Undergraduate

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.

Note: Course description is from Fall 2013

Fall 2021

Synchronous Lectures will be offered remote. - Students must attend the lecture during the scheduled class time, as the lecture will involve interactive activities

Synchronous Discussion sections 101 and 106 will be offered remote.

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

Fall 2021 Lecture and Discussion sections 105 and 110 will be offered remote.

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

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. 

Subfield:   American Politics

This course focuses on the sensible application of econometric methods to empirical problems in economics and public policy analysis. It provides background on issues that arise when analyzing non-experimental social science data and a guide for tools that are useful for empirical research. By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of the types of research designs that can lead to convincing analysis and be comfortable working with large scale data sets.   This course is cross-listed with Econ C 142 and Public Policy C 142.

Note: This is an advanced methods course, and NOT a replacement for PS3.

Subfield: Quantitative Methods

Instructor: David Card

This course introduces some key works and ideas in modern political thought. The material is presented more or less chronologically in the form of six modules: (1) the French Revolution; (2) the division of labour and representation; (3) responses to capitalism and slavery; (4) Kultur and its discontents; (5) the Russian Revolution; and (6) interwar and postwar politics. While the list of authors we’ll read is long and varied (including geographically), excerpts will be short, and the instructor will provide all necessary context. There are no prerequisites, and in the hope of providing some fascinating mental fodder for anyone interested in politics today, newcomers to the world of political theory are very welcome.

Course objectives: familiarity with a wide variety of interesting and important texts in modern political thought, their contexts, and the relations among them; ability to analyze some of those texts closely and to discuss how they fit into the bigger intellectual and historical picture. 

Requirements: Four one-page, single-spaced reading responses (40%); four 15-20 minute one-on-one zoom chats with either your GSI or the instructor (20%); and a final paper, due May 14 (40%). Also, ideally at least one turn in the studio audience (see below), though it’s not required. 

Logistical details: All readings will be prepared by the instructor and posted to bCourses prior to lectures. Lectures will be produced as podcasts, each one featuring some portion of the class as a studio audience (rotating through volunteers). This is because the instructor really enjoys random questions while teaching, finding that they always trigger new thoughts and intellectual excitement. The audience is not expected to master the day’s material in advance; a first read-through of the texts will be fine. At the completion of each hour-long lecture/conversation, the audio recording and chat transcript will be posted to bCourses, as will the instructor’s notes (usually a single page of points not to miss, dates etc; often a bit different from the live lecture). 

Module 1. Intro and French Revolution

1. Jan 20. Introduction: Revolutions and Constitutions.

2. Jan 25. FR1. Rousseau, Sièyés, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), Constitution of 1791. 

3. Jan 27. FR2. Burke, More, de Maistre, Paine, Wollstonecraft.

4. Feb 1. FR3. Babeuf and the Constitutions of 1793 and 1795. 

5. Feb 3. FR4. L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution. 

Module 2. The Division of Labour and Representation

1. Feb 8. DLR1. Smith, Constant. 

2. Feb 10. DLR2. Hegel, Tocqueville. 

3. Feb 15. DLR3. Wollstonecraft, Stanton, Mill. 

4. Feb 17. DLR4. Chartist petition of 1839, Reform Act 1867, Mill. 

Module 3. Responses to Capitalism and Slavery

1. Feb 22. RCS1. Marx and Engels. 

2. Feb 24. RCS2. Marx and Engels, FitzHugh. 

3. Mar 1. RCS3. Jacobs, Douglass. 

4. Mar 3. RCS4. DuBois, Washington. 

5. Mar 8. Pitstop: the Story So Far. Discussion of questions posted in advance. 

Module 4. Kultur and its Discontents

1. Mar 10. KD1. Nietszche (1887)

2. Mar 15. KD2. Weber (1905)

3. Mar 17. KD3. Freud (1929)

Module 5. The Russian Revolution

1. Mar 29. RR1. Herzen, Marx, Zazulich, Emancipation of the Serfs Act (1861). 

2. Mar 31. RR2. The 1905 revolution: Bernstein, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky. 

3. Apr 5. RR3. The 1917 revolutions: Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky. 

Module 6. Interwar and Postwar Politics    

1. Apr 7. IPP1. Pareto, Schmitt. 

2. Apr 12. IPP2. Schumpeter, Hayek. 

3. Apr 14. IPP3. Gandhi, Nehru. 

4. Apr 19. IPP4. Adorno, Horkheimer.

5. Apr 21. IPP5. Ho Chi Minh, Mao, Guevara, Fanon. 

6. Apr 26. IPP6. De Beauvoir, Friedan. 

7. Apr 28. IPP7. SDS-Port Huron Statement and concluding discussion. 

What strategies does the international community use to address public problems that have a global
scope? What roles do international organizations, national governments, and non-governmental
organizations play in mobilizing and coordinating global action? The course will focus on how these
institutions develop strategies and programs for the global governance of issues like poverty, health,
and the environment. We will also explore a range of global governance strategies, such as public-
private partnerships, global policy networks, private regulation, and orchestration. In particular, the
course will explore the United Nation’s efforts to achieve its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
by 2030. Are these goals merely aspirational or do they motivate concrete action? How do different
nations mobilize to achieve these goals and what are the barriers to action? The course will be
organized around the development of a semester research paper on one of the 17 SDGs.

Why are human rights not part of debates about domestic public policy and legal reform in the United States? The United States played a leading role in the creation of the post-World War II international human rights system and has often championed human rights as a foreign policy goal. Yet human rights have been marginal to debates about social and economic equality at home. We will examine the history of human rights in the United States since the New Deal, asking how and why the United States’ embrace of human rights became limited to political and civil rights and excluded other kinds of human rights. We will also examine the consequences of this narrower framework, as well as why human rights may now be coming home.

This research-intensive seminar uses data analytics to understand contemporary Indian politics. Enrolled students will carry out original data analysis to answer questions that a student finds pertinent to understanding any aspect of contemporary Indian society and politics.  Students will use R, a programming language for statistical analysis, and analyze data drawn from the Indian National Election Studies, election returns from the Election Commission on India on national and state elections, the census, or other large social surveys. Prior knowledge of the politics of India is required. R and basic data analysis will be taught as part of the course.