Undergraduate

The goal of this class is to familiarize students with the various ways in which actors can manage and resolve their conflicts. We will talk about conflict management in both international and civil conflicts. We will examine the various strategies that the belligerents themselves can employ to address their differences and the conflict management techniques of third parties. Students will learn about strategies such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration and adjudication, sanctions, humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping, nation-building, and the design of peace agreements. We will also talk about the role of the United Nations, regional organizations, and major powers like the U.S. in conflict management. While the main goal of the class is to familiarize students with central concepts and theories of conflict management, we will also take a look at cases that illustrate when and how different strategies work or when and why they might not be successful.

Subfield: International Relations

Note: This description is from Fall 2013

This course will explore the relationship between liberal democratic governance, identity, and nation in the United States. The course is interdisciplinary in nature, approaching the issues through the lenses of history, philosophy, law, and the social sciences. We will look at the historical roots of contemporary problems in the US such as political polarization, economic inequality, and the culture wars. We will explore the relationship between liberal democracy and different forms of identity, including racial, ethnic, gender, cultural, and national identities. In doing so we will try to shed light on contemporary social problems, and will discuss how to bring about stable, productive, and just social change in the United States.

The course is divided three main parts: (1) Core Concepts; (2) Liberalism, Democracy, and
Governance; and (3) National Identity and Empire.

Instructor: Richard Ashcroft

The goal of this junior seminar is to engage students in consideration of the relationship between politics and economics, with a focus on the global South. We will begin with a historically-rooted evaluation of “development” as a framework for thinking about the role of states in markets and the character of economic performance, alongside the emergence of post-colonial states. A focus of this discussion will be the interaction between actors at the domestic and international levels, and the changing relevance of the global economy for domestic economic outcomes. The final portion of the course will consider more recent research that aims to apply current tools of political economic research to questions about the importance of politics for market function, the relevance of political institutions to policy outcomes, the persistence of inefficient institutions, and the relevance of the international economy for domestic actors.

Course Restrictions:   Students who take PS 191 Sec 005 with Prof. Bussell cannot ALSO take PS 140Z with Prof. Wilfahrt due to the substantial similarity in course content.

This seminar investigates the worldwide crisis of democracy and how democracy’s defenders
might overcome it. In the late 20 th century, democracy was on a global roll; now it is in retreat in
every world region. In the United States, the world’s oldest democracy, one of the two major
parties works to restrict voting access and refuses to accept defeat in elections. India, the
world’s largest democracy, has come under the control of a leader who erases civil liberties and
pursues an ethnonational agenda. Poland and Hungary, once considered exemplars of
successful democratization, are now dominated by parties that attack judicial independence
and free media. In Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela, imperfect democracy has given way to hard
autocracy. Brazil, the Philippines and other developing-world democracies have undergone
backsliding toward authoritarianism, while experiments with open politics have foundered in
the Middle East and North Africa. How can we explain democracy’s crisis? How can democrats
reverse the autocratic wave, and what must they do to restore democracy’s promise?

This course introduces students to modern African politics, focusing on the region’s political trends and trajectories from the colonial era to the present. We begin by studying the region’s political experiences through the turn of the 21^st century before turning to current dilemmas and questions in African politics. Particular attention is paid to the prospects for and constraints on economic development and democratic consolidation and contemporary challenges, such as the rise of new forms of political participation and political challenges to the state. Reoccurring themes include the interaction of formal and informal institutions in African societies, Africa’s position in the global economy and the nature of the state in Africa, highlighting throughout both what is specific to Africa and its sub-regions and where the continent’s politics find broader comparability with other world regions.

Subfield: Comparative Politics

It is increasingly recognized that for societies to move on after widespread human rights and humanitarian abuses some kind of reconciliation process is necessary. What does reconciliation mean at the national vs. the personal level? What institutions and processes work best to encourage reconciliation? What role do truth commissions and trials play in this process? Are these processes best dealt with nationally or should they be led by an international body? This course will start by examining the concept of reconciliation and then look at case studies including Germany and Japan after WWII, Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge, Argentina and the Dirty War, Chile after Pinochet, South Africa and Apartheid, the Rwandan genocide, and the war in Yugoslavia. Students will complete a research project on a case study of their choice.

This course was initially listed as PS123A during registration. New course number will be PS124D as of 1/11/22.

This class is an introduction to the American political system. The course is designed to make you think about the logic of our government's institutions, and the consequences - both intended and unintended - of these institutions for the political behavior of citizens, legislators, and other political leaders and activists. Topics to be covered include the Constitution, American political culture, civil rights, the presidency, Congress, Supreme Court, political parties, elections, public opinion, and interest groups.

Please note the description is from Spring 2014

Lecture will be offered remotely.

This seminar explores the incorporation of Latinx communities in American politics in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will examine the factors that have shaped the evolution of political identities among Latinx individuals across the country, ranging from the hyper-local to the pan-ethnic. We will investigate the political attitudes and behaviors associated with Latinx voters, how parties and candidates engage them in electoral politics, and the extent to which U.S. representative institutions serve their interests. We will consider the conditions in which Latinx communities have mobilized to protest injustice and demand civil rights. Throughout the seminar, students will be presented with a range of theoretical frameworks along with different forms of data analysis aimed at understanding Latinx political behavior.

This seminar focuses on fragile states, especially post-conflict states, to consider politics in these contexts. We will examine how the design of state security institutions change and can then contribute to peacebuilding in post-conflict environments. Post-conflict orders are especially prone to failure. But we will also think beyond these states that have had civil conflict. Indeed, most civil conflicts recur shortly after they end. There is a special focus on policing in these contexts.

The seminar is especially aimed at both the substantive of this topic, as well as the research process, beginning focused study of specific cases. In this course, taking the comparative perspective seriously, all students will develop case studies on how policing structures and controls change at pivotal moments of conflict termination and then how those changes affect outcomes such as citizen trust and cooperation. Students may also choose to code variables about post-conflict state policing, rebel demobilization, and peacekeeper patrolling if they wish for a mixed-method approach. Significant portions of the class will focus collecting and assembling descriptive evidence in case studies.