Course Archive for 2016-17

Course Description Archive for 2016-17

Undergraduate Courses

PLSC 20721. Violence and Development in Africa. 100 Units.
Why are many African states weak, poor, and conflict-prone? This course examines how institutions in sub-Saharan Africa shape both economic development and political violence. In the first part of the course, we examine the long-run effects of the slave trade, colonialism and decolonization on contemporary politics. In the second part, we examine the political economy of African civil wars. We focus on how patterns of state-building shape conflict onset and the emergence of conflict economies. We discuss the extent to which contemporary African conflicts are characterized by violent entrepreneurship and how wartime economies shape conflict termination and post-conflict outcomes. We will focus on five main case studies: the Niger Delta conflict, electoral violence in Kenya, the Somali civil war, the Congo Wars, and conflict in South Sudan. 
Instructor(s): I. Hock     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 20725. On Condoned Violence: from Punishment to Pleasure. 100 Units.
This course offers students an introduction to issues surrounding the ways in which punishment and violence have been justified in the Western tradition. The readings address condoned violence broadly understood, covering a wide array of practices that produce suffering, but are considered justifiable to one degree or another by states or societies: judicial punishment, incarceration, the death penalty, pornography, and industrial farming practices, among others. By considering how such forms of violence are justified, the course aims to critically approach the notion that human societies are generally moving towards greater kindness and empathy. This seminar will bring together texts from political theory, legal theory, comparative politics, alongside several other “cultural attachés.”
Instructor(s): Y. Blajer de la Garza     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 21006. Political Economy of Inequality. 100 Units.
This seminar explores political consequences of economic inequality. The course will focus primarily on political reactions to economic inequality in the context of democracies. Does economic inequality always matter for politics? When does it become a salient issue in politics and how? What kind of effects does economic inequality have on political outcomes such as redistribution and regime change? Why is it that economic inequality is met in some democracies and at some times with discontent and in other democracies and at other times with tolerance? We will study some of the most compelling political and economic arguments in investigating these questions. We will also cover a variety of research methodologies including conducting interviews, participant observation, surveys and case studies, coding qualitative data and using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Instructor(s): Y. Lee     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 21812. Global Ethics. 100 Units.
This course examines different theories of global justice that have been developed by political theorists since the 1980s. It explores how these theories have answered urgent moral questions in international affairs, with a particular focus on global poverty and inequality. Addressed questions will include the following: What does justice require at the global level? Does the very idea of global justice make sense? Are economic inequalities between countries morally objectionable? What do affluent countries (and their citizens) owe to less affluent countries (and their citizens)? Does nationality have moral significance? Are we morally permitted, or even required, to prioritize the interests of our compatriots over the interests of foreigners? Do states have a right to exclude immigrants? How should the burdens of mitigating climate change be distributed across countries? We will address these questions by reading and critically assessing important texts written by leading scholars within the field of political theory and applied ethics, including John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, Charles Beitz, Peter Singer, Simon Caney, David Miller, and Thomas Pogge.
Instructor(s): C. Cordelli     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 22110. Black Politics in the U.S. 100 Units.
No description available.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 22210. Roman Philosophers on the Fear of Death. 100 Units.
All human beings fear death, and it seems plausible to think that a lot of our actions are motivated by it. But is it reasonable to fear death? And does this fear do good (motivating creative projects) or harm (motivating greedy accumulation, war, and too much deference to religious leaders)? Hellenistic philosophers, both Greek and Roman, were preoccupied with these questions and debated them with a depth and intensity that make them still highly influential in modern philosophical debate about the same issues (the only issue on which one will be likely find discussion of Lucretius in the pages of The Journal of Philosophy). The course will focus on several major Latin writings on the topic: Lucretius De Rerum Natura Book III and extracts from Cicero and Seneca. We will study the philosophical arguments in their literary setting and ask about connections between argument and its rhetorical expression. In translation we will read pertinent material from Plato, Epicurus, Plutarch, and a few modern authors such as Thomas Nagel, John Fischer, and Bernard Williams.
Instructor(s): M. Nussbaum     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Ability to read the material in Latin at a sufficiently high level, usually about two years at the college level.
Equivalent Course(s): CLCV 24716,CLAS 34716,LAWS 96305,RETH 30710,PHIL 30710,PLSC 32210,PHIL 20710

PLSC 22402. Florentine Political Thought. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to the political writings of the giants of medieval and Renaissance Italian and specifically Florentine political thought: Petrarch, Salutati, Bruni, Bracciolini, Savonarola, Guicciardini, and, of course, Machiavelli.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor required.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 52402,LLSO 22402

PLSC 22710. Electoral Politics in America. 100 Units.
This course explores the interactions of voters, candidates, the parties, and the media in American national elections, chiefly in the campaign for the presidency, both in nominating primaries and in the November general election. The course will examine how voters learn about candidates, how they perceive candidates, how they come to turn out to vote, and how they decide among the candidates. It will examine the strategies and techniques of electoral campaigns, including the choices of campaign themes and the impact of campaign advertising. It will consider the role of campaign contributors and volunteers, the party campaign organizations, campaign and media polls, and the press. Finally, it will assess the impact of campaigns and elections on governing and policymaking.
Instructor(s): M. Hansen     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 22710

PLSC 22913. The Practice of Social Science Research. 100 Units.
This is a first course in empirical research as it is practiced across a broad range of the social sciences, including political science. It is meant to enable critical evaluation of statements of fact and cause in discussions of the polity, economy, and society. One aim is to improve students' ability to produce original research, perhaps in course papers or a senior thesis. A second objective is to improve students' ability to evaluate claims made by others in scholarship, commentary, or public discourse. The specific research tools that the course develops are statistical, but the approach is more general. It will be useful as a guide to critical thinking whether the research to be evaluated, or to be done, is quantitative or not. Above all, the course seeks to demonstrate the use of empirical research in the service of an argument.
Instructor(s): P. Conley     Terms Offered: Autumn,Winter,Spring

PLSC 23010. Liberalism and Empire. 100 Units.
The evolution of liberal thought coincided and intersected with the rise of European empires, and those empires have been shaped by liberal preoccupations, including ideas of tutelage in self-government, exporting the rule of law, and the normativity of European modernity. Some of the questions this course will address include: how was liberalism, an apparently universalistic and egalitarian theory, used to legitimate conquest and imperial domination? Is liberalism inherently imperialist? Are certain liberal ideas and doctrines (progress, development, liberty) particularly compatible with empire? What does, or what might, a critique of liberal imperialism look like? Readings will include historical works by authors such as Locke, Mill, Tocqueville, and Hobson, as well as contemporary works of political theory and the history of political thought (by authors such as James Tully, Michael Ignatieff, David Kennedy, and Uday Mehta).
Instructor(s): J. Pitts     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 23010,LLSO 25903,PLSC 33010,KNOW 21401

PLSC 23415. Emergence of Capitalism in Early Modern Europe. 100 Units.
This course investigates the emergence of capitalism in Europe and the world as a whole between the early sixteenth and the late eighteenth centuries. We discuss the political and cultural as well as the economic, sources of capitalism, and explore Marxist, neoclassical, and cultural approaches.
Instructor(s): W. Sewell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23300,HIST 33300,LLSO 23415,PLSC 32815

PLSC 23501. International Political Economy. 100 Units.
What explains a government’s decision to block a trade deal, prevent foreign investors from gaining control of a local factory, or ban the export of rare earth minerals? This course develops theory and evidence that these decisions reflect domestic and international politics. We will discuss the political dimension of the integration of the global economy and the way that globalization separates workers, business, and consumers. Drawing on methods and theory from international political economy, we will critically examine the prospects for international cooperation on trade and immigration, as well as the future of international governance.
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 24401. Herodotus and Thucydides: History and Politics. 100 Units.
In this course we read Herodotus and Thucydides not only as historians but as political thinkers. The course will be organized around an intensive engagement with two central texts: Herodotus’ Histories and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. As we read through these works, we will also take up the wider historical and political context—e.g., the fifth-century rise of Athenian democracy and imperialism—and the relationship between our texts and other genres, including philosophy, drama, and rhetoric. The aim of the course is not only to give students a close familiarity with our two authors and some of the scholarship surrounding them, but also, more broadly, to think through the relationship between political theory and history. How might political theory guide the writing of history, and how can history contribute to theorizing politics? What can our reading of Herodotus and Thucydides tell us about how to think about these questions in different eras and contexts?
Instructor(s): M. Landauer     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 34401,FNDL 24403

PLSC 24402. Greek Political Thought. 100 Units.
This course is designed to help students in political theory and related fields think about—and do—the history of political thought by recovering the strangeness of ancient democracy and its critics. It is an advanced survey of the political thought of classical Athens with particular emphasis on the cultural, institutional, and poetic practices through which Athenians enacted democracy and questioned its assumptions and effects. In sixth century Athens, the notion that the people could and should rule themselves—not by virtue of wealth, property, or family name but simply by birth—served as a radical rejection of the longstanding view that political power belonged in the hands of the few (the wealthy, propertied, and elite). We contextualize the dramatic poetry, philosophy, oratory, and history that emerged in the subsequent century or so, under conditions of expanding and contracting empire. We read them as critical reflections on what life was like under this new political arrangement and ask to what extent the works of Thucydides, Aristophanes, Euripides, and Plato can be said to constitute the birth of political theory as an idea and a practice.
Instructor(s): D. Kasimis, M. Landauer     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 34402

PLSC 24410. The World of Dictatorships. 100 Units.
The persistence of many authoritarian regimes since the end of the Cold War has inspired a major new literature in comparative politics on how non-democracy works. This mixed graduate-undergraduate class for MA and College students considers some conceptual and theoretical issues and debates in this new wave of research, such as: How should authoritarian regimes, including so-called “hybrid regimes,” best be classified? What kind of institutions makes authoritarianism more or less stable and durable? How do these regimes try to generate compliance and support? Why do so many of them hold elections and convene parliaments? What economic factors tend to bolster or undermine dictatorship? And how do they both extract support and deflect threats from their international environment?
Instructor(s): D. Slater     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 34410

PLSC 24805. Legitimacy and Political Institutions. 100 Units.
Legitimacy is key to successful governance. This course will consider what makes people perceive government decisions (and, ultimately, the government itself) as legitimate, or as being "appropriate, proper, and just." We will focus on four characteristics of political institutions—access, accountability, efficiency, and fairness—and how they affect individuals' feelings toward government officials and their decisions. We will compare the challenges faced by democratic and authoritarian governments as well as those faced by new versus established governments. Specific topics that will be discussed include the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), the politics of austerity and bailouts in the European Union, and local law enforcement and public education in the United States.
Instructor(s): J. Patty     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 24805

PLSC 24902. Democratic Accountability and Transparency. 100 Units.
Diagnoses of democratic failings, from the influence of money in politics to abuses of police power, often come with a promised solution: Our institutions need to be more "accountable" and "transparent." But what do these concepts really mean—and how much of a difference do they really make? We'll begin by considering the ways in which fears of tyrannical, arbitrary, unaccountable rule have long been central to democratic political thought and practice. But we'll spend most of our time on contemporary issues and problems. How should we conceive of accountability, both conceptually and normatively? Are elections sufficient to make politicians accountable to ordinary citizens? What forms of accountability are appropriate for modern democratic politics? Is accountability only for elites, or should ordinary citizens be accountable to one another? In what contexts are transparency and accountability valuable, and when might we instead find their operation counter-productive and troubling? In addition to philosophical readings, we consider a variety of real-world cases, from Wikileaks to Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.
Instructor(s): M. Landauer     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 25205. Racial Justice and Injustice. 100 Units.
The course will explore moral and political problems of racial justice and injustice. Topics may include antidiscrimination theory, the fair political representation of racial minorities, reparations for racial injustice, racial segregation, the use of racial preferences in various practices of selection, and the evaluation of practices of law enforcement and punishment. We will use reflections on particular problems such as these to inquire about the uses of racial concepts in political theory; the connections between racial justice and ostensibly more general conceptions of justice; and the connections between racial equality and other egalitarian ideals.
Instructor(s): J. Wilson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 35205

PLSC 25215. The American Presidency. 100 Units.
This course examines the institution of the American presidency. It surveys the foundations of presidential power, both as the Founders conceived it, and as it is practiced in the modern era. This course also traces the historical development of the institutional presidency, the president's relationships with Congress and the courts, the influence presidents wield in domestic and foreign policymaking, and the ways in which presidents make decisions in a system of separated powers.
Instructor(s): W. Howell     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 35215, LLSO 25215, AMER 25215

PLSC 25303. Evaluating the Candidates in the 2016 Presidential Election. 100 Units.
Though the election is over, the question of how we evaluate and select our presidents is still relevant. What does it take to get elected? What does it take to do the job? Can we predict whether a candidate will be a good president?  We will discuss presidential leadership as a function of character and experience, institutional constraints, the selection process, and the domestic and global political context.  We will evaluate recent presidential candidates such as Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Bernie Sanders using insights from the academic literature on the presidency. Finally, we will ask how much the individual who occupies the office can bring about change, given the political and institutional context of American government. Is the executive in the United States too powerful or not powerful enough?
Instructor(s): P. Conley      Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 25610. Authority, Obligation, and Dissent. 100 Units.
What is the basis of political authority? What, if anything, makes it legitimate? Under what conditions are we obliged to follow the laws and orders of government authorities? Under what conditions can we legitimately disobey such laws or orders, or even engage in violent rebellion? How have some of the most influential political thinkers answered such questions historically and which of their theories are most helpful for illuminating these issues for us today? Readings include classic writings by Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Burke, Paine, Kant, Thoreau, Gandhi, Fanon, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Instructor(s): S. Muthu     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 25610

PLSC 26703. Political Parties in the United States. 100 Units.
Political parties are a central feature of American government. In this course we will explore their role in contemporary politics and learn about their development over the course of American history. We will start by asking the following questions: What is a political party? Why do we have a two-party system, and how did that system develop? We will then proceed to study shifts in party coalitions, parties’ evolving structures, their role in policymaking, and trends in popular attitudes about parties. Although our primary empirical focus will be on parties in the United States, we will spend some time on comparative approaches to political parties.
Instructor(s): R. Bloch Rubin     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 26703

PLSC 26800. Insurgency, Terrorism, and Civil War. 100 Units.
This course provides an introduction to asymmetric and irregular warfare. From Colombia to Afghanistan, non-state armed organizations are crucially important actors. We will study how they organize themselves, extract resources, deploy violence, attract recruits, and both fight and negotiate with states. We will also examine government counterinsurgency and counterterrorism policies, peace-building after conflict, and international involvement in internal wars. Case materials will be drawn from a variety of conflicts and cover a number of distinct topics. This course has a heavy reading load, and both attendance and substantial participation in weekly discussion sections are required.
Instructor(s): P. Staniland     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 26804

PLSC 27001. The Problem of World Government. 100 Units.
Why is there no single world government? From Tennyson to Einstein, thinkers have asserted that solving the world's ills could be accomplished only through the creation of a single, global government. Is this feasible? What forces, technological and political, have prevented its creation? Do institutions of global governance, such as the United Nations Security Council, serve as a stepping-stone towards or a substitute for world government? The course mixes readings in philosophy, theory, and history to consider such questions. Students will grapple with two fundamental ideas in international relations—sovereignty and anarchy—and use these ideas to gauge the practicality of achieving a global monopoly on the use of violence, the creation of a global single currency, and the viability of a global constitution.
Instructor(s): P. Poast     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 27301. Weimar Political Theology: Schmitt and Strauss. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to the idea of "political theology" that developed during the interwar period in twentieth-century Central Europe, specifically Germany's Weimar Republic. The course's agenda is set by Carl Schmitt, who claimed that both serious intellectual endeavors and political authority require extra-rational and transcendent foundations. Along with Schmitt's works from the period, such as Political Theology and the Concept of the Political, we read and discuss the related writings of perhaps his greatest interlocutor, Leo Strauss. (A)
Instructor(s): J. McCormick     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37301

PLSC 27500. Organizational Decision Making. 100 Units.
This course examines the process of decision making in modern, complex organizations (e.g., universities, schools, hospitals, business firms, public bureaucracies). We also consider the impact of information, power, resources, organizational structure, and the environment, as well as alternative models of choice.
Instructor(s): J. Padgett     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37500,SOCI 30301

PLSC 27703. Exemplary Leaders: Livy, Plutarch, and Machiavelli. 100 Units.
Cicero famously called history the “schoolmistress of life.” This course explores how ancient and early modern authors—in particular, Livy, Plutarch, and Machiavelli—used the lives and actions of great individuals from the Greek and Roman past to establish models of political behavior for their own day and for posterity. Such figures include Solon, Lycurgus, Alexander, Romulus, Brutus, Camillus, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. We will consider how their actions are submitted to praise or blame, presented as examples for imitation or avoidance, and examine how the comparisons and contrasts established among the different historical individuals allow new models and norms to emerge. No one figure can provide a definitive model. Illustrious individuals help define values even when we mere mortals cannot aspire to reach their level of virtue or depravity. Course open to undergraduates and graduate students. Readings will be in English. Students wishing to read Latin, Greek, or Italian will receive support from the professors.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick, M. Lowrie     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 47703,CLCV 27716,CLAS 37716

PLSC 22704. Democracy, Ancient and Modern. 100 Units.
The labelling as ‘democracy’ our own preferred mode of self-government reflects a choice to adopt the ancient Greeks as our political ancestors. At the end of the twentieth century, the predominant view was that democracy had triumphed over fascism and communism and was secure in its standing as the sole legitimate mode of modern politics. Political theorists skeptical of this view argued that what had triumphed was not properly ‘democracy’ at all, often because political practice in modern democracies failed to measure up to a classical ideal. We will investigate uses of the ancient Greek past by modern critics of the theory and practice of liberal democratic politics. With a focus on post-war theorists like Hannah Arendt, Bernard Williams, and Pierre Hadot, we will ask how recovering aspects of the classical tradition might revitalize the modern theoretical and practical political landscape. By elucidating the political motivations behind, and implications of, the use of the ancient Greeks by these and other thinkers, we will clarify post-war critiques of the theory and practice of modern democratic politics that continue to influence theorists today.
Instructor(s): J. Holley     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 27815. Politics and Public Policy in China. 100 Units.
As the world’s most populous country and second largest economy, China wields considerable weight globally but also stands out for its non-democratic political system. This course has two goals. First, it examines political institutions and political behavior in China in historical perspective, especially since the Communist takeover of power in 1949. It emphasizes how institutions have been shaped and reshaped and the importance of leadership, with special attention on the tensions and challenges of development. Second, it considers various issues of public policy and governance, including the role of the Communist Party, state-society relations, the relationship between Beijing and the provinces, development and corruption, population and environment, and the role of the armed forces in society. The course looks at many of these issues from a comparative perspective and introduces a variety of analytical concepts and approaches.
Instructor(s): D. Yang     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37815

PLSC 28006. Intro to Social Choice and Electoral Systems. 100 Units.
Voting procedures play an integral role in our lives as citizens by translating the preferences of people into collective outcomes. This course will evaluate these procedures mathematically, by considering the various properties that electoral systems may or may not satisfy. A classic example is Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, which tells us that every electoral system must fail to satisfy one or more criteria of fairness or sensibility. We will examine this result and other legislative paradoxes, and learn why the choice of procedure is critical to our understanding of how "good" and "bad" decisions can be made—and how we can distinguish a bad decision from a good one.
Instructor(s): E. Penn     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 28310. American Antislavery: Antebellum Political Thought and Political Strategy. 100 Units.
As the struggle over slavery came to a head in the decades preceding the Civil War, debates opposed not just defenders of slavery to abolitionists but also abolitionists to each other. Reformers confronted weighty questions such as the political strategy most likely to bring about emancipation, the broader commitments on which arguments for abolition should be grounded, the attitude to adopt vis-à-vis oppressive state institutions, and the intersections between the fight for legal freedom and other rights and other movements. In this course, we will explore the political stakes and theoretical underpinnings of these debates. We will do so primarily through close readings of writings, speeches, essays, pamphlets, and short stories written by various antebellum actors and thinkers such as Frederick Douglass, George Fitzhugh, Frances Harper, Harriet Jacobs, Angelina Grimké, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Herman Melville, Wendell Phillips, Lysander Spooner, Henry David Thoreau, and David Walker. Topics will include the language of natural right, one’s obligations toward government and human law, the emergence of capitalism, the justifiability of violence, gender in the antislavery struggle, and the Constitution’s relation to social change.
Instructor(s): D. Nichanian   Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 28505. Race and the Problem of American Citizenship. 100 Units.
This course will examine relationship between race and the discourse, concept, and practices of citizenship in the United States. Throughout the course, we will interrogate how ideologies and experiences of race and citizenship have constituted each other over time, producing particular forms of politics–and enabling forms of unequal political belonging to coexist with claims to equal citizenship and democratic principles. As we critically evaluate different conceptual treatments of citizenship with race in view, this course will consider the limitations of citizenship as the privileged end goal of struggles for rights and recognition. Readings might include works from authors such as Alexis de Tocqueville, WEB Du Bois, Gunnar Myrdal, Martin Luther King, Jr., Judith Shklar, Joel Olson, Charles Mills, Danielle Allen, and Claudia Rankine.
Instructor(s): E. Pineda     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 28620. The Intelligible Self. 100 Units.
The Delphic maxim "know thyself" is one of the cornerstones of Western philosophy. But how, exactly, do we figure ourselves out? This course examines three approaches to self-knowledge: Buddhism, Psychoanalytic Theory, and Social Neuroscience. We will learn both the theories behind each approach and how they can foster deeper perspectives on our own condition. We will explore the nature of love, guilt, anxiety, and other emotions, the origins of morality, and the many biases in our cognition. Readings include Sigmund Freud, Patricia Churchland, Daniel Kahneman, Pema Chodron, and Walpola Sri Rahula.
Instructor(s): E. Oliver     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 28701. Introduction to Political Theory. 100 Units.
This course will address several major, pressing questions of political morality, and introduce students to theoretical approaches to those questions. The class aims to develop students’ abilities to address political problems in rigorous and thoughtful ways. Topics will include property rights and distributive justice; the meaning of freedom and equality; arguments for and against democracy and the proper design of democratic institutions; war and the use of force; racial and gender justice; and global economic justice and human rights. The focus will be on contemporary approaches to these problems rather than on classical works of political thought. Familiarity with some such works will be helpful but is not required.
Instructor(s): J. Wilson     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 28710. Democracy and the Politics of Wealth Redistribution. 100 Units.
How do political institutions affect the redistribution of wealth among members of a society? In most democracies, the distribution of wealth among citizens is unequal but the right to vote is universal. Why then have so many newly democratic states transitioned under conditions of high inequality yet failed to redistribute? This course explores this puzzle by analyzing the mechanisms through which individual and group preferences can be translated into pro-poor policies, and the role elites play in influencing a government's capacity or incentives to redistribute wealth. Topics include economic inequality and the demand for redistribution, the difference in redistribution between democracy and dictatorship, the role of globalization in policymaking, and the effects of redistribution on political stability and change.
Instructor(s): M. Albertus     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 28710

PLSC 28800. Introduction to Constitutional Law. 100 Units.
This course is an introduction to the constitutional doctrines and political role of the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on its evolving constitutional priorities and its response to basic governmental and political problems, including maintenance of the federal system, promotion of economic welfare, and protection of individual and minority rights.
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 23900,PLSC 48800

PLSC 28801. Introduction to American Politics. 100 Units.
This survey course canvasses the basic behavioral, institutional, and historical factors that comprise the study of American politics. We will evaluate various modes of survey opinion formation and political participation both inside and outside of elections. In addition to studying the primary branches of U.S. government, we will consider the role of interest groups, the media, and political action committees in American politics. We also will evaluate the persistent roles of race, class, and money in historical and contemporary political life.
Instructor(s): R. Bloch Rubin     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 28900. Strategy. 100 Units.
This course covers American national security policy in the post–cold war world, especially the principal issues of military strategy that are likely to face the United States in the next decade. This course is structured in five parts: (1) examining the key changes in strategic environment since 1990, (2) looking at the effects of multipolarity on American grand strategy and basic national goals, (3) focusing on nuclear strategy, (4) examining conventional strategy, and (5) discussing the future of war and peace in the Pacific Rim.
Instructor(s): R. Pape     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 39900

PLSC 28901. Introduction to Comparative Politics. 100 Units.
What factors prolong the lives of dictatorships? When do autocrats choose to relinquish power? Why does democratization sometimes produce violence and/or social inequality? What are the long-term consequences of colonial rule for democratic development? This course will use pairwise comparisons of countries from four different world regions and apply the comparative method to address some of the most enduring puzzles and paradoxes of democratization. Rather than covering an exhaustive set of topics that make up the entire field of comparative politics, we will focus on some of the most pressing challenges to democratic development today. In addition to course readings, we will also include the screening of several films that underscore and dramatize the key themes discussed in the class.
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 29000. Introduction to International Relations. 100 Units.
This course introduces the main themes in international relations, including the problems of war and peace, conflict and cooperation, national security, and the politics of international economic relations. 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, terrorism, and global order (and disorder). The last part of the course deals with economic aspects of international relations. It concentrates on issues where politics and economics are closely intertwined: world trade, international investment, environmental pollution, and European unification.
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 39800

PLSC 29120. Big Wars: Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern. 100 Units.
This course examines the onset, unfolding, and aftermath of several major wars.  Focusing mainly on the largest European wars, it covers the Ancient Wars: Peloponnesian War (Athens and Sparta), Punic Wars (Rome and Carthage); the Medieval Wars: The Hundred Years’ War (England and France); and the Early Modern Wars: Wars of Louis XIV, Seven Years War, and probably the US Revolution. The course concentrates on the origins of each war, but also includes some material on how the wars were fought and how they were concluded. The course focuses mainly on historical analysis but also includes major questions of international relations theory.
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): This course has no prerequisites, but prior coursework in international politics or European history (ancient, medieval, or early modern) would be useful.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 39120

PLSC 29200. Civil Rights/Civil Liberties. 100 Units.
This course examines selected civil rights and civil liberties decisions of U.S. courts with particular emphasis on the broader political context. Areas covered include speech, race, and gender.
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 28800 or equivalent and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 24000

PLSC 29202. The Secret Side of International Politics. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to the secret side of international politics. We will survey theoretical approaches to studying secrecy and analyze what governments do “behind closed doors.” The focus is less on learning about what states do in secret and more about how to think critically about why governments do what they do in secret and the consequences of it. Typical weeks cover intelligence collection and analysis, secret interstate partnerships, secrecy in crisis decision-making, and covert military operations during war. Questions we will address include: What agreements do diplomats negotiate privately and why? For what ends do state use secrecy in wartime? What do covert cooperative partnerships look like and when do they succeed? What espionage practices do states use and how have they changed over time? Student grades will be based largely on a research paper which requires students engage in hands-on historical research about a major event of their interest drawing on archival/declassified materials. As part of this assignment, students will receive detailed, practical guidance in the research and writing process, including how to access relevant archival materials, how to organize your research materials, how to effectively prepare to write, and how to write well. The course is run like a graduate seminar: it meets once per week and has a heavy reading load and requires original research and high quality writing. Attendance and substantial participation are essential.
Instructor(s): A. Carson     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 29700. Independent Study. 100 Units.
This is a general reading and research course for independent study not related to the BA thesis or BA research.
Terms Offered: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of faculty supervisor and program chair.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

PLSC 29800. BA Colloquium. 100 Units.
The colloquium is designed to help students carry out their BA thesis research and offer feedback on their progress.
Terms Offered: Autumn, Spring
Note(s): Required of students who are majoring in political science and plan to write a BA thesis. Students participate in both Spring and Autumn Quarters but register only in the Spring Quarter of the third year. PLSC 29800 counts as a single course and a single grade is reported in Autumn Quarter.

PLSC 29900. BA Thesis Supervision. 100 Units.
This is a reading and research course for independent study related to BA research and BA thesis preparation.
Terms Offered: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Note(s): Required of fourth-year students who are majoring in political science and plan to write a BA thesis. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

Graduate Courses

PLSC 30501. Introduction to Research Design. 100 Units.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Open to Political Science Ph.D. students only.

PLSC 30700. Introduction to Linear Models. 100 Units.
This course will provide an introduction to the linear model, the dominant form of statistical inference in the social sciences. The goals of the course are to teach students the statistical methods needed to pursue independent large-n research projects and to develop the skills necessary to pursue further methods training in the social sciences. Part I of the course reviews the simple linear model (as seen in STAT 22000 or its equivalent) with attention to the theory of statistical inference and the derivation of estimators. Basic calculus and linear algebra will be introduced. Part II extends the linear model to the multivariate case. Emphasis will be placed on model selection and specification. Part III examines the consequences of data that is "poorly behaved" and how to cope with the problem. Depending on time, Part IV will introduce special topics like systems of simultaneous equations, logit and probit models, time-series methods, etc. Little prior knowledge of math or statistics is expected, but students are expected to work hard to develop the tools introduced in class. (E)
Instructor(s): M. Hansen     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 30901. Game Theory I. 100 Units.
This is a course for graduate students in Political Science. It introduces students to games of complete information through solving problem sets. We will cover the concepts of equilibrium in dominant strategies, weak dominance, iterated elimination of weakly dominated strategies, Nash equilibrium, subgame perfection, backward induction, and imperfect information. The course will be centered around several applications of game theory to politics: electoral competition, agenda control, lobbying, voting in legislatures and coalition games. This class serves as a prerequisite for Game Theory II offered in the Winter Quarter. (E)
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 31000. Game Theory II. 100 Units.
This is a course for graduate students in Political Science. It introduces students to games of incomplete information through solving problem sets. We will cover the concepts of Bayes Nash equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, and quantal response equilibrium. In terms of applications, the course will extend the topics examined in the prerequisite, PLSC 30901. Game Theory I to allow for incomplete information, with a focus on the competing challenges of moral hazard and adverse selection in those settings. (E)
Instructor(s): J. Patty     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 30901 or equivalent and consent of instructor.

PLSC 32210. Roman Philosophers on the Fear of Death. 100 Units.
All human beings fear death, and it seems plausible to think that a lot of our actions are motivated by it. But is it reasonable to fear death? And does this fear do good (motivating creative projects) or harm (motivating greedy accumulation, war, and too much deference to religious leaders)? Hellenistic philosophers, both Greek and Roman, were preoccupied with these questions and debated them with a depth and intensity that makes them still highly influential in modern philosophical debate about the same issues (the only issue on which one will be likely find discussion of Lucretius in the pages of The Journal of Philosophy). The course will focus on several major Latin writings on the topic: Lucretius De Rerum Natura Book III, and extracts from Cicero and Seneca. We will study the philosophical arguments in their literary setting and ask about connections between argument and its rhetorical expression. In translation we will read pertinent material from Plato, Epicurus, Plutarch, and a few modern authors such as Thomas Nagel, John Fischer, and Bernard Williams. (A)
Instructor(s): M. Nussbaum    Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 20710, PHIL 30710, LAWS 96305, LATN 20716, LATN 30716
Prerequisite(s): Ability to read the material in Latin at a sufficiently high level, usually about two years at the college level.

PLSC 32815. Emergence of Capitalism in Early Modern Europe. 100 Units.
This course investigates the emergence of capitalism in Europe and the world as a whole between the early sixteenth and the late eighteenth centuries. We discuss the political and cultural as well as the economic, sources of capitalism, and explore Marxist, neoclassical, and cultural approaches. (C)
Instructor(s): W. Sewell     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23300,HIST 33300,LLSO 23415,PLSC 23415

PLSC 33010. Liberalism and Empire. 100 Units.
The evolution of liberal thought coincided and intersected with the rise of European empires, and those empires have been shaped by liberal preoccupations, including ideas of tutelage in self-government, exporting the rule of law, and the normativity of European modernity. Some of the questions this course will address include: how was liberalism, an apparently universalistic and egalitarian theory, used to legitimate conquest and imperial domination? Is liberalism inherently imperialist? Are certain liberal ideas and doctrines (progress, development, liberty) particularly compatible with empire? What does, or what might, a critique of liberal imperialism look like? Readings will include historical works by authors such as Locke, Mill, Tocqueville, and Hobson, as well as contemporary works of political theory and the history of political thought (by authors such as James Tully, Michael Ignatieff, David Kennedy, and Uday Mehta). (A)
Instructor(s): J. Pitts     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 23010,LLSO 25903,PLSC 23010

PLSC 34401. Herodotus and Thucydides: History and Politics. 100 Units.
In this course we read Herodotus and Thucydides not only as historians but as political thinkers. The course will be organized around an intensive engagement with two central texts: Herodotus’ Histories and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. As we read through these works, we will also take up the wider historical and political context—e.g., the fifth-century rise of Athenian democracy and imperialism—and the relationship between our texts and other genres, including philosophy, drama, and rhetoric. The aim of the course is not only to give students a close familiarity with our two authors and some of the scholarship surrounding them, but also, more broadly, to think through the relationship between political theory and history. How might political theory guide the writing of history, and how can history contribute to theorizing politics? What can our reading of Herodotus and Thucydides tell us about how to think about these questions in different eras and contexts? (A)
Instructor(s): M. Landauer     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 24403,PLSC 24401

PLSC 34402. Greek Political Thought. 100 Units.
This course is designed to help students in political theory and related fields think about—and do—the history of political thought by recovering the strangeness of ancient democracy and its critics. It is an advanced survey of the political thought of classical Athens with particular emphasis on the cultural, institutional, and poetic practices through which Athenians enacted democracy and questioned its assumptions and effects.  In sixth century Athens, the notion that the people could and should rule themselves—not by virtue of wealth, property, or family name but simply by birth—served as a radical rejection of the longstanding view that political power belonged in the hands of the few (the wealthy, propertied, and elite). We contextualize the dramatic poetry, philosophy, oratory, and history that emerged in the subsequent century or so, under conditions of expanding and contracting empire. We read them as critical reflections on what life was like under this new political arrangement and ask to what extent the works of Thucydides, Aristophanes, Euripides, and Plato can be said to constitute the birth of political theory as an idea and a practice.
Instructor(s): D. Kasimis, M. Landauer    Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 24402

PLSC 34410. The World of Dictatorships. 100 Units.
The persistence of many authoritarian regimes since the end of the Cold War has inspired a major new literature in comparative politics on how non-democracy works. This mixed graduate-undergraduate class for MA and College students considers some conceptual and theoretical issues and debates in this new wave of research, such as: How should authoritarian regimes, including so-called “hybrid regimes,” best be classified? What kind of institutions makes authoritarianism more or less stable and durable? How do these regimes try to generate compliance and support? Why do so many of them hold elections and convene parliaments? What economic factors tend to bolster or undermine dictatorship? And how do they both extract support and deflect threats from their international environment? (C)
Instructor(s): D. Slater     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 24410

PLSC 34500. Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition. 100 Units.
This seminar will be devoted to a close reading of Hannah Arendt's 1958 book The Human Condition alongside some of her other writing as well as the writings of her theoretical and political interlocutors.
Instructor(s): P. Markell     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 35010. Black Politics in the U.S. 100 Units.
No course description.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson       Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 35205. Racial Justice and Injustice. 100 Units.
The course will explore moral and political problems of racial justice and injustice. Topics may include antidiscrimination theory, the fair political representation of racial minorities, reparations for racial injustice, racial segregation, the use of racial preferences in various practices of selection, and the evaluation of practices of law enforcement and punishment. We will use reflections on particular problems such as these to inquire about the uses of racial concepts in political theory; the connections between racial justice and ostensibly more general conceptions of justice; and the connections between racial equality and other egalitarian ideals. (A)
Instructor(s): J. Wilson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 25205

PLSC 35215. The American Presidency. 100 Units.
This course examines the institution of the American presidency. It surveys the foundations of presidential power, both as the Founders conceived it, and as it is practiced in the modern era. This course also traces the historical development of the institutional presidency, the president's relationships with Congress and the courts, the influence presidents wield in domestic and foreign policymaking, and the ways in which presidents make decisions in a system of separated powers.
Instructor(s): W. Howell     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 25215, LLSO 25215, AMER 25215

PLSC 35500. Public Opinion. 100 Units.
A close examination of techniques employed, categories utilized and assumptions made by contemporary American students of public opinion. Criticism of these approaches from historical, philosophical and comparative perspectives will be encouraged. The course will make little sense to students without at least a background in Data Analysis (PLSC 30500). (B)
Instructor(s): E. Oliver     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 35801. Formal Models in Comparative Politics. 100 Units.
In this course we will discuss 10 newly published or still in press papers in Comparative Politics that employ formal modeling. We will study models of the state and its security agencies (by Dragu and Tyson), models of state-building (by Robinson and Lessing), models of authoritarianism and regime change (Svolik, Little, and Miller) and models of corruption and clientelism (by Stokes, Nichter, and Rueda). Because of its topical breadth, this course may therefore be also taken as a field survey in comparative politics. (C)
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 30901 and PLSC 31000, Game Theory I and II. The prerequisites may be waived with the consent of the instructor.

PLSC 35901. Enlightenment Political Thought.
An intensive examination and comparative analysis of the political thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant. We will examine writings about a broad range of topics, including human nature, freedom, social relations, property, government, justice, religion, history and progress, equality and inequality, patriotism, cosmopolitanism, and international relations. (A)
Instructor(s): S. Muthu     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 36100. Civil War. 100 Units.
Civil war is the dominant form of political violence in the contemporary world. This graduate seminar will introduce students to cutting edge scholarly work and to the task of carrying out research on internal conflict. We will study the origins, dynamics, and termination of civil wars, as well as international interventions, post-conflict legacies, and policy responses to war. A variety of research approaches will be explored, including qualitative, quantitative, and interpretive methods, micro- and macro-level levels of analysis, and sub- and cross-national comparative designs. Our emphasis throughout will be on designing rigorous research that persuasively addresses important questions. (D)
Instructor(s): P. Staniland     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 37000. Law and Politics: U.S. Courts as Political Institutions. 100 Units.
An examination of the ways in which United States courts affect public policy. Questions include: How do the procedures, structures, and organization of the courts affect judicial outcomes? Are there interests that courts are particularly prone to support? What effect does congressional or executive impact, including judicial selection, have on court decisions? What are the difficulties with implementation of judicial decisions? (B)
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Mandatory preliminary meeting and consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): LAWS 51302

PLSC 37301. Weimar Political Theology: Schmitt and Strauss. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to the idea of "political theology" that developed during the interwar period in twentieth-century Central Europe, specifically Germany's Weimar Republic. The course's agenda is set by Carl Schmitt, who claimed that both serious intellectual endeavors and political authority require extra-rational and transcendent foundations. Along with Schmitt's works from the period, such as Political Theology and the Concept of the Political, we read and discuss the related writings of perhaps his greatest interlocutor, Leo Strauss. (A)
Instructor(s): J. McCormick     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 27301

PLSC 37500. Organizational Decision Making. 100 Units.
This course examines the process of decision making in modern, complex organizations (e.g., universities, schools, hospitals, business firms, public bureaucracies). We also consider the impact of information, power, resources, organizational structure, and the environment, as well as alternative models of choice. (B)
Instructor(s): J. Padgett     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30301,PLSC 27500

PLSC 37815. Politics and Public Policy in China. 100 Units.
As the world’s most populous country and second largest economy, China wields considerable weight globally but also stands out for its non-democratic political system. This course has two goals. First, it examines political institutions and political behavior in China in historical perspective, especially since the Communist takeover of power in 1949. It emphasizes how institutions have been shaped and reshaped and the importance of leadership, with special attention on the tensions and challenges of development. Second, it considers various issues of public policy and governance, including the role of the Communist Party, state-society relations, the relationship between Beijing and the provinces, development and corruption, population and environment, and the role of the armed forces in society. The course looks at many of these issues from a comparative perspective and introduces a variety of analytical concepts and approaches. (C)
Instructor(s): D. Yang     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 27815

PLSC 39120. Big Wars: Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern. 100 Units.
This course examines the onset, unfolding, and aftermath of several major wars. Focusing mainly on the largest European wars, it covers the Ancient Wars: Peloponnesian War (Athens and Sparta), Punic Wars (Rome and Carthage); the Medieval Wars: The Hundred Years’ War (England and France); and the Early Modern Wars: Wars of Louis XIV, Seven Years War, and probably the US Revolution. The course concentrates on the origins of each war, but also includes some material on how the wars were fought and how they were concluded. The course focuses mainly on historical analysis but also includes major questions of international relations theory. This course has no prerequisites, but prior coursework in international politics or European history (ancient, medieval, or early modern) would be useful. (D)
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): This course has no prerequisites, but prior coursework in international politics or European history (ancient, medieval, or early modern) would be useful.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 29120

PLSC 39501. International Political Economy. 100 Units.
This graduate seminar focuses on the prevailing theoretical and empirical research programs in international political economy (IPE). The course will introduce a variety of frontier research problems that animate current work in the field as well as provide experience evaluating empirical research. We will discuss relations between international markets and politics: mass politics, domestic political institutions, and international politics. A central goal of the course is to generate ideas for student research, including papers and dissertation topics. (D)
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 39701. Building World Order after Major Wars. 100 Units.
This course focuses on the recurrent problem (both practical and theoretical) of rebuilding world order after major wars. It covers the aftermath of the three wars in 1800: the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, World War I, and World War II, plus the analogous situation after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its empire. All those can be compared to the very different problems of rebuilding after wars in the early modern era, such as the wars of Louis XIV. The course is built around major premises. First, following Gilpin and Ikenberry, it assumes major wars disrupt the existing international order, that the immediate aftermath is in flux, and that the arrangements developed then set the contours of international politics for years to come. Second, it argues that the ideology and purposes of Great Powers, as well as their material resources, affect key features of post-war order. Third, it supplements the existing literature, which focuses on international institutions, to argue that a crucial part of building international order is establishing and stabilizing domestic regimes in the defeated states. The key features of those regimes track the preferences of the victors. (D)
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Familiarity with IR theory; 2 prior graduate courses in IR.

PLSC 39800. Introduction to International Relations. 100 Units.
This course introduces the main themes in international relations, including the problems of war and peace, conflict and cooperation, national security, and the politics of international economic relations. 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, terrorism, and global order (and disorder). The last part of the course deals with economic aspects of international relations. It concentrates on issues where politics and economics are closely intertwined: world trade, international investment, environmental pollution, and European unification. (D)
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 29000

PLSC 39900. Strategy. 100 Units.
This course covers American national security policy in the post–cold war world, especially the principal issues of military strategy that are likely to face the United States in the next decade. This course is structured in five parts: (1) examining the key changes in strategic environment since 1990, (2) looking at the effects of multipolarity on American grand strategy and basic national goals, (3) focusing on nuclear strategy, (4) examining conventional strategy, and (5) discussing the future of war and peace in the Pacific Rim. (D)
Instructor(s): R. Pape     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 28900

PLSC 40604. Militant Power Politics. 100 Units.
In what way does ISIS calculate its options differently than great powers or states in general? Over the past twenty years, the study of militant power politics has exploded both empirically, but especially theoretically. Today, there are a variety of theories of the causes, conduct and consequences of violence by militant non-state actors that rest on fundamentally different assumptions about the coherence of militant groups, the degree of rationality in their decision-making, and and the nature of their dynamics in competition with rival states. The most important are ideological, religious, ethnic, and strategic theories which also drive the principle policy choices about how to respond to militant power politics. Seminar will cover the main theories of militant power politics, encouraging students to carry out policy relevant research in this area. (D)
Instructor(s): R. Pape     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 40605. Recent Debates in International Relations. 100 Units.
This course builds on the canonical works in International Relations (IR) theory covered in PLSC 40600 (Seminar on International Relations Theory), leading students through ten weeks of recent debates in IR research organized along substantive and methodological lines. There is an intentional absence of thematic unity among the topics. Some units look more closely at recent debates within the classic paradigms (e.g. “the practice turn in constructivist research”) while others are not easily categorized along these lines (e.g. “emotions in IR”). Some focus on work across empirical domains that shares a recently popular methodological innovation (e.g. “the experimental turn in IR”); other topics are located closer towards the fringe of mainstream IR but showcase interesting and creative ways of doing our work (e.g. “spatial thinking in IR”). Specific topics will change with each offering and are chosen based on a combination of importance to the field, value as exemplars of creative and rigorous research, and my own personal interests. Participants will demonstrate fluency in these debates and develop opinions about their significance and staying power. A secondary goal is for students to expand their own research interests and draw lessons about how debates and fads evolve in IR to maximize the impact of their own work. (D)
Instructor(s): A. Carson     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 40815. New Directions in Formal Theory. 100 Units.
In this graduate seminar we will survey recent journal articles that develop formal (mathematical) theories of politics.  The range of topics and tools we touch on will be broad. Topics include models of institutions, groups, and behavior, and will span American politics, comparative politics, and international relations.  Tools include game theory, network analysis, simulation, axiomatic choice theory, and optimization theory.  Our focus will be on what these models are theoretically doing: What they do and do not capture, what makes one mathematical approach more compelling than another, and what we can ultimately learn from a highly stylized (and necessarily incomplete) mathematical representation of politics.  The goal of the course is for each participant, including the professor, to emerge with a new research project.  Some background in formal modeling, such as a prior course in game theory, is required.  (E)
Instructor(s): E. Penn     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 41101. The Politics of Wealth Redistribution. 100 Units.
How do political institutions affect the structure and scope of wealth redistribution initiatives? This graduate seminar will introduce students to the scholarly literature on redistribution, focusing primarily on recent work. We will study the causes and consequences of redistribution, focusing both on the institutions that shape incentives for governments to implement redistribution, as well as the mechanisms, actors, and international conditions that can erode government incentives or capabilities to redistribute. The emphasis of the course will be twofold: rigorously examining the inferences we can draw from existing work, and designing research that can contribute to a better understanding of the fundamental questions regarding redistributive policies. (C)
Instructor(s): M. Albertus     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 41203. Political Regimes and Transitions. 100 Units.
Despite a shift toward democracy in much of the world, many states have remained solidly autocratic while others are plagued by political instability. This graduate seminar will introduce students to fundamental questions in the study of political regimes: What distinguishes democracy from dictatorship? How does the functioning of democratic institutions affect democratic survival? Why are some dictatorships more stable than others, and what role do institutions such as legislatures, parties, and elections play in their stability? What political and economic factors explain regime transitions, and why do transitions tend to cluster both spatially and temporally? The course will examine how these questions are addressed in current scholarship, with an emphasis on enabling students to design research projects that contribute to our understanding of how political regimes function, persist, and change. (C)
Instructor(s): M. Albertus     Terms Offered: Spring

PLSC 41401. Contemporary Theories of Global Justice. 100 Units.
This course involves a critical examination of different conceptions of international and global justice, including both statist and cosmopolitan perspectives. It provides an avenue for exploring questions about the nature of international morality; the scope of principles of justice beyond the nation-state; the moral and political significance of global inequality; the limits of state sovereignty and the value of nationality; the ethics of immigration; as well as the very boundaries of political philosophy itself. We will read texts by Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Hans Morgenthau, Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, Iris Marion Young, Thomas Nagel, and David Miller among others. (A)
Instructor(s): C. Cordelli     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 42101. John Rawls' Theory of Justice. 100 Units.
This course involves a sustained critical examination of John Rawls' theory of "justice as fairness," as an avenue for wider exploration of questions about the nature and role of the concept of justice; the value of liberty and equality, and their relationship; distributive justice; the justification of democracy; and the enterprise of political philosophy itself. We will focus on Rawls' A Theory of Justice, and read many critics of Rawls, including Robert Nozick, G.A. Cohen, Susan Moller Okin, Charles Mills, and others. (A)
Instructor(s): C. Cordelli     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 42420. Approaches to the History of Political Thought. 100 Units.
This course will examine some of the most influential recent statements of method in the history of political thought, alongside work by the same authors that may (or may not) put those methods or approaches into practice. We will read works by Quentin Skinner, Reinhart Koselleck, J.GA. Pocock, Leo Strauss, Sheldon Wolin, Michel Foucault, and David Scott among others, with some emphasis on writings about Hobbes and questions of sovereignty and the state. (E)
Instructor(s): J. Pitts     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 41404

PLSC 42701. Seminar in Chinese Politics. 100 Units.
This is a research-oriented seminar for graduate students interested in exploring current research on China and in conducting their own research. Our emphasis will be on the changing nature of the Chinese Party-state, and the relations between state and economy and between state and society as the Chinese society, economy and the level of technology have undergone dramatic changes in recent decades. Throughout the course we’ll also pay attention to the course, dynamics, and challenges of making reform. Though the readings are on China, we are to consider China’s development comparatively and in view of recent developments in political science. (C)
Instructor(s): D. Yang     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Undergraduates by consent of instructor.

PLSC 43401. Mathematical Foundations of Political Methodology. 100 Units.
This is a first course on the theory and practice of mathematical methods in social science research.  These mathematical and computer skills are needed for the quantitative and formal modeling courses offered in the political science department and are increasingly necessary for courses in American, Comparative, and International Relations.   We will cover mathematical techniques (linear algebra, calculus, probability) and methods of logical and statistical inference (proofs and statistics).  A weekly computing lab will apply these methods, as well as introduce the R statistical computing environment.  Students are expected to have completed SOCS 30100:  Mathematics for Social Sciences. (E)
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty, E. Penn     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 43501. Strategies and Techniques of Empirical Research. 100 Units.
This course aims to help advanced political science graduate students improve how they communicate their empirical research findings. We will focus on techniques of effective writing, how to present quantitative information, and how to identify compelling narratives that link research findings together. (E)
Instructor(s): E. Oliver, J. Patty     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 43801. Plato's Legacies. 100 Units.
Some of the most significant efforts to question political theory's core concepts, unsettle its approaches, and expose its dangerous ideals have depended on major re-interpretations of Plato's thought. This course investigates the broad critical impulse to treat Plato as the originator of political positions and interpretive assumptions that late modernity frequently seeks to critique and less often to celebrate. We consider the charges of essentialism, authoritarianism, and foundationalism, among others, and ask to what (if any) extent considerations of the texts' historical contexts and dramaturgical conditions have factored into these assessments. Readings will include works by Popper, Strauss, Arendt, Derrida, Castoriadis, Wolin, Irigaray, Cavarero, Butler, and Rancière alongside Plato's dialogues. Students are expected to be familiar with Plato's thought upon enrolling. (A)
Instructor(s): D. Kasimis      Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 33815

PLSC 43902. US Congress. 100 Units.
The purpose of this seminar is to introduce graduate students to the literature on the U.S. Congress. Although we will read a range of studies with different methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, including some comparative research, we will focus in particular on the development of the U.S. Congress over time. We will be concerned with analyzing, explaining, and understanding key transformative sequences in American legislative politics — tracing the implications of these transformations through to contemporary times. To discuss these questions in appropriate depth, we will limit our inquiry to Congress as an institution (e.g., internal processes and behavior), discussing congressional campaigns and elections only as they relate to these subjects. (B)
Instructor(s): R. Bloch Rubin     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 44410. Authoritarian Regimes. 100 Units.
The persistence of many authoritarian regimes since the end of the Cold War has inspired a major new literature in comparative politics on how non-democracy works. This graduate seminar for PhD students considers some conceptual and theoretical issues and debates in this new wave of research, such as: How should authoritarian regimes, including so-called “hybrid regimes,” best be classified? What kind of institutions makes authoritarianism more or less stable and durable? How do these regimes try to generate compliance and support? Why do so many of them hold elections and convene parliaments? What economic factors tend to bolster or undermine dictatorship? And how do they both extract support and deflect threats from their international environment? (C)
Instructor(s): D. Slater     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): PhD students only.

PLSC 45501. Black Political Thought: The Problem of Freedom. 100 Units.
This advanced seminar will survey 19th and early 20th century texts in the history of black political thought with particular attention to the question of freedom. The course takes as its premise the constitutive role of transatlantic slave trade and new world slavery in the making of black modernity and black political thought. Drawing on a variety of figures including, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Ida B. Wells Barnett, W.E.B Du Bois and C.L.R James, students will consider the meanings and contradictions of freedom when viewed from the underside of modernity. (A)
Instructor(s): A. Getachew     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 45601. Theories of Capitalism since Veblen. 100 Units.
This course serves as an introduction to the literature on political economy in the twentieth century. Emphasis will be placed on the way in which various authors normatively understand the relationship between politics and economic process. Works by Veblen, Weber, Keynes, Hayek, Schumpeter, Polanyi, Kalecki, Bell, Aglietta, Rajan & Zingales, Streeck, and Blyth, among others, will be considered. (C)
Instructor(s): G. Herrigel     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 40222

PLSC 45705. Theories of Global Capitalism since Hobson. 100 Units.
This course examines theories of capitalist globalization and its relationship to/ role in  economic and political development in the non Western world since the beginning of the 20th century. Emphasis will be placed on the way in which various authors normatively understand the relationship between politics and economic process. Works by Hobson, Lenin, Luxemburg, Schumpeter, Lewis, Hirschman, Frank, Evans, Arrighi, Vernon, Stiglitz, Rodrik and others will be considered. (C)
Instructor(s): G. Herrigel     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 40223

PLSC 45801. The Ethics of War. 100 Units.
The course examines moral problems surrounding war. We will focus on traditional questions of jus ad bellum—the conditions under which war is justified—and of jus in bello—the moral principles that regulate the conduct of war. We will also consider pacifist claims that war is never justified. While considering normative philosophical approaches to war in general, we will give special attention where possible to problems arising in recent conflicts, such as the use of drone strikes, asymmetric warfare between states and non-state groups, and humanitarian intervention. (A)
Instructor(s): J. Wilson     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 46013. Two Faces of Security. 100 Units.
This course develops a new IR theory, one that departs significantly from standard approaches by reframing the central actor as “states controlled by domestic regimes.” It challenges the assumption that states are best theorized as “black boxes” pursuing similar agendas, albeit with different material resources. Instead, I assume each state is controlled by a domestic regime and that these regimes vary significantly. They have a different ideologies, social bases, policy preferences, and international strategies. Most importantly, they are not all equally stable and may face serious domestic threats. That means regimes face two security problems, not one. Besides ever-present external threats, they often face internal rivals who seek to overthrow the regime and capture state power. These two faces of security – external and internal – are often intertwined, which means it is important to analyze them jointly, rather than in isolation. (D)
Instructor(s): C. Lipson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): This course is limited to graduate who already have strong familiarity with IR theory.
Note(s): The course assumes students have read Waltz, Mearsheimer, Wendt, Keohane, and others, and know the field’s main theoretical perspectives. We will assume that knowledge and build on it, rather than covering that ground again. One prior graduate course in IR theory should be sufficient. Students who are unsure if they have the appropriate background should consult Prof. Lipson before enrolling.

PLSC 46411. The Emergence of Organizations and Markets. 100 Units.
This course will focus on the emergence of alternative forms of organization control (e.g., centralized bureaucracy, multiple hierarchies, elite networks, and clientage) in different social structural contexts (e.g., the interaction of kinship, class, nation states, markets and heterodox mobilization). Themes will be illustrated in numerous cross-cultural contexts. (C)
Instructor(s): J. Padgett     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 40194

PLSC 47703. Exemplary Leaders: Livy, Plutarch, and Machiavelli. 100 Units.
Cicero famously called history the “schoolmistress of life.” This course explores how ancient and early modern authors—in particular, Livy, Plutarch, and Machiavelli—used the lives and actions of great individuals from the Greek and Roman past to establish models of political behavior for their own day and for posterity. Such figures include Solon, Lycurgus, Alexander, Romulus, Brutus, Camillus, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. We will consider how their actions are submitted to praise or blame, presented as examples for imitation or avoidance, and examine how the comparisons and contrasts established among the different historical individuals allow new models and norms to emerge. No one figure can provide a definitive model. Illustrious individuals help define values even when we mere mortals cannot aspire to reach their level of virtue or depravity. Course open to undergraduates and graduate students. Readings will be in English. Students wishing to read Latin, Greek, or Italian will receive support from the professors. (A)
Instructor(s): J. McCormick, M. Lowrie     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CLCV 27716,CLAS 37716,PLSC 27703

PLSC 48401. Quantitative Security. 100 Units.
Since Quincy Wright's A Study of War, scholars of war and security have collected and analyzed data. This course guides students through an intellectual history of the quantitative study of war. The course begins with Wright, moves to the founding of the Correlates of War project in the late 1960s, and then explores the proliferation of quantitative conflict studies in the 1990s and 2000s. The course ends by considering the recent focus on experimental and quasi-experimental analysis. Throughout the course, students will be introduced to the empirical methods used to study conflict and the data issues facing quantitative conflict scholars. For students with limited training in quantitative methods, this course will serve as a useful introduction to such methods. For students with extensive experience with quantitative methods, this course will deepen their understanding of when and how to apply these methods. (D)
Instructor(s): P. Poast       Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 48700. Crime, Conflict, and the State. 100 Units.
Scholars of civil war emphasize the importance, and perhaps primacy, of criminal profits for insurgencies, especially in the post-cold war era. But theories of civil war generally rest on an assumption that insurgents aim to replace state power. This seminar approaches the issue from the other end of the spectrum: armed conflict between states and "purely" criminal groups--particularly drug cartels. Cartel-state conflict poses a fundamental puzzle: Why attack the state if you seek neither to topple nor secede from it? After a brief survey of the literature on civil war and organized crime, we will study recent work on criminal conflict, particularly in Latin America. We also consider the related topics of prison-based criminal networks and paramilitaries, and explore how crime and political insurgency interact in places like West Africa and Afghanistan. Throughout, we evaluate the concepts, questions and designs underpinning current research. (C)
Instructor(s): B. Lessing     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 48800. Introduction to Constitutional Law. 100 Units.
This course is an introduction to the constitutional doctrines and political role of the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on its evolving constitutional priorities and its response to basic governmental and political problems, including maintenance of the federal system, promotion of economic welfare, and protection of individual and minority rights. (B)
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 23900,PLSC 28800

PLSC 49200. American Political Development. 100 Units.
In this course we will explore long-term changes in the American political system. Covering key works in the field, course readings will be organized around several core questions. How did we get the political institutions we have today? How has American political culture shaped these institutions? What is the relationship between changes in the economy and changes in state and party organization? We will also attend to issues of method, especially the links between history and social science. (B)
Instructor(s): R. Bloch Rubin     Terms Offered: Autumn

PLSC 50000. Dissertation Proposal Seminar. 100 Units.
No description available.
Instructor(s): D. Slater     Terms Offered: Winter

PLSC 50901. Qualitative Methods. 100 Units.
This course examines small-N research designs and methods for engaging in qualitative research. We will discuss concept formation, case selection, comparative case studies, process-tracing, combinations with other methods, and the virtues and limitations of different approaches to theory development and causal inference. We will then consider some of the tools that are often associated with qualitative research, including ethnography, interviews, archival work, and historiography. Because other courses in the department and university cover some of these methods in greater depth, this class will particularly emphasize their relationship to research design. (E)
Instructor(s): P. Staniland     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Prior methods coursework (PLSC 30500 or an equivalent) is strongly recommended.

PLSC 51204. John Stuart Mill. 100 Units.
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. If time permits we will also study his writings about India. (A)
Instructor(s): M. Nussbaum    Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 51204, LAWS 51207
Prerequisite(s): Admission by permission of the instructor. Permission must be sought in writing by September 15. An undergraduate major in philosophy or some equivalent solid philosophy preparation. PhD students in Philosophy and Political Theory may enroll without permission. I am eager to have some Economics graduate students in the class, and will discuss the philosophy prerequisite in a flexible way with such students.

PLSC 52402. Florentine Political Thought. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to the political writings of the giants of medieval and Renaissance Italian and specifically Florentine political thought: Petrarch, Salutati, Bruni, Bracciolini, Savonarola, Guicciardini and, of course, Machiavelli. (A)
Instructor(s): J. McCormick     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor required.
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 22402,PLSC 22402

PLSC 57200. Network Analysis. 100 Units.
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, consequences of flows (or content) in network ties, and (c) dynamics of those ties. (E)
Instructor(s): J. Padgett     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 50096