Courses
Course Archive
Courses Winter 2003
Please find below a list of courses offered by the department during the Winter 2003 quarter.
22900. The Theory and Practice of International Cooperation. Cooperation is often difficult but it is nevertheless a central element of international politics. This course develops the theory of international cooperation moving from basic assumptions about international politics through the role of international institutions and the limitations of the analysis. Coursework will require students to apply the theory by analyzing the development (or failure) of international cooperation in some international issue area. D. Snidal. Winter.
24100. Democracy and Its Critics in Nineteenth Century Political Thought (=LLSO 29500, PLSC 24100). This course surveys developments in nineteenth-century European and American political thought, focusing on the theory and practice of democracy, and exploring its connections to such other themes as liberalism, race, empire, socialism, nationalism, the state, gender, class, and mass. The course involves close readings of important works of philosophy and political theory, as well as reconstruction of these works' historical context, including some examination of concrete political struggles over democracy. P. Markell. Winter.
24900. Insurgency and Democratization in Latin America (1960-2000). This course will analyze different instances of violent insurgency in Latin America during the second half of the 20th Century and how they affected the consolidation (or lack thereof) of democratic politics in the countries where they occurred. In order to gain comparative perspective, it will study three countries with different experiences both in their economic and political background and in their outcomes: El Salvador, Argentina and Colombia. The set of readings will draw mostly from political and economic history but no special background on these disciplines is assumed. L. Medina. Winter.
25300/36300. American Political Parties. This course is designed as an introduction to the nature and function of American political parties. We concentrate on two main themes. First, we explore the origins of the American party system. Specific topics include the origin of America's ambivalence toward political parties, the emergence of parties in the U.S., and the institutional foundations of America's two-party system. Second, we investigate the role that political parties play as intermediary institutions between the public and their elected officials. Our studies focus on the role of political parties in the organization of elections and the government. More advanced topics include political realignments, divided government, and the decline of parties hypothesis. J. Grynaviski. Winter. (B)
25800. Losers. This is a course that reads and analyses some of the texts of 19th and 20th century writers who wrote on social, political and economic problems and were important in their own time and who have had significant influence on their successors but are not included in the canon." Some of the writers we will examine are: DeMaistre, LaSalle, Frederick Douglas, Sidgewick, Spencer, William James, Sorel, and Hannah Arendt. B. Silberman. Winter.
27600/37600. War and the Nation-State. The aim of this course is to examine the phenomenon of war in its broader socio-economic context during the years between the emergence of the modern nation-state and the end of World War II. J. Mearsheimer. Winter. (D)
29100. Black Women's Political Activism (GNDR 29100). Enrollment limited to 25. This course uses the history of African American women's political activism to illuminate questions of participation in American politics. Examining the intersection and interaction of gender, race, sexuality, and class with politics in the United States this course re-conceptualizes both politics and political science. By moving black women from their historically marginal position in the curriculum to the center of our attention, we will begin to explore ways of transforming knowledge about American politics. Specific readings, discussion, and writing will explore topics such as feminism, labor activism, the civil rights movement, black power and black women in the academy. M. Harris-Lacewell. Winter.
29500/39700. International Relations: Transnationalism in a Post-Colonial World (=INST 29500/39700). Dominant conceptions in international relations privilege states by treating them as natural and excusive actors in international relations,; privilege the Western world by treating it as the center; and privilege the balance of power and deterrence by treating military force as the primary means of self-help in allegedly anarchical space beyond state frontiers. This course focuses on national and transnational civil society as the arena of action. Topics include nationalism, transnational identities generated by migration and refugee flows, environmentalism, human rights, cyber space, religions, and internal wars. Staff. Winter.
30800. Game Theory. This course introduces concepts of game theory, that is, the mathematical study of interdependent decisions, and some basic instances of its uses in political science. Its goal is to present the basic solution concepts most widely used in the literature (rationalizability, Nash equilibrium, sub-game perfect equilibrium and perfect Bayesian equilibrium, core) in a way that requires little, if any, previous mathematical background. L. Medina. Winter. (E)
31500. Political Philosophy: Rousseau (=FNDL 29200, LLSO 21500). A detailed reading of Rousseau's Social Contract. J. Cropsey. Winter. (A)
34900. American Political Behavior. M. Harris-Lacewell. Winter. (B)
37800. Political Parties and Democracy. Political parties are endogenous to democracy. This is true despite great misgivings of political theorists about the effects of parties, and despite the fact that parties are rarely the product of formal arrangements. Constitutions, for example, are generally silent on the topic of political parties. Parties also form the basis of dominance of many authoritarian regimes. Because of their pervasiveness and influence, political parties are among the most widely studied phenomena in politics. Theorists have reflected on them, and analysts studied them, since their origins in the 17th century. Given the long history of writings on parties, it is surprising that, four centuries later, many controversies remain unsettled. Why do parties arise? Why do some political systems have many parties and others just two, and what difference does this make for the quality of governance and representation? What factors shape the ideological character of parties? What is the relative weight of social cleavages versus strategic action in shaping party systems? Are parties good for citizens in democracy? Are they good for the populations of authoritarian states? Why do some parties appeal to voters by promising particular programs, whereas others use clientelist methods to mobilize electoral support? These are the kinds of questions we will address. There are two basic course requirements. One is to report to the class on a book or set of readings, and to provide to Stokes a written version of this report. Regarding the second requirement, students have a choice. They may write a traditional term paper (e.g., a critical analysis of literature, an application and extension of a theoretical approach to a case drawing from secondary literature, etc.). Or they may develop a proposal for original research, which they then carry out after the quarter ends. Students who take the second option may use the proposal to develop research towards a master's or qualifying paper. S. Stokes. Winter. (C)
37900. European Political Development. A graduate-level course that explores, in a comparative manner, the political development of Europe from modern times. The course examines the formation of European states; the rise of nationalism; the distribution and evolution of democratic, fascist and communist regimes in Europe in the 20th century; the emergence of parties and party systems at the turn of the 20th century and their transformation today; the creation and evolution of welfare states; the process of European integration. Although rooted on historical analysis, the course will put a particular emphasis on the construction of explanatory theories and their applicability to other continents and periods. C. Boix. Winter. (A)
38200. Political Socialization: Contemporary Youth Politics. The course will explore the literature on how people develop their politics, paying special attention to the participation of young people, especially those from marginal communities. C. Cohen. Winter. (B)
38600. Global Governance and Democracy (=INRE 39600). J. Mitzen. Winter.
42600. Political Responsibility (=LAWS 79701). Collective action through institutions directed at goals of maximizing freedom equity and well being for people cannot occur unless the individuals acting with and within these institutions are responsible. What does responsibility mean in the context of large scale social structures and organized action? Can we make meaningful distinctions between moral responsibility in individual interaction and political responsibility in the context of participation in political community? Is it important to see political responsibility in backward looking terms of assigning causal agency to events that have occurred, or is it more important to consider responsibilities for future transformation? Can it be argued that people in a collective share responsibility for passive assent or sharing attitudes even when they themselves have not performed harmful or unjust acts? We will discuss questions such as these through works of writers such as Hannah Arendt, Jean Paul Sartre, Larry May, Marion Smiley, Hans Jonas, Dennis Thompson, Robert Goodin, Jacques Derrida and others. I. Young. Winter. (A)
43100. Maximum Likelihood. The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the estimation and interpretation of maximum likelihood, a statistical method which permits a close linkage of deductive theory and empirical estimation. Among the problems considered in this course include: models of dichotomous choice, such as turnout and vote choice; models of limited categorical data, such as those for multi-party elections and survey responses; models for counts of uncorrelated events, such as executive orders and bookburnings; models for duration, such as the length of parliamentary coalitions or the tenure of bureaucracies; models for compositional data, such as allocation of time by bureaucrats to task and district vote shares; and models for latent variables, such as for predispositions. The emphasis in this course will be on the extraction of information about political and social phenomena, not upon properties of estimators. J. Brehm. Winter. (E)
45000. Comparative Capitalisms I. This course is a general introduction to theories of capitalist organization and development. Foundational works by Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Karl Polanyi will be reviewed in addition to more contemporary theoretical writings in neoclassical economics, economic geography, political economy and economic sociology. G. Herrigel. Winter. (C)
48100. Seminar in Comparative Politics II. This two-quarter course sequence gives graduate students exposure to the major debates, topics, and methods of comparative politics. Topics include: political development and modernization; democracy, dictatorship and regime change; revolution; ethnic mobilization and conflict; political culture and political attitudes; preference formation, social alignments, political parties, and institutions; interest intermediation; states and markets; and the comparative method. S. Kalyvas. Winter. (C)
48400. Workshop on International Security Policy. This workshop aims to provide interested members of the Chicago community with an opportunity to meet and discuss a wide range of international security topics. Special emphasis will be placed on looking at important policy issues that lend themselves to social science research. Relevant topics include: 1) NATO expansion, 2) America's grand strategy after the Cold War, 3) the rise of China, 4) nuclear proliferation, 5) the state of Russia's military, and 6) stability in the Persian Gulf. Speakers will include policymakers, as well as scholars and graduate students doing policy-relevant research. C. Glaser, J. Mearsheimer, R. Pape.
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. Winter. (C)
50300. The Just War Tradition (=RETH 44800). An exploration of the tradition of just war thinking from St. Augustine through Michael Walzer, James Turner Johnson and others. We will examine critically attempts to limit the occasions for war and the tactics and strategies deployed in war. J. Elshtain. Winter. (A)
50800. National Models of Capitalism (=GERM XXXXX). V. Wittke. Winter. (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. D. Allen, C. Larmore, P. Markell, I Young.
53000. Seminar on Great Power Politics. The specific aim of this course is to introduce students to some of the key policy issues involving the great powers that dominate the post-Cold War world. Three topics will receive special emphasis: European security, Asian security, and the role of the United States in the larger world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is expected that all students in the class will be well-versed in international relations theory, and will bring their theoretical insights to bear on the relevant policy issues. The broad goal is to encourage students to appreciate that international relations theory and important policy issues are inextricably linked to each other. J. Mearsheimer. Winter. (D)
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.
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. S. Kalyvas, L. Medina, S. Stokes, L. Wedeen.
585. Workshop on Organizations and Political Sociology. Combining political science and sociology, this workshop focuses on organizations and social networks-both the microunderpinnings of their construction (identity and exchange) and the macroconsequences of their aggregation (states and markets). This year we will focus in particular on the effect of organizational or network structure on the patterning of temporal sequence and change. J. Padgett, G. Herrigel, J. Brehm.
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.
