Courses
Spring 2025 Offerings Course Info on SIS Archives
Course Descriptions
The list below includes descriptions of ALL undergraduate courses offered by the Department of Political Science, though some courses may be taught more often than others. Descriptions for special topics seminars are updated each semester.
Visit the undergraduate page for course requirements for specific programs. For up-to-date information on course offerings, schedules, room locations, and registration, please visit the Student Information System (SIS).
AC Political Science. Tufts equivalency awarded based upon SAT or International Diploma exam/score. Please see Tufts Exam Equivalency Chart in Bulletin for detailed information.
AP Political Science. Tufts equivalency awarded based upon AP exam/score. Please see Tufts Exam Equivalency Chart in Bulletin for detailed information.
PS 0002 First Year Tutorial in Comparative Politics. Introduction to world politics through in-depth study of a set of theoretical approaches used to explain phenomena such as democratization, political economy, political violence, or state building. Application of alternative theoretical approaches to empirical evidence from one or more geographic regions of the world, with an emphasis on critical thinking, writing and basic research methods.
PS 0003 First Year Tutorial in American Government. Introduction to American Politics through in-depth study of a particular theme in the American political process. Examples include: governmental institutions, public policies, social organizations, race and ethnicity, public opinion and political participation, the mass media, and interest groups. First-year students only.
PS 0004 First Year Tutorial in Political Theory. Introduction to political theory and to different modes of interpretation through close study of seminal texts in the history of political philosophy. Examination of fundamental political concepts, such as justice, liberty, and equality, with an emphasis on basic research methods and writing.
PS 0008 Workshop in Political Science. Please see departmental website for detailed course descriptions.
PS 0009 Workshop in Political Science. Please see departmental website for detailed course descriptions.
PS 0011 Introduction to American Politics. (Cross-listed w/ AMER48) A study of governmental politics, functions, and programs. Emphasis given to political behavior, both at the mass level and in institutions. Survey of public opinion and political culture, parties, and elections. Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, the federal courts, and interest groups.
PS 0013 Sophomore Seminar: Race & Class in American Politics. Race and class cleavages in the U.S. and their effect on our politics. Emphasis on how race has impeded a class-based politics in this country. Origins and decay of the Jim Crow South, American political attitudes toward race and class issues, and urban and social welfare policy. Sophomore Seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0015 Sophomore Seminar: Politics & The City. Three major problems in urban politics: the political economy of cities, especially issues involving community economic development; race and the city, emphasizing the problems facing the poorest residents of the inner city; and political empowerment, including analysis of neighborhood government. A methodologically focused course.
PS 0019 Sophomore Seminar In American Politics. Sophomore seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0020 An Introduction to Civic Studies: Theories for a Better World. (Cross-listed as CVS 20 and PHIL 20) Exploration of contrasting conceptions of active citizenship with roots in philosophy and practical experimentation. Course aims better to understand how people engage with their communities and develop strategies for building a better world. Emphasis on the perspective of individuals and small groups: what we should do to create, nourish, and sustain good communities. Consideration of values (ethics), facts (empirical evidence), and strategies. Readings from historical and contemporary sources.
No prerequisites.
PS 0021 Introduction To Comparative Politics. Theories and evidence in comparative politics, preparing students for upper-level courses that focus on specific regions, countries, and themes. The rise and fall of democracy in selected countries from different regions such as Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
PS 0022 Sophomore Seminar: Comparative Political Corruption. Definitions, history, causes, and consequences of political corruption. Different cultural understandings of corruption. Prevention strategies. Cases include early modern Europe, pre-Revolutionary France, colonial Nigeria, the Tammany Hall machine, republican and post-Mao China, the Philippines under Marcos, and Watergate. Please see department website for specific details. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0023 Sophomore Seminar: Political Economy of Latin America. Explores alternative theoretical and methodological approaches to political economy, and utilizes these approaches to analyze strategic relations and policy linkages between states and markets in several Latin American countries. A methodologically focused sophomore seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0024 Sophomore Seminar: The Politics of South Asia. One-fifth of the world's population lives in South Asia, a region of the world of increasing change, strife, and importance. Topics examined: the legacy of colonial rule and the independence movements; the political and social structures of India and Pakistan; Political Islam and Hindu nationalism; India and Pakistan's respective foreign policies; conflict between powers in the region with nuclear weapons; the future of Afghanistan; the emerging role of China in the region.
PS 0030 Mitigating Electoral Violence in Africa. Sophomore Seminar in Comparative Politics. Elections are studied as a core institution of contemporary African politics. Theories of democratization and political violence address the challenges of nation-building and citizenship. Students follow African election campaigns in real-time through social media. Case studies, public opinion survey data, and videoconferences with practitioners connect theory with practice. A research project is required.
PS 0039 Sophomore Seminar in Comparative Politics. Sophomore seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0041 Western Political Thought I. (Cross-listed as CLS 41, CVS 18, and PHIL 41.) Central concepts of ancient, medieval, and early modern political thought. Ideas of Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, and Aristotle during the rise and fall of Athens. Subsequent transformations of political philosophy related to the decline of the Roman empire and the origins and development of Christian political doctrine, and the new political outlook of those who challenged the hegemony of Christianity. Analysis of how premodern political thought helped structure future political debate.
PS 0042 Western Political Thought II. (Cross-listed as PHIL 42 and CVS 82.) Central concepts of modern political thought. The views of those writers who challenged the dominance of Christianity: Machiavelli, Descartes, Hobbes, and others. Some of the main transformations of political thinking that characterized the Enlightenment: the possibility of scientific thinking and reasoning as the basis for human freedom. Nietzsche's critique of the Enlightenment, and the ability to find political principles that are genuinely true or liberating.
PS 0043 Justice , Equality, and Liberty. (Cross-listed as PHIL 43.) An introduction to the central concepts and problems in the foundations of political order, including the nature of the state, rights, justice, equality, representation, property, law, and coercion. Readings from classic and contemporary thinkers.
PS 0044 Sophomore Seminar: Origins of Islamic Political Thought. This course will survey of the development of political philosophy in the Islamic world, from its early external (primarily Greek) influences though the great debates that raged between the 9th and 14th centuries on issues such as the respective spheres of human reason and divine law, innovation vs. orthodoxy, political regimes, and the proper conduct of warfare. It will focus on the writings of major thinkers including al-Farabi, al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn Khaldun, and will conclude by considering the legacies of their debates in contemporary Islamic political thought.
PS 0059 Sophomore Seminar in Political Thought. Sophomore seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0061 Introduction to International Relations. Examination of several conceptual designs intended to make order out of the essential anarchy in international relations, from a theoretical assessment of the nation-state and the nature of national power to an exploration of behavior among nation-states, including the ultimate problem of war and peace and an appraisal of the factors that give an age its particular characteristics.
PS 0089 Sophomore Seminar in International Relations. Sophomore seminar. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0099 Fieldwork in Politics. Internship placements with such employers as legislators, campaigns, news media, lobbies, law firms, and administrative agencies. Twelve to fifteen hours of work per week. Written assignments, with supporting readings, on organizational structure, goals and strategies, and occupational socialization.
PS 0100 Seminar: Politics of U.S. Immigration Policy. Historical and contemporary immigration policy in the United States. Focus on both immigration policy and effect of policy on U.S. political life. Identification of policy successes and failings and relationship to American citizenship policy. U.S. attitudes towards immigration. Social and political incorporation of new immigrant populations. Relationship between immigration and race relations.
PS 0101 The Presidency and the Executive Branch. Study of the constitutional development of the presidential office, its power, prestige, and functions, as well as the influences of the person occupying that office. Major emphasis is on the process of policy formulation in the executive branch. Analysis of the president's relations with his staff, the bureaucracy, the Congress, the press, and the public.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0102 Congress, Bureaucracy, and Public Policy. The focus of this course is on the national policy-making process. Examination of such topics as agenda building, the relationship between congressional elections and public policy outcomes, legislative process, congressional-agency relations, bureaucratic politics, and program implementation.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0103 Political Science Research Methods. The study of quantitative methods for investigating political issues and policy controversies. Focuses on collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. Emphasizes hands-on training that provides useful skills for academic and professional settings. Topics covered include: measurement, hypothesis development, survey design, experiments, content analysis, significance tests, correlation, and regression. No prior statistics background necessary. Prerequisites: PS 11, 21, 41, 42, or 61. A methodologically focused course.
PS 0104 Seminar: New Media, New Politics. (Cross-listed with FMS 163 & TCS 104). Research seminar on three media sectors: cable television, talk radio, and social media. Analysis of the economic foundations of each sector, advertising, audience demographics, and strategy. Student teams conduct an original empirical study of the media.
PS 0105 Constitutional Law. The development and application of American constitutional law as interpreted in the leading decisions of the Supreme Court. Included are citizenship, the commerce power, due process of law, and the equal protection of the laws. Recent trends in constitutional doctrine.
PS 0106 Racial and Ethnic Politics in the United States. Political interests, identifies and behavior of blacks, Asian Americans and Latinos. Emphasis on political representation, voter mobilization and public opinion of these groups. Coverage of relevant public policies and their legal challenges such as Voting Rights Act. Consequences of new political developments such as mixed race identification and immigration.
PS 0107 Political Participation and Mass Behavior in the U.S. Patterns of political participation in the United States including voting, other electoral activity, and protest. Factors explaining political activity. Relationship to public opinion and patterns of representation. Recent controversies and debates, such as decline of partisanship and rise of internet participation.
PS 0108 Public Opinion and U.S. Democracy. (Cross-listed w/ CVS 138) Addresses the impact of public opinion in the United States on the political process and vice versa. Emphasis is on the linkage between U.S. citizens and the democratic process. Examines what public opinion is and debates about how it can be measured. Topics include the nature of attitude formation, stability and change; the role of the media in opinion-formation; the link between attitudes and behavior; group differences in opinions; how elites influence mass opinions; political inequality; polarization; and the relationship between public opinion and policy outcomes.
Requires the completion of any PS foundation course (PS 11, 21, 41, 42, or 61).
PS 0109 Seminar: The Politics of Ethnicity and American Identity. Current political issues stemming from the changing ethnic composition of the United States. Particular attention is paid to the meaning of American national identity, how it has changed over time, and what role it plays in shaping ethnicity-related policy debates. Topics include: immigration policy, public opinion, racial profiling, language policy, U.S. census, bilingual education, dual citizenship, redistricting, representation, and elections. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0110 Political Parties. Study of political parties in the United States: the concept of party identification, the evolution of the present party system, the role of parties in presidential and congressional elections, comparative study of parties in the governing process. Focus on both elite and mass political behavior.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0111 Political Psychology. Topics in political psychology: the transmission and structure of political attitudes, ideological thought, the relationship of political attitudes to political behavior, the effect of the media on political attitudes, extremisms, tolerance, and prejudice.
PS 0112 US Elections: Rules, Strategies, and Outcomes. Election laws and political campaigns in the United States. Focusing on how rules, including the US Constitution, public policies, and party norms, affect the ways that strategic campaigns pursue voters. Topics may include the Constitution; parties; nominations/primaries; money in politics; redistricting; voting rights; term limits; competitiveness; electoral college; access and suppression; data and targeting; and messaging.
PS 0113 Seminar: Nonprofits and Civil Society. Analysis of the role of nonprofits in the American political system. Topics include nonprofits and civic engagement, the administration of human service programs by community-based nonprofits, faith-based organizations, advocacy by nonprofits, and the regulation of nonprofits by the government. Please see departmental website for specific details.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0114 Seminar: Political Representation in the US. Advanced seminar examining several aspects of political representation in the United States, including debates about what constitutes "good" or "effective" representation and proposals for reform. Topics include Congressional redistricting, increasing electoral competition, whether Congress should "look like America", term limits, the relationship between public opinion and policy making, and how elected officials learn about public opinion. Addresses democratic theory and the impact that electoral rules have on public opinion, political behavior, and representation. Assignments include two short papers, one research paper, a midterm, and weekly discussions.
Requires the completion of any American politics course.
PS 0115 Information, Technology, and Political Power. (Cross-listed as CVS 136) The role of information in the political process. Information technologies both as inputs that affect political decisions and as outputs that result from political decisions. Covers the decision-making process of elite political actors and ordinary citizens. Topics may include unsanctioned oversight and leaks; cyber warfare; sanctioned oversight and FOIA; accessibility bias; free speech and privacy; surveillance; collective action; hobbyism; inefficiency’ anti-trust; political targeting; and autonomous vehicles.
PS 0116 Judicial Politics. The influences on and processes and public policy impacts of court decisions. The influences of public opinion, judicial values, informal rules and procedures, and legal reasoning on various types of court actions. Explanation of Supreme Court decisions, and the ways and conditions under which courts alter the nature of public policy in the United States.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0117 Politics of the American South. (Cross-listed w/ AMER134) Study of politics and government in the eleven states of the former Confederacy. Themes include the role of race and class in the politics of the region, change and continuity in Southern politics and society, and Southern political and cultural exceptionalism. Satisfies the methodological focus requirement.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0118 Topics in American Politics. Please see departmental website for detailed course descriptions.
PS 0119 Seminar in American Politics. Please see departmental website for specific details.
PS 0120 Seminar: Power and Politics in China. Advanced seminar on sources of political power and resistance in post-Mao Chinese politics. Debates in recent research over state strength, origins of political reform, development of civil society, prospects for democratization, corruption, censorship, religion, and protest. Please see departmental website for specific details.
Prerequisites: PS 126 or HIST 41, or permission of instructor.
PS 0121 Seminar: Political Culture in Comparative Perspective. (Cross-listed as CVS 121 and PJS 121). How cultural meanings and practices shape political struggles and institutions. Survey of culturalist theories of political dynamics and structures, and assessment of theories against a range of empirical case studies from Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Please see departmental website for specific details.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0122 Soviet, Russian, & Post-Soviet Politics. Analysis of domestic political, economic, and social development of the Soviet Union and its successor states. Approximately one third of the course is devoted to an overview of political, economic, and social structures that defined Soviet Communism. The remaining two-thirds of the course considers the divergent paths taken by the fifteen successor states of the Soviet Union after 1991. The course applies social scientific theories while examining developments such as state collapse and state formation, political and institutional changes, the politics of economic reform, the challenges of nationalism within the multinational state, electoral revolutions, and other topics.
PS 0123 Seminar: Authoritarianism in Comparative Perspective. Throughout human history, most political regimes have not been democratic. Until recently, however, the field of comparative politics treated authoritarian regimes as theoretically uninteresting. This upper-level seminar examines the politics of non-democratic regimes in different regions of the world and across time. Topics include types of authoritarian regimes, political institutions in authoritarian regimes, methods of repression and control, and economic development.
PS 0124 Seminar: Comparative Political Economy of Advanced Industrial Democracies. Comparison of different models of capitalism in Western Europe, the United States, and Japan. Topics include: rise and fall of Keynesianism, electoral and partisan business cycles, interest groups and corporatism, central bank independence, production regimes, welfare status, privatization, and globalization.
PS 0125 Building The European Union. Introduction to the project for greater economic, political, and security integration among the current members of the European Union in its historical context, economic and political setting, and future ambitions. Covers recent events and important European events-in-the-making, including the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty, the expansion of the European Union, and the EU-sponsored strategies to facilitate democratic transitions in Eastern Europe.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0126 Chinese Politics. Survey of the domestic politics of the People's Republic of China. The development of Communist Party power through the political campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s. The political, cultural, economic, and social challenges faced by post-Mao reformers. Brief consideration of foreign policy.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0127 Latin American Politics. (Cross-listed with LAS 127) Introduces established and changing patterns in Latin American politics. Offers a brief historical background before concentrating on twentieth-century populist politics, corporatist modes of interest representation, authoritarian rule, civil-military relations, democratization, and social movements.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0128 Gender, Work, and Politics in East Asia. (Cross-listed w/WGSS 162) Gendered experiences of work in the East Asian economic "miracle." The state's role in creating, challenging, or mitigating gender considerations in work, the centrality of women's labor in development, and women's work as an international relations issue. Readings on factory, office, domestic, and sex work.
PS 0129 African Politics. (Cross-listed w/AFR 129) Analysis of political developments in contemporary Africa, with emphasis on the interaction between politics and culture. Relates Africa's historical, economic, social, and gender dynamics to general theories of politics and governance.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0130 Seminar: African Political Economy. Theories of political economy with a focus on political liberalization and economic change. Issues include political reform, economic development, gender and sex roles, agricultural policy, debt, poverty, structural adjustment, and emerging African markets. Please see departmental website for specific details.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0131 Critical Issues Confronting Japan. The debate within Japan regarding its politics, economy, and society, as well as foreign policy, from global and comparative perspectives. Topics include the Emperor, constitutional revision, one-party dominance, civil society, gender inequality, immigration, nuclear power, U.S.-Japan alliance, and relations with China and Korea.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0132 Seminar: Comparative Politics of Post-communism. Application and testing of theories of democratization, economic reforms, state and nation-building, ethnic conflicts, and international influences on domestic politics through the exploration of divergent paths taken by the formerly communist states of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union since the collapse of communism. Due attention is paid to the main historical and contemporary developments, but the focus is on theoretical attempts to explain the different developmental trajectories upon which the post-communist states have embarked. Students research and write a major research paper.
Recommendations: PS 021 or other comparative politics course, or consent.
PS 0134 Comparative Politics of the Middle East. Survey of the political development of the Arab states, Israel, Turkey, and Iran since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Focus on the various factors that have helped shape the emergence of political institutions in those countries: history, economics, culture, religion, and foreign intervention. Prospects for future change (socioeconomic development, political liberalization, war and peace) in the Middle East.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0135 Comparative Revolution. The causes, processes, and outcomes of revolution. Student development of a theory of revolution's causes through comparative examination of revolutions in France, Russia, China, Iran, and one other case chosen by the class. Discussion of whether the causes of revolution have changed in the late twentieth century.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0136 Contemporary European Politics. Examination of contemporary issues in individual European states as well as those affecting the region as a whole. Topics include the political systems of individual European states, political parties and ideologies, immigration and the integration of foreigners, the welfare state, and the relationship between the European Union and individual member state.
PS 0137 Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe. Examination of the origins and development of democracy, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism in Europe. Course uses European political development as prism for examining major theoretical issues in comparative politics, such as state formation, the connections between economic development and political liberalization, the rise of fascism and communism, and the construction of the modern welfare state.
PS 0138 Topics in Comparative Politics. No description at this time.
PS 0139 Seminar in Comparative Politics. No description at this time.
PS 0140 Liberalism and Its Philosophical Critics. (Cross-listed as PHIL 140 and CVS 140) The course examines seminal writers of the Left and Right – Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Schmitt, among others – who developed critiques of the West’s modern liberal project centered on the promotion of individual self-interest. Among the specific topics explored: the charge that liberalism promotes domination and division in a de-politicized environment; the debate as to whether science and technology are neutral goods or instruments of power; a discussion of the relationship between liberalism and the development of nihilism and moral groundlessness; the argument as to whether globalization or the nation is the central organizing structure for modern people; the distinction between soft, commercial power and hard, military power as modes of foreign domination; the examination of points of continuity and differences in Left and Right criticisms of liberalism and the successes and failures of their respective attempts to overcome liberalism’s problems. There will be regular discussion in class of past and present movements in opposition to liberalism and the contemporary plights of Western civilization.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0141 Shakespeare's Rome. (Cross-listed as CLS 145). Study of Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra in light of his classical sources, Plutarch and Livy. The reasons for Rome’s greatness and the causes of its decline; ancient Rome as a model of civic participation; the demands of Roman virtue; the role of women in a martial regime; the place of philosophy in the city; and the effect of the regime on the character of individuals. Examination of the question whether Shakespeare diverges from his classical sources to come to an independent judgment of Rome.
Recommendations: PS 41, PS 42, CLS 32, or CLS 38
PS 0142 Ethics and International Relations. Examination of issues at the intersection of politics and morality through the prism of international relations. Inquiry into the nature and extent of justice, and of its implications for the conduct of individual citizens and states, with a focus on whether fellow citizens have special rights. Study of influential theories regarding whether it is permissible to kill even in defense of the state, whether human rights exist and, if so, the extent to which they must be protected, and the responsibility or lack thereof arising from poverty in other parts of the world. Application of these theories to contemporary examples, including drones, counter-terrorism, surveillance, and torture.
PS 0143 Origins of Islamic Political Thought. The development of political philosophy in the Islamic world, from its earliest articulations through the great debates that raged between the 9th and 14th centuries on issues such as the respective spheres of human reason and divine law, the relationship between the individual and the polis, and the proper conduct of warfare. Writings of thinkers, including al-Farabi, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn Khaldun, and their legacies in contemporary Islamic political thought. Prerequisite: PS 41.
PS 0144 The Meaning of America. Examination of American political thought, concentrating on the founding debate, the development of Lincoln's thought and the Civil War, and Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Topics include the Puritan origins of America, the meaning of and the relationship between our founding documents, the challenges posed by the Anti-Federalists, the defense of the large republic in The Federalist, the role of religion in American life, the problems presented by slavery, the proper role of a democratic statesman, and Tocqueville's hopes and worries about liberal democratic society and government (especially its American variant)..
Recommendations: One of the following: PS 41, 42, or permission of instructor.
PS 0145 Seminar: The Political Thought of Machiavelli. Topics include Machiavelli's views on Christianity and the role of religion in a state, his insistence on the centrality of foreign policy in defining the nature of a regime, his belief in the necessity of great individuals to found and reorder civilizations, and the relation between his claim to originality and his insistence that the ancient Roman republic is a model for imitation. Machiavelli and the transition from ancient to modern Western political philosophy.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0146 Liberty, Morality, and Virtue. Analysis of whether the goal of promoting individual liberty can be reconciled with the aims of preserving standards of right and wrong, cultivating human sociality, and promoting human excellence. Particular attention to the role women, religion, and war have played in cultivating morality and virtue and whether new sources of ethics will be required if the liberal commitments to the emancipation of women, freedom of religion, and peace are realized.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0147 Seminar: The Political Philosophy of Nietzsche. Nietzsche's views of philosophy, nature, morality, religion, art, science, and politics. Analysis of view that "God is dead" and that we are no longer capable of distinguishing whether one value is better than another. Assessment of the qualities that must exist--in both the individual and society--for human creativity to regenerate. Exploration of whether Nietzsche successfully broke from Western political philosophy. Please see departmental website for specific details.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor and completion of PS 41 or 42.
PS 0148 Seminar: The Political Thought of Montesquieu. Examination of Montesquieu's political thought through his comparative analysis of political regimes in his major work, Spirit of Laws. Topics include the principles that guide tyranny, monarchy, and republican government, the principle of separation of powers, the meaning of political liberty, the impact of commerce on political life, the relation of mores to laws, and the character of Montesquieu's liberalism. His other works, The Persian Letters or Considerations on the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline, will also be considered.
PS 0149 Contemporary Political Theory. This course examines major contributions to political theory after 1900 regarding the concepts of power and political authority, identity and difference, freedom and the law, and the composition of a just society. As we consider these themes, we will explore the ways that leading liberal, civic republican, communitarian, conservative, cosmopolitan, and postmodern thinkers have responded to the challenges of the contemporary world, especially to the expansion of the bureaucratic state and the acceleration of globalization after the end of the Cold War. Readings will include selections from Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, Václav Havel, Jacques Derrida, John Rawls, Iris Marion Young, Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor, Judith Butler, and Giorgio Agamben.
PS 0150 Plato's Socrates. (Cross-listed as PHIL 150 and CLS 150). Faced with a death sentence, Socrates claimed that even the fear of death could not prevent him from doing what is right, offering as proof not words, but deeds. Taking Socrates' distinction between words and deeds, and focusing on the relationship between the arguments and the action, we will study the Laches, Symposium, Meno, Protagoras, and Republic, as well as the works recounting his last days, in an attempt to understand Plato's Socrates and his views regarding knowledge, virtue, justice, courage, and the care of one's soul.
PS 0151 Seminar: The Political Philosophy of Hobbes. A comprehensive examination of Hobbes's political thought through detailed study of his theory of human nature and the main political works, The Elements of Law, De Cive, and Leviathan. The seminar will consider Hobbes's alleged atheism and relativism, the role of the state of nature and of fear in his political theory, his views on the sources of conflict and his proposed remedies, as well as the implications of his theory for international relations.
PS 0152 Seminar: Plato's Republic. Close reading of Plato's Republic, a book that transformed philosophy in general and political thought in particular. Examination of Plato's theories of justice and knowledge, focusing especially on the origin and nature of political communities, and the relationship between the individual and the state.
PS 0153 Seminar: Political Theory Method. Examination of the relationship of political science to political practice, focused in particular on the meaning of the study of politics as a science, the utility and methods for the study of political treatises, in particular old ones, and the relationship between political theory and the rest of political science. Assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the dominant interpretative methods through the study of specific cases in the reception and use of political theories. For the specific topic, see the political science department website.
PS 0154 Romanticism and Revolution. No description at this time.
PS 0155 The Social Contract. Examination of the social contract in political thought, focusing on Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, as well as their sources of inspiration, emulators, and critics, in order to understand this influential approach to the question of political obligation. Consideration of arguments regarding the source of political authority, the origins, nature, and limits of the state, the concepts of sovereignty and the state of nature, as well as the relationship between individual and collective rights.
PS 0156 Seminar: Enlightenment Political Thought. Examination of the political theory of the Enlightenment, focusing on David Hume, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Diderot. Consideration of the ways the Enlightenment inspired our liberal democratic politics, market capitalist economies, embrace of technological progress and scientific inquiry, and toleration of religious pluralism. Assessment of recent critiques of the Enlightenment that claim that it entails an archaic belief in universal moral and political foundations, blind faith in reason, and a reductive and isolating focus on the individual. Recommendations: PS/PHIL 041 or 042, or consent.
PS 0157 Fascism: Then and Now. (Cross-listed as ILVS 79 and GER 79) Comparative study of the various strains and manifestations of fascism, its history and foundations in social, political, and religious developments and ideologies; philosophical and historical concepts through literature, art, myth, and film. The structure of fascism and fascist iconography. Begins with fascist tendencies in twentieth-century Europe and Japan and culminates in the present age. In English.
PS 0158 Topics In Political Thought. No description at this time.
PS 0159 Seminar In Political Thought. (Cross listed w/ TCS 159) No description at this time.
PS 0160 Force, Strategy, and Arms Control. Examination of the political, economic, military, and ethical factors affecting the use and utility of military force in international relations. Study of the political and decision-making process by which nations decide to use military force. Study of the major arms control agreements of the post-World War II period, including negotiations currently under way. Requirement: PS 61.
PS 0165 United States Foreign Policy. Survey of diplomacy and national security policy of the United States from founding of the republic to the present. Examination of various theoretical approaches (defensive realism, offensive realism, and liberal peace theory) to understanding the sources, goals, and tools of U.S. foreign policy. Topics include the U.S. rise to great power status; World Wars I and II; the origins, conduct, and end of the cold war; and U.S. foreign policy in the post-cold war world. Recommendations: PS 61. Counts towards the American Politics subfield.
PS 0166 Seminar: Causes of Modern War. This course explores the causes of interstate war, with a particular focus on preventable causes. Topics examined include the security dilemma, diversionary war, deterrence, power transition theory, misperceptions, domestic politics, the role of alliances, and economic causes of war. These theories will be examined through the lens of some of the most significant wars and crises of the modern era. The conflicts examined will be used to test the logic of the various theories that purport to explain their causes and consequences.
PS 0167 Studies in War and Empire. An introduction to basic issues in international relations theory such as the causes of war, the motivations behind imperialism, strategic thinking in various cultures, and the role of leadership. Major strategic thinkers such as Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz. Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0168 International Law. The function of international law in the international community and its relation to international politics, with special emphasis on the nature of the legal process.
PS 0170 Understanding Civil Wars: Internal Conflicts & International Responses. (Cross-listed as PJS 170). Since 1945, the vast majority of conflicts have been within states rather than between them. This course surveys competing theories about the causes, conduct, and conclusion of the dominant brand of conflict in the world today and examines how the international community deals with these enduring and often seemingly intractable conflicts. Topics examined include conflict prevention, conflict mediation, military intervention, peace implementation, peacekeeping and peace enforcement, and refugee crisis management. The course combines theories from international relations and conflict resolution with case studies of recent and ongoing conflicts.
PS 0171 Seminar: Rethinking the Cold War. Reexamination of the 50-year rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union with emphasis on the "crisis years," 1945-1963. Consideration of orthodox, revisionist, and post-revisionist scholarship in international relations and history. Origins of the Cold War, the division of Germany, the Korean War, the 1961 Berlin crisis, covert action in the Third World; superpower intervention in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and the Cold War's end. Recommendations: PS 61. Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken PS 62.
PS 0172 U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East. The evolution of American foreign policy toward the Middle East since World War II. Basic American interests in the region, and how the U.S. has pursued those interests in connection with issues such as conflicting nationalisms (including the Arab-Israeli conflict), the role of Turkey and Iran in the regional balance of power, and the Islamist revival. Implications of the Soviet Union's collapse for future American policy in the Middle East.
PS 0173 International Environmental Politics. No description at this time.
PS 0174 Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Examination of international and domestic forces that have shaped strategies of rising and declining powers since 1648. Survey of various theoretical approaches (balance-of-power, hegemonic stability, domestic politics, culture) to understanding the diplomatic, military, and foreign economic strategies of major states: Great Britain, Germany, France, United States, Russia, and Imperial Japan. Recommendations: PS 61.
PS 0175 Politics of the World Economy. Historical and analytical perspectives on the politics of international economic relations. Examination of the historical origins of the modern world economy; monetary, financial, and trade relations; and foreign direct investment and the multinational corporation. Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0176 Migration, Refugees, and Citizenship in a Globalized World. Analysis of the causes and consequences of modern population movements that have occurred around the world since the late twentieth century, and recipient states' reactions to it. Topics include the political, economic, social, and security determinants of refugee and migration flows; the political and social responses of receiving governments and societies; the security and crime-related issues and concerns engendered by international migration; changing conceptions of citizenship and nationality in receiving states; the role played by the international institutions in influencing state policies towards refugees and immigrants, and the moral and ethical issues for public policy posed by international population movements. Cases examined are drawn from throughout the world, with particular emphasis on Europe and the United States.
PS 0177 The Howard School of International Affairs. (Cross-listed as CVS 177) Introduction to new scholarship on what is now referred to as the Howard School of International Affairs. Focusing on race and empire in international relations, this course reexamines the ideas of Howard University academics Alain Locke, Ralph Bunche, Rayford Logan, Merze Tate, E. Franklin Frazier, and Eric Williams. Between the 1930s and 1950s, these scholars represented an African American (and Afro-Caribbean) internationalist tradition, and the only sustained critique of the hierarchy of the international system and the buttressing role played by race. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent.
PS 0178 Seminar: Foreign Policy-making in the Arab World. Investigation of those factors, domestic and external, that influence the foreign policy decisions reached by Arab governments. Students will be asked to evaluate the applicability of various theoretical approaches (balance-of-power, domestic politics, institutionalism) in understanding how Arab states practice foreign policy. Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0179 Directed Research International Relations. Directed Research International Relations.
PS 0180 Regionalism In African International Relations. The intersection of domestic politics and international relations in Africa: examination of regional economic communities, regionally based solutions to problem-solving, and new regionalism in the post Cold War era. Particular attention given to state-building and national sovereignty as they impinge on regional projects. Theories of the state, regional integration theory, international regime theory, and constructivist international relations theory frame five themes: the construction of regional norms, transnational civil society, peace and security, trade and economic development, and the African human rights system. Recommendations: Sophomore standing or consent.
PS 0181 Public Opinion and Foreign Policy. Study of the domestic politics of foreign policy, especially the relationship between leaders and people, which is central to democratic theory and practice. Examination of public and elite opinions on international issues: nuclear weapons, arms control, military intervention, and defense spending; historical and comparative focus. Inquiry into the determinants of attitudes, the impact of public opinion, the role of the media, and the effects of foreign policy events on domestic politics.
Recommendations: PS 61.
PS 0182 Seminar: European Community and Integration. Examination of theories of political and economic integration, with primary application to the evolution of the European Community. Special attention will be given to the Treaty of Rome, the Single European Act, and the Treaty of Maastricht, and to the prospects for a fully integrated economic and political union in Europe. Please see departmental website for specific details. Recommendations: One course in modern European history, or politics, or permission of instructor.
PS 0183 Political Economy of Regional Integration. Development of regional economic institutions and their interaction with international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. Topics include European integration, European Monetary Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, "dollarization" in the Americas, the Asian financial crisis, and the prospects for economic integration in East Asia.
Recommendations: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
PS 0184 Seminar: Better Than the Truth: Extra-factual Information in International Politics. Seminar examines the sources, manipulation and consequences of unverified and unverifiable information – such as rumors, myths, propaganda, and conspiracy theories – in international politics, with a particular focus on the influence of such information on the formulation and conduct of foreign and defense policy. Prerequisites: PS 0061 and senior standing.
PS 0185 Seminar: Nuclear Weapons in International Politics. Examination of the causes and consequences of nuclear weapons proliferation for international politics since 1945. Topics include the dynamics of nuclear proliferation; nonproliferation and counterproliferations strategies; nuclear strategy and deterrence; and future of strategic arms control. Prerequisite: PS 0061 and junior or senior standing.
PS 0186 Turkish Foreign Policy. Determinants, mechanisms, and dynamics of Turkish foreign and defense policy. Investigation of the linkage between domestic factors – particularly competing conceptions of Turkish identity – and foreign policy; chronological survey of Turkish security policy; and in-depth analyses of Turkey’s relations with its primary interlocutors on the regional and global levels. Designed as a capstone research project enabling students to test out competing theoretical approaches (neorealism, liberalism, constructivism, etc.) in international relations theory. Prerequisites: PS 0061
PS 0187 Intelligence and National Security. Examination of role of intelligence in United States national security.
Overview of conceptual foundations of intelligence studies and traditional dimensions of intelligence activity (clandestine collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and covert action), and debates about role of secrecy and intelligence agencies in a liberal democracy. Role of intelligence in counterterrorism, WMD nonproliferation, cyber-espionage, and cyber-warfare. Prerequisite: PS 61: Introduction to International Relations
PS 0188 Topics in International Relations. No description at this time.
PS 0189 Seminar in International Relations. No description at this time.
PS 0190 (Seminar) Immigration: Public Opinion, Politics, and Media. (Cross-list w/ AMER175, AFR 190, and SOC 190) American public opinion on immigration and its relationship to the political process. Role of traditional media (newspapers, magazines, network TV), new media (cable TV, internet), and ethnic media in reflecting and shaping public opinion on immigration. Methodological approaches (surveys of public opinion, content analyses of media portrayals) to controversies surrounding immigrant assimilation and integration and the impact of immigration on the American economy, culture, and security. Recommendations: Two Sociology or Political Science courses, or consent of instructor.
PS 0191 Issues in American Public Policy. (Cross-listed with CVS 189) Survey of the ideas, interests, and institutions that shape our responses to the issues (large and small) of the day. Agenda-setting, policy formulation, problems of implementation, and policy analysis. The competing values of responsiveness, efficiency, and equity at the national level.
PS 0192 Health Care in America. No description at this time.
PS 0193 American Conservatism. An interdisciplinary, social science approach to the study of American political conservatism. Drawing from philosophy, psychology, political science, and economics, study works of contemporary conservative thinkers as well as social science research that are emphasized by conservative thinkers. Examination of what conservatives think and the assumptions and values that underlie their perspectives. Topics include both public policies (e.g., family, religion, affirmative action, taxation) and conservative worldviews about the role of an individual, a community, and a nation.
PS 0194 Environmental Policy Linking US and Global Politics. (Cross-listed as ENV 135) Overview of environmental policy focusing initially on the United States experience, then linking to global environmental policy-making. Introduction to the ways in which environmental policies are made in the United States and abroad including major actors, key decisions, and future challenges.
PS 0195 Seminar on US Elections. Examination of Political geography; apportionment and gerrymandering; presidential elections; legislative elections; primaries; turnout; the economy and partisanship in elections; race and immigration attitudes in elections; campaign strategy; campaign finance; voting rights Emphasis on original data analysis and original, quantitative research. Prerequisite: junior or senior standing.
PS 0196 Independent Study. Independent study.
PS 0198 Senior Honors Thesis. This course explores the theoretical, empirical, normative, and methodological problems involved in conducting political science research. It will also provide a forum for discussing students' draft thesis chapters.
PS 0199 Senior Honors Thesis. Senior Honors Thesis.
PSS 0415 Washington: Seminar I. Students examine the cycle of United States politics and institutions; how candidates get elected; how bills are proposed and passes; how bills are signed into law and executed; and how laws are adjudicated.
PS 0416 Washington Seminar II. The main objective of this seminar is to develop a better understanding of how Washington works. Specific goals include:-Increasing students' factual knowledge of the structures, rules, and processes of the major political institutions in the U.S. government;-Expanding information about the roles played by various political actors;-Improving students' skills in evaluating current policy proposals. These objectives will be met through a combination of guest lectures with invited speakers, classroom lectures and discussions, assigned readings, and written assignments. Synthesizing materials from these varied perspectives will provide students with a unique experience.
PS 0417 Washington: Foreign Policy Seminar I. The main objectives and learning outcomes sought by the International Politics and Foreign Policy Seminar are the following: To study the process of US foreign policy-making "up close," to analyze the major global and regional foreign policy challenges facing the United States and humanity today, and to help prepare the student for the professional world of international relations and diplomacy. In this context, special emphasis will be placed on the study of the theory and practice of foreign policy decision-making as well as on the application of the models of decision-making theory to interpret current U.S. foreign policies and to develop (when necessary) alternative policies. To achieve these goals, the seminar consists of lectures, class discussions, class simulations, and presentations (on and off campus) by public officials and private individuals involved in U.S. foreign policy.
PS 0418 Washington: Foreign Policy Seminar II. The main objectives and learning outcomes sought by the International Politics and Foreign Policy Seminar are the following: To study the process of US foreign policy-making "up close," to analyze the major global and regional foreign policy challenges facing the United States and humanity today, and to help prepare the student for the professional world of international relations and diplomacy. In this context, special emphasis will be placed on the study of the theory and practice of foreign policy decision-making as well as on the application of the models of decision-making theory to interpret current U.S. foreign policies and to develop (when necessary) alternative policies. To achieve these goals, the seminar consists of lectures, class discussions, class simulations, and presentations (on and off campus) by public officials and private individuals involved in U.S. foreign policy.
PS 0420 Intl Bus & Trade Sem I. No description at this time.
PS 0421 Intl Bus & Trade Sem II. No description at this time.
PS 0422 Intl Bus& Trad Rsrch Prac. No description at this time.
PS 0423 Intl Bus & Trad Internship. No description at this time.
PS 0471 Int'l Envr & Dvlp Sem I. No description at this time.
PS 0471 Int'l Envr & Dvlp Sem II. No description at this time.
PS 0473 Intl Envr & Dvlp Practicum. No description at this time.
PS 0474 Intl Envr & Dvlp Internship. No description at this time.
PS 0480 Washington Semester Research Project. The research project offers a unique opportunity for students to conduct intensive analysis on a national political topic of interest to students. This work should complement the knowledge students will acquire in the Seminar and Internship components of the Washington Semester Program. Ultimately, students will produce a 35-50 page original paper. The final product should show evidence of students' research activity throughout the semester, including detailed knowledge on the topic and original analyses of students' primary source information.
PS 0491 Washington Semester Internship. The immediate purpose of this course is to help students have a successful internship experience. Students will become very familiar with many aspects of students' internships, and will learn more about their own interests by comparing their prior expectations and their internship "real world" experiences with those of their classmates. The long-term purpose of this course is to sharpen their professional skills for the future. Each time we meet as a class, we will discuss a new topic or skill that will help students extract the maximum benefit from their internship site time while also preparing students for a career. They will begin by identifying an area of interest. By May, they will be able to draft a quality resume and cover letter; confidently handle networking and presenting their ideas to others; understand how to apply to law and graduate school; and, more generally, know the correct steps to take to pursue their ideal career.
PS 0494 Wash: Foreign Pol Intern. No description at this time.
PS 0496 Selected Topics. No description at this time.