Undergraduate

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.

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

Subfield:  International Relations

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

IMPORTANT! Due to the content overlap, if you have taken PS 143C with Professor Lorentzen, or are enrolled in it for the fall, you will not be able to take this course for the Poli Sci major. Also, if you take this course for the major in the fall, you will not be able to take PS 143C in the future.

A situation involves strategic interaction if the best course of action of one agent depends on what others are going to do and vice-versa. These situations include, for example, the competition among firms in an oligopolistic market, the struggle between candidates in an election campaign, the wage bargaining between a worker and an employer, and the rivalry between states locked in an arms race. Although originally developed and applied in economics, game theory is now commonly used in political science and is beginning to be applied more widely throughout the social sciences to model strategic interaction. This course offers a non-technical introduction to game theory with a special emphasis on examples and applications drawn from economics, political science, and the other social sciences.

Note: Political Science c135 is cross-listed with Economics c110.

While there are no formal prerequisites for this course, some prior coursework in economics   (e.g., Econ 1) is highly recommended. Class requirements include a midterm, final, and problem sets.

Subfield: Empirical Theory and Quantitative Methods

Please note that this course is NOT a substitute for PS3.

Please note that this course description is from Fall 2013

This course examines the interaction between politics and markets, both in theory and in practice, linking classic works on political economy (Smith, Marx, List, Polanyi) with current policy debates.  It emphasizes the ways in which markets are embedded in social and political institutions.  We study how markets are structured in a wide range of different national settings, looking at both history and contemporary issues.  We review some of the most influential works from four disciplines: Economics, Sociology, History, and Political Science.  Topics include: 1) The history of industrialization, 2) The varieties of capitalism in contemporary industrialized countries, 3) The emerging economies of Latin America and East Asia, 4) The problems of development, and 5) The transition from communism to a market economy in Eastern Europe and China.  We conclude the course with a review of current issues in the global economy.  

Subfield:   Comparative Politics

This course will examine how government and industry interact to “govern” markets by surveying debates over specific substantive issues in the advanced industrial countries, especially the United States.  Topics include intellectual property rights, financial regulation, accounting standards, antitrust policy, the regulation of competition in network industries, and fabricated markets such as spectrum auctions and cap-and-trade schemes.  The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach to these topics, building on analytical perspectives from institutional economics and economic sociology as well as political science. 

Analysis of principal institutions, function, and problems of the Presidency and the federal executive branch. Special attention will be given to topics of presidential leadership, staffing, executive-legislative relations, and policy formation. Comparative reference to executive processes in other political systems.

Please note that the description is from Fall 2012.

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