Courses
Course Archive
Courses Autumn 2000
Please find below a list of courses offered by the department during the Autumn 2000 quarter.
201/304. Athenian Democracy and Its Critics (=AncSt 201, ClCiv 301, PolSci 201/304). This course analyzes the workings of Athenian democracy and the criticisms directed at that type of regime by the city's playwrights, orators, and philosophers. We look at institutional history, law court speeches, and tragedy to uncover the ways in which the Athenian democrats understood concepts crucial to their politics: for example, equality, rhetoric, autonomy, anger, gender relations, slavery, law, and reciprocity. We also discuss texts that take positions critical of the democracy's policies and/or of its conceptions of justice (e.g., Thucydides, Euripides, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato). D.S. Allen. Autumn.
250/351. Comparative Politics of Latin America (=PolSci 351). This course introduces major theories of Latin American political and social change, and the political systems of three countries. We focus on the determinants and dynamics of regime change in Latin America. Why do some democracies succumb to military takeover? And why in the past fifteen years did most military governments in Latin America fall? Do regimes fall under economic stress? If popular movements play a role in ousting dictatorships, are they driven by economic demands or do they value democracy as an end in itself? What is the quality of the democracies that have succeeded Latin American dictatorships? We first read general studies of modernization and political change and then focus on these issues as they worked themselves out in Chile, Mexico, and Nicaragua. S. Stokes. Autumn. (C)
259/356. Japanese Politics (=PolSci 356). This course is a survey of the major aspects of Japanese politics: party politics, bureaucracy, the diet, and political behavior in post-World War II Japan. B. Silberman. Autumn. (C)
267/467. From Reform to Revolution: Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse (=PolSci 476). This course, based on a weekly lecture and discussion of common readings, will look at the ways in which the Soviet state is constructed and maintained, and how its leaders attempted to reform the system. The lectures will cover the period 1945 to 1991 with emphasis on the Gorbachev years (1985-1991) and the variety of theories on the fall of Soviet "socialism." R. Suny. Autumn. (C)
294/374. International Relations: Perspectives on Conflict and Cooperation (=IntStd 294/374, PolSci 294/374, SocSci 204). PQ: Class limited to sixty students; preference given to students with third- or fourth-year standing. This introductory course provides multiple perspectives on international conflict and cooperation. Initial lectures provide a basic grounding in international relations theory. Subsequent lectures provide contrasting perspectives on major themes in international politics and IR theory. These lectures are offered by different members of the university faculty, introducing major topics of their research and teaching. The course is a combination of lectures (one per week) and seminar discussions (one per week). P. Kapur. Autumn.
301. Math for Political Scientists. Topics in mathematics frequently encountered in political science applications. Topics include functions and sets, calculus of a single variable, linear algebra, calculus of many variables, optimization, probability and decision theory. No prerequisites but assumes algebra. M. Hansen, D. Snidal. Autumn.
302. Political Economy of Public Policy (=PubPol 308). A survey of formal political analysis on game theory, collective action, the Arrow problems, and elections. D. Snidal. Autumn. (E)
305. Introduction to Data Analysis. This course is an introduction to the research methods practiced by quantitative political scientists. The first part lays out the enterprise of empirical research: the structure and content of theories, the formulation of testable hypotheses, the logic of empirical tests, and the consideration of competing hypotheses. The second part considers the implementation of empirical research: the potential barriers to valid inferences, the strengths and limitations of research designs, and empirical representations of theoretical constructs. The final part provides hands-on experience with the two kinds of analyses most frequently performed by quantitative political researchers: contingency tables and regression. M. Dawson. Autumn. (E)
329. Max Weber. This course considers Max Weber in text and context, reading selected works and examining the personal, cultural and political environment to which he responded. It emphasises the contradictory nature of his thought, treating the contradictions as characteristic rather than accidental and recuperable. We focus on his use of modes of thought common in his time, such as dichotomization of modern and traditional orientations, which made him a lead spokesman for modernity and modernization theory; and the cultural fatalism which made him, on the other hand, a critic of modernity. We try to locate him in the political history of his time, examining his liberal individualism and his tone-deafness to possibilities of democratic political participation. And we explore his constructivist methodological perspective, as well as his unconvincing attempt to save aspects of an "objective" social science. Course material includes biographical, cultural, and historical writing bearing on his intellectual context, and selected texts. S. Rudolph. Autumn. (A)
331. The Self (=Philos 331, PolSci 331). This course focuses on the nature of self-knowledge and on the role which self-interpretation plays in the constitution of the self. Readings range from Montaigne and Fichte to contemporary authors such as Charles Taylor and Donald Davidson. C. Larmore. Autumn. (A)
339. Human Rights I (=Hist 293/393, GS Hum 287/316, HumRts 201/301, IntRel 316, Law 412, MAPH 400, Law 412, LL/Soc 251, Philos 316, PolSci 339). This course deals with the philosophical foundations of human rights. The foundations bear on basic conceptual and normative issues. We examine the various meanings and components of human rights and the subjects, objects, and respondents of human rights. We ask questions such as: Who has the rights? What they are rights to? Who has the correlative duties? What methods of argument and implementation are available in this area? The practical implications of these theoretical issues are also explored. M. Green. Autumn.
349. American Political Behavior. This course provides a thorough introduction to American political behavior. We will address concerns such as voter turnout and voter choice, political interest, efficacy, and public opinion. This course will provide both a solid grounding in the "classics" of behavioral work and provide insight into the current research in American political behavior. Readings and discussion will highlight voting behavior, the rise of distrust, disinterest, and inefficacy; the formation of party attachments; political attitudes and sophistication; ideology; the influence of the media; and the centrality of race in American politics. We will spend considerable time on analysis of the 2000 elections as they unfold during the quarter. This is a seminar course with a considerable reading load and discussion requirement. M. Harris-Lacewell. Autumn. (B)
378. Political Parties and Democracy. More countries in the world today are democracies than ever before, and political parties are at the center of the political life of every electoral democracy. They mobilize voters, recruit candidates, organize legislative processes, and forge political identities. Yet huge debates swirl around political parties. Are governments more responsive to citizens when parties are strong or when they are weak? Why do parties persist if voters in most regions are less and less attached to them? And how are we to conceptualize political parties? Are they teams which attempt to elect members, alliances of office-seeking leaders and ideologically driven militants, cabals of incumbent office-holders who would rather retain office than extend their parties' hold in the legislature? This course covers a large body of literature on political parties and democracy. It is not confined by region, drawing on studies from new and old democracies alike. We will study classics as well as recent theoretical advances on the nature of parties and their effect on democracy, as well as a large range of case studies. The course is designed to meet the needs of students in comparative politics, American politics, and those interested in political economy. S. Stokes. Autumn. (C)
383. Political Economy for Postmoderns. This course discusses how to represent political economy and forms of argument. Doctrines from classical through Marxian to modern capitalist and beyond. The relationship between "liberalization" and democracy including sequencing and problems of "transition" with special reference to Eastern Europe, India and China. Readings include McCloskey, Polanyi, Hirschman, and Sen. L. Rudolph. Autumn. (C)
390. Global Justice. Are obligations of justice confined to members of a single society or nation-state or do they extend to relations among distant peoples? This course will consider arguments on both sides, but take a position that obligations of justice should be thought of as global in scope. It will then consider theories of global districtive justice, cosmopolitan democracy, moral responsibility and Third World debt, international ethics and environment, human rights. Among authors read will likely be: Immanuel Kant, David Miller, Onora O'Neill, John Rawls, Jurgen Habermas, Thomas Pogge, Alan Wood, David Held, and Kathleen Newland. I. Young. Autumn. (A)
430. Law and Social Science. G. Rosenberg. Autumn. (B)
431. Maximum Likelihood. J. Brehm. Autumn.
439. Mill (=Phil ). Enrollment will be limited to 25. A careful study of Mill's utilitarianism in relation to his ideas of self-realization and of liberty. We will study closely at least Utilitarianism, On Liberty, the essays on Bentham and Coleridge, The Subjection of Women, and the Autobiography, trying to figure out whether Mill is a Utilitarian or an Aristotelian eudaimonist, and what view of "permanent human interests" and of the malleability of desire and preference underlies his political thought. M. Nussbaum. Autumn.
471. Plutarch's Lives (=SocTh ). N. Tarcov. Autumn. (A)
487. Culture, Practice and Social Change (=Hist 665). Most theories of culture are better suited for explaining social stasis than social change; indeed, they often see social change as somehow originating outside the cultural realm--for example, from social breakdowns, economic changes, or contact with other societies. The goal of this class will be to build change into the theory of culture--in part by insisting that culture be conceptualized as practical activity. The readings will include both theoretical works and concrete investigations of social change. W. Sewell. Autumn. (C)
512. Workshop on Law and Philosophy (=Law 615, Philos 512, DivRe 513). This workshop, which represents a fusion of the faculty law-philosophy group and the existing legal theory workshop, will meet throughout the year, on alternate Mondays, with a total of about twelve meetings, mostly in the fall and winter. There will be a theme running throughout the year, and we will pursue that theme through both philosophical and legal readings, with a range of visiting speakers and some sessions directed by local faculty. The theme in 2000-01 will be Global Justice. We will pursue legal and philosophical readings on the topic, both historical and recent, and examine the significance of philosophical work on the topic for issues in constitutional law, criminal law, and other areas. Sessions will be led by the following people: Fall: Randall Kennedy (Harvard), John Deigh (Northwestern), Richard Mohr (Illinois-Urbana), Charles Fried (Harvard), Catharine MacKinnon (Chicago and Michigan), Joshua Cohen (MIT). Winter: Richard Posner (Chicago), Candace Vogler (Chicago), Jonathan Lear (Chicago), Tom Grey (Stanford), Martha Nussbaum (Chicago). Spring: Andy Koppelman (Northwestern), Reva Siegel (Yale), Michael Warner (Rutgers), Ed Baker (Penn, visiting at Chicago), Anita Allen (Penn). This workshop will meet throughout the year, on alternate Mondays from 4 to 6 PM, with a total of about 14 meetings. The schedule is currently available from Martha Nussbaum's secretary Shirley Evans. Students will write short responses to each presentation, and a longer seminar paper. Enrollment is limited to law students and philosophy Ph.D. students, and numbers are limited. Law students who wish to enroll should contact David Strauss, and philosophy students should contact Martha Nussbaum, by October 1. M. Nussbaum, D. Strauss. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
517. State Formation I: Historical Comparisons. This course examines forms of stateness, their varieties and determinants. We look at practice, language and ideas in Europe and Asia using historical and anthropological perspectives. Two competing metaphors have guided the state formation story, the monopoly sovereignty of the nation state and the shared sovereignty of the multi-cultural empire. In Europe, this means re-examining the parcellated and layered sovereignty of the medieval era. It also means examining those post-renaissance states which managed to save and sustain the municipal, regional and corporate autonomies characteristic of medieval polities, that is, to sustain shared sovereignty in face of the absolutist state's drive to concentrate and centralize power. Beyond Europe, it means turning to the multi-cultural empires which provided the dominant form of Asia polity from the 12th to the 19th century-Ottomans, Chinese, Safavids, Mughals, British India, with a comparative eye on the last of the European empires, the Hapsburgs, and Eurasian Russia. The course will also attend to the phenomenon of failing and fading states, as the global and local gain at the expense of the national. Readings will include Nettl, Rice, Bloch, Perry Anderson, Spruiyt, Schama, Downing (Europe); Tambiah, Geertz (South East Asia); Hanson (Central Asia); Inalcik (Ottomans); Stein, Eaton, Streusand (Southern and Mughal India); Kaviraj, Winichakal (Theory). L. Rudolph, S. Rudolph. Autumn. (C)
520. Political Theory Workshop (=SocTh 520). The workshop is a forum for the presentation of new research in all varieties of political theory and political philosophy, including work in the history of political thought; contributions to normative political philosophy; theoretical engagements with problems in contemporary politics and public policy; and theoretical reflection on fundamental political concepts or phenomena. Our weekly seminars include presentations of work in progress by graduate students, as well as University of Chicago faculty, faculty at other Chicago-area institutions, and a small number of invited guests from around the country. Graduate students serve as discussants for all presentations. The Workshop subscribes to no particular methodology or political ideology, and welcomes participants from all departments and disciplines. C. Larmore, J. Levy, P. Markell, N. Tarcov, I Young. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
528. U.S. Foreign Economic Policy (=PubPol 428). This course provides an analytical foundation for understanding a range of foreign economic policy issues now confronting the United States. It begins by asking why U.S. officials pursue the trade and foreign investment policies they do: To what extent are their choices dictated by societal forces (e.g., the mobilization of interest groups), international pressures (e.g., the end of the Cold War), and/or the structure of American political institutions (e.g., separation of powers)? The second part of the course reviews the current debate over "competitiveness," asking why - or, indeed, whether - the U.S. government should take an active role in trying to promote it. The remainder of the course assesses various unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral strategies that might be used for this purpose. Topics here include the relationship between global economic liberalization and the creation of regional trade blocs, the emergence and design of supranational dispute resolution mechanisms, and the institutional politics of the USTR. L. Gruber. Autumn.
535. Managing Globalization (=PubPol 427). Economic interdependence among nations has increased dramatically during the past 50 years. While this has raised living standards in many countries, it has also given rise to new social, economic, and political tensions. This course offers an analytical framework for thinking about whether, when, and how government intervention might be used to ease the dislocations created by the continuing spread of market forces. The course begins by exploring alternative theoretical approaches and then proceeds through a series of empirical cases. Topics to be covered include: the growing enthusiasm for supranational trade and monetary institutions; the merits of shock therapy vs. gradualism; and the effects of market integration on the autonomy of individual countries as well as the balance of power among different societal and political actors within them. L. Gruber. Autumn.
545. American Politics Workshop. This workshop explores recent work in a variety of the subdisciplines of American politics. Our agenda is as diverse as the interests of our participants, ranging from the "new institutionalism" in both its historical and formal varieties, to studies of agenda setting, to quantitative studies of the electoral process. We are catholic in our substantive and methodological approaches. Sessions include paper presentations by workshop participants, readings and discussions of important new work, and several presentations by visiting scholars. M. Dawson, M. Hansen, M. Harris-Lacewell, G. Rosenberg. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
546. Workshop on East Asia. (=Econ 571). This workshop focuses on current social science research on East Asian societies, including the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Presentations are by university faculty and advanced graduate students who conduct research on these societies, throughout the social science disciplines. Two to three outside speakers are hosted each quarter. D. Yang, B. Silberman. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
550. Workshop on Nations and Nationalism (=Hist, Soc, Anthro). The workshop serves as a multidisciplinary forum for the presentation and discussion of advanced research on nationalism, national identity, nation-formation, ethnonational violence, and related topics. The workshop welcomes participants and papers from diverse disciplines and methodologies. We also intend to connect theory and practice by involving policymakers, journalists, and others outside the academic community who might benefit from an increased understanding of the role and nature of the national in politics and society. R. Suny, L. Wedeen, N. Abu El-Haj. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
555. Workshop on Comparative Politics and Historical Sociology. This workshop invites scholars whose work is historical, sociological, anthropological, and political to cultivate a forum that is highly interdisciplinary in nature. We have addressed issues such as state building, democratic theory, economic policy, the welfare state, and cultural cleavages in past years. We invite graduate students with area expertise to raise theoretical issues about their data and interpretations that would be of interest to a wider circle of social scientists. As in the past, there will be no particular geographic or temporal focus in the workshop. S. Stokes, L. Wedeen. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
559. Theory and Practice in South Asia. The workshop will focus on ongoing work in the two regions. Topics of special interest include state formation, associational life, the politics of religion and ethnicity, political economy, and foreign policy. The workshop is primarily addressed to advanced graduate students in the social sciences, but the treatment of some topics may be of interest to students of history, literature, and comparative religion. Presentations will include the work in progress of graduate students, occasional guests, and faculty members. L. Rudolph, S. Rudolph.Autumn, Winter, Spring.
593. Workshop on International Relations. Part of the Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security (PIPES), this is a yearlong workshop for advanced graduate students engaged in their own research projects in international relations. PIPES meetings provide a forum for advanced graduate students, university faculty, and outside guests to present their research. Topics include the full range of international politics and theory, including political economy, security studies, foreign policy, international law and organizations, international environmental issues, critical international relations theory, and a wide variety of regional issues. This work is methodologically diverse, encompassing historical research, mathematical modeling, quantitative studies, and interpretive approaches. D. Snidal. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
652. Comparative Bureaucracy. An examination and analysis of the theoretical and empirical literature on national-level public and private bureaucratic organizations in Japan, Great Britain and the U.S. B. Silberman. Autumn. (C)
