Courses

• CAS PO 512: Informal Political Processes
  Study of informal political processes which link private demands and supports to formal institutions. Emphasis primarily on media, political parties, and interest groups. Political communications in literature and the arts are also covered.
• CAS PO 513: Development of American Constitutional Law
  A survey of the development of constitutional law and the exercise of power by the U.S. Supreme Court. The course is drawn entirely from decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the principal theme is the development of national constitutions and power.
• CAS PO 514: The Judiciary and Civil Liberties
  First Amendment rights of speech, press, assembly, religion; rights of defendants in criminal cases; and the constitutional protection of racial minorities. Supreme Court decision-making processes and modes of compliance with its decisions are also considered.
• CAS PO 518: American Politics and Use of Force
  Examines how domestic politics drive the use of force in the postwar United States. Explores how Congress, courts, interest groups, media, and public opinion define Presidential action in times of crisis, as well as the kinds of crises that evoke action.
• CAS PO 521: Democratic Governance
  What is good governance, and what are its social and political bases? These questions, at the heart of political science since Aristotle, are addressed empirically, through case studies tracing the performance of democratic nation-states across several policy dimensions.
• CAS PO 523: Global Justice
  Meets with CAS IR 523. Charts the course of human development over history and inquires why the quality of life varies so dramatically in the world today. Geographic, economic, cultural, and political factors are explored.
• CAS PO 525: European Integration
  Meets with CAS IR 550. Assesses the meaning of "European Union" in its domestic, foreign policy, and economic dimensions. To understand the opportunities and limits of cooperation and conflict, relevant issue areas of European Community policy are discussed from a functionalist and realist perspective.
• CAS PO 526: Pub Opin&El Pol
  
• CAS PO 527: Political Economy of China
  Meets with CAS IR 527. How did China implement economic reform? What were the progresses and limitations? How is China's political-economic development influencing the global system? Discussions are conducted in a comparative perspective. Countries of reference include Japan and India.
• CAS PO 528: Social Europe: Identity, Citizenship, and the Welfare State
  Meets with CAS IR 551. The past, present and future of "social Europe." Impact of European economic and political integration on national identities, cultures, politics, and citizenship; EU policies affecting these social constructions; and changes over time in the welfare state.
• CAS PO 529: Nordic Europe
  Meets with CAS IR 552. A brief historical overview of the region from the Viking Age to the emergence of the modern states is followed by study of the Nordic countries with respect to the European Union, security arrangements, and assistance to the developing world.
• CAS PO 531: North Atlantic/European Security Issues
  Meets with CAS IR 589. Examination of the post Cold War security environment in the North Atlantic and greater European context. Exploration of threats to security, mechanisms in place and emerging (NATO, CSCE, CFE, WEU), and challenges posed by changes since fall 1989.
• CAS PO 532: Legislative Behavior
  
• CAS PO 537: The British Political System
  Meets with CAS IR 537. Links developments in U.K. politics to broader themes in comparative politics, ranging from identity politics to the evolution of bureaucracies, parties, and voting behavior. Examines the general failure to export the Westminster model in the aftermath of colonialism.
• CAS PO 538: Globalization and Contemporary Capitalism in Advanced Industrialized Nations
  Meets with CAS IR 596. How has globalization affected national sovereignty and control? Competing hypotheses are examined with specific reference to the internationalization of trade and the financial markets, and its impact on the three postwar models of capitalism.
• CAS PO 544: Interest Groups, Public Opinion, and the Policy Process
  Focuses on public opinion and interest group activities as they affect the policy-making process in the United States. Attention is paid to the role of the media, of lobbying, of litigation, and of the electoral process.
• CAS PO 545: Politics and International Relations of the Federal Republic of Germany
  Meets with CAS IR 549. Analysis of contemporary German polity; domestic and international forces that have created the strengths and weaknesses of the present-day German state; implications for the viability of German political institutions and for Germany?s present and future role in the world.
• CAS PO 548: The Politics of Education
  Overview of the origins of public schooling, the purpose of public education, and controversial educational policies and research.
• CAS PO 550: Political Economy of Latin America
  (Meets with CAS IR 590.) Historical and contemporary issues in Latin American political economy. Uses case studies and cross-regional comparisons to assess competing explanations. Analyzes the current political and economic situation facing Latin America in its quest for economic growth and development.
• CAS PO 551: Comparative Political Development
  Meets with CAS IR 533. An investigation of contemporary debates on democracy and the state, with implications for contemporary American society as well as societies of developing nations.

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