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Political
Science (PO)
Political Science Core
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. Examination of the assumptions,
methods, and substantive positions of selected political theorists as
a basis of analyzing political life. Themes include sovereignty, power,
equality, slavery, peace, representation, identity, force and violence.
204. INTRODUCTION TO POLICY STUDIES 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 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 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.
241. RELIGION, CULTURE AND POLITICS 3 cr. Explores ways
that relationships among religion, culture, and politics are expressed
within nations and across national borders. Incorporates comparative perspectives
and field opportunities.
254. LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS 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 from
year to year, the course will select a few Latin American countries for
specific case study of their contemporary political issues.
AR 291. JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT 3 cr.
See page 134 for course description.
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 3 cr. Introduction
to principles of political (and social) science research. The key concepts
of social science research: the 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. Committees, leaders, party organizations,
and floor proceedings in Congress; elections, legislative reform, lobbyists,
and legislative behavior.
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.
321. WEST EUROPEAN POLITICS (420) 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.
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. Impact of science
on the study of politics, rise of the “individual” and social
contract theory, the relationship between Enlightenment and revolutionary
thought, critiques of Enlightenment and liberalism, examination of European
biases and their meanings for political thought.
343. CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THOUGHT 3 cr. The relationship
between morality and politics, centered on the “redistribution versus
recognition” debate in contemporary political thought. Impact of
Rawls and the social contract tradition, feminist responses to the definition
of the political, the meaning of the Holocaust to Enlightenment-influenced
political thought, application of post-structural analyses.
344. ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN DEMOCRATIC THOUGHT 3 cr.
Human rights, civil rights, majoritarianism, representation, nationalism,
and collective violence. Incorporates historical and comparative perspectives;
field opportunities.
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 to the issues
of 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 1 6 cr. Internships in government and political organizations.
Internship prerequisites to be arranged with intern advisor. (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 political science majors during the
second semester of their senior year. The Major Field Achievement Test
in political science will be given as part of this course. 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, and 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.
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.
445. NATIONALISM AND CITIZENSHIP 3 cr. Examination of
the two dominant ways of interpreting political identity in the modern
world, with both a theoretical and empirical component. Relationship between
ascriptive identity and democracy, the meaning of patriotism, the impact
of colonialism and race-thinking, and examination of the possibilities
for shared political life beyond the nation-state.
458. THEMES IN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 3 cr. Prerequisite:
PO 102 or permission of instructor. Focuses on a different theme 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.
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