Critical analysis of contending theories of international relations. Focus is on alternative theoretical assumptions, different analytical structures, and a core of concepts and content. Comparative analysis of realism(s), liberalism(s), institutionalism(s), and new emergent theories. Discussion of connections between theories of international relations and major changes in international relations.

Examines the causes and consequences of American foreign policy since 1898. Readings cover theories of American foreign policy, historiography of American foreign policy, central historical episodes including the two World Wars and the Cold War, case study methodology, and historical investigative methods. Open to undergraduates by permission of instructor.

This course surveys American political thought from the colonial era to the present. Required readings are drawn mainly from primary sources, including writings of politicians, activists, and theorists. Topics include the relationship between religion and politics, rights, federalism, national identity, republicanism versus liberalism, the relationship of subordinated groups to mainstream political discourse, and the role of ideas in politics. We will analyze the simultaneous radicalism and weakness of American liberalism, how the revolutionary ideas of freedom and equality run up against persistent patterns of inequality. Graduate students are expected to pursue the subject in greater depth through suggested reading and individual research.

The purpose of this course is to provide the student with an overview of the major political theorists and their work from the 18th century to the present. Common themes seen in contemporary political thought include governance, property ownership and redistribution, free enterprise, individual liberty, justice, and responsibility for the common welfare. The student will read the works of theorists advocating capitalism, socialism, communism, egalitarianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory, liberalism, conservatism, neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, libertarianism, fascism, anarchy, rational choice theory, and globalism. By studying the evolving constructs of political theory in the past two centuries, the student will gain insight into different approaches that leaders use to solve complex problems of governance and maintenance of social order. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: summarize the primary principles of capitalism, socialism, communism, egalitarianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory, liberalism, conservatism, neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, libertarianism, fascism, anarchy, terrorism, rational choice theory, and globalism; identify major the political theorists from the 188h century to the present; discuss major political movements in their respective historical contexts; assess the impact that various political movements have had on law, economics, international relations, and society; analyze various primary sources of political theory and understand how these theories can be applied to solve problems in society; understand the challenges that modern leaders face in framing political debate and public policy. (Political Science 302)

Course is the first in a two-part sequence exploring contemporary practices, challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of information technology and democratic governance. Whereas the second course focuses on challenges and innovations in democratic administration, this first course focuses on theories and practices of democratic politics and the shifting role of information technologies in supporting, transforming, and understanding these. The first half of the course seeks to ground contemporary discussion around IT and politics in various flavors of democratic and political theory. The second half builds on this foundation to explore ways in which information and information technologies have come to support, constrain, and otherwise inflect a range of contemporary democratic practices.

Course is the second of a two-part sequence exploring contemporary practices, challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of information technology and democratic governance. Whereas the first course (SI 532) focuses on tensions and innovations in democratic politics, this course takes on emerging directions in democratic administration and the shifting role of information technologies in supporting, transforming, and understanding these. The first part of the course sets contemporary discussions of digital or "E-government" against a richer backdrop of administrative, bureaucratic, and organizational theory. The second part of the course explores a range of cases in which emergent informational forms and practices have entered -- and in some cases, begun to alter -- the traditional art and practice of government Drawing on examples from local, state, federal, and international experience, students are encouraged to adopt a practical and appropriately critical take on the practice, problems, and possibilities for democratic administration in an increasingly IT-saturated age.

This seven-week course is the second in a two-part sequence exploring contemporary practices, challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of information technology and democratic governance. This second half of the course takes on emerging directions in democratic administration – and the shifting role of information technologies in supporting, transforming, and understanding these. The course locates recent and emerging digital or e-government initiatives in historical, institutional, and comparative context. Throughout, we will explore a range of local, national, and international cases in which new informational forms and practices have met with – and in some cases, begun to alter – the traditional art and practice of democratic administration.

This course will provide the student with an overview of the role that ethical, cultural, religious, and moral principles play in public policy. The course will introduce the student to common themes found in the foundational theories of ethics and morality in politics such as justice, equality, fairness, individual liberty, free enterprise, charity, fundamental human rights, and minimizing harm to others. These themes are integrated into various decision-making models that you will learn about. Students will examine five types of decision frameworks used to make and implement public policy, as well as rationales used to justify inequitable impact and outcomes of policies. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: explain how personal morality and ethics impact the policymaking process; discuss various ethical frameworks used to resolve policy dilemmas; identify statutes, ethical codes, and legal opinions that define the normative parameters of key domestic and international policy issues; assess the impact that public interest groups have on policymaking and execution of policies. (Political Science 401)

This subject surveys main currents of European cultural and intellectual history in the modern period. Such a foundation course is central to the humanities in Europe. The curriculum introduces a set of ideas and arguments that have played a formative role in European cultural history, and acquaints them with some exemplars of critical thought. Among the topics to be considered: the critique of religion, the promise of independence, the advance of capitalism, the temptations of Marxism, the origins of totalitarianism, and the dialects of enlightenment. In addition to texts, we will also discuss pieces of art, incl. paintings and film.

This course focuses on a range of theories of gender in modern life. In recent years feminist scholars in a range of disciplines have challenged previously accepted notions of political theory such as the distinctions between public and private, the definitions of politics itself, the nature of citizenship, and the roles of women in civil society. In this course we will examine different aspects of women's lives through the life cycle as seen from the vantage point of political theory. In addition we will consider different ways of looking at power and political culture in modern societies, issues of race and class, poverty and welfare, sexuality and morality.

This subject, required of all first-year PhD students in political science. introduces fundamental ideas, theories, and methods in contemporary political science through the study of a small number of major books and articles that are intrinsically good and have been influential in the field. The first semester focuses principally on issues of political theory and international relations, while the second (taught this year by Roger Petersen) focuses principally on American and comparative politics. Readings in the fall semester from Rawls, A Theory of Justice; Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty; Arrow Social Choice and Individual Values; Olson, The Logic of Collective Action; Waltz, Theory of International Relations; Bull, The Anarchical Society; Foucault, Discipline and Punish; Elster, Cement of Society; Keohane, After Hegemony, Allison and Zelikow, The Essence of Decision, and Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs."

Complementary to 21L.001. A broad survey of texts; literary, philosophical, sociological; studied to trace the growth of secular humanism, the loss of a supernatural perspective upon human events, and changing conceptions of individual, social, and communal purpose. Stresses appreciation and analysis of texts that came to represent the common cultural possession of our time.

This graduate course is in three Parts. Together they are intended to provide theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives on source and consequences of globalization, focusing on emergent structures and processes, and on the implications of flows of goods and services across national boundaries - with special attention to the issue of migration, on the assumption that people matter and matter a lot. An important concern addressed pertains to the dilemmas of international policies that are shaped by the macro-level consequences of micro-level behavior.

Tracing the evolution of international interactions, this course examines the dimensions of globalization in terms of scale and scope. It is divided into three parts; together they are intended to provide theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives on source and consequences of globalization, focusing on emergent structures and processes, and on the implications of flows of goods and services across national boundaries – with special attention to the issue of migration, on the assumption that people matter and matter a lot. An important concern addressed pertains to the dilemmas of international policies that are shaped by the macro-level consequences of micro-level behavior. 17.411 fulfills undergraduate public policy requirement in the major and minor. Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth through reading and individual research.

Open to qualified graduate students who would like to pursue special subjects or projects. Please consult graduate administration prior to registration. Description from the course home page: The purpose of this seminar is to examine systematically, and comparatively, great and middle power military interventions into civil wars during the 1990's. These civil wars were high on the policy agenda of western states during the 1990's. Yet, these interventions were usually not motivated by obvious classical vital interests. Given the extraordinary security enjoyed by the great and middle powers of the west in the Cold War's aftermath, these activities are puzzling.

Chandra Shekhar Jha was India's foreign secretary from 1965 to 1967. In this video segment, Jha explains why India cannot exclude the future possibility of owning nuclear weapons. The key to disarmament, he insists, rests with the nuclear nations that are 'adding to their stockpiles' and 'preparing for war. 'Jha's interview conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: 'The Haves and Have-Nots' begins with his recollections of his devastating post-war tour of Japan with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and their shared ideals of disarmament and economic development by harnessing 'Atoms for Peace.' Jha's interview also examines the dilemma of staying the non-nuclear course given regional security concerns: the 1962 Chinese attack on India, followed two years later by China's detonation of its first nuclear bomb, and ongoing tensions with its neighbor Pakistan. While prioritizing the country's economic development over diverting resources to acquire nuclear weapons, Jha rejects the Non-Proliferation Treaty as embodying 'nuclear colonialism' and objects to the preferential treatment granted other threshold states.

Political thought, otherwise known as political theory or philosophy, is the study of questions concerning power, justice, rights, law, and other issues pertaining to governance. This course examines major texts in the history of political thought and asks how different views on human nature inform the design of government. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: summarize the passage of political thought through the classical, Renaissance, and Enlightenment periods and based on the works of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and Marx; compare and contrast the differences between Plato and Aristotle with regard to their understandings of the nature of the person, ethics, society, citizenship, and governance; explain the historical and intellectual context in which the political thought that helped to develop the modern state came to be; compare and contrast the concepts of justice, freedom, equality, citizenship, and sovereignty in the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau; explain the different versions of, and importance of, 'the state of nature' to political thought; identify the influences of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on the development of the United States Constitution; summarize the thoughts of Alexis de Tocqueville on the American political landscape, particularly with regard to religion and equality, and why this has importance beyond the American context; explain Karl Marx's world view, with particular regard to his critique of democracy and the modern, politically liberal, state; how it came to be; and its fundamental link to capitalism. (Political Science 201)