This course surveys key features of contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy, using a comparative lens to explain development and change over time. In the process of evaluating these changes, the course examines (1) important actors in domestic politics (e.g., voters, politicians, political parties, and bureaucrats); (2) the positions that different actors take with respect to various domestic and foreign policies, as well as the sources of these policy preferences and changes over time; and (3) the roles played by political institutions and history in structuring contemporary political behavior and policy outcomes.

This course surveys key features of contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy, using a comparative lens to explain development and change over time. In the process of evaluating these changes, the course examines (1) important actors in domestic politics (e.g., voters, politicians, political parties, and bureaucrats); (2) the positions that different actors take with respect to various domestic and foreign policies, as well as the sources of these policy preferences and changes over time; and (3) the roles played by political institutions and history in structuring contemporary political behavior and policy outcomes.

This course surveys key features of contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy, using a comparative lens to explain development and change over time. In the process of evaluating these changes, the course examines (1) important actors in domestic politics (e.g., voters, politicians, political parties, and bureaucrats); (2) the positions that different actors take with respect to various domestic and foreign policies, as well as the sources of these policy preferences and changes over time; and (3) the roles played by political institutions and history in structuring contemporary political behavior and policy outcomes.

This course surveys key features of contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy, using a comparative lens to explain development and change over time. In the process of evaluating these changes, the course examines (1) important actors in domestic politics (e.g., voters, politicians, political parties, and bureaucrats); (2) the positions that different actors take with respect to various domestic and foreign policies, as well as the sources of these policy preferences and changes over time; and (3) the roles played by political institutions and history in structuring contemporary political behavior and policy outcomes.

This course will present an in-depth examination of political, economic and social change in post-Soviet Russia within a historical context. After a brief discussion of contemporary problems in Russia, the first half of the course will delve into the rise of communism in 1917, the evolution of the Soviet regime, and the tensions between ideology and practice over the seventy years of communist rule up until 1985. The second part of the course will begin with an examination of the Gorbachev period and the competing interpretations of how the events between 1985 and 1991 may have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We will then proceed to make sense of the continuities and changes in politics, economics and society in contemporary Russia. Important topics will include the confrontations accompanying the adoption of a new constitution, the emergence of competing ideologies and parties, the struggle over economic privatization, the question of federalism and nationalism, social and political implications of economic reform, and prospects for Russia's future in the Putin and post-Putin era.

This lecture course, after introductory sessions which outline the EU's core institutions, is built on an exposition of the works of major thinkers who have reflected on the European Union's origins, outcomes and significance. It critically reviews their arguments, especially their relevance to major recent crises, notably: the failure of the European Constitution, the current crisis of credibility facing the Euro. Whether the European Union is a confederation, a federation, an empire, or a novel political formation shall be examined. Whether its recent major widening signals an end to its institutional deepening will be discussed. Whether the Union has "a democratic deficit" is examined, as is the claim that in external relations it represents a novel form of soft power.

This course introduces students to the complex issues surrounding questions of political and economic development in India, the world's largest democracy, and home to a large chunk of the globe's low-income population. Not surprisingly, the successes and failures of India are tremendously important to the study of democracy and development. The experiences of countries in this region have given rise to influential theories of development. The policy prescriptions these theories have produced have in turn been applied back onto India, with spectacular results- both positive and negative. Over the course of the semester, we will use the concrete experiences from the past seven decades in India to ask and answer fundamental questions about development, including: Does democratic politics help or hurt prospects for economic development? Why are some poor countries like India are able to maintain democracies, while equally poor countries in the region, such as Pakistan, are not? How did British colonialism shape the nature of post-colonial development? Should the state or the market play a dominant role in the economies of newly independent nations? How can we best measure poverty, and what have been the challenges to reducing it in the developing world? What are the challenges and opportunities produced by rapid international migration to rich countries? The course is divided into four thematic units, which build upon one another. Within each theme, we draw from a wide array of source materials, reading scholarship in political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, journalistic non-fiction, and even film. While empirically focusing on India, we will also read about the experiences of other countries in South Asia, and also from East Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan African in specific weeks. This will help students place the experiences of South Asian countries in broader comparative perspective.

Why has the United States government participated in regime change in Latin America? How have these interventions affected Latin American political and economic outcomes? How have they helped or hurt U.S. interests in the region? This lecture course provides an introduction to the history and politics of U.S. participation in regime change in Latin America since 1949. For each event, the course will help students understand (1) the goals of the U.S. government; (2) the historical and political context of the intervention; and (3) the outcomes and consequences, both in Latin America and for the United States. One set of short writing assignments will train students to identify the main argument of a reading and assess the quality of the evidence presented in support of that argument; a second set of short writing assignments will train students to make and defend their own argument (see draft syllabus for details).

Non-state actors are increasingly important to world politics. This course will introduce you to the variety of non-state actors that are currently influencing our world, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and transnational networks related to advocacy, crime, global governance, and violence. You will develop a working understanding of these actors’ roles in shaping war, peace, human rights, democracy, the global economy, and various other aspects of contemporary global politics. Questions that we will consider include: What are non-state actors and what effects do they have on world politics? What accounts for non-state actors’ emergence and evolution? What explains their organizational forms, goals, and strategies? What are the opportunities and limits of transnational activism?
In this course, we will learn what political science can tell us about these and other questions. We will read cutting-edge social science research on the topic as well as materials written by and for the people who work for and with international NGOs and transnational networks. We will reflect on the readings together in class, and you will also do so in a variety of assignments. Many of the readings are challenging, and some of them use statistics, but prior knowledge of the topic or of statistics is not required.

Socialism has become a hot topic in US politics. Some advocate it as an ideology that supports economic equality; others decry it as a path towards excessive state control. But what does the word socialism really mean? Why does it seem to mean different things to different people? What is the historical background of socialism? Are there meaningful differences between different forms of socialism or are they more or less the same thing? Which societies are socialist in practice, both past and present? What about the US? What are the different proposals US and other Socialists make today? What is their logic? How socialist are they? Are their policy ideas or bad? What effects would they have? This course will introduce students to socialism in theory and practice, with an emphasis on different models of Western social democracy and how they are impacting political discourse right now.