POLI_SCI-101-6 Whales, Bombs and Genocide: the Politics of International Law
From whales to nuclear weapons to genocide and beyond, much of what people and governments do is defined, regulated, shaped, or otherwise influenced by international law. International law consists of binding commitments made between governments. This seminar examines the key concepts and practices of international law and looks at their connection with politics. The class will cross the line between political science and legal scholarship, and draws cases, readings, and debates from both.
W 11:00-11:50 (2) W 12:00-12:50 (2) W 1:00-1:50 (2)
90
POLI_SCI-201 Introduction to Political Theory
Examination of texts in political theory. Topics vary but often include justice, the Greek polis, the modern state, individualism, representative democracy.
Th 5:00-5:50 Th 6:00-6:50 F 10:00-10:50 F 11:00-11:50
90
POLI_SCI-210 Introduction to Empirical Methods in Political Science
This course provides an introduction to the empirical methods political scientists use to answer questions about politics, and the reasons why such methods matter. We begin by considering how we use data and information in social science in general and political science in particular. We then examine three basic strategies for overcoming the obstacles to reliable knowledge about the political world: experimentation, quantitative studies (statistics) and smaller case studies with a qualitative emphasis. This course will prepare you to take a more in-depth look into these methods in subsequent coursework.
This course introduces students to the institutions and processes of national government in the United States of America. The course explores the following core questions: What are the philosophical foundations of the American republic? How does America’s constitutional design shape the functioning of the nation’s institutions? What are the 2 basic roles of the legislative, executive and judicial branches? What is the history of political parties in America? How are public policies made in the United States? What are the basic rights of American citizens? How have social movements shaped politics in the United States?
POLI_SCI-230 Introduction to Law in the Political Arena
Roles of law in society and politics. Police and prisons, law and social change, courts and politics, legal reasoning, Supreme Court decision making, judicial discretion, legal strategies for making change.
Th 5:00-5:50 (2) Th 6:00-6:50 (2) F 10:00-10:50 F 11:00-11:50
80
POLI_SCI 250 Introduction to Comparative Politics
Why is the experience of politics so different across countries? Why are some structured by a debate between left (liberal) and right (conservative) ideologies, while others mostly involve competition among religious or ethnic communities? Why are police helpful and friendly in some contexts, but hostile, corrupt, or simply absent in others? Why are some countries governed by representative democratic institutions, whereas others are governed by repressive authoritarian regimes? Why do some countries entertain years of peace and stability whereas others are plagued by civil conflict and violence? The course provides an introduction to the field of comparative politics. We will explore the causes that scholars and popular thinkers have offered for these differences, and learn how political scientists think about differentiating between better and worse explanations. Students will gain the ability to understand the complexity of contemporary political systems, and the underlying causal factors that help us to explain the divergences between countries across the world. The students will be expected to identify key themes in comparative politics, problematize the divergence in global outcomes between states and societies, pose competing explanations for analysis, and evaluate the competing claims to identify which hypotheses are most convincing to explain certain country cases and national outcomes.
Who votes and for whom. Social, psychological, economic, and political factors influencing election choices. Sources of opinions. Focus on American presidential elections with some comparative and non-presidential material. Prerequisite: 220 or equivalent.
Organization of legislatures to make public policy; impact of constituents and political parties on legislative decision making; polarization; legislative-executive relations. Emphasis on the US Congress and contemporary politics. Prerequisite: 220 or equivalent.
Introduction to interpretation of the US Constitution by the Supreme Court. Judicial review, federalism, congressional and executive authority, separation of powers. Taught with LEGAL ST 332; may not receive credit for both courses. Prerequisite: 220 or 230.
Basic issues in national security, focusing primarily on the United States. Topics include the nature of "national interest," major actors in national security policy making and military strategy, and the influence and role of the defense establishment.
Role of ethical considerations in international relations: where and when ethical questions are raised and by whom; causes and predictability of tensions between the ethics and self interests of nations and political figures.
Analysis of changes in the world economy and their implications for politics, economics, and society. Politics of multinational production, finance, and trade in the context of governance problems in a globalizing world. Prerequisite: 240 or equivalent.
International cooperation and conflict resolution of global and transnational environmental problems such as climate change. Role of political, economic, and normative considerations in the formation of politically feasible solutions to international environmental problems.
Analysis of Russia's political and economic revolutions after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Examines key concepts in comparative politics, such as revolution, regime change, market formation, nationalism, and state building.
The decades following WW II are sometimes described by students of International Relations as “The Long Peace.” Despite obvious tensions and a Cold War between the superpowers and despite major differences in ideology and economic policies, major power war did not erupt. Indeed, some scholars wonder whether such war has become obsolete.
Be that as it may, by some counts, the past half century has seen more than 20 million deaths in many other conflicts. Among these conflicts, civil wars have been some of the bloodiest and costliest. This course will examine the causes behind such conflicts as well as study how such conflicts might be terminated or prevented altogether. Some of the causes of civil wars will be internal to the states in question, other causes might be due to international actors and external forces. Correspondingly some efforts to terminate or prevent such conflicts will reside at the domestic level while others will operate in the international arena.
The class will be a mixture of lectures and seminar style participation, culminating in a short research project that is of particular interest to the student and which will be designed in cooperation with the professor. Throughout the course, students will be expected to keep up with the readings and to actively contribute to the discussions in class.
Although our main attention will go to conflicts after 1945, the course is not focused on any specific geographic area or any specific war. Instead, the aim of the course is to increase your understanding of the phenomenon of civil wars in general. With this general theoretical knowledge of civil wars, the student will then design a research project of a case or cases that are of particular interest to the student. One-on-one meetings with the professor will help you with the research design.
Development of international human rights. Comparative state and regional responses to forced migration due to war, conflict, and generalized violence. Humanitarian intervention, international law, and policy issues, such as gender-based violence, migrants at sea, and human trafficking.
Intersection of religion, law, and politics in comparative and global perspective. Legal, political, and religious history; discrimination and identity; religion, race, indigeneity, empire; religious liberalization; rule of law; national security.
POLI_SCI-383 War and Change in International Politics
Historical and contemporary forms of international order. Western and non-Eurocentric systems; how international order emerges; whether the post-1945 order will change.
POLI_SCI-390 Special Topic in Political Science: Reporting Islam
Co-taught by Professors Elizabeth Shakman Hurd and Brannon Ingram, Fall 2018
This course will bring together Medill and Weinberg students with an interest in the politics and practices of reporting on Islam and Muslims in the United States and in U.S. foreign policy. Through a combination of readings, site visits, individual and group projects, and critical writing assignments, the goals of this course are, first, to empower students to recognize the pitfalls of how Islam and Muslims are reported and represented in U.S. print media and other formats, and second, to innovate new ways of writing about Islam and Muslims that do not replicate the Islamophobic or Islamophilic tropes that dominate much of this reporting. To these ends, the course will include a ?master class' on reporting religion led by by Manya Brachear, religion reporter for the Chicago Tribune. The course is part of the "Talking ?Religion': Publics, Politics and the Media" project which is co-directed by the instructors, and students will have an opportunity to participate in project related activities including lectures and a spring 2019 workshop.
POLI_SCI-390-mahoney-global Special Topic in Political Science: Global Development
This course explores the economic and social changes that have constituted "development," and that have radically transformed human society. The course focuses on both the historical experience of Europe and the contemporary experience of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In the historical discussion, we explore the birth of the "nation state" as the basic organizing unit of the international system; the transition from agrarian to industrial economic systems; and the expansion of European colonialism across the globe. In our discussion of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, we consider the legacies of colonialism for development; the ways in which countries have attempted to promote economic development and industrialization; and issues of inequality and human welfare in an increasingly globally connected world.
POLI_SCI-390 Special Topic in Political Science: Immigration Politics and Policy
This course provides an introduction to immigration politics and policy in the United States with a focus on the contemporary incorporation of post-1965 immigrants. We begin by foregrounding the role of the state and the history of U.S. immigration policies that continue to shape social and political experiences among the foreign-born. We then examine public opinion toward immigrants and immigration issues, highlighting the ways in which they are ideologically contested. Building from this, we turn our attention to how immigrants are incorporated in the U.S., with an emphasis on the significance of race and ethnicity in immigrant communities. Finally, drawing on empirical studies in the field of American politics, we focus on questions and explanations of immigrant participation and mobilization in the twenty-first century.
POLI_SCI 394 Professional Linkage Program: Speechwriting
What goes into a great speech, and how do you write one? This seminar explores what makes speeches effective, persuasive, and memorable. We'll cover every aspect of the speechwriting process, from early research to final flourish. We'll explore why some speeches endure and most are forgotten. We'll consider the role of a speech in today's ever-changing political and media environment. And by the end, students will learn how to craft speeches that help leaders in any industry move audiences, win the battle of ideas, and change the world.
POLI_SCI 395 Political Research Seminar: Democratic Theory: Contemporary Issues
This is an upper-level seminar dealing with democratic expectations. It revolves around three sets of questions.
First, if we are democrats, what should we morally expect from individual citizens? More specifically: when, how, and to what extent should we demand that individual citizens in a democracy oppose unjust laws? When, how, and why should we shift from viewing individual citizens not as perpetrators of (or complicit in) injustices, but as victims of injustice?
Second, what moral hopes should we attach to democratic institutions at the global level? How much moral weight should we attach to each nation in the world achieving democracy? How much moral weight should we attach to ideals of global democracy? Should we believe in a human right to democracy, and what might such a right mean?
Finally, what should we expect of the study of democracy? Should normative and empirical democratic theory inform one another, and if so, how? If, for example, international relations scholars have reason to think that all great powers in the future will be democracies, should this matter morally? If so, why? If scholars studying domestic politics repeatedly find that democratic voters are ignorant and irrational, should this really undermine our moral confidence in democracy as a system of government?
POLI_SCI 395 Political Research Seminar: Criminal Justice Politics and Policy
This course explores topics on the American criminal justice system. Each week we will cover a new topic in criminal justice. The goal of the course is to help students produce a 12-15 page independent research paper that they will develop based on one of the topics covered in the course.
POLI_SCI 395 Political Research Seminar: Racial Politics in American Cities
This course explores how race and place influence political dynamics in American cities and suburbs. We consider specific cases in cities such as Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta to explore mobilization, political and civic engagement, contests for political representation, coalition building, democratic responsiveness, and patterns of socioeconomic mobility and inequality. Our overarching aim will be to understand how these two dominant features of American urban life-race and place-interplay and shape the quest for political power, policy influence, and socioeconomic advancement in American cities.
POLI_SCI 395 Political Research Seminar: Military Interventions
Military interventions are the most costly foreign policy tool extent. The purpose of this research seminar is to examine systematically and comparatively why military interventions are launched and what results they produce on the ground. The seminar, in particular, tries to find answers to the following questions: (1) What were the broad policy arguments in favor of or opposed to a particular intervention? (2) Who were the principal players arguing for intervention? (3) What role did international institutions play in the set-up of the intervention? (4) What specific kinds of military force proved particularly useful in the actual intervention? (6) In each case, do we judge the intervention a success or failure, and how do we explain the success or failure?
