Graduate Courses

POLI 700: Core Seminar on American Politics (3)

An overview of research on American politics that introduces students to a wide range of sustentative understandings and theoretical perspectives.

POLI 701: American Political Institution (PLCY 710, PUBA 740) (3)

Theory and practice of political institutions in the American context.

POLI 703: Congress and Theory Building (3)

This course examines diverse theoretical perspectives on national institutional change, stability, using as our institutional focus the United States Congress between 1789 and 1989.

POLI 704: American Presidency (3)

Survey of the substantial literature and research on the American Presidency.

POLI 705: Judicial Politics (3)

Survey of recent literature on the politics of judicial institutions and the behavior of judges, lawyers, litigants, and other actors in the judicial process, emphasizing relationships between judicial and other policy-making processes.

POLI 708: Seminar in Subnational Politics and Policy (3)

This course surveys the major topics and research programs in subnational American politics and policy with special attention to the vertical and horizontal intergovernmental interactions inherent within federal political systems.

POLI 710: Political Parties (3)

Selected problems and issues in the study of American and comparative parties and party systems.

POLI 711: American Political Behavior (3)

Theoretical study of mass behavior (i.e., participation, voting, protest) in the American context.

POLI 712: Public Opinion (3)

A study of public opinion, its formation, expression, and impact on political systems and public policy.

POLI 713: Dynamics of Electoral Politics (3)

Change within mass electorates. Topics include issue and attitude change, political realignments, and models of electoral competition.

POLI 714: Political Socialization (3)

The learning process by which individuals acquire values, attitudes, and norms affecting their behavior in the political community, with emphasis on major agencies of socialization: family, schools, peer groups, and media.

POLI 715: Seminar on Political Psychology (3)

Prerequisite, POLI 711. This course surveys and evaluates current and past research in political psychology. Topics may include: personality, attitudes and values, socialization, political reasoning, information processing, decision making, political identity, and political affect.

POLI 718: Agenda-Setting (3)

This class will focus on theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of agenda-setting in both American and comparative settings. Begins in the 1950s through current literature, covering a wide range of methodological approaches. Assignments include participation in seminar discussion, short papers on readings, and substantial original research paper.

POLI 720: Managing Public Policy (PUBA 749) (3)

Prerequisites, POLI 700, 745, or PUBA 723. The role(s), function(s), and strategy of public administrators in the formulation, adoption, and implementation of public policies. Policy from the perspective of the policy maker; cases exploring the relationship of theories to actual policy processes.

POLI 721: Public Policy and Administration (3)

Alternative explanation of public policies and policy-making processes; introduction to policy analysis as a way to inform choices among policy options; policy implementation through administrative practices and procedures.

POLI 722: Politics of the Administrative Process (PUBA 722) (3)

The motivations of public agency officials, interactions between bureaucracies and other political actors, and alternative strategies to control bureaucratic power and discretion in making, implementing, and evaluating public policies.

POLI 723: Conflict Management for Inernational Peacemakers (3)

Focus on skill-building useful in managing international conflicts.  Students engage in mock negotiations – systematically preparing, conducting, and reviewing their own actions.  Number of conflict situations around world are analyzed.

POLI 724: Organization Design (3)

Prerequisite, POLI 700, or permission of the instructor. Field theory, motivation, communication, and systems perspectives as theoretical bases for organization design.

POLI 725: Methods for Policy Analysis and Evaluation (PUBA 700) (3)

Introduction to selected techniques such as the following: multiple regression, decision theory, research design, social experiments and quasi-experiments, program evaluation, and policy-related models.

POLI 726: Intergovernmental Relations (PUBA 778) (3)

Conflict and cooperation among governmental officials representing national, state, and local governments in the United States; changing roles of governments and new mechanisms for intergovernmental collaboration.

POLI 727: Framing (3)

This class will focus on the theoretical and empirical studies of individual and collective framing. Readings will be from journalism, sociology, psychology, and political science and will include both US-based and comparative studies. Assignments include participation in seminar discussion, short papers on readings, and substantial original research paper.

POLI 728: Policy Workshop (3)

Application of theories and techniques of policy analysis and planning to current public problems for actual clients. Focus on design and execution of policy research, and interpretation and presentation of results.

POLI 729: The Psychology of Collective Politics (3)

Explores the psychological underpinnings of collective politics from the perspective of both individuals and groups. Political behaviors examined include: deliberation, protest, nationalism, and intergroup conflict.

POLI 730: Comparative Political Research and Analysis (3)

The seminar introduces the beginning graduate student to the central issues and major developments in the field of comparative government and politics.

POLI 731: The Politics of Development and Change (3)

The theories, concepts, and mechanisms of political change, with particular attention to processes of development and modernization in new nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

POLI 733: Comparative Political Economy (3)

Examines topics in the comparative political economy of Western Europe such as neocorporatism, postindustrialism, the politics of industrial relations, and the European community.

POLI 734: Comparative Political Behavior (3)

Political behavior of the public in cross-national or non-American settings. Political culture, belief systems, participation, protest, revolution, voting behavior, civic behavior, socialization, and media.

POLI 735: Comparative Bureaucracy (3)

A cross-national examination of functions, career patterns, role behavior, and relationships of bureaucratic elites within the context of national political systems. Research on particular countries is emphasized.

POLI 736: Political Transitions and Democratization in Comparative Perspective (3)

Examination of contrasting theoretical approaches to understanding democracy. Comparative study of Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America elucidates challenges and opportunities that affect possibilities for democratization and consolidation.

POLI 737: Psychology of Elite Decision Making (3)

Political thinking of politicians and civil servants in domestic and foreign policy. Perception, cognition, learning, attitude change and persuasion, aging, motivation, emotions, and personality.

POLI 738: Power and Morality in Politics (3)

Motives of power and morality in rational choice theories and theories of power sharing. Empirical findings and normative evaluations.

POLI 739: Communist Political Systems (3)

An examination of the political evolution and process in societies governed by communist parties.

POLI 740: Issues in Latin American Politics (3)

Explores the central issues of Latin American politics and analyzes major theoretical debates.

POLI 741: Latin American Politics: Research and Analysis (3)

Reviews major works and theoretical perspectives in the literature, assesses contemporary political science research on Latin America, and examines problems of field research.

POLI 742: Political Economy of Latin Americal Development (3)

Examines effects of state, regime type, and political processes on agricultural and industrial policy in Latin America. Also considers the informal economy, international debt, and relationship between policy and politicization.

POLI 743: Seminar on United States - Latin American Relations (3)

Analysis of the central conceptual concerns and major theoretical approaches to the study of inter-American relations, with a focus on United States foreign policy toward the region.

POLI 744: African Politics: Challenges of Democratization and Development (3)

Study of the politics of development in contemporary Africa, with emphasis on changing state society relations, the roles of peasants and women in politics, and prospects for democratization.

POLI 745: Varieties of Democratic Capitalism in Europe and North America (3)

This course will examine the development of different types of welfare states in Europe and North America.

POLI 750: Theories of International Relations I (3)

Introduction to the central issues and major theoretical developments in the field of international relations, focusing on system structure, political and security issues, and decision making.

POLI 751: Theories of International Relations II (3)

Introduction to the central issues and major theoretical developments in the field of international relations, focusing on the politics of international economic relations, law and organization, and fundamental system change.

POLI 752: International Organization (3)

Theories and approaches to the study of international organizations and regimes, plus selected non-economic case studies.

POLI 753: Interational Conflict and Cooperation (3)

An examination of international conflict and cooperative processes in the context of the evolution of the international system.

POLI 754: Introduction to Mathematical International Relations (3)

Surveys research in mathematical models of international decision making, bargaining, systemic change, arms races, coalitions, and perception. Philosophic and historical considerations about this field are also discussed.

POLI 756: Politics of the International Economy (3)

Positive theories of political choice in trade, monetary relations, foreign investment, and regional integration.

POLI 757: Political Economy of the Nation State in the World System (3)

Prerequisite, ECON 460 or 465 or permission of the instructor. Analysis of the interaction between the external sector of the economy and domestic politics in weak capitalist states.

POLI 758: Theories of Foreigh Policy (3)

This course is an introduction to the field of foreign policy analysis. Its primary goal is to expose students to the theories and methods of foreign policy research and analysis.

POLI 768: Feminis Political Theory (WMST 768) (3)

A survey of feminist approaches to politics and political inquiry.

POLI 770: Community Economic Development; Strategies and Choices (PUBA 770) (3)

The goal of this course is to acquire a command of the fundamentals of economic development from the community’s perspective. This is done by reading and absorbing the theoretical literature on economic development from the fields of urban politics, planning, sociology, economics, political science and sociology.

POLI 771: Modern Political Theory (3)

An introduction to modern political thought, its major thinkers and issues.

POLI 773: Major Issues in Political Theory (3)

An introduction to the major issues of political theory, with emphasis on the major thinkers in the history

POLI 774: Plassical Political Theory (3)

An introduction to ancient and medieval political thought, its major thinkers and issues.

POLI 775: American Political Theory (3)

Survey of issues and problems in American political thought, with analysis of major thinkers and selected topics, and emphasis on the role of family, society, and economy in political theory.

POLI 777: Major Figures in Political Theory (3)

An in-depth study of the primary and secondary literature on one or two major figures in the history of political thought (e.g., Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Marx).

POLI 778: The Formal Theory of Institutitions (3)

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the burgeoning literature on the formal theory of institutions.

POLI 780: Scope and Methods of Political Research (3)

Permission of the instructor required. A discussion of the theory and process of political analysis, including philosophy of science, research design, the methods of drawing causal inferences, and of generating data.

POLI 782: Logic of Political Inquiry (3)

A critical examination of models of political inquiry. Empirical (naturalist), interpretive, and critical metatheories are considered in terms of each model’s ontological, epistemological, and practical/political consequences and presuppositions.

POLI 783: Statistics (3)

Elementary descriptive statistics and basic principles of statistical inference including estimation and tests of hypotheses.

POLI 784: Intermediate Statistics (3)

This course extends the coverage of Political Science 281. Topics to be covered include analysis of variance, multiple and partials correlation, and multiple regression.

POLI 786: Time Series Analysis of Political Data (3)

Prerequisite, POLI 784 or permission of the instructor. Discusses the problems that arise when regression methodologies are applied to time series and pooled time series data.

POLI 787: Maximum Likelihood Methods (3)

Prerequisites, POLI 783 and 784. Introduction to maximum likelihood estimation with applications to political science. Topics include discrete choice analysis, censored and truncated variables, event history analysis, sample selection models, and multilevel inference.

POLI 789: Game Theory (3)

This class provides graduate students with an introduction to game theoretic modeling, focusing on non-cooperative game theory. Topics covered include normal form games, extensive-form games, and games of incomplete information.

POLI 790: Positive Political Theory (3)

This seminar surveys applications of rational choice models across the subfields of political science. It also considers critiques of national choice approaches and alternative theoretical approaches to modeling human behavior.

POLI 800: Seminar in American Government and Politics (3)

POLI 801: Judicial Behavior Research (3)

POLI 802: Research in Public Administration (PUBA 900) (Variable)

POLI 803: Seminar on Application of Political Behavior Research to Public Problems (3)

Exploration and examination of the ways in which political behavior research can be applied to understanding and ameliorating public problems.

POLI 811: Seminar in Political Sociology (SOCI 811) (3)

The relationships between social structure and political decisions. Regimes and social structure; bureaucracies, political associations, and professions; science and politics; closed and open politics; political movements and change.

POLI 813: Comarative Welfare States (SOCI 813) (3)

This course examines the development, achievements, present crisis, and future of welfare states in advanced industrial democracies.

POLI 816: Influential Works in Democracy (SOCI 816) (3)

The course covers the major traditions of democratic theory from ancient Greece to the present, ethnographies on political organization, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century observations on democracy.

POLI 846: Seminar in International Communication (JOMC 846) (3)

Prerequisite, JOMC 446 or permission of the instructor.

POLI 850: Theories of International Politics (3)

Topics relating to the development of theory in the realm of international politics.

POLI 851: Seminar in International Relations (3)

Special topics in international relations, such as alliances, bargaining, decision-making, economic interdependence, and international human rights.

POLI 870: Seminar in Political Theory (3)

Special topics in political theory such as Marxism and Socialism, Democratic theory, contemporary political thought, or related topics.

POLI 880: Design and Analysis of Experminents and Surveys (3)

Prerequisites, POLI 780 and 783. Introduction to the use of experimental and survey research methods in political science. Topics include: factorial designs, repeated measures design, ANOVA, sampling theory, survey errors and costs, and questionnaire design.

POLI 881: Teaching Political Science (3)

The director of graduate studies assigns each teacher to a faculty supervisor, who provides advice on course design, teaching, and related matters.

POLI 890: Directed Readings in Political Science (Variable) (Variable)

Directed readings in a special field under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty. By permission only.

POLI 891: Special Topics in Political Science (1 to 3)

Prerequisite, permission of the instructor. Seminar in selected areas of Political Science. Topics vary from year to year. May be repeated for credit.

POLI 993: Master's Thesis (3)

POLI 994: Doctoral Dissertation (3)