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.

Individual research to be taken under direction of faculty member. Students wishing to do an independent study should contact the Political Science department.

Individual research to be taken under direction of faculty member. Students wishing to do an independent study should contact the Political Science department.

Individual research to be taken under direction of faculty member. Students wishing to do an independent study should contact the Political Science department.

Supervised readings and research in various areas of Political Science. Section numbers must be obtained from the Political Science office.

An important strain within contemporary political science has been the attempt to explain how power is exercised through the manipulation or exploitation of consciousness, habits, and cultural predispositions. One of the key concepts in the study of these issues is that of "hegemony" --the establishment of particular beliefs as commonsensical presumptions of political life. In this course that notion will be systematically explored. Of particular interest will be how authors who conduct hegemonic analysis cope with the problem of analyzing the effect of what the objects of their analysis, by definition, do not and, in some sense, cannot, think about. Illustrations of hegemonic phenomena and attempts to analyze them will be drawn from a variety of fields, such as political theory, historiography, comparative politics, American politics, rational choice theory,agent based modeling, and epistemology.

Supervised readings and research in various areas of Political Science. Section numbers must be obtained from the Political Science office.