Course Schedule for 2019-20
The University uses a five-digit course numbering system. Courses whose first digit is less than “3” are considered College-level courses. Those courses whose first digit is “3” or higher are considered graduate-level. In general, College courses whose first digit is “1” are considered to be introductory or meeting first-year general education requirements.
PLSC 21110. The Comparative Politics of Colonialism. 100 Units.
Across the social sciences, the study of colonialism is undergoing a resurgence as scholars look increasingly to the past to explain the present. In this course, students will be introduced to stateof-the-field research in comparative politics and adjacent disciplines on various aspects of colonialism, from the structures and practices that sustained it to its long-term effects on such outcomes of interest as democratization, development, violence, state-society relations, and gender rights. Taking a broad scope, it covers all of the major regions of the world and touches on nearly every overseas colonial system, with special emphasis on the British Empire. The readings are representative of the methodological approaches currently deployed in the study of colonialism, from qualitative analyses to newer techniques in statistical and causal inference. However, this course assumes neither any prior substantive knowledge nor any exposure to any of the methods that students will encounter in the assigned readings.
Instructor(s): F. Sajid Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 21115. Causes of War and Peace. 100 Units.
There never was a good war or a bad peace", Benjamin Franklin famously stated. Few people would disagree, but wars still continue to be fought. What causes war? How can we promote peace? Is World War III inevitable? Is "peace on earth" a naive cliché? Since the dawn of time different political entities - tribes, city-states, and nation-states - have been engaged in military conflicts for a variety of reasons, from dreams of empire to the looting of a pastry shop. The study of the causes of war and peace lies at the heart the discipline of International Relations, which was found with the ambitious goals of understanding and eliminating the roots of human conflict. This seminar-style course introduces students to this complex subject. We will cover some of the most important works on the causes of war and peace from different levels of analysis and we will examine these theoretical claims in ancient and recent wars. Throughout the course students will take part in a variety of individual and group activities (reflection papers, debate-style discussions, and a war simulation) that will allow them to learn how to identify core arguments, to analyze ideas critically, to apply theories in concrete case studies, to construct their own explanations, and to develop decision-making skills.
Instructor(s): A. Bartoletti Terms Offered: Spring
PQ: PLSC 29000 Intro to IR or consent of instructor
PLSC 21205. Politics, Love, and War: Machiavelli’s Literary Works. 100 Units.
A reading of The Prince as literature and of Machiavelli's plays, poetry, novella, and a selection of his letters with attention to his great themes of politics, love, and war.
Instructor(s): N. Tarcov Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 31205
PLSC 21348. Anthropology, Criminality, and Transgression. 100 Units.
Alongside other disciplines in the social sciences, anthropology has a vexed and complicated history in the study of crime since the 19th-century. This course aims to consider this broader history of criminality within anthropology with specific attention to readings of transgressive criminal action, or the potential of “illegality” to destabilize particular ways of life beyond the maintenance of an existing world. This attention is a departure from other anthropological foci on crime as - for instance - pathological, symptomatic, opportunistic, reactionary, constructed, or in collusion with “legitimate” political and economic orders. While still attending to these themes through keys texts in the anthropology of crime, this course reflects on how conceptualizations of “change” (particularly political change) and criminality have been historically transformed and renewed within this literature. This course draws from anthropological studies alongside work in other disciplines and traditions of the social sciences such as political science, providing tools to identify the potentials and limits of studying crime as acts of resistance, insurgency, and/or political opposition.
Instructor(s): R. Noll Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 21348
PLSC 22400. Public Opinion. 100 Units.
What is the relationship between the mass citizenry and government in the U.S.? Does the public meet the conditions for a functioning democratic polity? This course considers the origins of mass opinion about politics and public policy, including the role of core values and beliefs, information, expectations about political actors, the mass media, economic self-interest, and racial attitudes. This course also examines problems of political representation, from the level of political elites communicating with constituents, and from the possibility of aggregate representation.
Instructor(s): J. Brehm Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 22400, LLSO 26802
PLSC 22402. Florentine Political Thought. 100 Units.
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
Course(s) LLSO 22402, PLSC 52402
PLSC 22505. Knowledge and Politics. 100 Units.
What is the relationship between knowledge and power, and between science and democracy? What kinds of knowledge are needed in politics, and who needs to know what? In this course we read a number of philosophers, theorists, and social scientists interested in the relationship between knowledge and politics. Topics covered may include: the epistemic properties of political institutions and markets; the role of expertise in politics; values in science and public policy; and theories of epistemic democracy and epistemic injustice.
Instructor(s): M. Landauer Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 42502
PLSC 22510. Law and Society. 100 Units.
This seminar examines the myriad relationships between courts, laws, and lawyers in the United States. Issues covered range from legal consciousness to the role of rights to access to courts to implementation of decisions to professionalism.
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 28100
Notes: PLSC 28800 or equivalent and consent of instructor
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,Spring,Winter
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 23915. Plato’s Republic. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to reading and discussion of Plato’s Republic and some secondary work with attention to justice in the city and the soul, war and warriors, psychology, education, theology, poetry, gender, eros, and cities in speech and actually existing cities.
Instructor(s): N. Tarcov Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 33915 / CLCV 23915 / FNDL 23915 / PLSC 33915
PLSC 24602. The Body Politic as Social Imaginary. 100 Units.
This course investigates the metaphor of the “body politic,” from ancient and classical thinkers (Plato and Cicero) and medieval philosophers (Salisbury and Christine de Pizan), to early-modern theorists (Hobbes and Rousseau) and modern “organicist” advocates (Gierke and Spencer). Through excerpts from these and other authors, we will consider whether the body image is an exclusively authoritarian and/or collectivist metaphor, or whether the image is a potential inspiration for liberal democracy as well.
Instructor(s): S. Zaffini Terms Offered: Autumn
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: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 25215, PBPL 25216, PLSC 35215, AMER 25215
PLSC 25406. Capitalism, Socialism, Anarchism: Perspectives on States, Markets, and Justice. 100 Units.
Is the state or the market the greater threat to individual and communal freedom? Can we live without either (or both)? Is capitalism identical with the market and trade or is it better understood as state-licensed exploitation? Does the state make us free from the ravages of market discipline or do voluntary exchange and cooperation free us from the despotism of state violence? Is contemporary inequality the result of unbridled markets or state-sanctioned monopoly? Can libertarians be socialists? Are anarchists leftist radicals or arch-conservatives? Is market socialism a viable form of overcoming capitalism or a sign of the latter’s inevitable triumph over social democracy? This course undertakes a broad survey of historical and contemporary debates over such questions, focusing on rival conceptions of states, markets, property, and justice.
Instructor(s): R. Reamer Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 25615. Race and Capitalism. 100 Units.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson Terms Offered: Spring
PLSC 25910. Parliamentary Politics in Israel in Comparative Perspective. 100 Units.
The course would deal with how Israeli politics works through the legislative prism, focusing on both informal and formal aspects of its dynamics around select issues.
Instructor(s): N. Chazan Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): JWSC 25910
PLSC 26000. Race and Politics. 100 Units.
Fundamentally, this course is meant to explore how race, both historically and currently, influences politics in the United States. For example, is there something unique about the politics of African Americans? Does the idea and lived experience of whiteness shape one's political behavior? Throughout the quarter, students interrogate the way scholars, primarily in the field of American politics, have ignored, conceptualized, measured, modeled, and sometimes fully engaged the concept of race. We examine the multiple manifestations of race in the political domain, both as it functions alone and as it intersects with other identities such as gender, class, and sexuality.
Instructor(s): C. Cohen Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 26205. American Political Economy and Race. 100 Units.
This course will explore how individual or group identity and social location is understood in economics. Specifically, we will use a political economy framework, which emerges from the premise that economic life has material, cultural, and political dimensions and that an individual’s (or group’s) identity or social location–e.g., race, gender, and class–may constrain or empower agents in their participation in economic and political life. The readings will draw from diverse disciplines including political science, economics, and sociology and will focus primarily on the intersection of race and class.
Instructor(s): P. Posey Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 26405. Becoming a Global Power: The American Experience. 100 Units.
This course invites advanced undergraduates and M.A. students to explore America’s rise to great power status and its embrace of a global military role. We focus on two main topics in the post-World War II era. First, how did the U.S. approach the practical side of building and maintaining an infrastructure for global military power projection? In answering this we will learn about the complex, evolving, and often obscure arrangements necessary for the U.S. to forward deploy military power in Western Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. Second, how did the embrace of a global military role change American politics, society, and law back home? Here we will analyze everything from changes in domestic transportation infrastructure to legal rulings about crimes on military bases to social effects of troops returning home from abroad. The course features an interdisciplinary set of readings from International Relations scholars, historians, critical geographers, anthropologists, and specialists in American Political Development. Students will also get experience analyzing original primary materials via a set of assigned case studies. A recurring interest will be exploring how a uniquely American view of itself affected the methods it used to create a global military infrastructure, and the impact of a global military role on American ideology and identity. Grades will be based on short writing assignments, a midterm exam, and a take-home essay final exam.
Instructor(s): A. Carson Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 36405
PLSC 26615. Democracy's Life and Death. 100 Units.
How are democracies founded and maintained? What are their advantages and disadvantages with respect to stability, security, liberty, equality, and justice? Why do democracies decline and die? This course addresses these questions by examining democracies, republics, and popular governments in both the ancient and modern worlds. We will read and discuss primary texts from and social scientific analyses of Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic, the United States, and modern representative governments throughout the globe.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 26615
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.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37301, FNDL 27301
PLSC 27600. War and the Nation-State. 100 Units.
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 at the end of the eighteenth century and the conclusion of World War II in 1945.
Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37600
PLSC 27815. Politics and Policy in China. 100 Units.
This course offers a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics and of salient issues in China’s public policy. We review the patterns and dynamics of political development or lack thereof in the Mao and reform eras, including the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the politics of reforms. Later sections of the course look at China’s political institutions, leadership, as well as various issues of governance and public policy, including state-society relations, the relationship between Beijing and the provinces, corruption, population and environment. Emphasis is on how institutions have provided the incentives for change as well as how institutions have been transformed.
Instructor(s): D. Yang Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37815, LLSO 27815
PLSC 28101. Topics in American Political Development. 100 Units.
This seminar will focus on the historical development of the American presidency. We will view the institution of the presidency through its changing relationship with Congress and the courts (separation of powers, checks and balances); the evolution of foreign policy, beginning with the expansion of US territory and removal of indigenous peoples; and the growth of the executive branch bureaucracy. This course is intended for sophomore and junior political science majors who want to fulfill their long paper requirement or gain more research and writing experience before undertaking a BA thesis. The major course requirement will be a research paper based on both primary and secondary sources.
Instructor(s): P. Conley Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 28801 Introduction to American Politics, PLSC 22913 The Practice of Social Science Research, and consent of instructor.
PLSC 28105. Transitional Justice. 100 Units.
This class will expose students to readings and research in a new area of social science: Transitional Justice. Transitional justice (TJ) refers to how new democracies deal with members and collaborators of former authoritarian regimes. In an era of democratic backsliding, getting TJ right cannot be overstated. When fragile new democracies are at risk of reverting back to dictatorship, the question arises: Can mechanisms set up by new democracies to deal with former authoritarian elites prevent such backsliding from happening? Or is backsliding occurring despite extensive TJ provisions? The class will introduce students a newly released dataset on Global Transitional Justice. Students will be encouraged and trained to conduct statistical analysis of their own to test hypotheses about the causes and effects of various transitional justice mechanisms.
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 22913, SOSC 13100-13300 or introductory statistics strongly recommended
PLSC 28300. Seminar on Realism. 100 Units.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the realist paradigm of international relations.
Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor required.
Note(s): Students must attend the first class.
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: Winter
PLSC 28602. American National Security Strategy. 100 Units.
This course surveys contemporary National Security Strategy around the world, focusing on the most urgent and important issues of the U.S. national security agenda. The purpose of the course is to help students better understand how the U.S. formulates national security strategy, key debates over how the U.S. should handle contemporary challenges, and provide important conceptual frameworks that will enable students to grapple with the security challenges of the decade ahead. The course covers recent changes in American grand strategy, nuclear policy, and the use of conventional forces in contemporary conflicts.
Instructor(s): R. Pape Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 38602
PLSC 28701. Introduction to Political Theory. 100 Units.
This course provides an introduction to political theory that focuses upon the interrelated themes of inhumanity, injustice, and inequality in the history of political thought and contemporary political theory.
Instructor(s): M. Landauer Terms Offered: Spring
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): J. Hansen Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 28901. Introduction to Comparative Politics. 100 Units.
Why are some nations rich and others are poor? Why is inequality skyrocketing across the developed world? Why are some countries democratic and others are dictatorships, and what determines switching between regimes? Does democracy matter for health, wealth, and happiness? Why are some countries beset by civil violence and revolution whereas others are politically stable? Why do political parties organize themselves politically around ethnicity, language, religion, or ideology? This course explores these and other similar questions that lie at the core of comparative politics. Drawing on political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, while utilizing a wealth of data and case studies of major countries, we will examine how power is exercised to shape and control political, cultural, and economic institutions and, in turn, how these institutions generate policies that affect what we learn, what we earn, how long we live, and even who we are.
Instructor(s): B. Lessing Terms Offered: Spring
PLSC 29000. Introduction to International Relations. 100 Units.
Humans face many challenges today. These range from wars and nuclear proliferation, to economic crises and the collapse of global order. International Relations-the study of global anarchy and the commitment problems it creates between sovereign governments-offers analytical tools for understanding the causes and consequences of these challenges. This course introduces students to the scientific study of world politics, focusing on the areas of security, economic cooperation, and international law.
Instructor(s): P. Poast Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 29102. 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 dominant strategies, rationalizable 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.
Instructor(s): Z. Luo Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PPHA 41501, PLSC 30901
Notes: Undergraduates by consent only
PLSC 29103. Game Theory II. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to games of incomplete information and several advanced topics through solving problem sets. We will cover the concepts of Bayes Nash equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, and the basics of mechanism design and information design. 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.
Instructor(s): Z. Luo Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 31000
Notes: Undergraduates by consent only
PLSC 29202. Secret Side of International Politics. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to the secret side of international politics. The class features weekly lectures and "research/writing lab" meetings. The lecture and associated readings survey a wide range of theoretical approaches for describing and analyzing the causes and consequences of conducting international politics “behind closed doors.” We will cover intelligence analysis, secret alliances, secrecy in crisis decision-making, and covert wartime military operations. We will draw on political science but also organization studies, psychology, and anthropology. 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? The core assignment is an original research paper that draws on archival/declassified materials, due from each student at the end of term. Regular checkpoint assignments will take place during the quarter. In the weekly lab meetings, students will receive 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. This course is intended for advanced undergraduates (political science majors and non-majors welcome) with a large reading load and a challenging paper assignment.
Instructor(s): A. Carson Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 29602. Topics in Critical Theory: Repurposing "Ideology" for the Present. 100 Units.
This course examines selections from the vast literature on ideology—with attention to the political commitments and intellectual genealogies that have made the concept both important and vexed. We begin with Weber and then explore a variety of trajectories in the Marxist tradition. The bulk of the course will entail examining ideology’s relationship to material practice, the notion of interpellation, the usefulness of “hegemony,” and the problems associated with false consciousness. We shall also analyze ideology’s connection to prevailing theoretical concerns, such as those related to “subject” formation, affect, new developments in capitalism, and dynamics associated with contemporary “democratic” liberal, as well as authoritarian, political orders. We conclude by considering how social science has employed and developed this body of knowledge, why the concept seemed to lose its explanatory power, and how it might be repurposed for the present.
Instructor(s): L. Wedeen Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 29602
Notes: 3rd or 4th year standing; this is a 3CT Capstone Course
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: Autumn Spring Summer Winter
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 30301. American Politics Field Seminar I. 100 Units.
A survey of some of the main themes, topics and approaches in the study of American politics and government.
Instructor(s): E. Oliver Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 30401. American Politics Field Seminar II. 100 Units.
A survey of some of the main themes, topics and approaches in the study of American politics and government.
Instructor(s): C. Cohen, W. Howell Terms Offered: Winter
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.
Instructor(s): J. Hansen Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 30901. Game Theory I. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to games of complete information through solving problem sets. We will cover the concepts of dominant strategies, rationalizable 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.
Instructor(s): Z. Luo Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 29102, PPHA 41501
Prequisite(s): PLSC 40801 Social Choice Theory and PLSC 43401 Mathematical Foundations of Political Methodology or consent of instructor
PLSC 31000. Game Theory II. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to games of incomplete information and several advanced topics through solving problem sets. We will cover the concepts of Bayes Nash equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, and the basics of mechanism design and information design. 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.
Instructor(s): Z. Luo Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 29103
Prequisite(s): PLSC 30901or consent of instructor
PLSC 31101. Computational Tools for Social Science. 100 Units.
The purpose of this course is to provide graduate students with the critical technical skills necessary to conduct research in quantitative / computational social science. This course is not an introduction to statistics, computer science, or specialized social science methods. Rather, the focus will be on practical skills necessary to be successful in further methods work. The first portion of the class introduces students to basic computer literacy, terminologies, and programming languages, covering Bash, R, and Git. The second part of the course provides students the opportunity to use the skills they learned in part 1 towards practical applications such as webscraping, data collection through APIs, automated text analysis, etc. We will assume no prior experience with programming or computer science.
Instructor(s): R. Terman Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 31205. Politics, Love, and War: Machiavelli’s Literary Works. 100 Units.
A reading of The Prince as literature and of Machiavelli's plays, poetry, novella, and a selection of his letters with attention to his great themes of politics, love, and war.
Instructor(s): N. Tarcov Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 21205
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: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PBPL 25216, LLSO 25215, PLSC 25215, AMER 25215
PLSC 35395. American Political Culture. 100 Units.
What are the values and beliefs that organize American politics? In this seminar, we’ll answer this question looking at both historical works of American political and contemporary studies of mass attitudes. Particular attention will be paid to American “exceptionalism,” the role of class, race, and religion, and the impact of media.
Instructor(s): E. Oliver Terms Offered: Winter
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.
Instructor(s): P. Staniland Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 36405. Becoming a Global Power: The American Experience. 100 Units.
This course invites advanced undergraduates and M.A. students to explore America’s rise to great power status and its embrace of a global military role. We focus on two main topics in the post-World War II era. First, how did the U.S. approach the practical side of building and maintaining an infrastructure for global military power projection? In answering this we will learn about the complex, evolving, and often obscure arrangements necessary for the U.S. to forward deploy military power in Western Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. Second, how did the embrace of a global military role change American politics, society, and law back home? Here we will analyze everything from changes in domestic transportation infrastructure to legal rulings about crimes on military bases to social effects of troops returning home from abroad. The course features an interdisciplinary set of readings from International Relations scholars, historians, critical geographers, anthropologists, and specialists in American Political Development. Students will also get experience analyzing original primary materials via a set of assigned case studies. A recurring interest will be exploring how a uniquely American view of itself affected the methods it used to create a global military infrastructure, and the impact of a global military role on American ideology and identity. Grades will be based on short writing assignments, a midterm exam, and a take-home essay final exam.
Instructor(s): A. Carson Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 26405
PLSC 37000. Law and Politics: U.S. Courts as Political Institutions. 100 Units.
The purpose of this seminar is two-fold. First, the seminar aims to introduce students to the political science literature on courts understood as political institutions. In examining foundational parts of this literature, the seminar will focus on the relationship between the courts and other political institutions. The sorts of questions to be asked include: Are there interests that courts are particularly prone to support? What factors influence judicial decision-making? What effect does congressional or executive action have on court decisions? What is the relationship between courts and public opinion? What impact do court decisions have? While the answers will not always be clear, students should complete the seminar with an awareness of and sensitivity to the political nature of the American legal system. Second, by critically assessing approaches to the study of the courts, the seminar seeks to highlight intelligent and sound approaches to the study of political institutions. Particular concern will focus on what assumptions students of courts have made, how evidence has been integrated into their studies, and what a good research design looks like.
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): To be considered for admission to this seminar, you must watch the 17 minute video and then, if interested, contact Professor Rosenberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SNLd_wUEQ
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.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 27301, PLSC 27301
PLSC 37600. War and the Nation State. 100 Units.
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 at the end of the eighteenth century and the conclusion of World War II in 1945.
Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 27600
PLSC 37815. Politics and Public Policy in China. 100 Units.
This course offers a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics and of salient issues in China's public policy. We review the patterns and dynamics of political development or lack thereof in the Mao and reform eras, including the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the politics of reforms. Later sections of the course look at China's political institutions, leadership, as well as various issues of governance and public policy, including state-society relations, the relationship between Beijing and the provinces, corruption, population and environment. Emphasis is on how institutions have provided the incentives for change as well as how institutions have been transformed.
Instructor(s): D. Yang Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 27815, LLSO 27815
PLSC 38515. Democratic Recession: the Israeli Case. 100 Units.
This course will deal specifically with the Israel's democratic slippage during the past decade. It will examine its causes, its dynamics and its consequences, weaving in references to comparative case studies. A prior knowledge of Israeli politics, history and/or society is helpful but not necessary.
Instructor(s): N. Chazan Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 38602. American National Security Strategy. 100 Units.
This course surveys contemporary National Security Strategy around the world, focusing on the most urgent and important issues of the U.S. national security agenda. The purpose of the course is to help students better understand how the U.S. formulates national security strategy, key debates over how the U.S. should handle contemporary challenges, and provide important conceptual frameworks that will enable students to grapple with the security challenges of the decade ahead. The course covers recent changes in American grand strategy, nuclear policy, and the use of conventional forces in contemporary conflicts.
Instructor(s): R. Pape Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 28602
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.
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty Terms Offered: Spring
PLSC 40000. Readings: Political Science. 100 Units.
This is a general reading and research course for independent study.
PLSC 40100. Thesis Preparation: Polsci. 100 Units.
This is an independent study course related to master's paper or dissertation research.
PLSC 40600. Seminar on IR Theory. 100 Units.
This course is a PhD-level introductory survey of the major scholarly traditions in the field of International Relations. It provides an introduction to the central theoretical approaches including realism, liberalism, and constructivism and their variants. The course also exposes students to more recent non-paradigmatic research programs, reflections on the field's development over time, and the recurring "meta-debates" which underlie many of the differences in applied areas. Seminar discussion will identify and criticize the central arguments advanced by different scholars in order to assess the relative merits of different theoretical perspectives. The course is designed to help students prepare for the Department's IR general exam: assigned and suggested readings are a starting point for building a reading list; the course offers practice with answering exam questions; students will exercise modes of critical analysis during seminar critical to passing the exam.
Instructor(s): A. Carson Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 40604. Militant Power Politics. 100 Units.
This course is a general theory of militant group violence possible and, if so, what is the core logic? 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. The most important are ideological, religious, ethnic, and strategic theories, which rest on fundamentally different assumptions about the coherence of militant groups, the degree of rationality in their decision-making, and the nature of their dynamics in competition with rival states. This seminar will cover the main theories of militant power politics, encouraging students to develop their own ideas about the development of general theories to account for major modern militant groups and carry out policy-relevant research in this area.
Instructor(s): R. Pape Terms Offered: Spring
PLSC 40610. Seminar on International Security Affairs. 100 Units.
This course introduces students to a selection of the principal literature that forms the foundation of contemporary international security affairs. It is organized around four general subject areas: The international system and war, crises and war, the conduct of war, and the outcome of war. Each week, our purpose will be to critically assess the strengths and limits of the central arguments of the readings, on their own terms. Students preparing masters and PhD theses and for PhD preliminary exams will find this approach particularly useful. Specific weeks will include: Preventive War, Reputation and Deterrence, Targeting Civilians, Violence in Civil Wars, Relative Decline and War, and Why Armies Fight, among others.
Instructor(s): R. Pape Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 40801. Social Choice Theory. 100 Units.
This course will provide you with an introduction to the field of social choice theory, the study of aggregating the preferences of individuals into a "collective preference." It will focus primarily on classic theorems and proof techniques, with the aim of examining the properties of different collective choice procedures and characterizing procedures that yield desirable outcomes. The classic social choice results speak not only to the difficulties in aggregating the preferences of individuals, but also to the difficulties in aggregating any set of diverse criteria that we deem important to making a choice or enerating a ranking. Specific topics we will cover include preference aggregation, rationalizable choice, tournaments, sophisticated voting, domain restrictions, and the implicit trade-offs made by game theoretic versus social choice theoretic approaches to modeling.
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course is a PQ for PLSC 30901 Game Theory I
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.
Instructor(s): J. Pitts Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 42420
PLSC 42501. Athenian Democracy and its Critics. 100 Units.
This course explores the ancient Athenian experience of democracy through the writings of some of its staunchest partisans and fiercest critics. The course introduces students to the ideology and institutions of Athenian democracy. We investigate topics such as the role of popular institutions in politics, including the Assembly and the Popular Courts; Athens' extensive system of political accountability; and the democratic values that the Athenians took as justification for their politics and way of life. The course also analyzes some of the critical responses Athenian democracy provoked. Topics covered include the relationship between democracy and tyranny; Athenian democracy and imperialism; and the role of rhetoric in democratic decision-making. Readings include works by ancient historians, philosophers, dramatists, and rhetoricians, as well as modern scholars.
Instructor(s): M. Landauer Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 32515
PLSC 42502. Knowledge and Politics. 100 Units.
What is the relationship between knowledge and power, and between science and democracy? What kinds of knowledge are needed in politics, and who needs to know what? In this course we read a number of philosophers, theorists, and social scientists interested in the relationship between knowledge and politics. Topics covered may include: the epistemic properties of political institutions and markets; the role of expertise in politics; values in science and public policy; and theories of epistemic democracy and epistemic injustice.
Instructor(s): M. Landauer Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 22505
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.
Instructor(s): D. Yang Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 43100. Maximum Likelihood. 100 Units.
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.
Instructor(s): J. Brehm Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 30700 Intro to Linear Models or 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 SOSC 30100: Mathematics for Social Sciences.
Instructor(s): R. Gulotty Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Students are expected to have completed SOSC 30100: Mathematics for Social Sciences.
Note(s): This course is a PQ for PLSC 30901 Game Theory I.
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.
Instructor(s): D. Kasimis Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 33815
PLSC 43820. Plato's Republic. 100 Units.
This course is devoted to reading and discussion of Plato's Republic and some secondary work with attention to justice in the city and the soul, war and warriors, education, theology, poetry, gender, eros, and actually existing cities.
Instructor(s): N. Tarcov Terms Offered: Autumn
Prequisite(s): Undergrad course by consent
Equivalent Course(s): LLSO 23915, FNDL 29503, SCTH 31770
PLSC 44305. Topics in Black Politics. 100 Units.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson Terms Offered: Spring
PLSC 44905. Feminism and the Radical Democratic Imaginary: Futures Past. 100 Units.
The political history of Western feminism is typically described as encompassing various “waves” of theory and practice, with each wave building on, but also going beyond, an earlier wave. Thus, the second-wave (1968-1980s) is seen as taking up and radicalizing the first wave (1848-1920) struggle for political rights by expanding the concept of rights and of politics itself beyond the confines of the formal political sphere; the third wave (1991-?) is seen as taking up and radicalizing the second wave’s concept of “women” as the political subject of feminism; and so on. Handy though this periodization may be, it has left many feminists wondering which wave they are in anymore. Some feminists argue that the various waves have given way to “intersectional feminism,” but that description does not address the fundamental question of what kind of critical political work the concept of a “wave” was supposed to do in the first place. It was not until 1968 that people started talking about feminism in terms of different waves, and that feminism came to be understood as having a history at all. This shift allowed feminists to root their political demand for change in a historical democratic struggle for social justice, not least as a way of countering the popular view of the women’s liberation movement as an impossibly utopian project made up by a bunch of crazy man-hating misfits.
In Part I of this two-quarter course we take up this periodization of feminism and explore how conceptualizations of the past shape imaginative visions of possible futures. How we understand the past has a direct bearing on what can count as a “realistic” course of social, political, and economic action. Furthermore, our conception of the past is itself shaped by a projected future and different societies have different ways of imagining the relations between their own future and past. Originating in the revolutionary eighteenth century, Western feminism’s conceptualization of this relation, its own “futures past” (to speak with Reinhard Koselleck), is characterized by an anticipatory and distinctively modern temporality that assumes the novelty and openness of the future. If the history of feminism calls at times for rewriting, that is less because new facts are discovered than that the ever-changing present opens new perspectives on the past and makes new demands on what it can mean. The past is figured more in terms of projected futures than fidelity to how things really were. For this reason, feminist historiography is rife with debates about whose story is told, and the idea of a “wave” itself has with good reason been criticized as overly generalizing in ways that blind us to the far more fraught and complex histories not captured in its conceptual net. In what ways has feminism’s radical political imaginary been at once enabled and constrained by a certain practice of historiography? To what extent is the progressivism and presentism that tends to characterize contemporary feminism’s relation to its own past a problem for its future? What are the “futures past” of feminism and how do they speak to us today?
Instructor(s): L. Zerilli Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s):
PLSC 44906. Feminism and the Radical Democratic Imaginary, Part II. 100 Units.
Instructor(s): L. Zerilli Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 45502. The Study of Criminal Justice and Race in the United States. 100 Units.
This course will familiarize students with the major themes in recent scholarship on criminal justice and race in the United States. These include how racial hierarchies influence legislation, the role criminal justice plays in racial construction, the functioning of bureaucracies in racialized societies, and the political consequences of criminal justice policy. It will also take this scholarship as an object of study to critically assess the scope of questions being answered in this area, and examine the relationship between epistemological commitments, ontological premises, and the ability of systematic inquiry to serve or subvert racial hierarchies.
Instructor(s): A. McCall Terms Offered: Spring
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.
Instructor(s): G. Herrigel Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 40223
PLSC 45710. Race and Capitalism. 100 Units.
This course will address issues of race and capitalism.
Instructor(s): M. Dawson Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 45700
PLSC 48001. Field Seminar in Comparative Politics I. 100 Units.
This seminar broadly surveys the study of comparative politics in contemporary political science.
Instructor(s): L. Wedeen Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 48101. Field Seminar in Comparative Politics II. 100 Units.
This seminar broadly surveys the study of comparative politics in contemporary political science.
Instructor(s): M. Nalepa Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): PLSC 30901 Game Theory 1 or equivalent
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.
Instructor(s): P. Poast Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PPHA 39830
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.
Instructor(s): B. Lessing Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LACS 48700, PPHA 37105
PLSC 48801. Constitutional Law for LL.M. Students. 100 Units.
This course is designed to introduce LL.M. students to U.S. constitutional law. Topics to be covered include the theory, development and practice of judicial review, the allocation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the role of and interactions between the states and the federal government in the federal structure. In addition, the course will cover key doctrines in the areas of equal protection and substantive due process.
Instructor(s): G. Rosenberg Terms Offered: Autumn
PLSC 49301. Emotion, Reason, and Law. 100 Units.
Emotions figure in many areas of the law, and many legal doctrines (from reasonable provocation in homicide to mercy in criminal sentencing) invite us to think about emotions and their relationship to reason. In addition, some prominent theories of the limits of law make reference to emotions: thus Lord Devlin and, more recently, Leon Kass have argued that the disgust of the average member of society is a sufficient reason for rendering a practice illegal, even though it does no harm to others. Emotions, however, are all too rarely studied closely, with the result that both theory and doctrine are often confused. The first part of this course will study major theories of emotion, asking about the relationship between emotion and cognition, focusing on philosophical accounts, but also learning from anthropology and psychology. We will ask how far emotions embody cognitions, and of what type, and then we will ask whether there is reason to consider some or all emotions "irrational" in a normative sense. We then turn to the criminal law, asking how specific emotions figure in doctrine and theory: anger, fear, compassion, disgust, guilt, and shame. Legal areas considered will include self-defense, reasonable provocation, mercy, victim impact statements, sodomy laws, sexual harassment, shame-based punishments. Next, we turn to the role played by emotions in constitutional law and in thought about just institutions - a topic that seems initially unpromising, but one that will turn out to be full of interest. Other topics will be included as time permits. Law students and Ph.D. students may register without permission. All others need instructor's permission.
Instructor(s): M. Nussbaum Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 25209, PHIL 35209, GNSE 28210, GNSE 38300, RETH 32900, LAWS 43273
PLSC 50000. Dissertation Proposal Seminar. 100 Units.
A weekly seminar devoted to the presentation and collective discussion of several drafts of each student's dissertation proposal.
Instructor(s): L. Wedeen Terms Offered: Winter
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.
Instructor(s): J. McCormick Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 22402, LLSO 22402
PLSC 53000. Seminar on Great Power Politics. 100 Units.
The aim of this course is to explore some of the key questions concerning relations among the great powers.
Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer Terms Offered: Winter
PLSC 53300. Seminar on Nuclear Weapons and International Politics. 100 Units.
The aim of this course is to examine how nuclear weapons have affected the conduct of international relations. Special attention will be paid to subjects like: 1) nuclear deterrence, 2) the causes of nuclear proliferation, 3) the consequences of nuclear proliferation, 4) strategies for employing nuclear weapons, 4) the role of nuclear weapons in the Cold War, 5) how nuclear weapons will affect relations among the great powers in the emerging multipolar world, and 6) whether there has been a "nuclear revolution."
Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer Terms Offered: Spring
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.
Instructor(s): J. Padgett Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 50096