Government Courses

Semester specific course descriptions

Introductory

103. Introduction to American Politics.
Increasingly, Americans are cynical about politics. This course examines the problems that give rise to that skepticism, as well as what might be done about them. The course is an introduction to the major institutions and actors of the American political system, including the Constitution, parties, interest groups and the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. Attention is also given to cultural, ideological and economic contexts and to the mechanisms and possibilities of political change.

105. Introduction to Comparative Politics.
Comparative politics analyzes how demands emerge, power is exercised and benefits are distributed in different countries. It uses both historical and contemporary evidence to examine how societies respond to these challenges in order to appreciate and learn from the differences among them. Developing societies, communist and formerly communist regimes, as well as industrialized democracies, are analyzed and compared as a basis for evaluation and judgment. Also offered through Global Studies.

108. Introduction to International Politics.
An analysis of international relations as a political process with particular emphasis on patterns of conflict and cooperation. Major areas of study include theories concerning the nature of the international system, nationalism, balance of power, collective security, alliance systems, international law and organization, political economy, war, deterrence, arms control and disarmament, the emerging international order, human rights and the environment. Also offered through Global Studies.

206. Introduction to Political Theory.
A study of the answers that philosophers from Plato to Nietzsche have given to the question, “How should political life be organized?” This question leads us to consider the related problems of justice, power, equality, freedom and human nature. The course also includes discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democracy. Also offered as Philosophy 206 and through European Studies.

American Politics

302. Law and the Courts in the United States.
An examination of legal and judicial institutions, federal and state. Prerequisite: Government 103. Juniors or seniors. Recommended as a preparation for Government 307.

303. Political Parties, Interest Groups and Voting Behavior.
Two mechanisms try to organize ordinary citizens in their approach to government so government may be responsive to people’s needs. Those mechanisms are parties and interest groups. One of their aims has been to organize citizens into rational, effective voting blocs. This course looks at how parties and interest groups work and at whether or not they are fulfilling their purpose. Prerequisite: Government 103.

305. Urban Society and Politics.
This course provides an introduction to the study of urban politics. It examines theories of urbanism, the connections between urban society and politics and issues of race and class in the city. The course pays particular attention to the distinctive political consequences of urbanism, especially as they afffect the nature and quality of urban life. The course also reviews how national policies and corporations affect the ability of urban decision-makers to govern in the midst of mounting problems and declining resources.

307. Constitutional Law of the United States.
An examination of the development of the U.S. Constitution through judicial and political processes. Prerequisites: Government 103 and junior or senior standing.

309. Congress and the Lawmaking Process.
An institutional and behavioral examination of the legislative process in Congress, with attention to current policy issues. Prerequisite: Government 103 and junior or senior standing.

310. The U.S. Presidency.
An examination of the functions of the presidency, with stress on the development of the executive branch in response to political needs and opportunities. Prerequisite: Government 103 and junior or senior standing.

312. Environmental Law and Politics.
This course deals with legal and governmental reactions to problems of environmental protection, including population, crowding, noise, air and water pollution, depletion of resources and land use. A survey of private law and public law at federal, state and local levels, with stress on the representation of interest groups in legislative, administrative and judicial processes. Prerequisite: Government 103 and junior or senior standing. Also offered as Environmental Studies 312.

314. Politics and the Media.
Most Americans learn most of what they know about politics from the media. But critics charge that the media’s picture of politics is distorted. This course explains how the picture is distorted and why. In addition to news media, the course will look at the political and social messages of primetime television, Hollywood film and the advertising industry.

315. The Politics of Family in American Life.
What is the connection between family structures and the distribution of power in society? We will be examining this question through a study of the post-war American family and how it has changed over the past 50 years. To understand the ways family life both shapes and is shaped by broader power relations, we will draw upon fictional, analytic, autobiographical and cinematic texts. Our goal is to help students think systematically about the competing strands of meaning that inform American family life so that, by the end of the term, they will be in position to assess the promises contemporary families offer and the challenges they face.

316. Ethics in Business and the Professions.
This seminar course will look at the relation between public policy and ethical dilemmas in the arenas of corporate life and professional service. The course asks students to examine the sorts of moral dilemmas they can expect to encounter in their chosen fields of work and will take a case-study approach to such topics as employee rights, information disclosure, Affirmative Action, sexual harassment and whistle-blowing, and the roles that public policy should — or should not — play in relation to these issues.

317. Sexual Citizenship.
Gay/lesbian/bisexual/trangendered (GLBT) people in the United States continue to be denied full citizenship rights. In this course we will explore how GLBT people organize in order to gain full citizenship. We will explore issues that clearly and explicitly affect GLBT people, such as the right to serve in the military, marriage and relationship rights and recognition and employment rights, as well as those issues that have a less apparent, though no less important impact, such as welfare reform, sex education in schools and social security reform.

Comparative Politics

228. Latin American Politics.
This course begins with an examination of some of the historical and structural explanations for the political instability, militarism and democratic transitions of many of the Latin American nation-states. Within this context theories of modernization and dependency are discussed, as well as differing strategies of economic development. The course focuses primarily on three nation-states — Mexico, an authoritarian regime that has recently become more democratic; Costa Rica, a democratic regime; and Nicaragua, a formerly socialist regime — to compare and contrast differing developmental strategies. Especially recommended for students who plan to participate in the off-campus program in Costa Rica. Prerequisites: Government 105 or permission of instructor.

230. African Politics.
This is an introductory survey of the evolution of power and authority in Africa. The course explores early history; colonialism and conquest; the rise of nationalism and the coming of independence; and the contemporary challenges of development. Especially recommended for students who plan to participate in the off-campus program in Kenya. Prerequisite: Government 105 or 108 or permission of the instructor.  Also offered through African Studies.

322. Government and Politics in the People’s Republic of China.
This course concentrates on reasons for revolutionary success and contemporary politics including ideology, policy-making, elite conflicts and economic and social policies. The main focus is on the post-Mao Zedong era. Prerequisite: Government 105 or permission of instructor; junior or senior standing.

325. Government and Politics in Canada: An Introduction.
An introductory survey of the formal institutions and the processes of Canadian politics. Emphasis is on the federal government and on federal-provincial relations. Topics covered include the parliamentary process, parties and voting.

327. Politics of Development and Underdevelopment.
This course focuses on three questions. First, why have a small number of Western countries and Japan emerged as wealthy, industrial societies, while the great majority of countries have not? The course examines a number of competing explanations. Second, how have some third-world countries managed to achieve rapid economic development, while others have experienced stagnation or even negative growth in recent decades? The main focus here is a comparison between several East Asian and African countries. Third, how has the process of globalization affected countries’ chances for development? Prerequisites: Government 105 or 108 and junior or senior standing. Also offered through Global Studies.

330. Politics and Governments of Western Europe.
This course focuses on West European governments, political parties and social movements. It seeks to provide students with essential information about West European politics, as well as contemporary theories about advanced capitalist democracies. Comparisons between European and American politics are frequent so that students may better see the distinctiveness of each. Issues examined include the European welfare state, the significance of the European Union, the changing contours of political conflict, and what the end of the Cold War has meant for Western Europe. Especially recommended for students who plan to participate in an off-campus program in Europe and for students returning from those programs. Also offered through European Studies.

339. Theology of Liberation: Analysis, Critique, Alternatives.
This course examines major expressions of the continued vitality of religious life in contemporary Latin America, such as the emergence over the last several decades of a theology of social change, usually called “theology of liberation.” We consider the rise of this theology and the reactions and criticisms it has provoked. We examine the growth of evangelicalism in Latin America as both alternative to and consequence of liberation theology. Prerequisite: Religious Studies 100 or permission of instructor. Also offered as Religious Studies 339.

Political Theory

245. The Ancient Greeks: Politics, Poetry, Philosophy.
A discussion of brilliant, enduring works by Homer, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Thucydides and Plato. The course focuses on the growth of “enlightenment” in classical Athens, along with its attendant social, intellectual and political problems. Socrates, who grasped both the splendor and the perils of enlightenment, is the pivotal figure. Also offered as Philosophy 245 and through European Studies.

341. Politics Through Literature.
Discussion of works by Kafka, Conrad, Dostoevsky, Brecht, Orwell, Camus, Pynchon, Kosinski and others that bear on the problem of alienation from self, work, society and nature in the modern world. The course does not satisfy the department’s major requirement in political theory. Also offered as Philosophy 341.

343. Ecology and Political Thought.
Environmentalism challenges the political, economic and philosophical foundations of modernity. This seminar examines the way this challenge has been issued by various wings of the movement, including animal liberationists, ecofeminists, neo-Malthusians, eco-guerrillas, deep ecologists and wilderness preservationists. The course does not satisfy the department’s major requirement in political theory. Prerequisite: Government 206 or 344 or permission of instructor.

344. Modern Political Thought.
An examination of many important thinkers from the Renaissance to the present, but with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Syllabus may include works by Voltaire, Tocqueville, Burke, Hegel, Mill, Freud, Fromm and Arendt. Whenever appropriate, students assess modern political developments in light of the assigned texts. Prerequisite: Government 206. Also offered as Philosophy 344 and through European Studies.

347. Marxist and Critical Theory.
A survey of the basic elements of Marxist political theory and of the major streams of contemporary thought that have emerged in response to it. Some of the theorists whose work we might examine include Gramsci, Horkheimer and Adorno, Marcuse, Habermas and Foucault. Feminist, African-American and Caribbean interpreters of Marx may also be studied. Also offered through European Studies.

349. American Political Thought: 18th and 19th Centuries.
An examination of the main currents of political thinking from the colonial period to the end of the 19th century. The course will begin with the Puritan Divines and continue through the start of the Progressive era. The thinkers considered might include Paine, the Federalists, Jefferson, Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

350. American Political Thought: 20th Century.
An examination of the main currents of political thinking in the United States from the Progressive Era through the end of the 1960s. Thinkers considered include the Social Darwinists, Thorstein Veblen, W.E.B. DuBois, Jane Addams and John Dewey. We will also look at both the resurgence of conservative thought in the 1950s and some of the sociological critiques of the post-war era out of which the New Left, civil rights, Black Power, feminist and ecological movements grew.

351. African-American Political and Social Thought.
This course will offer a broad-based survey of African-American social and political thought. Its focus will be on the theme of duality: what it means for a culture and a people to be both integral to and excluded from the larger society of which they are a part. It will examine the variety of ways African-American thinkers have confronted this duality and how they have asserted the dignity and autonomy of their people in the context of a social order historically structured to deny them their full humanity. The course will include such African-American thinkers and writers as David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison. Also offered through U.S. Cultural and Ethnic Studies.

International Politics

360. International Relations Theory.
An advanced offering on the theories of international relations. The course is a seminar with oral reports and research papers. The principal contending theories of international relations are investigated and critiqued. Although the nation-state system remains the primary focus of scholars of international relations, other major non-state actors of the international system are examined. Prerequisite: Government 108 or permission of instructor. Also offered through Global Studies.

361. American Foreign Policy.
A study of the formulation, conduct and administration of United States foreign policy, particularly since 1945. The course will examine the directions of U.S. foreign policy since 1989 and the goals and values that have guided foreign policy in the new environment. What directions should American policy take in contemporary foreign relations and what goals and values should guide that policy direction? Prerequisites: Government 108 or permission of instructor; junior or senior standing.

362. International Law.
A study of the development of the rules and principles of international law and of their current applications. Examination of the contributions of international organization to the development of conventional international law. Preparation of topics for class presentation. Prerequisite: Government 108 or permission of the instructor. Also offered as Environmental Studies 362 and through Global Studies.

363. International Organization.
A survey of general and regional international organization, with emphasis upon the United Nations and its contribution to international peace and security. With the abeyance of the Cold War, the United Nations has gained an enhanced role in the “new world order.” The course examines this new security role and the contributions the United Nations makes to both political security and economic development. Prerequisite: Government 108 or permission of instructor. Also offered through Global Studies.

372. Canada in World Affairs.
A broad survey of the Canadian experience in international politics. Ultimately it is an inquiry into the relationship among the international system, the elusive Canadian national interest and the limited set of foreign policy tools at the disposal of the Canadian government. Prerequisite: Government 108 or permission of instructor.

Research Seminars and Special Studies

290. Research Seminars in Government.
The topics of these seminars vary depending on the interests of faculty and students. Recent topics have included international environmental law, state formation and development in Africa, the world military order, the political sociology of American workers, politics and the media, democracy and its discontents, conflict resolution, working class politics, East and Southeast Asia, public opinion and political socialization, law, values and the environment and Latin American politics. The seminars are intended to acquaint students with research problems, strategies and techniques relevant to the subject matter at hand. Government 290 is required for all government majors and is taught each semester. Enrollment is limited to 15 students per section.

270, 370. Special Topics in American Politics.
Topics may include American political history, political economy, democracy and its discontents, the politics of labor and political action in modern America. Also offered through Native American Studies.

273, 373. Special Topics in Comparative Politics.
Topics may include the politics of race and ethnicity, Central American politics, African politics, Asian politics, Latin American politics and changing values in developing societies. Also offered through Native American Studies.

274. 374. Special Topics in Political Theory.
Topics may include democratic theory, politics of culture, women and politics, politics and psychology, Utopian and anti-Utopian political thought. Government 374 also offered through European Studies.

276, 376. Special Topics in International Politics.
Topics may include comparative foreign policy, the new economic order, political economy, disarmament and detente, imperialism, world federalism and European integration.

479, 480. SYE: Internships.
Kwame Nkrumah once said, "Thought without practice is empty; practice without thought is blind." This course brings the two together. Students are required to spend at least eight hours per week in an internship at a local community service agency, dealing with such problems as poverty, crime, illiteracy, environmental degradation, domestic violence and so on. Students will reflect on the field experience by writing a research paper related to the internship, keeping a journal that reflects on the field experience in a scholarly way and attending a series of workshops designed to help students conceptualize their experiences. These workshops will meet approximately every other week. Prerequisites: Government 103 and 290, an overall GPA of 2.8 or better and permission of instructor.

489, 490. SYE: Independent Projects.
Individual study of a topic approved by the department under the direction of a faculty member. Prerequisites: Government 103, 290, an upper level course on a topic related to the project and an overall GPA of 2.8.

497, 498. SYE: Senior Thesis.
The senior thesis offers the qualified student an opportunity for more intensive work in the field. Minimum criteria for admission to the program are a 3.2 average in government courses, a satisfactory overall academic record, completion of Government 290 with a grade of 3.0 or better and the presentation of an acceptable research proposal. Interested students are required to submit a research proposal to the department by the end of the spring semester of the junior year.