Political Science

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  • CAS PO 401: Independent Work in Political Science
    Open to upper division concentrators. Students have a minimum GPA of 3.2 with a 3.4 in the concentration plus the ability to do independent work in the judgement of the concentration faculty advisor.
  • CAS PO 402: Independent Work in Political Science
    Open to upper division concentrators. Students have a minimum GPA of 3.2 with a 3.4 in the concentration plus the ability to do independent work in the judgement of the concentration faculty advisor.
  • CAS PO 411: Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Latin America
    Meets with CAS IR 411. Examines a range of historical and contemporary conflicts and wars in Latin America, both internal and regional, examining their causes and consequences, and the most important factors that explain how they were resolved or why they persist.
  • CAS PO 491: Directed Study in Political Science
  • CAS PO 492: Directed Study in Political Science
  • CAS PO 502: Political Analysis: A Primer
    (This course may be used for elective credit only.) The logic and methods of empirical analysis in political science. Includes discussion of experimental, observational, ehtnographic, and mass survey research designs. Recommended for students pursuing Work for Distinction or considering graduate work in political science.
  • CAS PO 509: Latin American Political Parties
    Meets with CAS IR 502. Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left.
  • CAS PO 510: American Politics and the Separation of Powers
    Examines inter-institutional dynamics in the American system of separated powers. Explicit focus on the relationships between the president, Congress, and judiciary, and on the strategies each employs to affect political outputs.
  • 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.

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