Why do Americans get the public policies that we do? This course provides students with a framework for understanding the policy-making process that allows them to answer this question. Specifically, the course considers how interests, ideas, and institutions all come together to generate public policy. The capstone of the course is a final project, where students work collaboratively to apply the framework from the course to a contemporary public policy area.

This academically based community service seminar will explore the politics and institutions that have shaped - and continue to shape - food production and consumption. Students will use the readings, their community service, and ongoing "food events" at Penn to analyze the politics of food in many arenas: from farms, kitchens, supermarkets, schools, and communities of faith to corporations, research institutions, the media and international trade.

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.

Freshmen seminars are small, substantive courses taught by members of the faculty and open only to freshmen. These seminars offer an excellent opportunity to explore areas not represented in high school curricula and to establish relationships with faculty members around areas of mutual interest. See www.college.upenn.edu/admissions/freshmen.php

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

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

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

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Race Development and American International Relations, Hegel and Marx, and Logic of the West.

Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Sustainable Environmental Policy & Global Politics; Shakespeare and Political Theory.