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[200s]

[300s]

[400s]

Experimental Courses

Political Science Department Homepage

POLS 110. American National Government (1 course)

The constitutional basis of U.S. national government and the roles of political parties, elections, interest groups, public opinion, and the legislative, executive and judicial branches in the American political system.

POLS 150. Comparative Politics and Government (1 course)

An examination of major theories of comparative politics and government applicable to modern liberal democratic, communist and developing Third World systems. Theories of modernization and development, functionalism, systems analysis, dependency and underdevelopment, political economy, state-society relations, corporatism and neo-corporatism in both Western and non-Western settings.

POLS 156. Advanced Placement in Political Science (1 course)

Advanced placement credit for entering first-year students. A. U.S. Government. B. Comparative Politics.

POLS 160. Introduction to Government and Politics (1 course)

The fundamental issues posed by government and politics as well as the conceptual and analytical tools used by political scientists in dealing with them. The nature and function of political institutions in relation to leading political theories and ideologies that have influenced their development. Such doctrines as liberalism, democracy, socialism, conservatism, communism and fascism as responses to such issues as the nature of political community, political power and leadership, and the freedom and rights of the individual.

POLS 197. First-Year Seminar      (1 course)

A seminar focused on a theme related to the study of political science. Open only to first-year students.

POLS 226. State and Local Government (1 course)

The theory and especially the practice of subnational government in the USA. Topics include: intergovernmental relations; institutions; taxing, spending and economic development activities; and policy problems besetting state and local governments and metropolitan areas.

POLS 230. Elements of Political Theory (1 course)

This course is a critical examination of the basic ideas in the history of political thought that have provided the philosophical foundations of modern political life. The purpose of the course is to help students locate themselves within, and to make disciplined moral judgments about, the traditions of political meaning and the institutions and practices they entail that condition their lives as citizens.

POLS 240.  Contemporary Political Ideologies  (1 course)

A survey of contemporary worldviews based on value and belief systems that generate sets of attitudes and behaviors towards the institutions and political processes of society. Covering ideologies such as enthno-nationalism, religious fundamentalism, feminism, liberation theology, globalism, and environmentalism.

POLS 253. Government and Politics in China and India (1 course)

The major political developments in the last four and one-half decades in the two most populous countries in the world are covered. It examines the political systems of China and India in the context of their histories and cultural settings. The course compares the political processes, the institutions and the developmental experiences of the two "Asian Giants." It also deals with China's drive toward modernization in the post-Mao era and India's effort to maintain its fragile democracy under different prime ministers since the 1970s.

POLS 254. Government and Politics of Western Europe (1 course)

Political systems of selected countries in Western Europe; their historical and cultural settings; parties and elections; decision-making; problems of foreign policy; considerable attention to European community, the movement toward economic and political integration; impact upon political systems of member countries.

POLS 270. International Politics (1 course)

An analysis of world politics focusing on the units of analysis, patterns of conflict and collaboration, the international agenda (including trends and issues), the structure of the international system, and the current state and future of world order.

POLS 299. Internship in Political Science (1/2-1 course)

Supervised participation in a special (and usually competitive) internship program outside the University.

POLS 310. Political Parties (1 course)

This course treats parties, public opinion, elections and voting behavior in the context of the American political system.

POLS 315. The Legislative Process (1 course)

Focus is on U.S. Congress. Examines rules, procedures and structures of Congress; sources and motivations of legislative behavior; and case studies. Emphasis is on the development of an understanding of how Congress works and why legislators (as individuals and as an institution) behave as they do.

POLS 316. The Presidency (1 course)

Seeks first to develop students' understanding of the powers and imperatives of the American presidency, as well as an understanding of the president's role in the American political order. Primary attention also given to examination of presidential success in office: what makes a good president, what citizens look for in a president, what strategies and/or behaviors are more or less likely to result in successful presidencies.

POLS 318. Research Methods: Research Design (1 course)

A critical examination of research designs used by political scientists, in the last half century, in attempts to understand political reality. The theory and practice of experimental designs will be compared and contrasted with other more feasible ways of gathering data that can lead to reliable inferences about political reality.

POLS 320. African American Politics (1 course)

This course focuses on how the continuing struggle for Black political Empowerment has influenced and helped influence and shape the current African American political environment community. The examination will be an interdisciplinary approach incorporating economics, history and sociology into the overall understanding of the African American community and its critical influence upon the American political system.

POLS 322. Politics and Media in the USA (1 course)

Treats such topics as news media and election campaigns, news media responsibilities in wartime, and news media coverage of Congress and the Presidency. Deals with the special problems in covering political corruption, race and politics, and other subjects of contemporary interest.

POLS 323. The Politics of Race (1 course)

This course explores the centrality and significance of race in the modern American political system. The course covers, but is not limited to, the role of race in electoral politics, urban politics, the political and social attitudes of Americans, and the debates about the scope and function of the federal government.

POLS 324. Politics of Civil Rights and Liberties (1 course)

Analysis of civil rights and civil liberties policies in the United States and of the processes from which those policies emerge. Emphasis will be on policies relating to the practice of democracy (freedom of speech and associated freedoms), criminal justice, and equality and the Equal Protection Clause. Treatment of the policy process will include the roles of judicial, legislative and executive branches and the activities of interest groups.

POLS 330. Governments and Politics of the Middle East (1 course)

This course focuses on the Middle East in international politics as well as the internal politics of the region. Special attention is given to the rise of the state system, the dynamics of modernization, major political movements, ideologies, religions and social and economic change.

POLS 341. American Political Thought (1 course)

This course examines American political thought, its sources and structure, by concentrating on the most important debates and controversies through which Americans have sought both continuity (stability) and innovation (change) in their political lives. The conduct of the course is designed to make students participants rather than onlookers in those debates, and thus to be itself a laboratory of American political thought.

POLS 346. Marxism and Socialist Thought (1 course)

The origins of the communalist critique of liberalism, the emergence of utopian socialism, and the development of the Marxian system as scientific socialism. Twentieth century variants of Marxism, especially Leninism and neo-Marxist-Leninist tendencies (Maoism, Sorel, Third World efforts and New Left).

POLS 351. Government and Politics of Russia and the CIS (1 course)

Examines the origins and nature of Bolshevik movement and the 1917 revolution; the ideological and institutional sources of the Soviet state and party structures; Stalinism as totalitarian experiment; the erosion of the Soviet system; its economic decline and crisis; the reasons for the failure of the Gorbachev reform effort; the Moscow coup and implosion of the system; Russian political and economic reforms record subsequently; some attention to events in selected CIS republics.

POLS 352. Politics of Developing Nations (1 course)

An introduction to the similarities and unifying characteristics of heterogeneous developing nations. Equal emphasis is put on the diversities to be found in different regions of the Third World. The focus is on the issues and problems and not on countries and regions, though case studies are used for illustrative purposes. The course covers theories and approaches to the study of the Third World; changes in the Third World (political, economic, governmental and regime); contemporary issues (hunger and famine, multinationals, foreign debt and the New International Economic Order); and Third World ideologies and movements (nonalignment, developmental socialism, anti-Americanism and Islamic revivalism).

POLS 370. American Foreign Policy (1 course)

The process of formulating and implementing American foreign policy. The development of American traditions regarding foreign policy, the main factors influencing American foreign policy since World War II, and specific policies toward regions and countries of the world.

POLS 374. Foreign Policies of the Soviet Union and Successor States (1 course)

Following an intensive analysis of the ideological and state imperatives shaping the record of the Soviet Union in international affairs, this course will examine the international effects of the collapse of the Soviet system and the post-Soviet Russian effort to fashion a new international role for the Russian state vis-a-vis the former Soviet republics and East European communist states, as well as the European Union, and the United States and the external world generally.

POLS 382. Global Issues (1 course)

An analytical survey of global issues: their essence, management and their political implications. The course starts with a theoretical framework for the study of leading global issues such as global security, population growth, global political economy, food, ethno-nationalism, terrorism, human rights, consumption of non-renewable resources and the integrity of the environment. Institutions, values and policies are emphasized in the context of growing interdependence among nations and related issues of integration and conflict.

POLS 384.  International Law  (1 course)

Contemporary problems on the role and effectiveness of law and legal institutions in the global community. The nature, sources and application of international law; international instruments; membership in the international community; state and non-state actors; duties and responsibilities at the global level; war and peace.

POLS 386. International Organization (1 course)

This course surveys and explains International Organization (IO). It examines IO as a theoretical-analytical process and as a socio-historical process in time and space. The course starts with the drawing of analytical concepts relating to the sources, inception, structure, domain, scope and issues of IO. These concepts are then utilized for the study and analysis of selected international organizations, such as the UN, the EEC, LAFTA and the League of Arab States as well as some of the growing number of international regimes. The expanding interdependence among nations and the emerging global village are themes to be underlined throughout the course.

POLS 390. Topics in Government and Politics (1 course)

An examination of selected topics in government and politics.

POLS 400SS. Teaching of Social Studies (1/2 course)

See HIST 400SS. May not be counted toward a major in Political Science.

POLS 450. Senior Seminar (1 course)

This course, to be offered in multiple-autonomous seminars, focuses on theory and analysis in the various sub-disciplines in political science, as well as significant topical components therein.

POLS 499. Independent Study (1 course)

Intensive reading and research in American politics, political theory, comparative politics and/or international politics. Prerequisite: permission of instructor and department. May not be taken Pass-Fail.

EXPERIMENTAL COURSES

Issues in American Politics (1 course)

(offered first semester 1998-99) This course focuses on selected current issues in American Government, depending on the expertise of the instructor and the timelines and significance of the issues.

African American Politics (1 course)

This course focuses on how the continuing struggle for Black political empowerment has influenced and helped to shape the current African American community. The examination will be an interdisciplinary approach incorporating economics, history and sociology into the overall understanding of the African American community and its critical influence upon the American political system.

Islamic Fundamentalism (1 course)

(offered first semester 1999-2000)This course examines Islamic activism in the new world order. It deals with the ideological bases of Islamic fundamentalism, its conceptions of state, society, human rights and democracy. It seeks to explain the reasons for the resurgence of political Islam and to examine the differences between various Islamic movements. These issues are studied with particular attention to the current political situation in the Middle East. the interactions between Islamic movements and the policies of the United States and other major world powers are also examined.

Politics of Ethnicity & Nationalism (1 course)

(offered second semester 1998-1999) This course looks at the concepts of "nationalism" and "ethnicity" and tries to understand what these mean in terms of national identity and the state. It examines the politics of ethnic protest looking at discrimination and inequalities, mobilization patterns and explanations for rebellion, and undertake an examination of ethnic politics in various world regions, using specific case studies from those regions.

Contemporary Political Ideologies (1 course)

We live in a world that has been shaped and continues to be shaped by political ideologies. In the twentieth century, ideology has been responsible for the creation of nation states and for the revolutionary overthrow of political regimes, for protection of human rights and for torture and imprisonment, for mass mobilization and for religious fanaticism. This course will provide a survey of the prominent twentieth century ideologies such as Nationalism and "Ethnonationalism", Facism and Nazism, Marxism and Communism, Democracy and Liberalism, Conservatism, Liberation Theology and Religious Fundamentalism (Muslim and Evangelical), Developmental Socialism and Nonaligned Movement, Globalization and Environmentalism (an ideology in the making) and Feminism.

E-mail questions or comments to: sbates@depauw.edu

©1999 DePauw University