Undergraduate Course Descriptions

POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT GENERAL UNDERGRADUATE COURSE LISTING

101. UNITED STATES POLITICS 3 cr. The United States political system in theory and practice; political processes, institutions, individual and group behavior; the relationship of the political system to the organizational and economic environments.

102. COMPARATIVE POLITICS 3 cr. Introduction to the comparative study of political behavior and institutions in various countries.

103. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 3 cr. Origin, nature, and development of the western state system. International conflict and its management by political and legal means. Concepts of international relations: sovereignty, nationalism, national power and security, balance of power. Contemporary international issues.

104. POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Political thought from Plato to the present. Examination of the assumptions, methods, and substantive positions of selected political theorists as a basis for analyzing contemporary political life.

UPPER DIVISION COURSES

201. CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT (300) 3 cr. Analysis of the relationship between Congress and the president in areas such as the budget, appointments, social-welfare policy, defense policy, and foreign policy.

204. INTRODUCTION TO POLICY STUDIES (304) 3 cr. Introduction to the public policy process; institutions that structure and implement policy responses, models of decision making, analytical and evaluative methodologies, epistemological approaches, normative concerns. Policy areas investigated to illustrate both the actual and symbolic impact of the policy process within diverse political settings.

207. POLITICS OF EQUALITY (307) 3 cr. Defining the concept of equality within political, social, and economic parameters; analysis of equality as policy goal. Categories of race, sex, and sexual orientation considered in terms of the meaning and value of the concept of equality.

213. POLITICS IN THE 50 STATES (313) 3 cr. Comparative study of the political systems in the fifty states with emphasis on legislatures, governors, bureaucracies, courts, political parties, interest groups, political participation, elections, and public policies.

220. EUROPEAN UNION SIMULATION 3 cr. Simulation course which models the policy-making process within the European Union. Includes a three-day conference in November in Washington , D.C. Each student will take on the role of a political decision-maker from an EU member. Offered fall term of even-numbered years.

254. LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS (354) 3 cr. Provides a broad historical and regional overview of the political, economic, and social issues that have shaped Latin American politics. Though the countries will vary year to year, the course will select a few Latin American countries for specific case study of their contemporary political issues.

295. SPECIAL TOPICS IN UNITED STATES POLITICS 3 cr. Course title will be listed in the semester course schedule. 200-level special-topics courses are designed for first- and second-year students or for prospective majors.

296. SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS 3 cr. Course title will be listed in the semester course schedule. 200-level special-topics courses are designed for first- and second-year students or for prospective majors.

297. SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 3 cr. Course title will be listed in the semester course schedule. 200-level special-topics courses are designed for first- and second-year students or for prospective majors.

298. SPECIAL TOPICS IN POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Course title will be listed in the semester course schedule. 200-level special-topics courses are designed for first- and second-year students or for prospective majors.

ADVANCED COURSES

300. POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS (205) 3 cr. Introduction to principles of political (and social) science research. Key concepts of social science research: philosophy of science, variables, hypotheses, measurement, research designs, sampling, data collection, and data analysis. Should be taken by the end of the junior year.

301. U.S. CONGRESS 3 cr. We focus on congressional leaders, committees, party organizations, policy debates, and congressional-executive branch relations. We examine several significant trends from recent decades such as the rise of partisan differences, the shift from Democratic to Republican control, and the reassertion of congressional power. We also study current developments in Congress by watching C- SPAN , using the internet, and reading CQ Weekly. In addition, students participate in a congressional simulation in which they play the role of a member of Congress and debate bills in committees and on the floor.

302. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 3 cr. Principles and practices of public administration; theories of bureaucracy with an emphasis on the U.S. experience; proposals for reconciling effective administration of public policy with democratic norms.

303. AMERICAN PRESIDENCY 3 cr. Institutions, personalities, and political processes centered in the Presidency; implications of the shifting balance of powers between the Presidency and the other federal branches; analysis of media and public expectations in light of effective leadership and public accountability.

305. SEX, GENDER, AND POLITICS 3 cr. Examination of theories of gender and their implication for public policies affecting the political, economic, and social status of women and men in the United States.

309. BUDGET AND SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES 3 cr. Analysis of policy issues related to the federal budget and social programs such as social security, welfare, and health care.

310. THE POLITICS OF RACE 3 cr. Analysis of race as a social, political, and legal construct; examines social and political implications of these constructions. Social movements organized around the politics of race; responses of political systems to issues of racial inequality.

311. AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY 3 cr. Organization, control, and functioning of the foreign policy of the United States; the impact of internal and external forces on the formulation and implementation of foreign policy; analysis of problems confronting the United States in foreign affairs.

312. URBAN POLITICS 3 cr. Comparative study of the political systems of urban areas with emphasis on the forms of urban government, metropolitan government, political machines, elections, interest groups, local executives, city councils, and bureaucracies.

314. CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS 3 cr. Investigation of Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution. Case-study approach to the politics of judicial review, intergovernmental relations, and the commerce, taxing, treaty, and war powers.

315. CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES 3 cr. Conflict in American society between majority rule and minority rights. Case-study approach to freedom of speech, press, religion, and association, the protections of due process, the rights of the accused, the equal protection of the laws, voting rights, and privacy.

316. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 3 cr. Focusing primarily on the United States, how and why social movements form in a democratic society, the use of extra-institutional political tactics, the ways they maintain themselves against strenuous opposition, and the dynamics of movement decline.

317. JUDICIAL PROCESS 3 cr. Analysis of the role of the courts in the political process and the impact of law on society: structure of federal and state judiciaries, judicial selection, models of judicial decision making, and the implementation of judicial decisions.

318. INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 3 cr. How interest groups affect the American political process. Analysis of interest-group behavior in electoral politics and in the policy process; theory and structure of groups, the rise of political action committees (PACs), and single-issue voters, the functions and activities of the political parties.

319. U.S. ELECTIONS 3 cr. Analysis of candidate recruitment, nomination processes, campaign strategies, campaign finance, voting behavior, and reform proposals in congressional and presidential elections.

320. CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE 3 cr. One of the most important contemporary political movements in Europe . Development of Catholic political and social thought from the French Revolution to the present; and the role played by Christian Democratic parties in eight countries today.

334. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION 3 cr. Development of global and regional international organization. Analysis of the structure, procedures, operations, and problems of international governmental institutions. Role of international organizations in maintaining peace and security among member states.

335. THE NEW TERRORISM 3 cr. Varieties of politically-motivated violence with an emphasis on terrorism; theoretical and normative problems of defining terrorism and classifying various groups as agents of terrorism; major terrorist groups in existence today; political motivations of terrorists and other extremist groups as well as dilemmas faced by U.S. counter-terrorism policies and strategies.

337. INTERNATIONAL LAW 3 cr. Case-study approach to the nature, sources, force, and development of international law and its application to contemporary problems.

341. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Foundational beginning of Western political thought. Analysis of the impact of the Judeo-Christian metaphysics on Greek thought in Augustine and Aquinas. Plato and the rational polis, organic community and the individual, telos and human nature, the relationship of moral knowledge to governance, the relationship of metaphysics and epistemology to human nature, society, and natural law.

342. MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Effect of epistemological and metaphysical transformation on governance in Western political thought from Machiavelli to Burke. Impact of science on the study of politics, the Reformation and liberation of the individual, demise of organic community and the rise of social contract theory, natural rights and natural law. The relationship between modernity and the Enlightenment in the development of liberal thought.

343. CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Rise and decline of grand narrative in Western political thought. Impact of scientific socialism on the messianic tradition, the lost promise of the Enlightenment project, post-structuralism and post-modernity, the existential response, role of the individual as actor in history, and instrumental rationality. Impact of critical theory on rationalism, rise of the technocratic state.

350. GERMAN POLITICS 3 cr. Survey of the contemporary political system of the Federal Republic of Germany: the impact of history; the constitutional framework; the party system; the emergence and dynamics of the environmental movement; the impact of unification; the re emergence of the extreme right in German politics; and Germany's changing role within the European Union and the international arena in general.

351. BERLIN SEMINAR 3 cr. Intensive introduction to the city of Berlin , Germany , focusing on Berlin as capital of empire, republic and the Nazi regime, as divided city during the cold war, and as center of the reunified Federal Republic . Includes a ten-day study tour of Berlin during spring break preceded by a series of seminar meetings in preparation for the trip. Offered spring semester of odd-numbered years. Requires additional fee for travel.

355. CATHOLICISM IN THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LATIN AMERICA 3 cr. Catholic tradition in Latin America and its role in the development of political institutions, policies, and economic practices in the region. Includes a historical overview of Latin America and the interactions of Catholicism with political traditions important in Latin American political development, classic conservatism, classic liberalism, and Marxism.

356. POLITICS OF MEXICO 3 cr. Mexico's political transformation of the last decades of the 20th Century, economic development policy, issues of migrant labor, and economic and political relations with the U.S.

357. POLITICS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 3 cr. Political and economic issues of Central America with special attention on revolution, political transformation, and democracy in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

361. ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND POLICY 3 cr. Analysis of the impact of public policy on environmental quality and natural resources; ecology; relationship between U.S. environmental policy and global environmental issues; environmental ethics.

363. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 3 cr. Investigation of the role of law in protecting the environment and managing natural resources. Analysis of the nature of law, courts, administrative procedure, regulatory agencies, environmentalism, ecology, and the relationship between law and policy.

390. INTERNSHIP (495) 1 6 cr. Internships in government and political organizations. Internship prerequisites to be arranged with intern adviser. (Only 3 credits may count toward political science major or minor.)

395. SPECIAL TOPICS IN U.S. POLITICS 3 cr. Course subject will be listed in the semester schedule. Students may register for more than one 395 course with the advice of academic advisors.

396. SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS 3 cr. Course topic will be listed in the semester schedule. Students may register for more than one 396 course with the advice of academic advisors.

397. SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 3 cr. Course topic will be listed in the semester schedule. Students may register for more than one 397 course with the advice of academic advisors.

398. SPECIAL TOPICS IN POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. Course topic will be listed in the semester schedule. Students may register for more than one 398 course with the advice of academic advisors.

399. INDEPENDENT STUDY 1 3 cr. Directed reading or individual research. Department permission required.

400. SENIOR CAPSTONE 1 cr. Overview of the major fields of political science. To be taken by all political science majors during the second semester of their senior year. This capstone course will assess student learning via the Major Field Test in political science, and a written comprehensive exam. Does not fulfill 400-level major requirement.

401. SENIOR THESIS 3 cr. Prerequisite: PO 300. Research of a topic in political science. Reviewing past research, developing a research plan, carrying out the research plan, and writing the thesis. Instructor permission required.

403. SENIOR EXPERIENCE 3 cr. Structured experience that provides the opportunity to address a specific problem, issue, concern, or theme in politics through a number of innovative formats, the nature of which will be determined by a collaboration between the student and instructor(s). Possible formats include service learning, political advocacy, a practicum, tutorials, among others. Instructor permission required. Does not fulfill 400-level major requirement.

417. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT 3 cr. Prerequisite: PO 314 or 315 or 317 or permission of instructor. History and role of the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. politics. Special attention given to how and why the Court renders its decisions, how it determines its docket and case load, and the impact of Supreme Court decisions. Course will have significant independent research component.

420. WEST EUROPEAN POLITICS 3 cr. Prerequisite: PO 102. Political systems and processes of the nations of Western Europe : their different constitutional arrangements; political parties; political behavior; and public policies. Emphasis on the European Union and politics of European Integration.

428. COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY 3 cr. Prerequisite: PO 102 or EC 201 or 211, or EC 202 or 212. Interrelationship between politics and economics from a comparative perspective, including the philosophical underpinnings of the major political economic systems; relationship between capitalism and democracy; origin and problems of the modern welfare state; instruments of economic policy making; relationship between economic performance and political behavior; and behavior of elected officials within the context of the competitive democratic system.

440. JURISPRUDENCE 3 cr. Nature of law through the prism of two principal concerns in jurisprudence, the separation of law and morality, and judicial discretion. Jurisprudential concepts such as legal validity, rules of law, principles, rights, moral and legal obligation, legal norms, ontology in natural law, natural law reconsidered, positive law, and realism.

458. THEMES IN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 3 cr. Prerequisite: PO 102 or permission of instructor. Selecting a different theme for each semester the course is offered. This course will examine topics from around the globe related to the study of political development.

460. SENIOR SEMINAR IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 3 cr. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor. Seminar structured to bring together environmental studies students from the various disciplines to investigate environmental issues and/or problems. Working from groups, students will produce a final report of recommendations which draws upon their different academic perspectives.

464. UTOPIAN THOUGHT (364) 3 cr. Role of utopian thought in the development and evolution of Western political theory. Readings of both political theory and literary utopias. Application of utopian thought to such contemporary issues as the destruction of the natural environment, political and social inequality, globalization and community, science and technology, and moral relativism.

499. SEMINAR 3 cr. Courses on a variety of topics taught in a seminar format.

For questions concerning Political Science courses at John Carroll University, contact the Political Science Department at 216-397-4311.