This course focuses on political responses to urbanization in the United States. Topics include local government, national urban politics, and the changing nature of cities.

This course is intended to introduce students to the national institutions and political processes of American government. What are the historical and philosophical foundations of the American Republic? How does American public policy get made, who makes it, and who benefits? Is a constitutional fabric woven in 1787 good enough for today? How, if at all, should American government be changed, and why? What is politics and why bother to study it? If these sorts of questions interest you, then this course will be a congenial home. It is designed to explore such questions while teaching students the basics of American politics and government.

This course is designed to introduce students to comparative political analysis. How can the political behavior, circumstances, institutions, and dynamic patterns of change that people experience in very different societies be analyzed using the same set of concepts and theories? Key themes include nationalism, political culture, democratization, authoritarianism, and the nature of protracted conflict.

This course is designed to introduce students to comparative political analysis. How can the political behavior, circumstances, institutions, and dynamic patterns of change that people experience in very different societies be analyzed using the same set of concepts and theories? Key themes include nationalism, political culture, democratization, authoritarianism, and the nature of protracted conflict.

In this course the Arab-Israeli dispute from 1948 to the present will serve as a vehicle for understanding how domestic and global political processes interact to shape, contain, or aggravate Middle Eastern wars between states and non-state actors. Particular stress will be placed on understanding how wars affect international politics in states and political organizations and how ideological and structural features of states and organizations find expression in wars and complicate or enable the search for peach. In addition, the key features of the conflict will be interpreted as both a clash between the political interests of national and/or religious groups and as a reflection of global political power struggles. Attention will be given toward the end of the course to alternative ideas about possible resolution of the conflict as well as to the increasingly prominent argument that, in this case, there is no solution.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Leadership & Democracy; Conservative Regimes.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Leadership & Democracy; Conservative Regimes.

This lecture course introduces students to the politics of the Peoples Republic of China. Complementing offerings in other departments, this course emphasizes events in the period since the Chinese Communist Party established its regime in 1949. In addition to surveying the political history of contemporary China, we will assess the meaning of these events by drawing upon theories about the nature and significance of ideology and organization in communist regimes, factionalism and its relationship to policy formulation and implementation, and general issues of political and economic development. Although the principal focus is on the domestic politics of the PRC, the course includes several lectures examining Chinas international relations.