graduate seminars
PLSC 411: American Political Parties
Professor Gitelson
T 4:15pm / LSC
This course is intended to give an overview of the workings and non-workings of the American two-party system and the election and campaign process. This task involves the exploration of an institution, the party, which has undergone significant change over the past fifty years. We will explore and analyze parties and the election process also covering the roles of interest groups, political action committees, the media, and other institutions as they have an impact on parties and elections. An on going discussion of the 2008 elections and the forthcoming 2010 congressional elections will be an important focus of this course.
PLSC 475: Techniques of Political Analysis I
Professor Mahler
M 7:00pm / LSC
This course, which is the first of a two-course sequence, offers an introduction to statistical analysis in political science. Among the major topics covered will be research design; measures of central tendency and variability; probability theory; statistical inference; significance tests; difference of means tests; the Chi Square statistic; and bivariate correlation and regression. Emphasis will be on practical applications and extensive use will be made of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Stata, statistical programs that are commonly used in the social sciences.
PLSC 506: State & Urban Policy Analysis
Professor Steinacker
T 7:00pm / LSC
This course focuses on the techniques of policy analysis, with applications to state and local policy issues. We discuss the types of problems that lead to government intervention, the types of problems that are most appropriately handled by state and local (rather than national) governments, the types of policies that can address each problem category, and criteria for selecting among the appropriate approaches. Examples of policy issues include land use policy, taxation, and social welfare issues.
PLSC 520: Democracy & Democratization
Professor Sanchez
W 4:15pm / LSC
This graduate seminar will examine global democratization, the largest general area of research in comparative politics and a major area of research in international relations. We will explore democracy and democratization from mostly an empirical and comparative, rather than a theoretical, perspective. While we will consider the meaning of democracy, most of the course will be devoted to examining theories of democratic transition and consolidation, the effects of democracy, and the international dimensions of democratization. At the end of this course you will have a solid understanding of some of the key ideas and findings in the democratization literature as well as some of the theoretical paradigms employed by scholars to study democratization.
PLSC 523: Politics of Income Distribution
Professor Mahler
Th 4:15pm / LSC
The intention of this course is to explore the domestic and international sources of cross-national variation in income inequality, poverty and government redistribution, with special reference to the role of the public sector. The course will begin with an overview of the global income distribution, focusing on inequality both across and within countries. We will then explore the major economic, political and social explanations that have been offered for the considerable variation in inequality and government efforts to address it across the world’s countries. Students will become familiar with the major sources of cross-national data on the distribution of income and wealth, as well as broader measures of well-being, social protection and political participation.
PLSC 546: Political Justice
Professor Mayer
M 4:15pm / LSC
If we do not share a government, a nationality, or a culture with other human beings, what does justice require of us in our dealings with these peoples and their states? In this seminar we survey the growing body of literature that seeks to identify principles of international justice. These contemporary theories are concerned with topics such as the right of self-determination, the entailments of sovereignty, the nature of human rights, the distribution of resources across the globe, the terms of trade, the use of force, and so forth. The theories we will consider can be sorted into two main camps: cosmopolitan and communal. Their point of disagreement concerns the proper unit of analysis in arguments about international justice—either nation-states or humanity as a whole. One of our tasks during the semester will be to decide which approach is more appropriate in determining what justice requires in international affairs.
PLSC 411: American Political Parties
Professor Gitelson
T 4:15pm / LSC
This course is intended to give an overview of the workings and non-workings of the American two-party system and the election and campaign process. This task involves the exploration of an institution, the party, which has undergone significant change over the past fifty years. We will explore and analyze parties and the election process also covering the roles of interest groups, political action committees, the media, and other institutions as they have an impact on parties and elections. An on going discussion of the 2008 elections and the forthcoming 2010 congressional elections will be an important focus of this course.
PLSC 475: Techniques of Political Analysis I
Professor Mahler
M 7:00pm / LSC
This course, which is the first of a two-course sequence, offers an introduction to statistical analysis in political science. Among the major topics covered will be research design; measures of central tendency and variability; probability theory; statistical inference; significance tests; difference of means tests; the Chi Square statistic; and bivariate correlation and regression. Emphasis will be on practical applications and extensive use will be made of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Stata, statistical programs that are commonly used in the social sciences.
PLSC 506: State & Urban Policy Analysis
Professor Steinacker
T 7:00pm / LSC
This course focuses on the techniques of policy analysis, with applications to state and local policy issues. We discuss the types of problems that lead to government intervention, the types of problems that are most appropriately handled by state and local (rather than national) governments, the types of policies that can address each problem category, and criteria for selecting among the appropriate approaches. Examples of policy issues include land use policy, taxation, and social welfare issues.
PLSC 520: Democracy & Democratization
Professor Sanchez
W 4:15pm / LSC
This graduate seminar will examine global democratization, the largest general area of research in comparative politics and a major area of research in international relations. We will explore democracy and democratization from mostly an empirical and comparative, rather than a theoretical, perspective. While we will consider the meaning of democracy, most of the course will be devoted to examining theories of democratic transition and consolidation, the effects of democracy, and the international dimensions of democratization. At the end of this course you will have a solid understanding of some of the key ideas and findings in the democratization literature as well as some of the theoretical paradigms employed by scholars to study democratization.
PLSC 523: Politics of Income Distribution
Professor Mahler
Th 4:15pm / LSC
The intention of this course is to explore the domestic and international sources of cross-national variation in income inequality, poverty and government redistribution, with special reference to the role of the public sector. The course will begin with an overview of the global income distribution, focusing on inequality both across and within countries. We will then explore the major economic, political and social explanations that have been offered for the considerable variation in inequality and government efforts to address it across the world’s countries. Students will become familiar with the major sources of cross-national data on the distribution of income and wealth, as well as broader measures of well-being, social protection and political participation.
PLSC 546: Political Justice
Professor Mayer
M 4:15pm / LSC
If we do not share a government, a nationality, or a culture with other human beings, what does justice require of us in our dealings with these peoples and their states? In this seminar we survey the growing body of literature that seeks to identify principles of international justice. These contemporary theories are concerned with topics such as the right of self-determination, the entailments of sovereignty, the nature of human rights, the distribution of resources across the globe, the terms of trade, the use of force, and so forth. The theories we will consider can be sorted into two main camps: cosmopolitan and communal. Their point of disagreement concerns the proper unit of analysis in arguments about international justice—either nation-states or humanity as a whole. One of our tasks during the semester will be to decide which approach is more appropriate in determining what justice requires in international affairs.