Courses
Course Archive
Courses Autumn 2003
Please find below a list of courses offered by the department during the Autumn 2003 quarter.
20800/32100. Machiavelli's The Prince. (=FNDL 29301) A reading of The Prince supplemented by relevant portions of Machiavelli's Discourses and Florentine Histories. Themes include princes, peoples, and elites; morality and religion; force and persuasion; war and politics; law and liberty; virtue and fortune; ancient history and modern experience; and theory and practice. N. Tarcov. Autumn. (A)
20900. The Meaning of Life. (=PHIL 21500) This course explores the nature of the most basic question we may ask ourselves: how should we lead our lives? What sort of question is this? What is involved in reflecting, not simply upon whether this action is right or that trait is admirable, but upon what a life should be like as a whole? Do we discover the meaning of life, or do we create it for ourselves? Is only the reflective life worth living? Topics also include conversion, life-plans, and fear of death. Readings from Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Nietzsche, Berlin, I. Murdoch, S. Hampshire, Rawls, B. Williams, and T. Nagel. C. Larmore. Autumn.
21103. Women and Justice: Theories of Gender Equality. (=GNDR 21101) Class limited to twenty students. This course examines feminist theories of gender equality and explores various feminist approaches to the concept of equality that have developed in the last decade. While exploring the theoretical bases of feminist perspectives on equality, we pay close attention to practical issues of gender in which the injustice of gender inequality arises. These issues include sexual harassment, pornography, work/family conflict, race, sexual orientation, the situation of care takers, and women in the Third World. H. Kim. Autumn.
21500/32500. World Politics in the Twentieth Century, 1914 to 1945. This course surveys the history of modern inter-state relations in the first half of the twentieth century, from the outset of WW I to the end of WW II. It covers both wars, the rise and defeat of Fascism, Japan's imperial expansion in Asia, the extension of imperialism and the pressures to dismantle it, the ambivalent engagement of the United States with the world, and the breakdown of international trade during the Great Depression. C. Lipson. Autumn. (D)
24810. Politics of the U.S. Congress. This course examines Congress from the perspective of the 535 senators and representatives who constitute it. It examines congressional elections, legislators' relationships with their constituents, lawmakers' dealings in and with committees, and representatives' give-and-take with congressional leadership, the executive, and pressure groups. M. Hansen. Autumn.
27200/52300. Florentine Republicanism I: Political Theory. This is the first in a two-course sequence on republican theory and practice in Renaissance Florence. This term is devoted to the political writings of the two giants of Florentine republicanism: Francesco Guicciardini and Niccolo Machiavelli. Readings include Machiavelli's The Prince, and Discourses on Livy; and Guicciardini's Maxims and Dialogue on Florentine Government; as well as both authors' recommendations for reforming the constitution of Florence. Themes include the relationship between the person and the polity; the compatibility of moral and political virtue; the utility of class conflict; the advantages of mixed institutions; the principles of self-government, deliberation, and participation; and the question of military conquest. J. McCormick. Autumn. (A)
27500/37500. Organizational Decision Making. (=SOCI 35000) This course is an examination of the process of decision making in modern complex organizations such as universities, schools, hospitals, business firms, and public bureaucracies. The course also considers the impact of information, power, resources, organizational structure, and the environment, as well as alternative models of choice and other implications. J. Padgett. Autumn. (B)
28000/38000. Organization, Ideology, and Political Change. This course centers on the comparative analysis of the emergence and institutionalization of public bureaucracies in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the former Soviet Union. The aim is to see whether there are distinctly different patterns of organizational rationality or whether bureaucracies are all culturally unique. B. Silberman. Autumn. (C)
29000/39800. Introduction to International Relations. This course introduces the main themes in international relations, including the problems of war and peace, and conflict and cooperation. The course begins by considering some basic theoretical tools used to study international politics. It then focuses on several prominent security issues in modern international relations, such as the cold war and post-cold war world, nuclear weapons, arms control, and nationalism. The last part deals with economic aspects of international relations. It concentrates on issues where politics and economics are closely intertwined: world trade, foreign investment, environmental pollution, and European unification. C. Lipson. Autumn. (D)
29400/39400. International Relations: Perspectives on Conflict and Cooperation. (=INST 29400/37400) This course examines a number of competing approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in the international system. Lectures introduce the Westphalian states system, great power war and production of order in anarchic system, the hierarchical power relations that underlie international independence and the ways in which the Westphalian system is challenged by non-state security threats, global civil society and supranational governance. J. Mitzen. Autumn.
30500. 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. C. Cohen. Autumn. (E)
32200. Urban Politics/Voting Behavior. This course examines two topics normally not studied in conjunction within American politics: urban politics and voting behavior. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the literatures in these two areas and ultimately to prompt students to develop their own theories of what drives voting choices in local elections. The first half of the course will focus on studies of urban politics, examining topics such as what has driven the development of metropolitan areas, who has power in local affairs, how land, capital, and labor drive political decisions, and the impact of race, ethnicity, and gender in local politics. The second half of the class examines American voting behavior and what factors influence the choices voters make. Topics will include what influences voter turnout and participation, the origins of party identification, and the impact of issues, race and ideology on vote choice. In the final part of the course, students will integrate these two areas of inquiry and think about what drives voting in local elections and what role local elections have in the functioning of democracy within metropolitan areas. E. Oliver. Autumn. (B)
38310. Global Governance. International relations theorists assume a world of anarchy, but there is an ever-thickening layer of international institutions that take on governance functions in world politics. Are these governance structures routinizing international politics? What factors determine the effectiveness and outcome of global governance? The course will also examine the extent to which non-state actors contribute to the phenomenon, the role of international law in buttressing such structures, and whether global governance is compatible with U.S. hegemony. D. Drezner. Autumn. (D)
46000. Sources of International Relations. This course in international relations theory builds on students' prior graduate training to explore four distinct but overlapping sources of international order: coercion, norms, institutions, and contractual bargains. Students will discuss and critique existing literature in all four areas and write a major paper. The course presumes students have had some prior coursework at the graduate level in international relations theory, security studies, or international political economy. C. Lipson. Autumn. (D)
49400. Nations and Nationalism. (=HIST 61100) This course explores the recent literature on the formation of nations and the development of nationalism, with attention to other forms of subnational and supranational organization and identity (e.g., class, diaspora, empire). The shift from more structuralist and social determinations of nationhood to discursive and constructivist approaches will be investigated, as well as the intersection of nationality and "race" with gender and class. Some readings will focus on ethnic conflict, its causes, consequences, and possible resolution. R. Suny. Autumn. (C)
50600. Japanese Political Institutions. B. Silberman. Autumn. (C)
52000. Political Theory Workshop. (=SCTH 52000) 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, J. McCormick. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
52500. Contemporary Democratic Theory. This graduate seminar interrogates recent theoretical approaches to the theory and practice of popular government. In particular, it will focus on a number of tensions in the literature: between minimalist and participatory models; state-centered versus civil-society-focused approaches; emphases on class and identity; theories that prioritize rights as opposed to popular will, among others. Readings include Przeworski, Dahl, Putnam, Shapiro, Skocpol, Sandel, Young, and Pettit. J. McCormick. Autumn. (A)
52600. Natural Law. C. Larmore. Autumn. (A)
54600. Workshop on East Asia. (=ECON 57100) 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. D. Zhao. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
55300. Workshop on Political Economy. The Workshop in Political Economy is organized around rational choice and game theoretic approaches to the study of politics and economies, broadly construed. Workshop topics include positive analysis of political, economic and social behavior, as well as normative models of public choice, experimental tests and philosophical critiques. We also expect some of the work presented to focus on empirical and policy applications of political economy models. Thus the workshop is inherently interdisciplinary - combining economic methodology with political science questions, and building political considerations into economic analysis. Workshop sessions will apply these combinations to a broad range of social science issues and substantive topics. S. Gailmard, J. Grynaviski, J. Milyo, R. Myerson, D. Snidal. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
55500. Workshop on Comparative Politics. 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. C. Boix, L. Medina, L. Wedeen. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
57200. Social Networks. This seminar explores the sociological utility of the network" as a unit of analysis. How do the patterns of social ties in which individuals are embedded differentially affect their ability to cope with crises, their decisions to move or change jobs, their eagerness to adopt new attitudes and behaviors? The seminar group will consider (a) how the network differs from other units of analysis, (b) structural properties of networks, (c) consequences of flows (or content) in network ties, and (d) dynamics of those ties. J. Padgett. Autumn. (E)
59300/59400/59500. 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. C. Lipson, D. Snidal. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
