Undergraduate

This course is intended for outstanding students who intend to pursue graduate school in political science or another of the social sciences. The course is designed, and will be conducted, like a graduate seminar. The course aims to provide students with a rigorous introduction to core topics in social theory. The course centers on four major themes: power, equality, freedom, and community. Our class sessions will focus on discussions of course readings. Students are required to do all of the readings for the week in advance of class meetings and to participate actively in discussions. Grades will be determined as follows: one-half for the quality and quantity of contributions to seminar discussions; and one-half for a research paper that will be due at the time of our final class meeting. The paper will take the form of a comparative inquiry into several of the major theorists we are reading in the course. Students will begin developing plans for their research papers early in the course, and will present their work to the seminar at times that we will set aside for discussion of research-in-progress.

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 or Political Theory

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

The methods used to manage the power of the bureaucracy in the American political system. An introduction to theories of organizational behavior. The effects of administration structure upon the creation and distribution of public benefits.

Subfield:   American Politics

Please note that this description is from Fall 2013.

This one-unit course will feature a guest speaker each week discussing an issue currently in the news. The class is open to all students, and there are no prerequisites. The class is offered Pass/Not Pass, based on a final examination. May be repeated for credit.

This course does not count as an upper division Political Science requirement.

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

The course provides a critical and analysis of the political circumstances, political behavior, and the activities and consequences of Latinos   ( or 'Hispanics') within the governmental and political system of the United States.     Latinos became the nation's largest minority group in 2005 and are also the largest minority group in U.S. elementary/secondary schools.   For these and other reasons the situation of Latinos has broad social and political significance.

Subfield:   American Politics

NOTE: This description is from Fall 2013

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 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, survey recent social changes, and analyze current debates over policy issues ranging from economic reform to constitutional revision.

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.