Courses
Fall 2013
AAS 362/WWS 386/POL 338Race and the American Legal Process: Emancipation to the Voting Rights Act(SA)This course examines the dynamic and often conflicted relationships between African American struggles for inclusion, and the legislative, administrative, and judicial decision-making responding to or rejecting those struggles from Reconstruction to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. In tracing these relationships we will cover issues such as property, criminal law, suffrage, education, and immigration, with a focus on the following theoretical frameworks: equal protection, due process, civic participation and engagement, and political recognition.Imani Perry
CHV 466/POL 466/HIS 466Foundations of the Modern State(EM)The course will examine the evolution of western thinking about the modern concept of the state. The focus will be on Renaissance theories (Niccolo Machiavelli; Thomas More); absolutist theories (Thomas Hobbes); theories about 'free states' (James Harrington, John Locke); and republican theories from the era of the Enlightenment (Jean-Jacques Rousseau; The Federalist).Quentin R. Skinner
NES 265/POL 268Political and Economic Development of the Middle East(SA)The course introduces major issues in the study of contemporary Middle Eastern Politics and Economics, including state formation, the phenomenon of rentier economics, the role of the military and security sector, water and food security, the variance of authoritarianism and democracy, political parties and social movements, as well as the relationship between religion and state.Mirjam Künkler
NES 269/POL 353The Politics of Modern Islam(HA)This course examines the political dimensions of Islam. This will involve a study of the nature of Islamic political theory, the relationship between the religious and political establishments, the characteristics of an Islamic state, the radicalization of Sunni and Shi'i thought, and the compatibility of Islam and the nation-state, democracy, and constitutionalism, among other topics. Students will be introduced to the complex and polemical phenomenon of political Islam. The examples will be drawn mainly, though not exclusively, from cases and writings from the Middle East.Bernard A. Haykel
POL 220/WWS 310American Politics(SA)A survey of the institutions of American democracy. Topics will include the Constitutional order, federalism, legislative deliberation, executive power, elections and representation, interest groups and social movements, the courts, and policymaking.Nolan M. McCarty
POL 301/CLA 301/HLS 303Ancient and Medieval Political Theory(EM)A study of the great works of political theory in four periods: ancient Greece, including Athenian democracy, Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle; ancient Rome from republic to empire, including Polybius, Cicero, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius; medieval Christian political thought in Augustine, Aquinas, Marsilius, and others; and a brief survey of Renaissance meditations on classical themes. Fundamental topics are examined, including nature and convention; constitutional analysis, including democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, kingship, and the mixed constitution; property, virtue, law, and republicanism; church and state; consent and representation.Melissa S. Lane
POL 315Constitutional Interpretation(SA)A study of the structure of the American constitutional system and of the meaning of key constitutional provisions. Competing ideas about constitutional interpretation is a central focus of the course.Robert P. George
POL 322Public Opinion(SA)This course is an introduction to the study of American public opinion. We pay particular attention to the questions of where people get their opinions, to inequalities in public opinion, and to the public's competence to govern.Tali Mendelberg
POL 324Congressional Politics(SA)This course introduces students to the US Congress with a focus on thinking analytically about the determinants of Congressional behavior. Among the factors examined will be the characteristics and incentives of legislators, rules governing the legislative process and internal organization, separation of powers, political parties, Congressional elections, and interest group influence. A background in analytical methods will be helpful but is not required.Alexander V. Hirsch
POL 328American Politics and Democratic Theory(SA)This is a course on American politics viewed from the perspective of democratic theory. We will begin with recent political events that raise perennial issues, and then proceed to the history of the American party system. The course material is primarily historical and theoretical.Christopher H. Achen
POL 332Topics in American Statesmanship: Constitution and Democracy(SA)Statesmanship is the exercise of political virtue in high office. But, wrote James Madison anticipating life under the Constitution, "Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." How does our constitutionalism promote, structure, or limit opportunities for statesmanship? Does statesmanship emerge among Founders of the regime and among ordinary citizens who participate in great political debates; among believers or skeptics; among political thinkers or party leaders; among military commanders or great speakers; in the executive cabinet or in Congress; among judges; in the states? Does modern democracy make statesmanship obsolete?James R. Stoner
POL 345Quantitative Analysis and Politics(QR)Which countries are more likely to erupt in civil conflict? Does government aid increase support for incumbent politicians? Who is more likely to win the next election? Assessing questions like these, and others beyond political science, requires an understanding of statistical inference. This course provides the foundation necessary to conduct statistical analyses in the social sciences. The course will focus on statistical concepts, including probability, causality, estimation, and inference. Combining programming, statistical theory, and real world datasets, this course will introduce students to the basic principles of data analysis.Marc Ratkovic
POL 347Mathematical Models in the Study of Politics(QR)An introduction to the use of formal game-theoretic models in the study of politics. Applications include: voting, bargaining, lobbying, legislative institutions, and strategic information transmission. Familiarity with mathematical reasoning is helpful.Matias Iaryczower
POL 356Comparative Ethnic Conflict(SA)This course introduces students to the study of ethnic conflict. We will examine different theories of ethnically-based identification and mobilization; cover different types of ethnic conflict such as riots, genocide, hate crime and war; and study past and present cases of ethic conflict around the world.Deniz Aksoy
POL 366Politics in Africa(SA)This course provides an introduction to the study of African politics. The lectures and readings briefly review the social and historical context of contemporary political life. They then profile the changes of the early post-Independence period, the authoritarian turn of the 1970s and 80s, the second liberation of the 1990s, and problems of war, state-building, and development. Although the lectures trace a narrative, each also introduces a major analytical debate and an important policy problem. Broadly comparative with some special attention to selected countries.Jennifer A. Widner
POL 386Violent Politics(SA)Governments have tremendous power over our lives and thus the competition over who controls them is always intense and often violent. This course will study various ways in which violence is used to political ends. The larger goal of the course is to understand the sources of violence in political competition and the conditions under which political disputes can be peacefully resolved. Specific forms of violence to be covered include assassination, civil war, ethnic conflict, insurgency, revolution, riots, terrorism, and war.Jacob N. Shapiro
POL 403/CHV 403/ARC 405/GER 403Architecture and Democracy(EM)What kind of public architecture is appropiate for a democracy? Should public spaces and buildings reflect democratic values - such as transparency and accessibility - or is the crucial requirement for democratic architecture that the process of arriving at decisions about the built environment is as particpatory as possible? The course will introduce students to different theories of democracy, to different approaches to architecture, and to many examples of government architecture from around the world (the U.S., Germany, and China in particular), via images and films. Might include one or two field trips.Jan-Werner Müller
POL 419/CHV 420The Diverse Society(EM)Contemporary liberal democracies are characterized by important forms of diversity, including racial, religious, cultural, and linguistic diversity. The course examines recent work in normative political theory that debates how liberal democracies ought to respond to these varying forms of diversity. How should concepts of 'race,' 'religion,' and 'culture' be understood by political theorists interested in these debates? Do racial, religious, and/or cultural minorities as such have rights to recognition or accommodation? And what would the basis of any such rights, or of opposition to them, be in the principles of liberal democracy?Alan W. Patten
POL 423Seminar in American Politics: Politics of Supreme Court Nominations(SA)This course uses Supreme Court nominations as a window on the operation of the American separation of powers system. Using the nominations from FDR forward, we will study how presidents pick nominees, how hearings in the Judiciary Committee work, how and why the media cover nominations, the mobilization and counter-mobilization of interest groups, presidential efforts to "go public," the impact of the process on public opinion and vice versa, and the calculations and behavior of senators casting votes for or against nominees on the floor. Finally, we will consider the policy and normative consequences of the selection process.Charles M. Cameron
POL 433Seminar in Comparative Politics: Democratization and Economic Reforms After Communism(SA)This course focuses on the two most important facets of the post-communist transition in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: the political transition towards democracy (or new kinds of authoritarianism) and the economic transition towards capitalism. We will briefly discuss the pre-communist and communist background, and then focus on the explanations for the large geographic and temporal differences in reform patterns.Grigore Pop-Eleches
POL 434Seminar in Comparative Politics: Europe and the World(SA)This course covers Europe's historical and contemporary role in world politics. Topics include the legacy of the two world wars, the Cold War, colonialism and decolonization, the genesis and subsequent development of the EC/EU, and the challenges confronting present-day Europe. These challenges include immigration, enlargement, democratization, and the EU's role in military affairs. By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of the evolution of Europe's role in world affairs, an ability to explain and evaluate contemporary European foreign policy, and a greater capacity to critically analyze history's repetitive nature.Ezra N. Suleiman
POL 441Seminar in International Relations: Theories of International Politics(SA)This course is an introduction to conflict and cooperation in international politics. It emphasizes the impact of the anarchic international system on patterns of conflict and cooperation across nations, issues, and time. It spends roughly equal amounts of time on war and trade. It also considers the role of domestic factors in international politics, but it privileges the role of the system in explaining outcomes. Students will be introduced to elementary game theory, the use of quantitative data, and trade theory.Joanne S. Gowa
POL 467Regional Conflicts in the Middle East(SA)The course will address key issues of regional conflicts in the Middle East. The class will initially address the conceptual foundations of regional conflicts. We'll then study the historical foundations of the regional conflicts in the Middle East. We'll also analyze the role of the great powers in the region. We'll focus on the major factors which affect war and peace in the region: realist factors related to the regional balance of power, and also questions of state and nationalism. Finally, we'll discuss the likelihood and the implications of possible democratization, notably in the context of the Arab spring, on regional war and peace.Benjamin Miller
WWS 370/POL 308/CHV 301Ethics and Public Policy(EM)The course examines major moral controversies in public life and differing conceptions of justice and the common good. It seeks to help students develop the skills required for thinking and writing about the ethical considerations that ought to shape public institutions, guide public authorities, and inform the public's judgments. The course will focus on issues that are particularly challenging for advanced, pluralist democracies such as the USA, including justice in war, terrorism and torture, paternalism, markets and distributive justice, abortion, the law of marriage and the place, if any, of religious arguments in politics.Stephen J. Macedo