Courses
Fall 2014
CHV 350/HIS 357/POL 469The Age of Rights: Nature, Enlightenment, and Revolution(HA)The century that concluded with declarations of rights on both sides of the Atlantic witnessed a transformation in how people talked about rights. Previously a mostly philosophical discourse, rights talk entered the broader world of letters. But in some parts of the world (France in particular), this transformation also brought back Classical notions of natural right. This course explores how the modern language of rights emerged during the Enlightenment and Revolutionary periods, and also places this "Age of Rights" in a longer history stretching from Antiquity to the twentieth century.Dan Edelstein
CLA 244/CHV 244/POL 337Greek Politics in Practice and Theory(HA)This course will approach select classics of Greek political thought (Plato's Statesman and Republic, Aristotle's Politics) through a scrutiny of Greek social and political institutions. Students will be introduced to basic principles such as the distinction between free and unfree, the social and political status of male and female, and the distribution of political power and access to political participation in the Greek polis, in order to be in a position to observe how the ideas of Greek political thinkers map onto this reality.Nino Luraghi
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 303Modern Political Theory(EM)A study and critique of the philosophical foundations of modern democratic liberalism based on a close reading and analysis of texts by theorists such as Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Mill, Marx and Rawls.Charles R. Beitz
POL 306/PHI 360/CHV 306Democratic Theory(EM)This course will introduce students to the principal historical figures in thinking about democracy: Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mill, Schumpeter and others. But the rationale of the course is philosophical rather than historical. Let democracy require that government be of the people, by the people and for the people: that the people be the ultimate governing authority, that they be the agents by whom government is conducted, and that they be the beneficiaries in whose interest government is exercised. The aim of the course will be to see whether there is a plausible and appealing sense in which those conditions can be fulfilled.Philip N. Pettit
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.Mark B. O'BrienDavid R. OakleyGregory J. SullivanMatthew J. FranckRobert 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 329Policy Making in America(SA)This course provides a realistic introduction to how public policy is made in the United States today. It examines how people (voters, activists, wealthy individuals, lobbyists, politicians, bureaucrats, and judges), organizations (interest groups, firms, unions, foundations, think tanks, political parties, and the media) and political institutions (Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the judiciary) come together to create and implement public policy. The course combines social science theory and systematic empirical evidence with case studies, and provides students with tools of proven usefulness for practical political analysis.Charles M. Cameron
POL 332Topics in American Statesmanship: Science, Technology, and the American Way(SA)In the course of United States history, scientists and statesmen have seen science and technology shaping and being shaped by our regime in different ways. Through materials such as autobiographies, campaign speeches, and science fiction, we will examine diverse views of the role scientific and technical expertise has in our republican political system. How do citizen virtues relate to those that produce expertise? With an eye to environmentalism and transhumanism, we will investigate to what extent founding principles of American liberal democracy are consistent with the powers science and technology give us over nature and over ourselves.Charles T. Rubin
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 349Political Economy(SA)Examines the role of political institutions in facilitating or hindering economic prosperity. We start with the basic tools of political economy - collective action, elections, and delegation. These tools are then applied to the problems of controlling rulers, and the persistence of inefficiency.Thomas Romer
POL 351/WWS 311The Politics of Development(SA)This course investigates the key political drivers of human development through careful consideration of theory and comparative analysis. Explores the effects of geography, colonial heritage, and ethnic diversity, on state formation, state capacity, and economic development.Jennifer A. Widner
POL 365Democracy(SA)This course explores the following issues: the exercise of power in dictatorial regimes (and their institutional structure); the economic and social conditions that facilitate the transition to democracy and its consolidation; voting in democratic elections and decision-making in committees and assemblies or parliaments; the role of electoral institutions; the mechanisms through which politicians are accountable to the public; the nature and performance of presidentialism and parliamentarism; the role of inequality in democracy; the impact of globalization on the governance of contemporary democracies.Carles Boix
POL 385International Political Economy(SA)This course explores the following questions: who wins and who loses from globalization of trade and finance? Who sets the rules under which the game of international capitalism is played? How powerful are international organizations like the WTO or the IMF, nation-states, or NGOs? These issues are explored with reference to economic and political theories, history and contemporary events.Faisal Z. Ahmed
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 403/SOC 403/URB 403Architecture and Democracy(EM)What kind of public architecture is appropriate 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 participatory as possible? Is gentrification somehow un-democratic? The course will introduce students to different theories of democracy, to different approaches to architecture, and to many examples of architecture and urban planning from around the world, via images and films. Might include a field trip.Jan-Werner Müller
POL 405/CHV 406The Ethics of Borders and Migration(SA)Migration places into sharp relief the question of how to balance the rights of sovereign states and their citizens against the claims of (often-needy) foreigners. Should self-governing peoples be free to set their own migration policies and control their territorial borders without interference? Or ought they instead to be constrained by a "human right to immigrate?" This course will attempt to answer these questions, in part by theorizing foundational issues of self-determination, boundaries, national culture, and membership. We will also take up contemporary debates about guestworkers, irregular migrants, refugees, and brain drain.Anna B. Stilz
POL 420Seminar in American Politics: Presidential Power: Strategies of Governance(SA)This course examines how presidents use power, focusing on the strategic context of the presidency and the tools of presidential governance: what they are, how they work, how to use them effectively, and with what consequences. The emphasis is on the "nuts and bolts" of what modern presidents do. Students conduct case studies of presidential power in action.Charles M. Cameron
POL 421Seminar in American Politics: The Tea Party and the History of Populist Movements in America(SA)The Tea Party is the most important recent American populist political movement. Why was it relatively successful? Who backed it in the voting booth? Who backed it financially? Why was it more successful in some states rather than in others? America has a long history of populist politics. How does the Tea Party resemble previous popular movements such as abolitionism, the Depression-era radicals, and the Civil Rights and antiwar movement of the Sixties? Why are populist surges more likely in some periods than others, and how are future populist movements likely to be different from those we have seen thus far?Christopher H. Achen
POL 422/GSS 422Seminar in American Politics: Gender and American Politics(SA)This course examines the intersection of gender and politics in the United States.Tali Mendelberg
POL 423Seminar in American Politics: American Political Thought, The Colonial Era to the Civil War(SA)This seminar will explore recurring themes and problems in American political thought. The course will draw on primary and secondary sources relating to the ideas and actions that have shaped the American conception of freedom, democracy, community, and nationhood. It will consider these works as contributions to political theory, but it will also focus on the relationship between political ideas and political and social events. The course will focus on the period from the colonial era through the Civil War.Keith E. Whittington
POL 441Seminar in International Relations: Conflict and Cooperation in International Politics- Security and Trade(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
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 particularly challenging for advanced, pluralist democracies such as the USA, such as terrorism and torture, vice crimes and paternalistic legislation, taxes and income inequality, surveillance and privacy, climate change, and the place, if any, of religious argument in politicsKeith M. Shaw
WWS 420/POL 444International Institutions and Law(SA)This course will focus on the continual tension between international law and international politics. It will examine the impact of tension on issues of intervention and other issues of substantive importance, including environmental protection, trade, human rights, laws of war applicable to the "war on terror," and crimes of state. It will discuss recent developments affecting international institutions and recent changes in international law, such as the changing conception of "sovereignty." The principal course objective is to help students learn how to do original research and analysis on issues related to international politics and law.Robert O. Keohane