Curriculum

General survey of the constitutional bases, organization, and functioning of the American national government; recent and current trends.

Study of the international system, its actors and their capabilities; ends and means of foreign policy; international tension, conflict, and cooperation.

Basic issues in political thought, with emphasis on contemporary problems of democracy, liberty, authority, obligation, and ideology.

Survey of the major political systems and analysis of comparative political concepts, with a view to preparation for more advanced study.

Survey of the major political systems and analysis of comparative political concepts, with a view to preparation for more advanced study.

Theory and practice of executive agencies, including policy making and other functions, processes, personnel and fiscal management, and administrative law.

Theory and practice of executive agencies, including policy making and other functions, processes, personnel and fiscal management, and administrative law.

Focus on the politics of diversity and inclusion in a fast-changing world. Attention to national-ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, and socioeconomic factors, among others, that underlie human diversity and the political conditions for cooperation, conflict, and well-being. Consideration of decision-making and political-institutional settings that may extend from the local and regional to the national and international.

Examination of politics through the lens of gender hierarchy. Emphasis on how constrictions of masculinity and femininity shape and are shaped by interacting economic, political and ideological practices.

This course will investigate how the U.S. Constitution, State Constitutions, courts and case law have shaped today's American correctional systems. Although the impact of litigation on community corrections will be explored, the emphasis will be on how prisoner litigation has impacted the subculture of inmates inside today's American correctional facilities.

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.

This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain the ability to work with network data and apply network theory to the analysis of critical societal issues.

Examination of politics through the lens of gender hierarchy. Emphasis on how constrictions of masculinity and femininity shape and are shaped by interacting economic, political and ideological practices.

Analysis of conflicts of national interests; decision making in the present international system; role-playing and simulation experience.

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.

This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain the ability to work with network data and apply network theory to the analysis of critical societal issues.

Examination of election politics, personalities, and career patterns of congressional members, the organization and structure of Congress, and the role of Congress in policy leadership and representation of the public.

The digital revolution is changing politics. From Barack Obama's use of the Internet to drive his presidential campaign, to the upheaval of the Arab Spring and the emergence of new social movements like #OccupyWallStreet, digital technology is challenging and changing established institutions on a number of fronts. This course introduces students to the history of the Internet and the emerging technologies that are defining the Digital Age. It places emphasis on the role of technology in politics and its implications for democracy and citizen rights. The course will cover a wide range of issues related to governance of the internet, privacy and security, the role of the media and open source development.

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

This course seeks to provide a greater appreciation of what we call "globalization" and some of its implications for international politics, national security, and the prospects for global management of transnational problems. We will also examine the deepening interconnection of technological, economic, and sociocultural trends that characterize much of globalization; and introduce students to the need for a multidisciplinary approach.

This course aims to present some of the major theoretical approaches to conflict. It examines theories that attempt to explain the causes, dynamics and conditions of conflicts, be they international or domestic. We will focus on organized violence at four levels: the global system; the state or regime; social/ethnic groups; and the individual. By the end of the course students should know the main approaches to understanding what violence is, why warfare and violence occur, and how to apply those approaches to concrete cases.

How do the levels of corruption and accountability vary in the developing world? To what extent are they determined by the levels of economic development, political culture, political institutions or individual preferences? What kind of trajectories do we observe in the development of regimes and policies? What role do people play in bringing about regime transitions and democratization? Our discussion will focus on regime dynamics, institutions, and popular mobilization in the developing world to understand the complex problems that these countries face.

This course will focus on an introduction to how politics influences and constrains how public policy is made. The nature of the institutions of the government of the United States and the public policy process will be examined and discussed in relation to democratic values and policy outcomes.

The objective of this class is develop a more complete understanding of what a democracy is, as well as the core requirements for democracy to endure. Students will learn the fundamental tenets of democracy and gain appreciation for the complex concept of democracy. They will examine the different definitions and fundamental requirements for a state to be considered a democracy.