Political Science (PSCI)

PSCI 0010 First-Year Seminar

The primary goal of the first-year seminar program is to provide every first-year student with the opportunity for a direct personal encounter with a faculty member in a small class setting devoted to a significant intellectual endeavor. First-year seminars also fulfill College General Education Requirements.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0011 First-Year Seminar: Politics of Reproduction

The idea that the "personal" is "political" finds no greater example than in the politics of reproduction. From

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0012 First-Year Seminar: War on Drugs in Latin America

The United States government has spent tens of billions of dollars on policies aimed at reducing the flow of

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: LALS 0012

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0013 First-Year Seminar: Race, Class & Punishment

This first-year seminar analyzes the politics of "crime in the streets" and "crime in the suites." Key topics

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: AFRC 0013

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0014 First Year Seminar: The Contemporary American City

This course explores the economic and social challenges facing large US cities since roughly 1965 as well as the cities' political and policy responses. Its major topics include the changing relations between racial and ethnic groups, the political impact of suburbanization, and the political effects of deindustrialization and economic transformation. The course readings are drawn from recent urban political history, economics, and sociology as well as political science. The course pays special attention to the changing distribution of political and economic power in US metropolitan areas, and considers regional coordination and other potential policy responses.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0015 First-Year Seminar: The Rise of Authoritarianism

Recent political developments in Turkey, Hungary, and even the United States have provoked debate about the rise of authoritarian leaders in western democracies. In this seminar, we will examine the politics of non-democracies to help us understand the new and growing global wave of authoritarianism. How do dictatorships work? When do democracies break down and when do autocracies collapse? How do non-competitive elections affect authoritarian rule? Do competitive elections strengthen civil liberties? Are democracies more or less susceptible to corruption, property expropriation, nationalism, or xenophobia? Do non-democracies produce higher economic growth? Throughout the course, we will also build empirical knowledge about the politics of particular authoritarian regimes.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0016 First-Year Seminar: Globalization

This course addresses the political economy of globalization. We will discuss what the term globalization means and why many observers argue that the current era is marked by globalization. We will also examine the factors that have contributed to the emergence of globalization. We will consider its political and economic implications, both the benefits of globalization and the challenges that it poses for contemporary society. Finally, we will analyze the sources of resistance to globalization and the extent to which it can be reformed.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0100 Introduction to Comparative Politics

This course is designed to introduce students to comparative political analysis. How can the political behavior, circumstances, institutions, and dynamic patterns of change that people experience in very different societies be analyzed using the same set of concepts and theories? Key themes include nationalism, political culture, democratization, authoritarianism, and the nature of protracted conflict.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0101 Comparative Politics of Developing Areas

This is a comparative politics course that examines political and socio-economic change in the so-called "Third World," defined here as post-colonial developing areas in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The course is not as concerned with keeping up with current events as with analyzing the relationships between colonial legacies, the initial challenges of post-colonial political and socioeconomic development, and how these interact with contemporary problems and global trends. Although chiefly concerned with "political change" within countries, it will also devote substantial attention to economic, socio-cultural and international factors. The course is divided into three parts. The first examines the common and distinctive features of colonial rule in different regions as well as the varying challenges of political and economic development in diverse post-colonial settings. The second part focuses on elaborating on the themes developed in the first by looking more closely at the developmental experiences of Brazil, India, Algeria, Iran, Nigeria, and South Korea (with passing references to other countries as comparative referents). The third part focuses on trends and challenges that have emerged over the last two decades - including market reforms, democratization, and problems related to gender and the environment -

Fall, odd numbered years only

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0102 Communism

The rise and fall of Communism dominated the history of the short twentieth century from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. As a system of government, Communism is more or less dead, but its utopian ideals of liberation from exploitation and want live on. Communism remains the one political-economic system that presented, for a time, an alternative to global capitalism. In this course, students will gain an introduction to socialist and Communist political thought and explore Communist political and economic regimes their successes and failures, critics and dissidents, efforts at reform, and causes of collapse. We will learn about the remnants of Communism in China, North Korea, and Cuba and efforts of contemporary theorists to imagine a future for Communism.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: REES 1530

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0200 Introduction to American Politics

This course is intended to introduce students to the national institutions and political processes of American government. What are the historical and philosophical foundations of the American Republic? How does American public policy get made, who makes it, and who benefits? Is a constitutional fabric woven in 1787 good enough for today? How, if at all, should American government be changed, and why? What is politics and why bother to study it? If these sorts of questions interest you, then this course will be a congenial home. It is designed to explore such questions while teaching students the basics of American politics and government.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0400 Introduction to International Relations

This course is an introduction to the major theories and issues in international politics. The goals of the course are to give students a broad familiarity with the field of international relations, and to help them develop the analytical skills necessary to think critically about international politics. The course is divided into four parts: 1) Concepts and Theories of International Relations; 2) War and Security; 3) The Global Economy; and 4) Emerging Issues in International Relations.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0401 Russia and Eastern Europe in International Affairs

Russia and the European Union (EU) are engaged in a battle for influence in Eastern Europe. EU foreign policy towards its Eastern neighbors is based on economic integration and the carrot of membership. With the application of this powerful incentive, Central and Southeastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Croatia have progressed rapidly towards integration with the EU (and NATO). Yet, given Russia's opposition to the further enlargement, membership is off the table for the large semi-Western powers such as Russia itself and Turkey and the smaller countries inhabiting an emerging buffer zone between Russia and the EU, such as Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Belarus. These in-between countries find themselves subject to intense competition for influence between Eastern and Western powers. In this context, EU countries must balance their energy dependence on Russia and need for new markets and geopolitical stability with concern for human rights, democratic governance, and self-determination. What are the trade-offs implicit in the foreign policies of Russia, EU member states, and Eastern Europe? What are the best policy approaches? What are the main opportunities and obstacles?

Fall

Also Offered As: REES 1570

Mutually Exclusive: REES 5570

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0600 Ancient Political Thought

This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: CLST 1503

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0601 Modern Political Thought

This course will provide an overview of major figures and themes of modern political thought. We will focus on themes and questions pertinent to political theory in the modern era, particularly focusing on the relationship of the individual to community, society, and state. Although the emergence of the individual as a central moral, political, and conceptual category arguably began in earlier eras, it is in the seventeenth century that it takes firm hold in defining the state, political institutions, moral thinking, and social relations. The centrality of "the individual" has created difficulties, even paradoxes, for community and social relations, and political theorists have struggled to reconicle those throughout the modern era. We will consider the political forms that emerged out of those struggles, as well as the changed and distinctly "modern" conceptualizations of political theory such as freedom, responsibilty, justice, rights and obligations, as central categories for organizing moral and political life.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0602 American Political Thought

Whether America begins with the Puritans and the Mayflower Compact, or with the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution, it is founded in resistance to empire. In the generations between, Americans have desired, dreaded and debated empire. This course will focus on empire and imperialism in American political thought. We will read primary texts addressing empire: from the departure and dissent of the Puritans, and Burke's Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, to twentieth and twenty-first century debates over America's role in the world. These texts will include political pamphlets and speeches, poetry, novels, policy papers and film.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 0680 Feminist Political Thought

This course is designed to provide an overview of the variety of ideas, approaches, and subfields within feminist political thought. Readings and divided into three sections: contemporary theorizing about the meaning of "feminism";women in the history of Western political thought; and feminist theoretical approaches to practical political problems and issues, such as abortion and sexual assault.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: GSWS 0680

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1100 Ethnic Conflict

This course explains ethnic conflict, focusing on its most violent form, civil war. There have been more than 170 civil wars and many more episodes of lower-level armed conflict around the world since 1945. Most of these conflicts have been fought along ethnic lines. Antipathies and competition between ethnic groups are a constant feature of human history. Across societies, there is evidence of in-group bias and out-group prejudice in human behavior. Some theorists argue that people are hard-wired to dislike, and even fight against, members of ethnic out-groups. But large-scale ethnic violence is relatively rare. Under what conditions does ethnic conflict become violent and when does that violence rise to the level of civil war? What interventions are effective in ending these wars and returning countries to peace? Is ethnic conflict rooted in economic factors, such as poverty, growth decline, commodity price shocks, or dependence on mineral wealth? Or is it due to political reasons, such as repression, authoritarianism, or political exclusion of minority groups? This course addresses these questions from an inter-disciplinary perspective, drawing on quantitative political science, history, social psychology, and behavioral economics. By the end of the course, students should be able to discuss these questions with reference to ongoing cases of civil war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria as well as historical cases such as Bosnia and Rwanda.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1101 The Politics of Slow Moving Crises

Slow-moving policy crises like climate change, population growth/change (aging, immigration, pensions), and water availability involve policy areas with a seemingly high probability of negative consequences, where the need for policy coordination seems clear but the pressures for coordination are often somewhat removed, since the consequences of policy action or inaction may be felt only years down the road. The questions underlying these cases are: how does a democratic political system, which operates on the short time horizon of elections, complicate policy decisions regarding social and natural processes with much longer time horizons (say decades rather than years), and for which the policy consequences may be quite serious, not to say catastrophic, but far removed from the political timeframe. How do politicians and policy makers evaluate the appropriate response to the problems posed by these processes? If the usual policy making framework is inadequate to responding to these kinds of processes and the problems they pose, then how can the institutions and processes of policy-making be amended to allow for improvement? What lessons can be drawn from other fields (psychology, economics, political science, sociology, etc.) and other decision-making arenas? On one level the goal of this course is to introduce students to key concepts of rational choice, externalities, risk assessment, time horizons, event probabilities, path dependency and unintended consequences through readings in political science, economics and sociology; and on another level to give students the tools to evaluate failures (and successes) of policy responses in areas in which policy consequences are often far removed, temporally and otherwise, from those making decisions.

Spring, odd numbered years only

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1102 Political Economy of Development

Why are some countries rich and some poor? Why are some households rich and some poor? This course introduces students to the intellectual tools for understanding why development varies across the globe and the practical tools for designing and evaluating policies aimed at alleviating poverty. To that end, the course is organized into three parts. The first part focuses on the big picture: the macroeconomic and political foundations for sustained economic growth, including historical legacies, technological innovation and political institutions. The second part focuses on the micro-picture: the household-level dynamics of poverty and development, including access to food and credit, the role of health and education, the transition from village to city life, and day-to-day governance. The third part of the course introduces students to the practicalities of designing and evaluating the efficacy of governance and poverty relief interventions and policies. The focus will be on the use of field experiments to study interventions to promote better governance and household wellbeing.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1103 Dilemmas of Immigration

Beneath the daily headlines about refugees blocked entry, and undocumented migrants deported there is a set of hard questions which deserve closer attention: Should countries have borders? If countries have borders, how should they decide who is kept out and who is allowed in? How many immigrants is 'enough'? Are immigrants equally desirable? What kinds of obligations do immigrants have to their receiving society? What kinds of obligations do host societies have to immigrants? Should there be 'pathways' to citizenship? Can citizenship be earned? Should citizenship be automatic? This course explores these and other dilemmas raised by immigration.

Spring, even numbered years only

Also Offered As: LALS 1103

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1104 Socialism

Socialism has become a hot topic in US politics. Some advocate it as an ideology that supports economic equality; others decry it as a path towards excessive state control. But what does the word socialism really mean? Why does it seem to mean different things to different people? What is the historical background of socialism? Are there meaningful differences between different forms of socialism or are they more or less the same thing? Which societies are socialist in practice, both past and present? What about the US? What are the different proposals US and other Socialists make today? What is their logic? How socialist are they? Are their policy ideas or bad? What effects would they have? This course will introduce students to socialism in theory and practice, with an emphasis on different models of Western social democracy and how they are impacting political discourse right now.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: REES 1531

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1105 Networks and NGOs in World Politics

Non-state actors are increasingly important to world politics. This course will introduce you to the variety of non-state actors that are currently influencing our world, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and transnational networks related to advocacy, crime, global governance, and violence. You will develop a working understanding of these actors’ roles in shaping war, peace, human rights, democracy, the global economy, and various other aspects of contemporary global politics. Questions that we will consider include: What are non-state actors and what effects do they have on world politics? What accounts for non-state actors’ emergence and evolution? What explains their organizational forms, goals, and strategies? What are the opportunities and limits of transnational activism? In this course, we will learn what political science can tell us about these and other questions. We will read cutting-edge social science research on the topic as well as materials written by and for the people who work for and with international NGOs and transnational networks. We will reflect on the readings together in class, and you will also do so in a variety of assignments. Many of the readings are challenging, and some of them use statistics, but prior knowledge of the topic or of statistics is not required.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1120 Latin American Politics

This course examines the dynamics of political and economic change in twentieth century Latin America, with the goal of achieving an understanding of contemporary politics in the region. We will analyze topics such as the incorporation of the region to the international economy and the consolidation of oligarchic states (1880s to 1930s), corporatism, populism, and elict pacts (1930s and 1940s), social revolution, democratic breakdown, and military rule (1960s and 1970s), transitions to democracy and human rights advocacy (1980s), makret-oriented reforms (1990s), and the turn to the left of current governments (2000s). The course will draw primarily from the experiences of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. No prior knowledge of the region is required.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: LALS 1120

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1121 U.S. Intervention in Latin America

Why has the United States government participated in regime change in Latin America? How have these interventions affected Latin American political and economic outcomes? How have they helped or hurt U.S. interests in the region? This lecture course provides an introduction to the history and politics of U.S. participation in regime change in Latin America since 1949. For each event, the course will help students understand (1) the goals of the U.S. government; (2) the historical and political context of the intervention; and (3) the outcomes and consequences, both in Latin America and for the United States. One set of short writing assignments will train students to identify the main argument of a reading and assess the quality of the evidence presented in support of that argument; a second set of short writing assignments will train students to make and defend their own argument (see draft syllabus for details).

Spring, even numbered years only

Also Offered As: LALS 1121

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1130 Contemporary African Politics

This class provides an introduction to contemporary African politics. The core questions that motivate the course are (i) to what extent are political outcomes in contemporary Africa a consequence of its history, culture and geography? (ii.) Why are state structures and institutions weaker in Africa than elsewhere? (iii.) What accounts for Africa's relatively slow economic growth? (iv.) Why have some African countries been plagued by high levels of political violence while others have not? (v.) What explains the behavior of key African actors: parties or politicians?

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: AFRC 1130

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1140 Politics in the Contemporary Middle East

This course is an introduction to the most prominent historical, cultural, institutional, and ideological features of Middle Eastern politics. Typical of the questions we shall address are why processes of modernization and economic change have not produced liberal democracies, why Islamic movements have gained enormous strength in some countries and not others, why conflicts in the region--between Israel and the Arabs, Iran and Iraq, or inside of Lebanon--have been so bitter and protracted; why the era of military coups was brought to an end but transitions to democracy have been difficult to achieve; why Arab unity has been so elusive and yet so insistent a theme; and why oil wealth in the Gulf, in the Arabian Peninsula, and in North Africa, has not produced industrialized or self-sustaining economic growth.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1141 The Making of Modern Israel and Palestine

This course analyzes the making of a modern Jewish state in the land of Israel/Palestine and the role of Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and global politics in that process. Beginning in 19th-century Europe and the Middle East, we will study the ideas, movements, and people that shaped what has come to be known as the Arab-Israeli conflict. Students will explore the impact of international factors on the struggles that resulted from the Zionist project in Israel/Palestine and Arab reactions to it across three periods: imperialism and world wars (1860s-1940s), cold war (late 1940s-1990), and multi-polarity (1990s-present).

Also Offered As: HIST 1362, JWST 1362

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1150 Contemporary Chinese Politics

This lecture course introduces students to the politics of the Peoples Republic of China. Complementing offerings in other departments, this course emphasizes events in the period since the Chinese Communist Party established its regime in 1949. In addition to surveying the political history of contemporary China, we will assess the meaning of these events by drawing upon theories about the nature and significance of ideology and organization in communist regimes, factionalism and its relationship to policy formulation and implementation, and general issues of political and economic development. Although the principal focus is on the domestic politics of the PRC, the course includes several lectures examining Chinas international relations.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1160 Democracy and Development in India

This course introduces students to the complex issues surrounding questions of political and economic development in India, the world's largest democracy, and home to a large chunk of the globe's low-income population. Not surprisingly, the successes and failures of India are tremendously important to the study of democracy and development. The experiences of countries in this region have given rise to influential theories of development. The policy prescriptions these theories have produced have in turn been applied back onto India, with spectacular results- both positive and negative. Over the course of the semester, we will use the concrete experiences from the past seven decades in India to ask and answer fundamental questions about development, including: Does democratic politics help or hurt prospects for economic development? Why are some poor countries like India are able to maintain democracies, while equally poor countries in the region, such as Pakistan, are not? How did British colonialism shape the nature of post-colonial development? Should the state or the market play a dominant role in the economies of newly independent nations? How can we best measure poverty, and what have been the challenges to reducing it in the developing world? What are the challenges and opportunities produced by rapid international migration to rich countries? The course is divided into four thematic units, which build upon one another. Within each theme, we draw from a wide array of source materials, reading scholarship in political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, journalistic non-fiction, and even film. While empirically focusing on India, we will also read about the experiences of other countries in South Asia, and also from East Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan African in specific weeks. This will help students place the experiences of South Asian countries in broader comparative perspective.

Also Offered As: SAST 1160

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1170 Politics of Post War Western Europe

This course examines political institutions, processes and events in postwar Western Europe. The focus will be a comparative analysis of such topics as political parties and systems, electoral behavior, as well as social and economic pollicy. We will also examine the way in which domestic processes and policies interact with membership in the European Union.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1171 The European Union

This lecture course, after introductory sessions which outline the EU's core institutions, is built on an exposition of the works of major thinkers who have reflected on the European Union's origins, outcomes and significance. It critically reviews their arguments, especially their relevance to major recent crises, notably: the failure of the European Constitution, the current crisis of credibility facing the Euro. Whether the European Union is a confederation, a federation, an empire, or a novel political formation shall be examined. Whether its recent major widening signals an end to its institutional deepening will be discussed. Whether the Union has "a democratic deficit" is examined, as is the claim that in external relations it represents a novel form of soft power.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1172 Russian Politics

This course will present an in-depth examination of political, economic and social change in post-Soviet Russia within a historical context. After a brief discussion of contemporary problems in Russia, the first half of the course will delve into the rise of communism in 1917, the evolution of the Soviet regime, and the tensions between ideology and practice over the seventy years of communist rule up until 1985. The second part of the course will begin with an examination of the Gorbachev period and the competing interpretations of how the events between 1985 and 1991 may have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will then proceed to make sense of the continuities and changes in politics, economics and society in contemporary Russia. Important topics will include the confrontations accompanying the adoption of a new constitution, the emergence of competing ideologies and parties, the struggle over economic privatization, the question of federalism and nationalism, social and political implications of economic reform, and prospects for Russia's future in the Putin and post-Putin era.

Spring

Also Offered As: REES 1535

Mutually Exclusive: PSCI 5172

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1173 Comparative Health Politics

This course examines the relationship between politics and the health of populations in the world's rich democracies, including the Unites States. The key questions the course addresses are how and why countries differ in their health care policies, public health policies, and policies that affect the social determinants of health. There are no prerequisites, but prior coursework in comparative politics at the 100 or 200 level will be helpful.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1180 Sex and Power

Gender has been a primary way of organizing power relations throughout history.This class asks how transformations in the global economy, technological change, new patterns of household formation, and social movements, have influenced women's access to economic and political positions over the past two centuries. We will examine how women's mobilization contributed to the abolition of slavery, reform of property and franchise laws, and to the formation of the welfare state. Next, we turn to thinking about how women's increasing labor force participation was hindered by institutions like marriage bars and union policy. Third, we look at cross-national patterns of women's political participation and descriptive representation including whether and how the adoption of electoral quotas influences gender equality more generally. Finally we study how institutional norms and gender stereotypes affect political representation. This class will draw on examples from around the world, and will look a experiences of women from all economic, social, and ascriptive backgrounds.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1181 Gender and Elections in America and Beyond

This course tackles four theoretical and empirical challenges related to gender and political equality: the extension of citizenship rights and voting rights to women; the problem of women's persistent under-representation in politics; the nature of the gender gap in preferences across time and space; and the possibilities for substantive representation. We will focus about half the class on the US (contrasting the experiences of white and black women and men in politics) and the other half on other countries, detailing how different party systems, variation in electoral rules (like proportional representation), and institutional innovations such as gender quotas, enable or constrain gender equality in politics.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: GSWS 1181

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1191 Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy

This course surveys key features of contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy, using a comparative lens to explain development and change over time. In the process of evaluating these changes, the course examines (1) important actors in domestic politics (e.g., voters, politicians, political parties, and bureaucrats); (2) the positions that different actors take with respect to various domestic and foreign policies, as well as the sources of these policy preferences and changes over time; and (3) the roles played by political institutions and history in structuring contemporary political behavior and policy outcomes.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1200 Public Policy Process

This course introduces students to the theories and practice of the policy-making process. There are four primary learning objectives. First, understanding how the structure of political institutions matter for the policies that they produce. Second, recognizing the constraints that policy makers face when making decisions on behalf of the public. Third, identifying the strategies that can be used to overcome these constraints. Fourth, knowing the toolbox that is available to participants in the policy-making process to help get their preferred strategies implemented. While our focus will primarily be on American political institutions, many of the ideas and topics discussed in the class apply broadly to other democratic systems of government.

Spring

Also Offered As: PPE 3002

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1201 Public Opinion and American Democracy

This course examines public opinion in the American political system. We will discuss how to measure public opinion, how citizens forumlate opinions, and the role of public opinion in campaigns, elections, and policymaking. We will also consider normative questions, including the role opinion should play in American democracy. Additionally, over the course of the semester we will track public opinion polls related to ongoing elections as well as develop analytical skills to answer questions using public opinion.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1202 Changing American Electorate

In 1960, a Democratic candidate won a very narrow Presidential victory with just 100,000 votes; in 2000, the Democratic candidate lost but received 500,000 more votes than his opponent. Still, contemporary scholars and journalists have made a variety of arguments about just how much the American political landscape changed in the intervening 40 years, often calling recent decades a transformation. This course explores and critically evaluates those arguments. Key questions include: how, if at all, have Americans political attitudes and ideologies changed? How have their connections to politics changed? What has this meant for the fortunes and strategies of the two parties? How have the parties' base voters and swing voters changed? What changes in American society have advantaged some political messages and parties at the expense of others? Focusing primarily on mass-level politics, we consider a wide range of potential causes, including the role of race in American politics, suburbanization, economic transformations, the evolving constellation and structure of interest groups, declining social capital, the changing role of religion, immigration, and the actions of parties and political elites. For three weeks in the semester, we will take a break from considering broader trends to look at specific elections in some depth.

Not Offered Every Year

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1203 The American Presidency

This course surveys the institutional development of the American presidency from the Constitutional convention through the current administration. It examines the politics of presidential leadership, and how the executive branch functions. An underlying theme of the course is the tension between the presidency, leadership, and democracy.

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1205 Constitutional Law

This class introduces students to the United States Constitution, specifically Articles I, II, III, the Tenth Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, and the First Amendment. The format for each class will consist of a 45-minute lecture followed by small group discussions on assigned issues and questions.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: AFRC 1205

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1206 American Constitutional Law II

This course examines American constitutional development from the eve of WWI through the second Obama administration. Topics include the growth of the New Deal and a Great Society regulatory and redistributive state, struggles for equal rights for racial and ethnic minorities, women and GLBT Americans, contests over freedoms of religion and expression, criminal justice issues, the Reagan Revolution and the revival of federalism and property rights, and issues of nationalsecurity powers after September 11, 2001.

Also Offered As: AFRC 1206

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1207 Who Gets Elected and Why? The Science of Politics

What does it take to get elected to office? What are the key elements of a successful political campaign? What are the crucial issues guiding campaigns and elections in the U.S. at the beginning of the 21st century? This class will address the process and results of electoral politics at the local, state, and federal levels. Course participants will study the stages and strategies of running for public office and will discuss the various influences on getting elected, including: Campaign finance and fundraising, demographics, polling, the media, staffing, economics, and party organization. Each week we will be joined by guest speakers who are nationally recognized professionals, with expertise in different areas of the campaign and election process. Students will also analyze campaign case studies and the career of the instructor himself. Edward G. Rendell is the former Mayor of Philadelphia, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and former Governor of Pennsylvania.

Fall

Also Offered As: URBS 3200

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1208 The Politics of Food and Agriculture

Students will use course readings and their community service to analyze the institutions, ideas, interests, social movements, and leadership that shape the "politics of food" in different arenas. Service opportunities include work with the Urban Nutrition Initiative, Community School Student Partnerships, and the possibility of other placements as approved by the professors.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1209 American Campaigns and Elections

This lecture course will teach students about American campaigns and elections, from the local level to the presidential level. We will cover as many topics as possible including: the nominating process, the general campaign, campaign strategy, turnout, campaign finance, the role of issues, the importance of the economy, the power of party identification, and the role of data analysis used by campaign professionals. We will also consider how these factors matter in terms of who wins the election. In addition to the literature on campaigns and election, this lecture will put minor focus on the most recent 2016 presidential election relative to what the literature would have predicted. After the first part of the course about presidential elections, the second part will focus on Congressional elections (and a bit about state and local elections). Lastly, the third part of the course will examine how data analytics that originated in political science are now being used by campaign practitioners to win elections.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1210 Introduction to Political Communication

This course is an introduction to the field of political communication and conceptual approaches to analyzing communication in various forms, including advertising, speech making, campaign debates, and candidates' and office-holders' uses of social media and efforts to frame news. The focus of this course is on the interplay in the U.S. between media and politics. The course includes a history of campaign practices from the 1952 presidential contest through the election of 2020.

Fall

Also Offered As: COMM 2260

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1290 Race and Ethnic Politics

This course examines the role of race and ethnicity in the political discourse through a comparative survey of recent literature on the historical and contemporary political experiences of the four major minority groups (Blacks or African Americans, American Indians, Latinos or Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans). A few of the key topics will include assimilation and acculturation seen in the Asian American community, understanding the political direction of Black America in a pre and post Civil Rights era, and assessing the emergence of Hispanics as the largest minority group and the political impact of this demographic change. Throughout the semester, the course will introduce students to significant minority legislation, political behavior, social movements, litigation/court rulings, media, and various forms of public opinion that have shaped the history of racial and ethnic minority relations in this country. Readings are drawn from books and articles written by contemporary political scientists.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: LALS 1290

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1292 Asian American Politics

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial minority group in the United States – what are the varied ways Asian Americans have been engaging in politics and how have they shaped the terrain of American politics? This course will survey the different facets of political life in Asian American communities, focusing on three major themes. First, we will examine the origins and evolution of “Asian America” as a political project. Second, we will explore how Asian Americans have been engaging in a variety of political arenas, from electoral politics to community organizing. We will consider topics such as voting, political representation, and grassroots activisms around gentrification, anti-Asian violence, and immigrant detention and deportation. Third, we will consider the politics of interminority relations; in other words, how Asian Americans engage with other communities of color. We will focus on the political and ethical questions around affirmative action, Black Lives Matter, and multi-racial solidarity. Throughout the course, we will grapple with the multiplicities and pluralities of Asian Americans, including both the limitations and possibilities of identity politics in a diversifying America.

Fall

Also Offered As: ASAM 1900

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1401 International Security

This lecture course introduces students to the subfield of international security or strategic studies. In order to grasp the usefulness of the theoretical ideas presented in readings and lectures, abstract concepts are linked with a study of the national security policies states have adopted in the decades following World War II. Topics include current debates about nuclear proliferation, terrorism, the Iraq war, Europe's changing international role, the rise of China, Asian "flashpoints" (Korea, the Taiwan Strait), and US secruity policy for the 21st century - considering some of the main strategic alternatives to the US as well as their implications for the types of forces deployed (the impact of the "revolution in military affairs," the future of missile defense, and the economic burden to be shouldered).

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1402 International Political Economy

This course examines the politics of international economic relations. The course will analyze the interplay between politics and economics in three broad areas: international trade, international finance, and economic development. In each section, we will first discuss economic theories that explain the causes and consequences of international commerce, capital flows, and economic growth. We will then explore how political interests, institutions, and ideas alter these predictions, examining both historical examples and current policy debates.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1403 International Law & Institutions

This lecture course examines the role that international law and institutions play in international relations. The course begins by exploring broad theoretical questions - questions about why states create international law and international institutions; how states design institutions; the impact that institutional design may have on the effectiveness of international institutions; and the conditions under which states are likely to comply with the rules set out by international institutions and the dictates of international law. Specific topics include collective security institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and NATO; human rights law; the laws of war; international intervention and peacekeeping; international justice and the International Criminal Court; environmental law; international trade law and the World Trade Organization; economic development and the World Bank; and international finance and the role of the International Monetary Fund.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1404 American Foreign Policy

This course analyzes the formation and conduct of foreign policy in the United State. The course combines three elements: a study of the history of American foreign relations; an analysis of the causes of American foreign policy such sa the international system, public opinion, and the media; and a discussion of the major policy issues in contemporary U.S. foreign policy, including terrorism, civil wars, and economic policy.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1406 International Human Rights

What exactly should be considered a fundamental "human right"? What is the basis for something is a fundamental human right? This course will examine not only broad conceptual debates, but will also focus on specific issue areas (e.g., civil rights, economic rights, women's rights), as well as the question of how new rights norms emerge in international relations.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1407 Ethics and International Relations

This course offers an introduction to ethical issues in international relations. In it, we ask whether morality, as opposed to interests, should play any role in international affairs – and if so, which morality and what rules should apply, and what we should do in response to the challenges of war, violence, poverty, and environmental destruction. The course is organized in four parts. The first part provides a general introduction to ethical theory, followed by an examination of the major schools of thought regarding the possibility or impossibility of ethical conduct in international relations. The second part of the course focuses on ethical issues concerning the use of force, and examines the ethical problems of military force in places such as Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Myanmar, as well as at the questions of international terrorism and humanitarian intervention. The third part looks at issues of human rights, global distributive justice, and the global environment. A fourth section, to be fleshed out during the term, will examine “contemporary challenges” of international ethics in the Trump era. Taken as a whole, the aim of the course is to explore and debate the great moral dilemmas of our time, allowing each student to make her or his own informed, deliberate moral choices.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1408 War, Strategy and Politics

This class examines the strategy and politics of warfare, focusing on the way actors plan military campaigns and the factors that are likely to lead to victory and defeat. The course readings center in particular on the factors driving changes in warfare and civil-military relations. The course will cover a wide range of topics from theories of war-fighting to historical military campaigns to insurgency warfare, terrorism, and the future of war.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1440 International Politics of the Middle East

This course will focus primarily on epidoes of external intervention by Great Powers in the politics of Middle Eastern states. We shall begin by examining the emergence of the Middle Eastern state system after the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in the early part of the 20th century. This discussion will provide opportunities to develop key concepts in the study of international politics and will serve as crucial historical background. We shall then turn our attention to the primary concern of the course - a systematic consideration of the motives, operational results, and long-term implications of a number of important examples of intervention by Great Powers in the Middle East. Among the episodes to be considered will be British policies toward the end of World War I, in Palestine in the 1930s, and, along with the French, in Suez in 1956. Soviet intervention in the first Arab-Israeli war, in 1948, will be analyzed along with Soviet policies toward Egypt in the early 1970s. American intervention in Iran in 1953 and in the Gulf War in 1991 will also be examined.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1441 Arab Israeli Relations

In this course the Arab-Israeli dispute from 1948 to the present will serve as a vehicle for understanding how domestic and global political processes interact to shape, contain, or aggravate Middle Eastern wars between states and non-state actors. Particular stress will be placed on understanding how wars affect international politics in states and political organizations and how ideological and structural features of states and organizations find expression in wars and complicate or enable the search for peach. In addition, the key features of the conflict will be interpreted as both a clash between the political interests of national and/or religious groups and as a reflection of global political power struggles. Attention will be given toward the end of the course to alternative ideas about possible resolution of the conflict as well as to the increasingly prominent argument that, in this case, there is no solution.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1600 Contemporary Political Thought

This course is intended as a general introduction to political theory since 1900. The theme for the Spring 2023 will be: Power and Politics, and the theorists examined will include Hannah Arendt, bell hooks, Michel Foucault, Bertrand de Jouvenel, and James C. Scott. Questions include: What is political power? How has it been exercised and by whom? Who should have power? Are power and violence inescapably intertwined? Do those without conventional political power understand and exercise power differently from those who traditionally wield it? How have technologies of surveillance and control by medical, psychiatric, computer and security experts altered where power is and how it operates?

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1601 Political Ideas: Left, Right, and Center

The concepts of freedom, power and equality are what have been called “essentially contested concepts.” These three concepts take a particular significance in the 20th and 21st centuries due to the proliferation of war, industrialization, technology, as well as the growth of democracy and the accompanying shifts in social relations these have all brought about. We think that we have a pretty clear and straightforward understanding of what they mean—freedom means doing what I want, power is domination, equality is sameness. But when we look at how these ideals are lived in real life, we can see that they are in fact a lot more complicated than that. For instance, does poverty reduce freedom and wealth enhance it, or is really only a matter of inequality and people’s choices as many maintain? How do categories like race, gender, and sexuality affect the ways that freedom, power, and equality are experienced? Can power be exercised in relations of equality or does it always suggest inequality? How do we know when power is a hindrance to freedom, or when it is an enhancement of it? How do these three concepts intersect and intertwine to alter their meanings in different settings and in response to different sorts of events?

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1602 Political Action and Dissent

An introduction to the study of political theory, and specifically to the problems of political action. Exploration of questions about civil disobedience, legitimate authority, ethics and politics, and the challenge of creating a just order in a world characterized by multiple beliefs and identities. Discussion of the social contract, liberalism, democracy, decolonization, violence, revolution, globalization, universalism, and cultural relativism, and differences of race, class, and gender. Authors include Sophocles, Plato, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Locke, Niccolo Machiavelli, Max Weber, Malcolm X, Mohandas Gandhi and Frantz Fanon.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1606 Freedom, Power, and Equality

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1640 Islamist Political Theory: from al-Banna to bin Laden

This course focuses on one of the most important but least understood strands of Muslim political theory: Islamist political thought. We begin by defining such politically-laden terms as Islam, Islamism, the West, terrorism, jihadism, etc. We then systematically analyze the arguments of a range of Islamist thinkers and organizations, including al-Banna, Qutb, Mawdudi, al-Ghazali, Khomeini, al-Qaradawi, bin Laden, Hamas and ISIS. Among the questions central to the course are: what is the relationship, if any, between Islamism and democracy? How do Islamists seek to remake the modern state? What explicit claims about women, and implicit assumptions about gender, characterize the work of many Islamist thinkers, and why does this matter? What does jihad mean, and does it necessarily legitimate violence? Relatedly, is violence ever justifiable, and under what conditions? What are the arguments for globalizing jihad? And importantly: why ask these questions rather than others; what assumptions are built into them; and what kinds of political dangers do they court?

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1800 Introduction to Data Science

Understanding and interpreting large datasets is increasingly central in political and social science. From polling, to policing, to economic inequality, to international trade, knowing how to work with data will allow you to shed light on a wide variety of substantive topics. This is a first course in a 4-course sequence that teaches students how to work with and analyze data. This class focuses on data acquisition, management, and visualization, the core skills needed to do data science. Leaving this course, students will be able to acquire, input, format, analyze, and visualize various types of political and social science data using the statistical programming language R. While no background in statistics or political science is required, students are expected to be generally familiar with contemporary computing environments (e.g. know how to use a computer) and have a willingness to learn a variety of data science tools. Leaving this class, students will be prepared to deepen their R skills in PSCI 3800, and then use their R skills to learn statistics in PSCI 1801 and 3801. They will also be ready to use their R skills in courses in other disciplines as well.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1801 Statistical Methods PSCI

This course is designed as a follow-up to PSCI 1800. In that class students learn a great deal about how to work with individual data sets in R: cleaning, tidying, merging, describing and visualizing data. PSCI 1801 shifts focus to the ultimate goal of data science: making inferences about the world based on the small sample of data that we have. Using a methodology that emphasizes intuition and simulation over mathematics, this course will cover the key statistical concepts of probability, sampling, distributions, hypothesis testing, and covariance. The ultimate goal of the class is for students to have the knowledge and ability to perform, customize, and explain bivariate and multivariate regression. Students who have not taken PSCI-1800 should have basic familiarity with R, including working with vectors and matrices, basic summary statistics, visualizations, and for() loops.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1991 Selected Topics in Political Science

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: The Analysis of Presidential Elections, Conservative Political Economy, and Political Geography.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1992 PSCI transfer credit

This is a placeholder course to give students PSCI credit who transfer to UPENN from another institution.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1994 Selected Topics in Political Science (International Relations)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than International Relations. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1995 Selected Topics in Political Science (Comparative Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Comparative Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 1996 Selected Topics in Political Science (Political Theory)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Political Theory. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2100 Preparing for Policy Work in Washington

While the Penn in Washington program allows students to apply what they are learning in the classroom to their internships in real time, some amount of preparation in advance of the semester would make students both stronger applicants and employees, more able to take advantage of learning opportunities, and develop meaningful connections with mentors and peers in the policymaking world. In this course, students will learn what Washington reads, how Washington writes, and what Washington expects from interns and entry level staff. Students will learn for example why congressional hearings matter, will map the actors in policy subsystems, and will explore the importance of the budget process to every policy issue. Hearing directly from Penn alumni working across Washington, students will also spend time learning who the employers in Washington are, how Congressional offices are staffed, what role interns and entry level staff play in different institutions, and how to communicate effectively in the internship search process. Finally, a substantial part of the course will be devoted to learning how to write for policy audiences. Assignments will be devoted to practicing writing think tank reports, congressional memos, State Department after action reports, and other products common in Washington. This course is offered during the spring semester on campus and is open to all students, regardless of their interest in the Penn in Washington program.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2103 Information Communication Technologies for Development

The seminar will focus on the role that innovations in Information Communication Technologies can play in improving development outcomes in low-income countries. The seminar will focus especially on the promises and perils for utilizing mobile technologies and GIS for better governance: to improve citizen voice and government accountability. This is an exciting area of research that brings together tech gigs, policy makers, Non-government organizations and researchers. The seminar will be of interest to undergraduates from diverse backgrounds, such as political science, engineering, communication, sociology and business administration. The idea will be to highlight not only the promise of ICT4D but also the challenges (e.g., that it widen participation, since it tends to exclude marginalized populations). The course will survey innovative applications in agriculture, financial services, health services, but also governance. The trip to Uganda during spring semester will allow students to meet with NGOs and local governments that are experimenting with new products and applications; hear their challenges and participate in meetings to brainstorm new apps.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2120 Democracy in Latin America

Since the inception of the twenty first century, Latin America has undergone major economic, social, and political transformations. Many of the neoliberal policies of the last quarter of the twentieth century were reversed or revisited, economic inequality decreased significantly across the region, and anumber of governments turned to the left of the political spectrum, often instituting major public policy and constitutional reforms. How have those changes affected citizenship and democracy in the region? In particular, have citizens' channels for representation and participation changed in the recent past? What has happened to local participatory institutions since the return tothe right in some countries of the region? The course will explore these and related questions. Students will develop their own research projects throughout the semester. While not a requirement, the ability to read Spanish or Portuguese will significantly enhance students' learning experience.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: LALS 2120

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2121 People of the Land: Indigeneity and Politics in Argentina and Chile (Penn Global Seminar - PGS)

This undergraduate seminar compares the evolution of relations between States and Indigenous peoples and movements throughout the Americas, with a particular focus on the Mapuche people of the Patagonia region, in the south of nowadays Argentina and Chile. The main goal of the course is to comparatively study the organization of Indigenous communities and analyze their political demands regarding plurinationality, self-determination, territory, prior consultation, living well, and intercultural education and health, as well as the different ways in which States repress, ignore, or address such demands. The course starts by reviewing what does it mean to indigenize and decolonize the academy and political science. We then focus on the controversial question of who is Indigenous and comparatively assess the legal answer to this question in different countries of the Americas. Next, we tackle the issue of research methodology and positionality of the researcher, the ethics of studying Indigenous peoples, and using in-depth interviews as a tool for social science research. After briefly reviewing some of the consequences of the conquest and colonialism, we study the topic of global Indigenous rights and politics and from there we zoom in the politics of Indigenous peoples in Argentina, and the Mapuche of Neuquén, in particular. In the last part of the course, including during our travel component, we delve into what are the main issues that Mapuche communities of Neuquén confront in the present: from territorial land claims, to interactions with extractive industries, co-management of natural resources with the National Parks Service, intercultural education, and intercultural health, among other topics.

Spring, odd numbered years only

Also Offered As: LALS 2121

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2160 Modern India

This course attempts to examine the experience of representative democracy in India and the country's development record in a historical framework. It will ask questions such as: How did representative democracy emerge in India and what explains its persistence? What are the sources of its vulnerability? What kind of a sense of nationhood does this democratic experience rest upon? What are the exclusions built into this conception of nationhood? What is the relationship between India's development experience and its democratic experiment? How have India's "traditional" institutions adapted or failed to adapt to modern circumstances? Why has India performed well in certain economic sectors such as IT even while its record in providing basic social services has been poor? How has India's self-perception about its place in the world changed in recent years and what are its implications?

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2200 From Theory to Practice in Washington D.C.

Designed to complement a policy internship, this two credit course will focus on content and skills that are likely to be useful in typical Washington offices. Students will develop literacy on the most pressing domestic policy topics and will work on writing and presentation skills. All students will participate in a public policy internship for at least ten hours a week.

Fall or Spring

2 Course Units

PSCI 2201 Polarization

Are ordinary Americans polarized? What about political elites? Is there any connection between mass and elite polarization? What do we even mean when we say some group is "polarized"? This class will explore these questions in some detail, and try to sort out all of the discussions about polarizations, red states and blue states, and the like.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2203 Healthy Schools

This Fox Leadership and academically based community service seminar will use course readings and students' own observations and interviews in their service learning projects in West Philadelphia schools to analyze the causes and impact of school health and educational inequalities and efforts to address them. Course readings will include works by Jonathan Kozol, studies of health inequalities and their causes, and studies of No Child Left Behind, the CDC's School Health Index, recess, school meal, and nutrition education programs. Course speakers will help us examine the history, theories, politics and leadership behind different strategies for addressing school-based inequalities and their outcomes. Service options will focus especially on the West Philadelphia Recess Initiative. Other service options will include work with Community School Student Partnerships and the Urban Nutrition Initiative.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: HSOC 2312

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2204 Congress, Elections and American Democracy

Contact department for details.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2206 Race, Ethnicity and Constitutional Law

What are "race" and "ethnicity"? How have American constitutional politics been shaped by issues of racial and ethnic statuses? How have American racial and ethnic identities and statuses been shaped by American constitutional politics? Have the nation's basic conflicts been at bottom economic, sometimes expressed via racial and ethnic antagonisms, or do racial and ethnic identities and conflicts have "a life of their own"? Has an "American Creed" of democratic liberalism dominated American culture, with racial hierarchies a frustrating exception? Or have ideologies of racial and ethnic identity and struggles over racial and ethnic statuses instead been central to American constitutional development? This seminar explores these questions by examining the role of race and ethnicity in many constitutional controversies, carried out in courts, legislatures, and popular debates. Secondary historical, legal, political and economic analyses will also be considered.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2210 Balance of Power in American Politics (PIW)

How do the Constitution's checks and balances work in practice? And where are they not working? This course examines the fault lines between Washington's two most powerful institutions - Congress and the President - how they clash, and where they work together. Students learn how Congress and the President share and compete for power in lawmaking, spending, investigations, nominations, foreign policy, and impeachment. The course is designed to foster skills in formulating strategies for conducting policy in an environment of institutions competing for power.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2211 The Mechanics of American Foreign Policy (PIW)

The Trump Presidency has profoundly shifted America's role in the world and the way in which key institutions of foreign policy making are staffed and positioned to advance America's interests. The ascent of extreme nationalists and nationalism in other power centers in the world along with growing distrust in government and public institutions may have marked the close of the two-decade post 9/11 era. Indeed, the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which actors across the international spectrum have responded (or failed to respond) has led many to question the assumptions inherent in the post-9/11 international order and has marked the beginning of a new era of competition, a return to great-power politics, and the diminishing power of traditional actors, systems, and ideals on the global stage. This course will provide students with an in-depth, practical analysis of foreign policy and foreign policy making, with a view from Washington. It will also provide a baseline global literacy, through the lens of emerging ideas, institutions, interests, and actors, and focus on a framework for understanding shifts already underway in how Washington views the world. We will utilize less traditional resources, and instead focus on practical and "real-world" course material as well as less traditional instruction methods - utilizing and analyzing the sources and resources that policy makers in Washington rely upon. These include long-form journalism, official government documents, hearings and Congressional debate, think tank products, and news sources. Students will have the opportunity to engage with a variety of guest-speakers, all of whom have held senior official and non-governmental roles in American foreign policy making and influencing. Guest speakers will provide unique insight into their own experiences at the highest levels of foreign policy making and advocacy, and offer guidance as to how to pursue careers in foreign policy, national security, and international development. In the past, guest speakers have included: Former Deputy Secretaries of State William Burns and Heather Higginbottom; Executive Director of the ONE Campaign; Former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department; Former Ambassadors, Senior Professional Staff from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, former Assistant Secretary of Population, Refugees, and Migration, among others.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2401 Emerging Technologies and the Future of the World

Technological change is always occurring, but the rate of change seems to be accelerating. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber, biotechnology, and other arenas generate promise as well as peril for humanity. Will these emerging technologies unleash the innovative capacity of the world, generating new opportunities that help people live meaningful lives? Alternatively, are automation and other technologies chipping away at the labor market in a way that could create severe generational dislocation at best, and national and international turmoil at worst? These questions are important, and have consequences for how we live our lives, how nations interact, and the future of the world writ large. Emerging technologies could shape public policy at the local, national, and international level, and raise questions of fairness, ethics, and transparency. This course takes a unique approach, combining insights from engineering, political science, and law in an interdisciplinary way that will expose students both to the key technologies that could shape the future and ways to think about their potentia politics, and society.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: EAS 2610, INTG 2610

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2420 Diplomacy in the Americas - The Penn Model OAS Program (SNF Paideia Program Course)

Diplomacy in the Americas is an academically based community-service course where students explore what it means to educate youth for global civic and political engagement. Students apply theoretical and pedagogical principles in curriculum design, classroom teaching, and collaborative learning with public high school students on the topics of Latin American politics and the role of the Organization of American States (OAS). Analyzing and strategizing like a diplomat and guided by theories of democracy and the other three OAS pillars of economic development, security, and human rights, students will collectively examine and propose solutions to the most pressing issues in the Americas. This course is also an SNF Paideia Program Course.

Fall

Also Offered As: LALS 3020

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2421 International Organizations in Latin America

International organizations (IOs) play a powerful role in mitigating conflict at the global level.  What role do they play in solving problems related to politics, economic development, corruption, inequality, and civil society in Latin America? How much power, influence, and control do they possess in the region?  This course examines the role and impact international organizations have had on Latin America since the mid-20th century.  After a review of theoretical perspectives on the significance of IOs in inter-American affairs, students will examine the workings, issues, and controversies surrounding IOs in Latin America across themes of democracy, human rights, security, and development - the four main pillars of the OAS. Through readings, short presentations/debates, and guest speakers, students will explore IOs and their action in the region. Some of these IOs include the IMF, World Bank, UN, ICC as well as regional organizations and area trade blocs and agreements of USMCA/NAFTA, Mercosur, Pacific Alliance, ALBA, and other civil society and human rights organizations. A large part of the course will focus on the Organization of American States and its various departments and divisions such as the Inter American Commission for Human Rights.  Students will be invited to participate in the Washington Model OAS simulation in April.

Spring

Also Offered As: LALS 2020

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2490 Topics in Race and International Relations

This seminar focuses on issues of race in internatioanl relations. The specific focus of the course will vary by semester.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2991 Selected Topics in Political Science

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Leadership & Democracy; Conservative Regimes.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2993 Selected Topics in Political Science (American Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than American Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2994 Selected Topics in Political Science (International Relations)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than International Relations. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2995 Selected Topics in Political Science (Comparative Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Comparative Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 2996 Selected Topics in Political Science (Political Theory)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Political Theory. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3150 China's Political Economy

This class looks at one of the most important issues facing the world today: China’s climate policy and its role in the global energy transition away from fossil fuels. The course aims to expose students to the driving forces behind China’s position and policy related to climate change and its involvement in the global energy sector, with strong emphasis on technology and international relations. The course will also examine barriers and challenges related to meeting China’s ambitious climate commitments. Another important part of the course will be guest speakers representing government officials; multilateral institution officials; researchers; journalists; and civil society. This course will be conducted in a seminar format. Prior coursework related to, or knowledge of, China, science, technology, or environmental issues will be helpful, but is not a prerequisite.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3151 Politics, Geopolitics, and China's Role in the World's Renewable Energy Revolution

This class looks at one of the most important issues facing the world today: China’s climate policy and energy transition, and its impact on global climate change. The course aims to expose students to the driving forces behind China’s position and policy related to climate change, with a strong emphasis on political economy. The course will also examine barriers and challenges related to meeting China’s ambitious climate commitments. An important part of the course will be guest speakers representing the U.S. and Chinese government officials; multilateral institution officials; researchers; journalists; and civil society.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3170 Comparative Politics of the Welfare State in Rich Democracies

This seminar provides an overview of the structure and functions of welfare states in the rich, industrialized democracies, and covers key arguments and debates about the emergence and contemporary fate of these welfare states. The approach is broadly comparative, but throughout the course discussions will often emphasize drawing ideas from the experiences of other countries to inform policy solutions to problems we confront in the US. The course covers the varieties and tasks of modern welfare states; classic theories about the relationship between markets, classes, and social protection; competing explanations for why modern welfare states emerge and why they differ from one another; how welfare states are shaped by social forces such as organized labor and the self-employed, political institutions, and societal views of appropriate gender relationships; challenges to the welfare state that emerge from changing labor market, demographic, and social conditions in the highly industrialized nations; and the political dynamics of reforms to the welfare state. Students will participate actively in seminar discussions and complete a major research paper. Graduate students will complete additional readings as noted and will write an article-length paper.

Fall, even numbered years only

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3200 Global Development: Intermediate Topics in Politics, Policy, and Data

New sources of data (big data, small data and everything in between) raise the exciting possibility that such data could benefit the world’s poor. This course provides students with an intermediate-level review of recent research that deploys new data for insights on development and hands-on analysis of different kinds of datasets. Students will investigate key themes in development –citizen tech for accountability, corruption, household economics, climate change resilience and press freedom. As we explore these topics, students will develop data analytical skills that are useful across a wide range of research and real-world applications. As such, students will come face-to-face with the opportunities and challenges for data-intensive approaches to international development. Students should have taken PSCI 1800 or an equivalent course and be ready to both discuss course readings and engage with data assignments in the programming language R (students more comfortable in Python are welcome). This class is also designed as a follow-up to PSCI 1102, and students are encouraged (but not required) to take that course before this one.

Spring

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3400 The Causes of War & Peace

The existence and endurance of war provides one of the most important puzzles of politics: why is it that people keep making use of such a destructive and painful way of resolving their disputes? This course addresses this question and the related question of what factors contribute to peace, focusing on both academic and popular explanations for conflict, including among others anarchy, over-optimism, shifting power, diversionary war, the malevolent influence of war profiteers, and a variety of explanations grounded in culture, religion and other ideational variables. In this discussion, we will focus on both interstate and civil wars, and on both the onset and the eventual termination of war. At various points in the course we will discuss a wide range of historical and contemporary cases, including the World Wars, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the various Arab-Israeli wars, the India-Pakistan rivalry, and a number of recent civil conflicts such as the wars in Yugoslavia, Congo, and Sudan. The course concludes with a discussion of strategies for managing ongoing conflicts and for securing peace in post war settings.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3401 International Law

Do legal rules really affect international politics? This course explores why international law has the form and content it does, and its role in shaping how states and other actors behave. It combines law and social science to examine important issues of the day, including security policies, human rights, and economic relationships.

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3600 Democracy and Disagreement (SNF Paideia Program Course)

When and how can we justify using the power of the government to force our fellow citizens to follow rules with which they disagree? In attempting to answer this question, we will pay special attention to (1) the various different types and sources of political disagreement and (2) the role of deliberation and reason-giving in a democracy. Through reading and debating works of contemporary political theory and philosophy, this course should help you to reflect on some fundamental but easily neglected questions about your own civic attitudes and behavior. What beliefs underpin your political commitments, why do you hold those beliefs, and why do other people see things differently? What makes you so sure that you’re right and they’re wrong? How, if at all, should you try to change their minds? When, if ever, should you refrain from supporting legal prohibition of actions that you feel sure are morally wrong? The course will be taught in a hybrid lecture/discussion format. Students will be expected to take a short quiz at the start of many class sessions and to write at least three short papers.

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3800 Applied Data Science

Jobs in data science are quickly proliferating throughout nearly every industry in the American economy. The purpose of this class is to build the statistics, programming, and qualitative skills that are required to excel in data science. The substantive focus of the class will largely be on topics related to politics and elections, although the technical skills can be applied to any subject matter.

Not Offered Every Year

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800 OR PSCI 1801

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3801 Survey Research and Design

Survey research is a small but rich academic field and discipline, drawing on theory and practice from many diverse fields including political science, communication, sociology, psychology, and statistics. Surveys are perhaps the most ubiquitous tool of measurement in the social sciences today. Successful practitioners develop expertise in the art and science of survey methodology, including sampling theory and practice, questionnaire instrument development and operationalization, and the analysis and reporting of survey data. Survey researchers are scientists of the method itself, testing various practices by which surveys can be improved upon, as well as developing a keen understanding of the nature of error in surveys and how to control it.

Spring

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3802 Political Polling

Political polls are a central feature of elections and are ubiquitously employed to understand and explain voter intentions and public opinion. This course will examine political polling by focusing on four main areas of consideration. First, what is the role of political polls in a functioning democracy? This area will explore the theoretical justifications for polling as a representation of public opinion. Second, the course will explore the business and use of political polling, including media coverage of polls, use by politicians for political strategy and messaging, and the impact polls have on elections specifically and politics more broadly. The third area will focus on the nuts and bolts of election and political polls, specifically with regard to exploring traditional questions and scales used for political measurement; the construction and considerations of likely voter models; measurement of the horserace; and samples and modes used for election polls. The course will additionally cover a fourth area of special topics, which will include exit polling, prediction markets, polling aggregation, and other topics. It is not necessary for students to have any specialized mathematical or statistical background for this course.

Fall

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3991 Selected Topics in Political Science

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Sustainable Environmental Policy & Global Politics; Shakespeare and Political Theory.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3992 Selected Topics in Political Science (SNF Paideia Program Course)

Consult the political science department or Paideia program for detailed descriptions. More than one course make be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3993 Selected Topics in Political Science (American Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than American Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3994 Selected Topics in Political Science (International Relations)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than International Relations. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3995 Selected Topics in Political Science (Comparative Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Comparative Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 3996 Selected Topics in Political Science (Political Theory)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Political Theory. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4100 Power Sharing in Deeply Divided Places - BFS

This course examines conceptual, explanatory and normative debates over power-sharing systems. We explore the circumstances in which federal, consociational and other power-sharing institutions and practices are proposed and implemented to regulate deep national, ethnic, religious or linguistic divisions. We evaluate these systems, seeking to explain why they are formed or attempted, and why they may endure or fail, paying special attention to bi- and multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual environments.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4101 The Right Market: Conservatism & Capitalism in Theory & Practice

This course surveys the ways conservatives have related to capitalism over time and across countries. It is designed to bridge theory, history, and national comparison to shed light on urgent contemporary policy choices facing conservatives of all kinds. One section explores the philosophical underpinnings of the major strains of conservatism, emphasizing their concern with inherited institutions (church and family), community (local and especially national), social and cultural hierarchies, and the fundamental value of individual (as opposed to corporate) property ownership. Markets are an inherent challenge to each, as we see in a historical section that traces the rise of commercial society generally and then capitalism in its trading, industrial, financial, hi-tech, and state-based forms. How conservatives negotiated the changing world is observable in three related modes: the intellectual output of leading thinkers, the demands of social movements, and the policies of governing parties. Together they have, of course, shaped capitalism itself—from Bismarck’s creation of social insurance in Germany to Friedman's influential promotion of shareholder value, to the recent wave of populist-nationalist suspicion of international trade and Wall Street. What unites successful conservatives across the world, however, has been their management of the fundamental dilemmas of capitalism: the permanence of change, the amoral & cosmopolitan character of economic relations, and the fragility of established institutions. Course is open to all students and is offered on campus.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4102 Global Development: Intermediate Issues in Politics, Policy and Data

New sources of data (big data, small data and everything in between) raise the exciting possibility that such data could benefit the world’s poor. This course is designed to provide students with an intermediate-level review of recent research that deploys new data for insights on development and hands-on analysis of different kinds of datasets. Students will investigate 3 key themes in development: corruption and accountability, migration, and Authoritarian Backsliding. As we explore these topics, students will develop data analytical skills that are useful across a wide range of research and real-world applications. Students will learn how to implement four of the most common research designs in the social sciences: observational studies, randomized experiments (in particular, survey experiments), regression discontinuity designs, and difference-in-difference designs. Students will have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of data types, from survey and government-produced administrative data to text as data. As such, students will come face-to-face with the opportunities and challenges for data-intensive approaches to international development.

Spring

Prerequisite: PSCI 1800 AND PSCI 1102

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4130 Oil to Diamonds: The Political Economy of Natural Resources in Africa

This course examines the ways in which the processes of the extraction, refining, sale and use of natural resources – including oil and diamond – in Africa produce complex regional and global dynamics. We explore how values are placed on resources, how such values, the regimes of valuation, commodification and the social formations that are (re)produced by these regimes lead to cooperation and conflict in the contemporary African state, including in the relationships of resource-rich African countries with global powers. Specific cases will be examined against the backdrop of theoretical insights to encourage comparative analyses beyond Africa. Some audio-visual materials will be used to enhance the understanding of the political economy and sociality of natural resources.

Fall

Also Offered As: AFRC 4500, ANTH 3045, SOCI 2904

Mutually Exclusive: AFRC 5700

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4170 Comparative Politics of the Welfare State

This class explores the origins, development, and possible futures of social policy regimes in the industrialized countries, in the context of broader political and historical trends. Topics include pensions, health care, and poverty alleviation; "families" of welfare states; the relationship between labor markets and social policy; feminist and Marxist critiques of welfare states and welfare state studies. Open to graduate students and qualified undergraduates with permission of the instructor.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4180 Issues Comp Pol/Gender

Struggles over gender roles and rights have been prominent in the Middle East and North Africa since the 19th century and continue to mark contemporary political and social discourses. Since the colonial period, gender categories and sexualities have been critiqued and negotiated on behalf of empire, the nation, modernity, personal freedom; today debates and struggles over global rights, islamic law, and modernity continue to mark politics. Despite the particularity of ideas and events in the region, a comparative framework helps to overcome exoticization of the region and develop a more acute understanding. The topics of the course include engagement with the discourse of the Exotic Other, the effects of modernity, the role of nationalism and the state, state-society negotiation, islamic formulations, and continously, the question: where does change come from? Issues of the veil and islamic dress the expansion of anti-gay laws, the disciplining of bodies in state and social settings - these issues of gender and sexuality extend the realm of the political into intimate spaces. Assignments include a midterm and a short paper that develops research and analytical skills. The course is 200 level. While background in the study of the Middle East or gender is not necessary, an introductory political science or social science course is required.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4190 Race and Racism in the Contemporary World

This undergraduate seminar is for advanced undergraduates seeking to make sense of the upsurge in racist activism, combined with authoritarian populism and neo-fascist mobilization in many parts of the world. Contemporary manifestations of the phenomena noted above will be examined in a comparative and historical perspective to identify patterns and anomalies across various multiple nation-states. France, The United States, Britain, and Italy will be the countries examined.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: AFRC 4650, LALS 4650

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4200 Political Psychology

How do campaign advertisements influence voters' perceptions and behavior? What roles do emotions play in politics? Do we all harbor some measure of racism, sexism, or homophobia, and what role do these stereotypes play in political behavior? How and why do ideologies form, and how does partisanship influence the way that voters understand the political world? How do people perceive threat, and what are the psychological consequences of terrorism? These questions, and many others, are the province of political psychology, an interdisciplinary field that uses experimental methods and theoretical ideas from psychology as tools to examine the world of politics. In this course, we will explore the role of human thought, emotion, and behavior in politics and examine the psychological origins of citizens' political beliefs and actions from a variety of perspectives. Most of the readings emphasize politics in the United States, though the field itself speaks to every aspect of political science.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4201 Political Empathy & Deliberative Democracy in the US

This course seeks to understand contemporary political divisions in the United States. Guiding our analysis will be scholarship from the discipline of political science, with particular attention given to political culture, American political development and federalism while incorporating scholarship from several other disciplines. As we study political culture at the national level, we will unpack our own individual attitudes towards politics. There will be an emphasis throughout the course on personal wellness during dialogue with assignments ranging from written reflections on experiences to textual analysis to their combination.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4203 The Future of Conservatism and the GOP: Radicalization, Renewal or Replacement (SNF Paideia Course)

Students will explore both the roots and the evolution of conservative thought by engaging with readings and directly with the prominent leaders on the right. As this is election season we'll devote time to election news and results and consider the implications for the Republican Party.

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4205 American Conservatism From Taft to Trump

The early 1950s may have been the nadir for modern American conservatism. Conservative hero Robert Taft had lost the Republican nomination for President to a more moderate candidate for the third time, many in the Republican Party had moved to accept some of the most popular New Deal programs, and a moderate, internationalist consensus had taken hold in the country. Yet, from these ashes, conservatism rose to become a potent political force — maybe the driving force — in the United States over the last half century. This seminar explores the contours of that rise, beginning with infrastructure laid and coalitions forged in the 1950s and early 1960s. We will see how conservatives built upon this infrastructure to overcome Barry Goldwater’s crushing 1964 defeat to elect one of their own, Ronald Reagan, president in 1980. Reagan’s presidency transformed the public philosophy and helped shape subsequent American political development. Our study of conservatism will also include the struggles that conservatives confronted in trying to enact their ideas into public policy, and the repercussions of those struggles. We will explore conservatism’s triumphs and failures politically, as well as the cultural changes that have helped, hindered, and shaped its rise. In many ways, this class is a study in the transformation of American politics and in American culture over the last sixty-five years. Its focus is on the hows and the whys of the rise of conservatism from the low point of the early 50s to the rise of Trumpism in the 2010s. In many places, we will discover a surprisingly complex story. This complexity means that we must grapple with clashing interpretations as to why and how conservatism developed, why conservatism appealed to many Americans at various points in time, and even whether there was an agreed upon conservative vision unifying the forces pushing America rightward. The seminar will be oriented chronologically to the degree that it is possible, spending several weeks on each decade between the 1960s and the 2010s, Yet, we will also focus on several themes and relationships throughout the class. These include the role played by certain pivotal political figures, the ideas that propelled conservatism and bound the conservative movement together, the relationship between conservatives and the Republican Party, the tensions within the diverse Reagan coalition (which have spilled over with increasing regularity, especially during the 2010s) and the impact of the courts and the conservative legal movement in seeding conservatism over the last 30 years. We will ask critical and often difficult questions involving topics such as the role of racism and bigotry in the rise of conservatism. We will also consider the big picture—is the United States really any more conservative in 2023 than it was in 1950? If not, why do many consider conservatism to have risen politically? At the end of the semester we will ponder whether some of the current conservative divisions are new, or continuations of fissures that have long existed and we will consider the big picture in American politics: are our divisions too big to foster functional governance?

Spring, odd numbered years only

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4206 How Divided Is America? Polarization in the United States

This class explores whether or not America, and its politics, are divided. Is the American public polarized? What about political elites? Is there any connection between mass and elite polarization? What do we even mean when we say some group is “polarized”? This class will explore these questions in some detail. We will begin at the elite level and ask whether or the political class is now more polarized than it was a half century ago. The answer will be a fairly unambiguous “yes.” We’ll then explore several different explanations for why elites have become more divided since mid-century. After that, we’ll turn our attention to the mass public. The situation there will be considerably more complicated, with evidence both for and against polarization. We’ll explore this evidence in some detail and try to document the ways in which the American public has—and has not—become more polarization over time, paying attention to differences based on issues as well as affect/sentiment toward the other party. Finally, we’ll conclude by exploring the effects of polarization on the legislative process and the mass electorate, and ask what (if anything) can or should be done about polarization.

Fall, odd numbered years only

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4208 Media and Politics

Media and Politics will examine multiple issues specific to the past and present political media environment in the United States. Focus will be primarily, though not exclusively, on the contemporary news media. Topics covered will include political primaries, how elections have been influenced by the rise of partisan media, selective exposure, freedom of political speech as it relates to elections, the theoretical purpose of elections, money and media, political targeting, etc. We will also explore the quantitative and qualitative methods underlying what is and is not known about how elections work. Under the supervision of the professor, students will write an original research paper examining a specific topic in greater depth.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: COMM 4040, PSCI 2208

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4209 Media, Public Opinion, and Globalization

This seminar will examine American attitudes toward globalization and the role of the media in shaping public opinion toward events and people beyond our borders. Students will participate in original research on attitudes toward issues tied to globalization such as immigration, international trade, support for international organizations, isolationism, and so forth. Students will also spend time systematically studying the implications of American media coverage of these issues.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: COMM 4050

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4210 Advanced Seminar in Political Science: The Politics of Climate Change

The purpose of this course is to explore the political dynamics that shape the debate, enactment, and implementation of policies to address climate change. By reading the latest research on the political determinants of climate policy, the course will help students develop a nuanced understanding of the ideas, institutions, and behaviors that structure the climate policy process. We will focus primarily on climate policy and politics in the United States, while occasionally incorporating comparative perspectives to provide insight into the US case. Throughout the course, we will discuss why climate policies are designed in particular ways; when and why policies pass or fail to pass; how various institutional, organizational, and public interests influence the climate policy process; and what questions remain unanswered about how to address the problem of climate change.

Spring

Also Offered As: PPE 4650

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4250 Law, Religion, and Politics

Law, Religion, and Politics addresses the contemporary interplay between government, religion, and politics with focus on the legislative and Supreme Court forces that are re-defining the free exercise of religion and the separation of church and state. Due to the rise in statutory, extreme religious liberty statutes at the federal and state levels, the drive to establish "religious autonomy," and the concomitant push to undermine the separation of church and state, the balance of power between religion, government, and the people has shifted dramatically. The seminar will survey the leading Supreme Court cases and then be organized around specific contemporary issues including abortion and contraception, vaccination and healthcare, discrimination against LGBTQ couples and individuals, discrimination against church employees, and clergy sex abuse.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4290 Race & Criminal Justice

Why are African Americans and some other minority groups disproportionately incarcerated and subjected to penal sanctions? What are the political, social and economic consequences for individuals, communities, and the wider society of mass incarceration in the United States? What types of reforms of the criminal justice system are desirable and possible? This advanced seminar analyzes the connection between race, crime, punishment, and politics in the United States. The primary focus is on the role of race in explaining why the country's prison population increased six-fold since the early 1970s and why the United States today has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The class will likely take field trips to a maximum-security jail in Philadelphia and to a state prison in the Philadelphia suburbs.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4291 Social Movements

Social movements and political protest have become some of the most effective tools for citizens and non-citizens to influence the political system. This course is designed to introduce students to the theoretical and methodological approaches taken in understanding these behaviors. Analyzing social movements that range from civil discontent to contentious political protest, the course will address a variety of questions: What is the origin of movement behavior and why do individuals turn to these actions in lieu of simply engaging in institutional modes of political action such as voting? What were the strategies of these movements? What are the political conditions that allow social movements to resonate with the American public? In addition to addressing these topics, this course surveys the policy successes of major social and political movements. From the Civil Rights and Women's Right Movement to the recent Tea Party movement and Hong Kong demonstrations over democracy, this course explores the various public policies that have resulted from citizens' protest actions. While state level and local level government responsiveness will be addressed, special attention will be given to how political protest influences public policy in all three branches of the federal government.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4292 Modern Presidency & Race

This course will examine the role of race in shaping presidential actions and public policy from Dwight Eisenhower to the current era. A few of the major topics that the course will address are Eisenhower and school integration, Kennedy/Johnson and civil rights' voices, Nixon and the Chicano movement, Reagan and immigration, and Obama and descriptive representation in the executive. This course will offer a broad understanding of race by examining how various presidents have addressed concerns in the African-American, Asian-American, and Latino communities. Readings are drawn from the Federal Register and volumes of the Public Papers of the President series as well as from books and articles written by contemporary political scientists.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4400 Security & Anxiety at International Borders: Turkey & USA in Global Perspective

Borders are increasingly contested in global order, yet function as distinct markers of statehood and sovereignty. How states control their borders physically is an important manifestation of their sovereign rights. In this course, we explore the meaning attached to international borders for two allies in very different regions of the world, Turkey and the United States. We inquire into the role that national territorial and international borders shave come to play in their national identities. We will place these two countries in the context of their "neighborhoods" to understand the threats and opportunities seem to attend border spaces. With their extensive coastlines and land boundaries, these states are subject in different ways to external influences. Both have extensive trade relations with the rest of the world, as well as extensive illicit economies along their borders. The United States is "a nation of immigrants" currently questioning the value of immigration. Turkey is host to the largest number of refugees in the world. Each state faces its own version of an ontological crisis, as they decide how to engage, filter or deflect extraterritorial flows and influences. These developments raise intense issues of identities and boundaries - in particular the question of how different societies engage in border protection. This seminar focuses on the comparative experiences of Turkey and the USA in their methods of maintaining borders and dealing with anxiety about uncontrolled transnational flows of products and people across their borders. The seminar explores how security and insecurity are understood, produced, and implemented in the form of border security policies. The comparative study of American and Turkish border control will uncover both similarities in the framing of border policies, but also distinct differences on how these two countries deal with border security. The international focus will enable students to appreciate the global aspect of border security issues, and research multiple questions on the extent to which what is facing the USA in terms of border security is not unique on its own. This course will be co-taught with a professor and students at Sabanci University. We will overlap with their classroom for roughly half of out three hour seminar meeting, and the professors will co-teach the course. Common readings will be discussed each week, but each Professor will assign additional readings of her choice to complement the common discussions. In the Penn seminar, we will aim to produce a research paper, so in addition to discussing the substantive readings, we will concentrate on formulating interesting research questions, think carefully about how to bring data to bear on specific questions or hypotheses, become familiar with data sources, and discuss research design.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4450 Chinese Foreign Policy

This seminar examines the influences on and patterns of China's international relations. Topics to be covered include the following:theoretical approaches to analyzing foreign policy; the historical legacy and evolution of China's foreign policy; contemporary China's foreign policy on traditional national security concerns as well as economic, environmental, and humanitarian issues; China's military modernization; China's foreign policy in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America; China's rise and its implications for relations with the United States. The class is a seminar in which student preparation and participation will essential. Students planning to enroll in the course must have taken PSCI 1150 (or, with the instructor's permission, its equivalent). You are expected to complete all required readings each week and come to seminar meetings prepared to discuss them.

Not Offered Every Year

Prerequisite: PSCI 1150

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4600 Meaning of Democracy

This course provides a broad, humanistic survey to some of the most important ideas, debates, and problems connected to the study of democracy. The course is divided into three segments: the democratic citizen (in which we explore ethical issues pertaining to the experience of democracy as a way of life); the democratic People (in which we investigate some of the best and most recent attempts to come to grips with the difficult, yet fundamental, notion of the People); and the democratic world (in which we examine issues pertaining to democratization and development, including the tension between democracy and individual liberty and the relationship between democracy and global capitalism).

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4601 Key Questions in Political Theory

This course is a basic introduction to certain fundamental topics in political theory. It aims to provide students with concepts and ideas by which to more clearly make sense of political reality. In general, the course proceeds by elucidating major distinctions, such as: ancient vs. modern; deontology vs. consequentialism; “Athens” vs. “Jerusalem” (or: reason vs. revelation); thinking vs. knowing; liberalism vs. democracy; sovereign power vs. disciplinary power; being secular vs. being a secularist; politics as subset of morality vs. political responsibility as requiring the transgression of morality; the grounds of legitimate authority (tradition vs. legal-rational vs. charisma); etc. Overall, the course has three goals: (i) to introduce students to alternate approaches to the practice of political theory; (ii) to introduce students to numerous relatively self- contained debates important to contemporary political theorists; and (iii) to address major figures from the history of political thought, with an eye toward explaining what makes them vital to political theorists today.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4602 Politics and Ethics

This course is designed to investigate the relationship, if any, between ethics and politics. During the semester, we’ll examine texts of political, social, and feminist theory as well as case studies, dialogues, novels, non-fiction essays, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles and film to critically engage with questions such as: Can politics be a moral enterprise or is it a realm where violence, deception and cruelty are and must be routine? How do we judge whether a political act is ethical or unethical? Does the context of war negate the moral precepts that hold in peacetime? Do national borders mark the place where our moral commitments to others end? Who’s included in the “we” that determines the content of moral judgments and the reach of our ethical obligations? How do inequalities of wealth, power and the burden of history help determine whose pain counts and whose voices are heard in moral arguments? Along the way, we’ll examine whether and to what extent the diverse genres, style and form of these texts influences how receptive we are the perspectives and arguments they contain. We’ll also consider how our class discussions might serve as experiments in what it means to think, argue and act ethically with one another.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4610 Key Questions in Political Theory (SNF Paideia Program Course)

This course is a basic introduction to certain fundamental topics in political theory. It aims to provide students with concepts and ideas by which to more clearly make sense of political reality. In general, the course proceeds by elucidating major distinctions, such as: ancient vs. modern; deontology vs. consequentialism; “Athens” vs. “Jerusalem” (or: reason vs. revelation); thinking vs. knowing; liberalism vs. democracy; sovereign power vs. disciplinary power; being secular vs. being a secularist; politics as subset of morality vs. political responsibility as requiring the transgression of morality; the grounds of legitimate authority (tradition vs. legal-rational vs. charisma); etc. Overall, the course has three goals: (i) to introduce students to alternate approaches to the practice of political theory; (ii) to introduce students to numerous relatively selfcontained debates important to contemporary political theorists; and (iii) to address major figures from the history of political thought, with an eye toward explaining what makes them vital to political theorists today.

Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4611 Citizenship, Patriotism, & Identity (SNF Paideia Program Course)

This course introduces students to fundamental moral questions about countries and individuals’ membership in them. Do people owe more to their compatriots than to foreigners? Is it desirable – or at least permissible – for countries to have and promote a national identity? What different forms can patriotism take, and in which (if any) of these forms is it a virtue? Should we all be “citizens of the world"? These questions will be explored primarily through readings in contemporary moral and political philosophy.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4800 Evidence Based Policies of Economic and Political Development

This class provides a "hands-on" introduction to the promises and limitations of using Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) to inform policy makers, practitioners, and academics of the conditions under which policies likely would have a positive effect on economic and political outcomes, in the context of international development. This course has three parts: the first is devoted to understanding the "nuts and bolts" of running field experiments / RCTs in developing countries. In part, we will be reading Glennester and Takavarasha's Running Randomized Evaluations: A Practical Guide. In addition, we will discuss core behavioral concepts from both behavioral economics and social psychology (prospect theory). The second part of the course will be devoted to demonstrating how schools have used RCTs to inform core policy debates (e.g. What are some effective ways to reduce corruption? How can we improve the performance of frontline service providers? How can politicians be more responsive to their constituents?) In the third part, students will be presenting their own research proposals, explicitly designed to address either a core policy question in the developing world or--for those interested--in the USA. Here students will have an opportunity to partner with the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (https://sbst.gov), which is under the National Science and Technology Council.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4897 Andrea Mitchell Center Undergraduate Research Seminar

The course is intended for Andrea Mitchell Centre Undergraduate Fellows to present their research ideas, share with the class progress on their ongoing projects, and receive constructive feedback from fellow students and the course instructor.

Not Offered Every Year

0.5 Course Units

PSCI 4991 Selected Topics in Political Science

Consult department for detailed descriptions. Recent topics include: Globalization; Race & Criminal Justice; Democracy & Markets in Postcommunist Europe.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4992 Selected Topics in Political Science (SNF Paideia Program Course)

Consult the political science department or Paideia program for detailed descriptions. More than one course make be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4993 Selected Topics in Political Science (American Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than American Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4994 Selected Topics in Political Science (International Relations)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than International Relations. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4995 Selected Topics in Political Science (Comparative Politics)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Comparative Politics. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4996 Selected Topics in Political Science (Political Theory)

Consult the department for detailed descriptions or if you think the course could count toward a subfield other than Political Theory. More than one course may be taken in a given semester.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4997 Political Science Honors

This is a mandatory seminar for all students planning to submit an honors thesis for the purpose of possibly earning distinction in Political Science upon graduation. The course is aimed at helping students identify a useful and feasible research question, become familiar with the relevant literatures and debates pertaining to that question, develop a basic understanding of what might constitute "good" and "original" research in different subfields, and set up a plan for conducting and presenting the research. The course is also aimed at building a community of like-minded student researchers, which can complement and enrich the honor student's individual experience of working one-on-one with a dedicated faculty thesis advisor. Students apply in the spring of their junior year for admissions to the honors program and enrollment in PSCI497.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 4999 Honors Thesis Independent Study

This is the honors independent study portion of the PSCI honors program. Students may apply for the program in the spring of their junior year.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5015 Black Social Movements: A Transnational Perspective

This course invites graduate students and advanced undergraduates with prior authorization to explore scholarship and primary materials on the transnational dimensions of black social movements. Recent phenomena such as the world- wide protest against the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd and the political assassination of Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco are two examples of the ways in which events involving black death in one locale resonate in multiple sites across the globe. Uprisings and demonstrations seemingly divided by language, culture and nation-state find common cause in collective action in response to patterns and instances of injustice and inequality. Course materials provide documentary evidence and analysis of the transnational circuitry of black social movement networks that have arisen in response to racisms targeting black and brown population. Members of scheduled castes in India, aboriginal populations in Australia and New Zealand, and Afro-descendent populations in the Americas and Europe, have become agents of change and forged substantive alliances and strategic coalitions with other social movement tendencies. Scholarship from social movement theory, Black Studies, comparative history and political theory help constitute the core reading for this course. Film, documentary narrative and autobiography will supplement reading assignments.

Spring

Also Offered As: AFRC 5015, LALS 5015, SOCI 5015

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5120 Latin American Politics

This graduate level course will be embedded in course PSCI/LALS 213. In other words, graduate students taking this course will have to attend lectures twice a week, but instead of discussing materials in recitations will meet with the professor either weekly (one hour) or biweekly (two hours), to discuss the main topics of the course and research questions and proposals related to the course.

Fall

Also Offered As: LALS 5120

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5160 Society and Politics in India

This course examines the experience of representative democracy in India and the country's development record in a historical framework. It will ask questions such as: How did representative democracy emerge in India, and what explains its persistence? What are the sources of its vulnerability? What kind of a sense of nationhood does this democratic experience rest upon? What are the exclusions built into this conception of nationhood? What is the relationship between India's development experience and its democratic experiment? How have India's "traditional" institutions adapted or failed to adapt to modern circumstances? Why has India performed well in certain economic sectors even while its record in providing basic social services has been dismal? How have the Indian State and its public institutions managed and coped with these changes? And how has India's self-perception about its place in the world changed in recent years, and what are its implications?

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5170 Territorial Restructuring

In the two centuries since the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the world has seen numerous partitions, secessions, annexations, and unifications, and that includes attempts, completions and repeats, but have political scientists adequately treated these features of our collective experience? This course focuses on how and why political territories are restructured, through secessions, partitions, annexations, and unifications, and with what consequences. We begin by addressing conceptual, definitional, and coding questions related to partitions, secessions, annexations, unifications, and adjacent phenomena. Then we shall review explanations of these phenomena through evaluating case studies and large-N studies (students may specialize in either, or both). We will discuss whether specific and distinctive explanations of these four phenomena are appropriate, or whether general explanations are available—and satisfying. In the cases of Ireland, British India, mandate Palestine, and Cyprus we shall review explanations, implementations, and evaluations of the consequences of the respective partitions. We shall then address cases of failed, i.e., defeated secessions, e.g., the Confederate States of America, Kurdistan, as well as successful, i.e. accomplished, secessions, e.g., Bangladesh and South Sudan. Then we shall look at explanations of the occurrence of secessionist bids, at both the macro- and micro-level. Efforts to link general theories of conflict to secessionist or non-secessionist outcomes are welcome. The final outcomes of secessionist conflicts will be considered, examining whether a stable settlement is produced, or whether conflict recurs. Historic cases of unifications are then considered e.g., nineteenth-century German and Italian unifications, possibly paired with some failed “pan-national” movements, as well as more recent cases of unification, e.g., Germany, Vietnam, failed reunifications, e.g., Cyprus, and possible future reunifications (e.g., Ireland, Korea, China-Taiwan). General literature on annexation in international law, international relations and comparative politics will be examined. Have there been any decisive trends in annexations, and are these being reversed? Creeping or incremental as well as wholesale annexations will be considered. Case studies will include American, Chinese, Israeli, Russian, and Turkish annexations. We will ask why governments choose not to annex territories they control. Normative debates will be encouraged, subject to consideration of historic evidence. This course straddles the borders between comparative politics, international relations, and political theory. Normative literature addresses whether orderly practices should be followed amid state break-ups, e.g., dividing assets, protecting citizenship rights, and border delimitation and demarcation.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5172 Russian Politics in Comparative-Historical Perspective

Course examines Russian politics, with an eye to how political, economic and social changes have been engineered, experienced, and perceived by Russians. For those with graduate standing or advanced background in Russian studies, graduate credit is available for additional readings and research to be discussed with the professor. For either version, the goal is to gain an in-depth understanding of contemporary Russia, its regime, its economy, its society, and its foreign policy (the latter being especially critical against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine). This process begins with a consideration of the historical inheritance bequeathed by the Soviet era. Thus, the first part of the course examines the origins and evolution of the Soviet regime from Lenin to Gorbachev. The point is not to master historical details but to grasp the continuities and changes in political dynamics, social conditions, and planned economic development, since some of these would shape aspects of the post-Soviet transition. The second part delves into the evolution of Russia's politics, economics, society and foreign policy, first during the early years of transition under Boris Yeltsin (1992-99), and then primarily under Vladimir Putin (2000- ). In this section, we cover Russia’s state and political system, the fluctuations in economic growth, changing social conditions over time, as well as foreign policy. In the process, we will also consider the origins and role of oligarchs, patterns of political protest, social/demographic trends and the management of Russia’s energy resources. We will also seek to better understand the shifts in Russia’s foreign policy over time and the sources of the sharp decline in US-Russia relations, with a focus on the conditions leading up to the Ukraine war and the increasing alienation of Russia from the West. In all these domains, we will consider what the empirical evidence suggests about Russia relative to conventional images as presented in the West and also in comparison to the trajectories of other non-Western countries (e.g. China, Turkey, India).

Spring

Mutually Exclusive: PSCI 1172

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5180 The Political Economy of Gender

Over the past two hundred years, with the rise industrial production, growing educational attainment, and availability of contraception, women have entered the formal labor market in vast numbers. Yet despite advances, there are still important disparities between the sexes, often exacerbated by class and racial politics. This course unpacks the elements of the transition in the political economy of gender and examines its limits. We set out to understand women's labor in emerging industrial and post-industrial economies; the causes and consequences of women's political inclusion; gendered opportunities in the labor force including the persistence of pay gaps; and the formation of economic and political preferences across the genders. Theoretically, we will engage with Marxian political economy, and new institutionalist approaches to understand how political and economic institutions reproduce or remedy contemporary problems including the gender gap in wages, in political representation, and in women's economic opportunities. Throughout the course we will pay special attention to challenges faced by minority groups and by women in developing countries.

Fall

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5200 Public Opinion & Elections

This course is designed to give advanced undergraduates and graduate students exposure to the literature on political behavior in American politics (the course is part of the departments graduate sequence in American politics). The course will cover both the classics of public opinion and political behavior from the Columbia, Michigan, and Rochester schools, as well as more current topics and debates in the literature. Topics include (but are not limited to) the early voting studies, the role of partisanship and polarization, the nature and origins of ideology, mass-elite interactions, heuristics and low information rationality, the nature of the survey response, campaign and media effects, framing effects, and the role of institutions in structuring behavior. Undergraduates are welcome in the class, but they should know that the class assumes familiarity with quantitative approaches to studying politics, and they should speak to the instructor before enrolling.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5290 Inequality & Race Policy

There is little question that inequality along the lines of race and ethnicity remain a constant problem in American society. And over time, the federal government has implemented several policy initiatives to address these inequities. However, less well understood is the success of these federal policies or the process in which they emerge from government as a viable solution. This course will provide an overview of the link between federal government action and changes in minority inequality. We will analyze several issue spaces that cover health, crime and incarceration, social policy and equal rights, education, welfare, and economics. We will take a multi-method approach to exploring the success of federal policies by conducting historical assessments and statistical analysis. Advanced undergraduates are welcome to take the course with permission.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: AFRC 5240

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5400 Borders & Boundaries in IR

This research seminar is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. It explores the meaning and consequences of borders and boundaries in international relations. How do borders, border regions, and border activities speak to national encounters with neighbors and the rest of the world? How do international borders influence war and peace between states? How do they affect international trade and development? When and how are international borders “securitized,” and how does this affect the flow of goods, people, and illicit activities around and across the border? How do states cooperate across international borders? While this course is designed primarily as a seminar in international relations, we will examine the meaning and function of boundary-making between states from multiple perspectives. Borders, border regions and border crossings have multiple significance as designations of state authority, security buffers, expressions of social meaning and opportunities for economic integration. As a seminar designed primarily to stimulate research ideas, this course will be concerned with historical and current problems relating to international borders around the world. We will concentrate on formulating interesting research questions, bringing data to bear on specific hypotheses, becoming familiar with data sources, and designing our own research. All assignments are related to developing research skills; there are no in-class exams.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5401 Human Rights

This course will examine the theoretical, historical and political foundations of contemporary human rights debates. The course will cover not only broad conceptual issues, but also specific issue areas (e.g., civil rights, economic rights, women's rights, business and human rights), as well as the question of how new rights norms emerge and diffuse in the international arena. Undergraduates are not permitted.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5450 Politics and Education

How is education a form of political action? In this course we look at the governance of schools, the trust in them and their relations to socio-economic conditions in society, among other topics, using research in education, political science, and political theory.

Fall

Also Offered As: EDUC 5451

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5680 Gender, Power & Feminist Theory

This seminar will examine the theme of power as it engages questions of sex andgender. Subsidiary themes that will be developed over the course of the semester include: the modernism/ postmodernism debate as it particularly relates to feminism; the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality and class and how feminists can and do talk about "women"; the relevance of feminist theory to policy issues, and which theoretical approaches are the most appropriate or have the most powerful potential. The readings will start with "foundational" texts in feminist theory-- texts that anyone who wants to work in or teach feminist theory needs to have in their repertoire, they set out the background and history of contemporary feminist theory, and they operate from a variety of disciplinary frameworks. We then will move onto some newer scholarship and some more specific political issues and topics, depending on what students in the course are interested in studying. This course is open to undergraduates who have had some prior course work in feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, and/or political theory, in consultation with the professor.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: GSWS 5680

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5681 Sex, Gender, History in Political Theory

This course will examine the treatment and meaning of sex and gender in selected canonical works in the history of political thought from Plato to the 20th century, as well as works by women not generally included in “the canon”. Themes to be considered include the role of women and men in the family and the state, the meanings of femininity and masculinity that emerge as a result, the role of sex in defining the family and gender, and the implications of these meanings for the different theorizations of politics and power that have developed over time.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5685 Modern Islamic Political Thought

The study of modern and contemporary political theory tends to focus on European and American thinkers. By contrast, this seminar is an advanced, reading-intensive course focused on modern and contemporary Islamic political thought. Topics and concepts covered include Muslim philosophies of history; critiques of Western imperialism; the relation between reason and revelation; the status of women; travel and knowledge; democracy and sovereignty; jihad and violence; what it means to be a Western Muslim; what the War on Terror means to American Muslims; and what makes a thinker or book “Islamic.” The course has three goals: 1) to introduce students to a rich tradition of political thought beyond the Euro-American canon of political theory; 2) to critically analyze some of the most important ideas, debates, and dilemmas that characterize modern and contemporary Islamic political thought; and 3) to engage with major figures from the recent history of Islamic political thought on as close to their own terms as possible, with an eye toward understanding their continuing political significance. Advanced undergraduates require instructor permission.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5800 Game Theory

This course provides an introduction to non-cooperative game theory and its applications to political science. The goal of the course is to provide students with the background and understanding necessary to read published game-theoretic work in political science journals. To that end, the course covers the basic concepts of game theory, including Nash equilibrium and its main refinements, simultaneous and sequential games, repeated games, evolutionary game theory, and games of incomplete and private information. In addition, we will cover some of the central models used in political science, notably models of public choice (such as the median voter theorem) and models of bargaining.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 5991 Selected Topics

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Race Development and American International Relations, Hegel and Marx, and Logic of the West.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6100 Comparative Political Analysis

This seminar is aimed primarily at graduate students planning to take doctoral exams in comparative politics. It provides a critical survey of the field of comparative politics, tracing the intellectual history of the field, examining shifts in conceptual frameworks and research traditions, and comparing alternative methodological approaches. The first half of the course generally examines how processes of political, economic, and social change have been theorized in the social sciences from the mid-19th century to the present. In this process, particular attention is paid to the bifurcation between theories that emphasize the "universal" (e.g. the homogenizing effects of specific processes or variables) and the "particular" (e.g. the persistence of distinctive historical legacies and trajectories). Since this bifurcation is reinforced by distinct styles and methods of research, the seminar also probes the recent battles between rational-choice, cultural, and structuralist scholars, while considering the trade-offs between varieties of formal, quantitative, and qualitative methods. In the second half, the focus shifts to the range of substantive problems investigated by scholars in the field of comparative politics. These topics cover the complex relations among nations, states and societies; the origins, consolidation, and patterns of democratic governance; political economy in relation to development processes and social policies; the intersection of international/global economy and domestic politics; the dynamics of revolutions and social movements; and alternative problematiques constructed from the point of view of real actors such as workers, women, and local communities. In all cases, As a whole, the course is designed to provide an introduction to important issues and debates that comparativists have regularly engaged in; to help you understand the assumptions behind, and differences between, particular approaches, methods, and styles of research; to examine whether current debates are spurring new or better research in a given field in light of past approaches; and to gauge whether there has been progress, fragmentation, or stagnation in the field of comparative politics as a whole.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6101 Great Books in Comparative Politics

This seminar has two central purposes. One is to learn from books that have shaped fundamental conversations in the field of comparative politics about the domains, concepts, and theories analyzed and presented in the texts. The other is to gain a deep and detailed appreciation of authorial strategies by examining the relationship between the organization and presentation of arguments and the motivation and claims of the authors. The fact that a book is assigned in this course does not make it “Great” in every respect. Nor does its inclusion reflect a judgment by the instructor that it represents the truth, or even a treatment of its topic that is more effective than anything else available. It does represent a judgment that it is a text whose study can help provide, refine, and/or greatly improve the cognitive maps that graduate students specializing in comparative politics are each trying to construct. The books we read will be studied under three categories: How we got here? How Things Work? and How Do We Know Things?

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6103 Identity Politics

This course is a graduate seminar intended to introduce Ph.D. students to the study of identity politics within political science. The course is primarily divided into two sections. The first section focuses on identity as a dependent variable. Each week, we read a distinct theoretical approach to the study of when, when, and how certain identities become politically salient. The second section focuses politicized identities as an independent variable. Readings in this section assess how such identities affect a range of outcomes, including policy preferences, intergroup cooperation, patronage, and violence.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6104 Political Economy of Development

This course examines the debate in development studies arising from recognition that economic models, theories, methods, and strategies abstracted from the specific experience of western societies and cultures do not have general applicability. A broader social science approach is adopted, one which emphasizes the need to understand the social structures and cultures of the developing countries, the capabilities of weak versus strong states, and the links with the international system that influence transformative processes to which industrializing economies are subjected. The readings offer an overview of the most influential theories of development and underdevelopment that structured debate from the 1960's through the 1990's,and focus on the elements of these approaches that advance understanding of development and stagnation in several key countries, including Brazil, Mexico, India and selected countries in East and Southeast Asia.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6105 Hegemonic Analysis: Theories and Applications

An important strain within contemporary political science has been the attempt to explain how power is exercised through the manipulation or exploitation of consciousness, habits, and cultural predispositions. One of the key concepts in the study of these issues is that of "hegemony" --the establishment of particular beliefs as commonsensical presumptions of political life. In this course that notion will be systematically explored. Of particular interest will be how authors who conduct hegemonic analysis cope with the problem of analyzing the effect of what the objects of their analysis, by definition, do not and, in some sense, cannot, think about. Illustrations of hegemonic phenomena and attempts to analyze them will be drawn from a variety of fields, such as political theory, historiography, comparative politics, American politics, rational choice theory,agent based modeling, and epistemology.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6106 Democracy in Comparative Perspective

This graduate seminar focuses on issues of political regime change and democratization, as studied in the comparative politics literature. The course is structured in three parts. In the first part, we scrutinize conceptualizations and measurements of democracy that are used in comparative politics. In the second part, we study political economy and comparative historical theories about the causes of democratization. We assess the relative strength of theories that focus on economic development, inequality (whether of income, land, or labor), social class actors, insurgency, institutions, and/or strategic choices and interactions. In the final part of the course, political regimes in action, we study different aspects of democratization as they relate to current and salient issues of comparative politics.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: LALS 6106

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6120 Politics and Social Movements in Contemporary Afro-Latin America

Over the past two decades there has been an explosion of research into Afro-Latin American populations in South America and the Caribbean. During this period a generation of scholars who were largely unsatisfied with the research methods and normative agendas of many scholars, activists and politicians of prior eras began to pose distinct research questions and methodological approaches to various subject matter. Afro-Latin identification and identity ( as both separate from and entangled with national identity) is a major theme in the new literature. Race, racism and inequality, Afro-Latin involvement in social movements, political parties and other forms of political articulation have also been prominent themes. In previous eras, scholars largely emphasized various iterations of purportedly racial and ostensibly cultural mixture such as Mestizaje and Democracia Racial to explain why race and racism did not play a prominent role in social and political mobilization. Contemporary sociologists and anthropologists, however, have found ways to identify attitudes, behaviors , demographic and socio-economic indicators that belie imagery and ideologies of social and political equality achieved through miscegenation (cultural and physical) in Latin America.

Fall

Also Offered As: AFRC 6560, LALS 6560

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6200 Survey of American Institutions

This course is designed to introduce students to the scholarly study of American political institutions. The course is intended for students who intend to specialize in American politics as well as those who want a basic overview of this work. It is a part of the sequence in the political science department at Penn that serves as the basic preparation for the American politics field exam and more broadly for expertise in the academic study of American politics.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6201 American Political Development

Analyzes important patterns of continuity and change in American politics by examining the development of the American State from a comparative and historical perspective. Covers issues and debates central to not only the subfield of American politics, but also the discipline of political science more broadly. These include the role of the state, political culture, interests, ideas, and institutions in politicadevelopment, and the role of history in political analysis. Open to advanced undergraduates with the permission of the instructor.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6350 Experimental Design and Issues in Causality

The main goal of this course is to familiarize students with experiments, quasi-experiments, survey experiments and field experiments as they are widely used in the social sciences. Some introductory level statistics background will be assumed, though this is a research design course, not a statistics course. By the end of the course, students will be expected to develop their own original experimental design that makes some original contribution to knowledge. Throughout the course of the semester, we will also consider how to deal with the issue of causality as it occurs in observational studies, and draw parallels to experimental research.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: COMM 6150

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6400 International Relations Theory

International Relations Theory is designed to prepare doctoral students for the political science comprehensive exam in international relations. The course focuses on the foundational concepts and theories used in the analysis of international relations (including both international security and international political economy), starting from power, anarchy, and realism, and moving through institutionalism, social constructivism, and domestic political approaches. Additional weeks of the course cover the history of the international relations discipline, the logic of inquiry in the social sciences, and fundamental topics in international relations including the causes of war, international order, international diplomacy, and the significance of public opinion for foreign policy.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6401 Strategic Studies Seminar

This seminar offers graduate students an introduction to the subfield of international relations labeled strategic studies (or security studies). In addition to exploring key theoretical issues, we consider their usefulness for understanding relevant events in international politics since World War II. Although the course emphasizes the distinctive features of great power strategy in the nuclear age, we also look at the continuing role of conventional forces, the strategic choices of lesser powers, and selected security problems in the post-Cold War world (e.g., proliferation, terrorism).

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6402 International Political Economy

Examination of the relationship between the international, political, and economic systems from a variety of theoretical perspectives that have emerged in the postwar period, including liberalism, transnationalism, statism, Marxism, and dependency.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6800 Advanced Statistical Analysis

The objective of this course is to provide Political Science Ph.D. students with statistical tools useful for making inferences about politics. We will cover fundamentals of probability theory, estimation, and hypothesis testing, emphasizing application to research questions in American Politics, positive Political Theory, Comparative Politics, and International Relations.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 6802 Qualitative Methods

This seminar is an introduction to principles of research design and to the collection and analysis of qualitative data in the social sciences. It is worth noting that many of the methods traditionally considered to be qualitative actually employ quantitative data, and vice versa; and that many of the principles underlying research design, case selection, and the process of data collection are common across empirically-oriented research methods, whether qualitative, quantitative, or formal. Hence, the course should be useful to students planning to utilize a variety of different kinds of research tools. Readings encompass theory, how-to, and examples drawn from political science and cognate social science disciplines. There are no prerequisites for the course, but some background in statistics and/or an idea of the substantive research questions you would like to pursue will be helpful.

Not Offered Every Year

1 Course Unit

PSCI 7150 Political Communication

This course examines the role of political communication in influencing political attitudes and behaviors. Because of the broad nature of the topic, course readings and lectures will be interdisciplinary, drawing on research in sociology, history, psychology, political science and communication research. There are two primary goals for the course. One goal is to acquaint graduate students with the wide-ranging literature on political communication. A second major goal is to stimulate ideas for original research in the field of political communication. Toward this end, by the end of the semester students will be expected to be sufficiently familiar with the field to propose original studies on topics of their choosing. The formulation of an original research question and research design will be an important component of the final examination.

Not Offered Every Year

Also Offered As: COMM 7150

1 Course Unit

PSCI 7290 Political Economy and Social History of Africa and the African Diaspora

This course provides the opportunity for students to investigate the relationship between the emergence of African peoples as historical subjects and their location within specific geopolitical and economic circumstances. Topics vary.

Two Term Class, Student must enter first term; credit given after both terms are complete

Also Offered As: AFRC 7100

1 Course Unit

PSCI 7800 Preparing a Disseration Prospectus

The dissertation prospectus is a requirement for successfully completing the Ph.D. in political science. The goal of this class is to help students write a draft of a dissertation prospectus. To that end, we will cover what the components of a successful dissertation prospectus are, how to identify interesting and feasible research questions, and how to develop workable theoretical and/or empirical strategies for answering those questions. The course will also cover other professional development topics that will be important for conducting many students’ dissertation research, including providing constructive feedback, working with mentors, applying for external funding, and conducting research with human subjects.

1 Course Unit

PSCI 7991 Selected Topics in Political Science

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one section may be given in a semester. Recent titles have included: Interpreting the Canon; State, Self, & Society; U.S. Policy in Europe; and Dissertation Writing.

Fall or Spring

1 Course Unit

PSCI 8050 Analysis of Election Data

This course is intended to serve as a workshop for students interested in the empirical analysis of elections, public opinion and political communication more generally. The centerpiece of the course will be an original research paper produced by each student on a topic of his or her own choosing. The requirements for these papers are fairly open, but demanding: the research papers must a) involve empirical analysis of a major election data set, b) be oriented toward answering an original research question selected with the guidance of the instructor, and c) aim to be of publishable quality. There are no formal prerequisites for the course. However, if you have less than two semesters of statistical training, and/or no formal background in the study of elections, public opinion or political communication, then this is probably not the right course for you. In order to be able to formulate an original research question, you need some background in the literature, which is provided by other courses, but is not a formal part of this course.

Fall or Spring

Also Offered As: COMM 7060

1 Course Unit

Political Science (PSCI)

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