercises, assignments, and discussion in sections.

Recommended:   Familiarity with social science methodology at the level of PS 3 is needed for this course.

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.