| POLISCI1 | The Science of Politics | Why do countries go to war? How can we explain problems such as poverty, inequality, and pollution? What can be done to improve political representation in the United States and other countries? We will use scientific methods to answer these and othe... |
| POLISCI101 | Introduction to International Relations | The course provides an introduction to major factors shaping contemporary international politics, including: the origins and nature of nationalism; explanations for war; nuclear weapons; international implications of the rise of China; civil war and... |
| POLISCI101Z | Introduction to International Relations | Approaches to the study of conflict and cooperation in world affairs. Applications to war, terrorism, trade policy, the environment, and world poverty. Debates about the ethics of war and the global distribution of wealth. |
| POLISCI102 | Introduction to American Politics and Policy: In Defense of Democracy | American democracy faces a series of unprecedented challenges. This course will identify the greatest areas of weakness in the American political system, make sense of the most pressing threats facing democracy, and contemplate how democracy can be s... |
| POLISCI103 | Justice | Justice, as we use the term in this class, is a question about social cooperation. People can produce much more cooperatively than the sum of what they could produce as individuals, and these gains from cooperation are what makes civilization possibl... |
| POLISCI110C | America and the World Economy | Examination of contemporary US foreign economic policy. Areas studied: the changing role of the dollar; mechanism of international monetary management; recent crises in world markets including those in Europe and Asia; role of IMF, World Bank and W... |
| POLISCI110D | War and Peace in American Foreign Policy | The causes of war in American foreign policy. Issues: international and domestic sources of war and peace; war and the American political system; war, intervention, and peace making in the post-Cold War period. Political Science majors taking this co... |
| POLISCI110G | Governing the Global Economy | Who governs the world economy? Why do countries succeed or fail to cooperate in setting their economic policies? When and how do international institutions help countries cooperate? When and why do countries adopt good and bad economic policies? How... |
| POLISCI110X | America and the World Economy | Examination of contemporary US foreign economic policy. Areas studied: the changing role of the dollar; mechanism of international monetary management; recent crises in world markets including those in Europe and Asia; role of IMF, World Bank and W... |
| POLISCI110Y | War and Peace in American Foreign Policy | The causes of war in American foreign policy. Issues: international and domestic sources of war and peace; war and the American political system; war, intervention, and peace making in the post-Cold War period. Political Science majors taking this co... |
| POLISCI111 | The Politics of Climate Change | This course explores domestic and international dimensions of the politics of climate change. Selected topics include mitigation efforts at the national, state, and local level; international climate bargaining and cooperation; and implications of a... |
| POLISCI113 | Understanding Russia: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order | Russia presents a puzzle for theories of socio-economic development and modernization and their relationship to state power in international politics. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought into being the new Russia (or Russian Federation)... |
| POLISCI114D | Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law | This course explores the different dimensions of development - economic, social, and political - as well as the way that modern institutions (the state, market systems, the rule of law, and democratic accountability) developed and interacted with oth... |
| POLISCI114S | International Security in a Changing World | International Security in a Changing World examines some of the most pressing international security problems facing the world today: nuclear crises, the rise of China, war, terrorism, and climate change. Alternative perspectives - from political sc... |
| POLISCI115 | Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence | This course examines the past, present, and future of American espionage. Targeted at first years and sophomores, the class surveys key issues in the development of the U.S. Intelligence Community since World War II. Topics include covert action, int... |
| POLISCI115B | Israel, the Middle East and Nuclear Weapons | Israel, the Middle East and Nuclear Weapons is intended for students who are interested to learn about Israel's national security policy in the context of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. The course is divided into three parts, and combines... |
| POLISCI118P | U.S. Relations with Iran | The evolution of relations between the U.S. and Iran. The years after WW II when the U.S. became more involved in Iran. Relations after the victory of the Islamic republic. The current state of affairs and the prospects for the future. Emphasis is on... |
| POLISCI118Y | Shaping the Future of the Bay Area | The complex urban problems affecting quality of life in the Bay Area, from housing affordability and transportation congestion to economic vitality and social justice, are already perceived by many to be intractable, and will likely be exacerbated by... |
| POLISCI118Z | Shaping the Future of the Bay Area | Students are placed in small interdisciplinary teams (engineers and non-engineers, undergraduate and graduate level) to work on complex design, engineering, and policy problems presented by external partners in a real urban setting. Multiple projects... |
| POLISCI120B | Campaigns, Voting, Media, and Elections | (Graduate students enroll in COMM 262. COMM 162 is offered for 5 units, COMM 262 is offered for 4 units.) This course examines the theory and practice of American campaigns and elections. First, we will attempt to explain the behavior of the key play... |
| POLISCI120C | American Political Institutions in Uncertain Times | This course examines how the rules that govern elections and the policy process determine political outcomes. It explores the historical forces that have shaped American political institutions, contemporary challenges to governing, and prospects for... |
| POLISCI120Z | What's Wrong with American Government? An Institutional Approach | How politicians, once elected, work together to govern America. The roles of the President, Congress, and Courts in making and enforcing laws. Focus is on the impact of constitutional rules on the incentives of each branch, and on how they influence... |
| POLISCI121L | Racial-Ethnic Politics in US | This course examines the profound role race plays in American politics. Topics covered include the construction of political identity among Asian, Black, Latino, Native, and White Americans; the politics of immigration and acculturation; and the infl... |
| POLISCI124A | The American West | The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North Am... |
| POLISCI124L | The Psychology of Communication About Politics in America | Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict be... |
| POLISCI125M | Latino Social Movements | Social movements are cooperative attempts to change the world. This course reviews historically significant and contemporary political and social movements in Latino communities in the U.S., including the movements of the 1960s and events of the mode... |
| POLISCI125P | The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Press | (Graduate students enroll in 251. COMM 151 is offered for 5 units, COMM 251 is offered for 4 units.) The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Press (Law 7084): Introduction to the constitutional protections for freedom of speech, press, and express... |
| POLISCI125S | Chicano/Latino Politics | The political position of Latinos and Latinas in the U.S.. Focus is on Mexican Americans, with attention to Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other groups. The history of each group in the American polity; their political circumstances with respect... |
| POLISCI126 | Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, JR.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom | Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) and Martin Luther King, Jr. are both icons of the twentieth-century civil rights and black freedom movements. Often characterized as polar opposites - one advocating armed self-defense and the other non-violence a... |
| POLISCI127A | Finance, Corporations, and Society | Both 'Free market capitalism' and democracy appear to be in crisis around the world. This interdisciplinary course, which draws from the Social Sciences, Business and Law, will help you gain a deeper understanding of the root causes of these intertwi... |
| POLISCI130 | Liberalism and its Critics | In this course, students will learn and engage with the core debates that have animated political theory in modern times. What is the proper relationship between the individual, the community, and the state? Are liberty and equality in conflict, and,... |
| POLISCI131L | Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill | This course is an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth century through the nineteenth century. We will consider the secularization of politics, the changing relationship between the individual and society,... |
| POLISCI132A | The Ethics of Elections | Do you have a duty to vote? Should immigrants be allowed to vote? Should we make voting mandatory? How (if at all) should we regulate campaign finance? Should we even have elections at all? In this course, we will explore these and other ethical ques... |
| POLISCI133 | Ethics and Politics of Public Service | Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service... |
| POLISCI133Z | Ethics and Politics in Public Service | This course examines ethical and political questions that arise in doing public service work, whether volunteering, service learning, humanitarian endeavors overseas, or public service professions such as medicine and teaching. What motives do people... |
| POLISCI134 | Ethics for Activists | Activists devote sustained effort and attention toward achieving particular goals of social and political change. Do we have an ethical obligation to be activists? And how should those who do choose to be activists (for whatever reason) understand th... |
| POLISCI134E | Universal Basic Income: the philosophy behind the proposal | Universal basic income (or UBI) is a regular cash allowance given to all members of a community without means test, regardless of personal desert, and with no strings attached. Once a utopian proposal, the policy is now discussed and piloted througho... |
| POLISCI134L | Introduction to Environmental Ethics | How should human beings relate to the natural world? Do we have moral obligations toward non-human animals and other parts of nature? And what do we owe to other human beings, including future generations, with respect to the environment? The first p... |
| POLISCI134P | Contemporary Moral Problems | In this course, we will explore contemporary moral issues that arise in the lives of students at higher education institutions and consider their implications beyond campus. Taking the university as a starting point for moral analysis, we will explor... |
| POLISCI135 | Citizenship | This class begins from the core definition of citizenship as membership in a political community and explores the many debates about what that membership means. Who is (or ought to be) a citizen? Who gets to decide? What responsibilities come with ci... |
| POLISCI135D | The Ethics of Democratic Citizenship | We usually think about democratic citizenship in terms of rights and opportunities, but are these benefits of democracy accompanied by special obligations? Do citizens of a democracy have an obligation to take an interest in politics and to actively... |
| POLISCI135E | Philosophy of Public Policy | From healthcare to voting reforms, social protection and educational policies, public policies are underpinned by moral values. When we debate those policies, we typically appeal to values like justice, fairness, equality, freedom, privacy, and safet... |
| POLISCI136R | Introduction to Global Justice | Our world is divided into many different states, each of which has its own culture or set of cultures. Vast inequalities of wealth and power exist between citizens of the rich world and the global poor. International commerce, immigration, and climat... |
| POLISCI137 | Philosophy of Law: Protest, Punishment, and Racial Justice | In this course, we will examine some of the central questions in philosophy of law, including: What is law? How do we determine the content of laws? Do laws have moral content? What is authority? What gives law its authority? Must we obey the law? If... |
| POLISCI137A | Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition | (Graduate students register for 276.) What makes political institutions legitimate? What makes them just? When do citizens have a right to revolt against those who rule over them? Which of our fellow citizens must we tolerate?Surprisingly, the answer... |
| POLISCI138E | Egalitarianism and Anti-Egalitarianism | How do we argue for equality today? How did we argue for equality in the past? This class will introduce students to egalitarian and anti-egalitarian thought and to contemporary conceptions of equality. It will provide an in-depth introduction to the... |
| POLISCI13N | Identity Politics 101 | How do we understand the political choices citizens make? Why do Black and White Americans disagree so vehemently about racially-charged incidents like officer-involved shootings? What explains disagreements over policies like welfare and immigration... |
| POLISCI140P | Populism and the Erosion of Democracy | What is populism, and how much of a threat to democracy is it? How different is it from fascism or other anti-liberal movements? This course explores the conditions for the rise of populism, evaluates how much of a danger it poses, and examines the d... |
| POLISCI141 | Political Economy of Development | The last few decades have seen remarkable progress in lifting millions of people out of poverty worldwide. Yet, millions still are unable to meet even their most basic sustenance needs. This course examines foundational reasons for why some countries... |
| POLISCI141A | Immigration and Multiculturalism | What are the economic effects of immigration? Do immigrants assimilate into local culture? What drives native attitudes towards immigrants? Is diversity bad for local economies and societies and which policies work for managing diversity and multicul... |
| POLISCI143C | The Politics of Internet Abuse | There are many ways in which the internet is abused to cause human harm. Terrorists use social media for recruitment. Government trolls harass opposition politicians and mass report activist accounts for supposed platform violations. Foreign and dome... |
| POLISCI143S | Comparative Corruption | Causes, effects, and solutions to various forms of corruption in business and politics in both developing regions (e.g. Asia, E. Europe) and developed ones (the US and the EU). |
| POLISCI146A | African Politics | Africa has lagged the rest of the developing world in terms of economic development, the establishment of social order, and the consolidation of democracy. This course seeks to identify the historical and political sources accounting for this lag, an... |
| POLISCI147 | Comparative Democratic Development | Social, cultural, political, economic, and international factors affecting the development and consolidation of democracy in historical and comparative perspective. Individual country experiences with democracy, democratization, and regime performanc... |
| POLISCI147B | Gender, Identity, and Politics | Identity, whether national, religious, racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, or otherwise, can importantly shape how people experience the political world. Why do some identities become politically salient and how does identity shape politics? This course... |
| POLISCI148 | Chinese Politics | China, one of the few remaining communist states in the world, has not only survived, but has become a global political actor of consequence with the fastest growing economy in the world. Why has the CCP thrived while other communist regimes have fa... |
| POLISCI149S | Islam, Iran, and the West | Iran and Islam have had a long and complicated relationship. This course covers the rise of Islam, its expansion in Iran, forms of resistance to and acceptance of Islamic ideas in Iran, the rise of Shiism and the impact of Iran on the development of... |
| POLISCI149T | Middle Eastern Politics | Topics in contemporary Middle Eastern politics including institutional sources of underdevelopment, political Islam, electoral authoritarianism, and the political economy of oil. |
| POLISCI14SC | River and Region: The Columbia River and the Shaping of the Pacific Northwest | This seminar will explore the crucial role of the Columbia River in the past, present, and future of the Pacific Northwest. Topics will include the lives and legacies of the indigenous peoples that Lewis and Clark encountered more than two centuries... |
| POLISCI150A | Data Science for Politics | Data science is quickly changing the way we understand and and engage in the political process. In this course we will develop fundamental techniques of data science and apply them to large political datasets on elections, campaign finance, lobbying... |
| POLISCI150B | Machine Learning for Social Scientists | Machine learning - the use of algorithms to classify, predict, sort, learn and discover from data - has exploded in use across academic fields, industry, government, and the non-profit sector. This course provides an introduction to machine learning... |
| POLISCI150C | Causal Inference for Social Science | Causal inference methods have revolutionized the way we use data, statistics, and research design to move from correlation to causation and rigorously learn about the impact of some potential cause (e.g., a new policy or intervention) on some outcome... |
| POLISCI151 | Tackling Big Questions Using Social Data Science | Big data can help us provide answers to fundamental social questions, from poverty and social mobility, to climate change, migration, and the spread of disease. But making sense of data requires more than just statistical techniques: it calls for mod... |
| POLISCI153 | Strategy: Introduction to Game Theory | This course provides an introduction to strategic reasoning. We discuss ideas such as the commitment problem, credibility in signaling, cheap talk, moral hazard and adverse selection. Concepts are developed through games played in class, and applied... |
| POLISCI153Z | Strategy: Introduction to Game Theory | This course provides an introduction to strategic reasoning. We discuss ideas such as the commitment problem, credibility in signaling, cheap talk, moral hazard and adverse selection. Concepts are developed through games played in class, and applied... |
| POLISCI154 | Solving Social Problems with Data | Introduces students to the interdisciplinary intersection of data science and the social sciences through an in-depth examination of contemporary social problems. Provides a foundational skill set for solving social problems with data including quant... |
| POLISCI181 | Computers, Ethics, and Public Policy | Ethical and social issues related to the development and use of computer technology. Ethical theory, and social, political, and legal considerations. Scenarios in problem areas: privacy, reliability and risks of complex systems, and responsibility of... |
| POLISCI182 | Ethics, Public Policy, and Technological Change | Examination of recent developments in computing technology and platforms through the lenses of philosophy, public policy, social science, and engineering.  Course is organized around five main units: algorithmic decision-making and bias; data privacy... |
| POLISCI209 | Curricular Practical Training | Qualified Political Science students obtain employment in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree programs. Meets the requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students... |
| POLISCI209Z | Research in Political Science and International Relations | Students will assist faculty with research projects. They will also attend workshops/seminars and complete written assignments that demonstrate their knowledge of research design, data analysis, and software. Students must apply through Summer Sessio... |
| POLISCI20N | The American Electorate in the Trump Era | This seminar will introduce students to the methods social scientists use to analyze public opinion, voting and elections, with primary emphasis on the 2016 elections and the upcoming 2020 elections. Students will utilize major databases such as the... |
| POLISCI20Q | Democracy in Crisis: Learning from the Past | This January, an armed insurrection assaulted the U.S. Capital, trying to block the Electoral College affirmation of President Biden's election. For the past four years, American democracy has been in continual crisis. Bitter and differing views of w... |
| POLISCI211N | Nuclear Politics | Why do states develop nuclear weapons and why do some states, that have the technological capacity to build nuclear weapons, nonetheless refrain from doing so? What are the consequences of new states deploying nuclear weapons? Do arms control treatie... |
| POLISCI213 | US-Russia Relations After the Cold War | A quarter century ago, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. At the time, Russian leaders aspired to build democratic and market institutions at home. They also wanted to join the West. American presidents Democrat and Republican encoura... |
| POLISCI213E | Introduction to European Studies | This course offers an introduction to major topics in the study of historical and contemporary Europe. We focus on European politics, economics and culture. First, we study what makes Europe special, and how its distinct identity has been influenced... |
| POLISCI214 | Israel: Society, Politics, and Policy | The course "Israel: Society, Politics, and Policy" invites students to explore modern Israel in comparative perspective. Few countries in the world have captured the American imagination as much as Israel and are at the same time as poorly understood... |
| POLISCI214R | Challenges and Dilemmas in American Foreign Policy | This seminar will examine the complexities and trade offs involved in foreign policy decision-making at the end of the twentieth century and the dawn of the post-9/11 era. Students will analyze dilemmas confronting policymakers through case studies... |
| POLISCI216 | Global Futures: History, Statecraft, Systems | Where does the future come from? It comes from the past, of course, but how? What are the key drivers of continuity or change, and how can we trace those drivers going forward, too? What are the roles of contingency, chance, and choice, versus lon... |
| POLISCI218T | Politics of Insurgency, Terrorism and Civil War | This seminar introduces students the politics of internal conflict and violence, which is the dominant form of political conflict in the contemporary world. We will examine dynamics of internal conflict onset, intra-conflict period, and processes by... |
| POLISCI219 | Directed Reading and Research in International Relations | For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on international relations. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before... |
| POLISCI220C | The Politics of the Administrative State | Most studies of democratic government are about elected leaders, campaigns and elections, legislatures, and public opinion. But these aspects of government are, in some sense, the tail that wags the dog. To understand what government actually does an... |
| POLISCI220R | The Presidency | This course provides students with a comprehensive perspective on the American presidency and covers a range of topics: elections, policy making, control of the bureaucracy, unilateral action, war-making, and much more. But throughout, the goal is t... |
| POLISCI222F | Seminar on Political Change | This seminar will examine broad changes in American Politics in the modern era, roughly the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. A central theme of the seminar will be how sociological and economic change disrupts party alignments and leads... |
| POLISCI223 | Gender & U.S. Politics | Why are women still underrepresented in US political office, and what evidence do we have that increasing women's political representation is important? This course discusses the following main topics: What is the status quo of female candidacy in th... |
| POLISCI223A | Public Opinion and American Democracy | This course focuses on the public mood and politics in America today. It accordingly examines, among other things, the coherence (or lack of it) of public opinion; the partisan sorting of the electorate; and the ideological and affective polarizatio... |
| POLISCI223B | Money, Power, and Politics in the New Gilded Age | During the past two generations, democracy has coincided with massive increases in economic inequality in the U.S. and many other advanced democracies. The course will explore normative and practical issues concerning democracy and equality and exami... |
| POLISCI224X | Shaping the Future of the Bay Area | The complex urban problems affecting quality of life in the Bay Area, from housing affordability and transportation congestion to economic vitality and social justice, are already perceived by many to be intractable, and will likely be exacerbated by... |
| POLISCI225L | Law and the New Political Economy | (Same as LAW 7515) In this seminar, we consider key legal topics through the lens of political economy - that is, is the interplay among economics, law, and politics. This perspective has had a powerful and growing impact on how scholars and judges v... |
| POLISCI226A | The Changing Face of America | This upper-division seminar will explore some of the most significant issues related to educational access and equity facing American society in the 21st century. Designed for students with significant leadership potential who have already studied th... |
| POLISCI226T | The Politics of Education | America's public schools are government agencies, and virtually everything about them is subject to political authority--and thus to decision through the political process. This seminar is an effort to understand the politics of education and its im... |
| POLISCI227B | Environmental Governance and Climate Resilience | Adaptation to climate change will not only require new infrastructure and policies, but it will also challenge our local, state and national governments to collaborate across jurisdictional lines in ways that include many different types of private a... |
| POLISCI227C | Money in Politics | This course will cover campaign finance, lobbying, and interest group politics. |
| POLISCI228C | Law and Politics of Bureaucracy | Same as Law 7096. Modern government is bureaucratic government. In the words of Justice Jackson, the rise of the administrative state is likely "the most significant legal trend of the last century and perhaps more values today are affected by [agenc... |
| POLISCI229 | Directed Reading and Research in American Politics | For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on American politics. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the e... |
| POLISCI22SC | The Face of Battle | Our understanding of warfare often derives from the lofty perspective of political leaders and generals: what were their objectives and what strategies were developed to meet them? This top-down perspective slights the experience of the actual combat... |
| POLISCI230A | Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought | Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political... |
| POLISCI231 | High-Stakes Politics: Case Studies in Political Philosophy, Institutions, and Interests | Normative political theory combined with positive political theory to better explain how major texts may have responded to and influenced changes in formal and informal institutions. Emphasis is on historical periods in which catastrophic institution... |
| POLISCI232 | The Science and Politics of Apocalypse | For millennia, an apocalypse has been just around the corner. This course examines how expectations surrounding the end of the world - and the role that human beings might play in bringing it about - have transformed over the last two centuries. Afte... |
| POLISCI232T | The Dialogue of Democracy | All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just... |
| POLISCI233 | Justice and Cities | Cities have most often been where struggles for social justice happen, where injustice is most glaring and where new visions of just communities are developed and tested. This class brings political theories of justice and democracy together with his... |
| POLISCI233F | Science, Technology, and Society and the Humanities in the Face of Looming Disaster | How STS and the Humanities can together help think out the looming catastrophes that put the future of humankind in jeopardy. |
| POLISCI234 | Democratic Theory | Most people agree that democracy is a good thing, but do we agree on what democracy is? This course will examine the concept of democracy in political philosophy. We will address the following questions: What reason(s), if any, do we have for valui... |
| POLISCI234N | The Concept of Society from Marx to Zuckerberg | What is society and what does it mean to be a member of one? This course examines these questions by looking at three different periods within the history of modern political thought in which the concept of society was debated and transformed. In the... |
| POLISCI234P | Deliberative Democracy and its Critics | This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern... |
| POLISCI234S | The Political Theory of Progress Reconsidered | This course will consider the origins and fate of Enlightenment theories of political progress. We will begin with the classic accounts of progress in Kant, Hegel, and Marx, before turning to conservative critics of progress (Burke, de Maistre), and... |
| POLISCI235 | Chinese Political Thought: 1895-2021 | Everybody is talking about China now. The competition between China and the Western world is not only about economic growth, technological advancement, and military strength. What is ultimately at stake is a key theoretical question: Can China's poli... |
| POLISCI235A | From Cold War to New Cold War: Politics and Political Theory in Contemporary China | "China lacks everything: middle managers, engineers and capital," so wrote French political thinker Raymond Aron. That was 1950, three years after Harry Truman's 1947 Address to Congress, which was usually considered the beginning of the Cold War, an... |
| POLISCI235B | Political Memory and Democratic Citizenship | We may not always realize it, but political discussions often invoke historical memory. As we debate about political ideas and praxes, we often draw on history to criticize our interlocutors and build our arguments. Meanwhile, historical memory also... |
| POLISCI235C | Misinformation and Democracy: Past and Present | Many today consider misinformation to be one of the most significant challenges faced by democratic societies. Some see this as a new phenomenon, arguing, for example, that modern technology - and, above all, social media giants like Facebook or Twit... |
| POLISCI235E | Philosophy of Public Policy | From healthcare to voting reforms, social protection and educational policies, public policies are underpinned by moral values. When we debate those policies, we typically appeal to values like justice, fairness, equality, freedom, privacy, and safet... |
| POLISCI235N | Political Thought in Modern Asia | The study of political theory in the United States has been accused of being Western-centric: We tend to focus on intellectual traditions from Plato to NATO, while ignoring the vast world of non-Western societies and the ways they think about politic... |
| POLISCI236 | Philanthropy for Sustainable Development | This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about the approaches, history, and key debates in philanthropy, and apply their knowledge by collaboratively making... |
| POLISCI236S | Philanthropy for Sustainable Development | This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about the approaches, history, and key debates in philanthropy, and apply their knowledge by collaboratively making... |
| POLISCI237 | Varieties of Conservatism in America | This seminar explores the conservative movement in America and its principal strands. It begins with an introduction to the modern tradition of freedom and America's founding principles since the understanding of conservatism - in the United States a... |
| POLISCI237R | Introduction to Apocalyptic Thinking | At the time of the European Enlightenment, the talk about the end of the world was taken to be a remnant of religious beliefs or the domain of insane people. The rational mind knew how to eliminate those obstacles to continuous scientific and technol... |
| POLISCI238 | Philanthropy Fellows Seminar | This course is restricted to Philanthropy Fellowships students. Enrollment by instructor permission only. |
| POLISCI238R | Ancient Greek Rationality, Public and Private | In this seminar, we'll consider ancient Greek views about and theories of practical rationality and compare and contrast them with some modern theories, especially theories of instrumental rationality. We'll consider both philosophic authors, especi... |
| POLISCI239 | Directed Reading and Research in Political Theory | For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political theory. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the en... |
| POLISCI241 | The Political Economy of China: Policy and Development from Antiquity to Revolution | Welcome to the Political Economy of China! Over the course of the semester, you'll gain a rigorous, historically informed understanding of the long-term trajectory of policy and economic change in China from antiquity to the present day. By taking a... |
| POLISCI241S | Spatial Approaches to Social Science | This multidisciplinary course combines different approaches to how GIS and spatial tools can be applied in social science research. We take a collaborative, project oriented approach to bring together technical expertise and substantive applications... |
| POLISCI241T | Political Economy of Gender | This course provides an introduction to the political economy of gender. The course first explores the key areas of debate on women's representation. Why are womenunderrepresented in formal political institutions? How do political institutions affect... |
| POLISCI242 | Foreign Policy Decision Making in Comparative Perspective | This seminar will examine how countries and multilateral organizations make decisions about foreign and international policy. The hypothesis to be explored in the course is that individuals, bureaucracies, and interest groups shape foreign policy dec... |
| POLISCI242G | Political Mobilization and Democratic Breakthroughs | Mass political mobilization occurs in both democracies and autocracies. Sometimes political protests, demonstrations, and acts of nonviolence civic resistance undermine autocracies, produce democratic breakthroughs, or generate democratic reforms. Ot... |
| POLISCI243A | Inequality | What is economic inequality? What forms does it take? How do we measure it? What are its political, social, and economic causes and consequences? Why are some people and some societies more or less concerned about inequality? What normative framework... |
| POLISCI244A | Authoritarian Politics | This course offers a thematic approach to the study of authoritarian politics. We will cover the major areas of political science research on authoritarian politics and governance while simultaneously building empirical knowledge about the politics o... |
| POLISCI244C | Wealth of Nations | Why are there economic disparities across countries? Why did some countries grow steadily over the past 200 years while many others did not? What have been the consequences for the citizens of those countries? What has been the role of geography, cul... |
| POLISCI244D | Societal Collapse | Sustained economic growth is an anomaly in human history. Moreover, in the very long term, sustained economic decline is common. Following a historical and cross-cultural perspective, we will study the causes of economic decline, the social and polit... |
| POLISCI244U | Political Culture | The implications of social norms, preferences and beliefs for political and economic behavior and societal outcomes. |
| POLISCI245C | The Logics of Violence: Rebels, Criminal Groups and the State | This course explore the logics of violence. The course offers an overview of the literature on civil wars as well as organized violence involving armed groups that do not seek formal state power, such as drug cartels, prison gangs, and paramilitaries... |
| POLISCI245R | Politics in Modern Iran | Modern Iran has been a smithy for political movements, ideologies, and types of states. Movements include nationalism, constitutionalism, Marxism, Islamic fundamentalism, social democracy, Islamic liberalism, and fascism. Forms of government include... |
| POLISCI246A | Paths to the Modern World: The West in Comparative Perspective | How and why did Europe develop political institutions that encouraged economic growth and industrialization? And why have many other regions lagged in the creation of growth-promoting institutions? This course uses a comparative approach to understan... |
| POLISCI247A | Games Developing Nations Play | If, as economists argue, development can make everyone in a society better off, why do leaders fail to pursue policies that promote development? The course uses game theoretic approaches from both economics and political science to address this quest... |
| POLISCI247G | Governance and Poverty | Poverty relief requires active government involvement in the provision of public services such as drinking water, healthcare, sanitation, education, roads, electricity and public safety. Failure to deliver public services is a major impediment to the... |
| POLISCI248A | Politics and Institutions in Latin America | The broad academic purpose of the course is to evaluate presidential democracies in Latin America and their impacts on the politics in this region. The goal is to give students an introduction to the main debates on political institutions in the Lati... |
| POLISCI248C | Key Issues in Chinese Politics | (Course is available only to students participating in Stanford's SCPKU study abroad program in Beijing, which is operated by the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).) A broad overview of China's politics and the role o... |
| POLISCI248D | China in the Global Economy | An examination of China in the global economy. Focus will be on China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The goal of the course is to provide students an in-depth understanding of a key initiative of China's efforts to globalize. The approach examines... |
| POLISCI248S | Latin American Politics | Fundamental transformations in Latin America in the last two decades: why most governments are now democratic or semidemocratic; and economic transformation as countries abandoned import substitution industrialization policies led by state interventi... |
| POLISCI249 | Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics | For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before th... |
| POLISCI259 | Directed Reading and Research in Political Methodology | For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political methodology. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before t... |
| POLISCI25N | The US Congress in Historical and Comparative Perspective | This course traces the development of legislatures from their medieval European origins to the present, with primary emphasis on the case of the U.S. Congress. Students will learn about the early role played by assemblies in placing limits on royal... |
| POLISCI27N | Thinking Like a Social Scientist | Preference to freshman. This seminar will consider how politics and government can be studied systematically: the compound term Political SCIENCE is not an oxymoron. The seminar will introduce core concepts and explore a variety of methodological app... |
| POLISCI27SC | Policing and Violence in Latin America: Historical Origins and Contemporary Challenges | This course explores the origins of policing in Latin America and the contemporary challenges in the relationship between the State, organized crime, violence and police forces. By taking a long-term perspective we seek to understand why highly unequ... |
| POLISCI28SC | Energy in Hawaii: Forefront of Clean Energy Technology and Policy | We will explore practical, social, technical, and political issues surrounding energy production and use in Hawaii. Hawaii is at the forefront of changes in the electric grid and the uses of electricity, with an aspirational goal for 100% carbon-free... |
| POLISCI299A | Research Design | This course is designed to teach students how to design a research project. The course emphasizes the specification of testable hypotheses, the building of data sets, and the inferences from that may be drawn from that evidence. This course fulfills... |
| POLISCI299B | Honors Thesis Seminar | Restricted to Political Science Research Honors students who have completed POLISCI 299A. |
| POLISCI299C | Honors Thesis | Students conduct independent research work towards a senior honors thesis. Restricted to Political Science Research Honors students who have completed POLISCI 299B. |
| POLISCI299D | Honors Thesis | Students conduct independent research work towards a senior honors thesis. Restricted to Political Science Research Honors students who have completed POLISCI 299B. |
| POLISCI309 | Curricular Practical Training for PhD Students | Qualified Political Science students obtain employment in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree programs. Meets the requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students... |
| POLISCI311N | Nuclear Politics | Why do states develop nuclear weapons and why do some states, that have the technological capacity to build nuclear weapons, nonetheless refrain from doing so? What are the consequences of new states deploying nuclear weapons? Do arms control treatie... |
| POLISCI312 | A New Cold War? Great Power Relations in the 21st Century | Thirty years ago the Cold War ended. Today, great power competition is back - or so it seems - with many describing our present era as a "New Cold War" between the United States and China and Russia. What happened? Is the Cold War label an illuminati... |
| POLISCI313 | US-Russia Relations After the Cold War | A quarter century ago, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. At the time, Russian leaders aspired to build democratic and market institutions at home. They also wanted to join the West. American presidents Democrat and Republican encoura... |
| POLISCI314D | Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law | This course explores the different dimensions of development - economic, social, and political - as well as the way that modern institutions (the state, market systems, the rule of law, and democratic accountability) developed and interacted with oth... |
| POLISCI314R | Challenges and Dilemmas in American Foreign Policy | This seminar will examine the complexities and trade offs involved in foreign policy decision-making at the end of the twentieth century and the dawn of the post-9/11 era. Students will analyze dilemmas confronting policymakers through case studies... |
| POLISCI319 | Directed Reading and Research in International Relations | For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on international relations. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI31N | Political Freedom: Rights, Justice, and Democracy in the Western Tradition | Freedom is one of our core values. Most people can agree that freedom is a good thing. Yet there is far less agreement about how to understand the concept itself and what kinds of political arrangements are best suited to protect and enhance freedom.... |
| POLISCI31Q | Justice and Cities | Cities have most often been where struggles for social justice happen, where injustice is most glaring and where new or renewed visions of just communities are developed and tested. What makes a city just or unjust? How have people tried to make citi... |
| POLISCI320C | The Politics of the Administrative State | Most studies of democratic government are about elected leaders, campaigns and elections, legislatures, and public opinion. But these aspects of government are, in some sense, the tail that wags the dog. To understand what government actually does an... |
| POLISCI320R | The Presidency | This course provides students with a comprehensive perspective on the American presidency and covers a range of topics: elections, policy making, control of the bureaucracy, unilateral action, war-making, and much more. But throughout, the goal is t... |
| POLISCI321 | Graduate Seminar in Political Psychology | For students interested in research in political science, psychology, or communication. Methodological techniques for studying political attitudes and behaviors. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI324L | The Psychology of Communication About Politics in America | Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict be... |
| POLISCI325L | Law and the New Political Economy | (Same as LAW 7515) In this seminar, we consider key legal topics through the lens of political economy - that is, is the interplay among economics, law, and politics. This perspective has had a powerful and growing impact on how scholars and judges v... |
| POLISCI326 | Executive Power Under the Constitution | This new course will address the full range of issues involving executive power under the U.S. Constitution, including the process of election (Electoral College; voting disputes, the Electoral Count Act), impeachment, foreign affairs (including cont... |
| POLISCI326T | The Politics of Education | America's public schools are government agencies, and virtually everything about them is subject to political authority--and thus to decision through the political process. This seminar is an effort to understand the politics of education and its im... |
| POLISCI327C | Law of Democracy | Combined with LAW 7036 (formerly Law 577). This course is intended to give students a basic understanding of the themes in the legal regulation of elections and politics. We will cover all the major Supreme Court cases on topics of voting rights, rea... |
| POLISCI329 | Directed Reading and Research in American Politics | For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on American politics. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI330A | Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought | Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political... |
| POLISCI331 | High-Stakes Politics: Case Studies in Political Philosophy, Institutions, and Interests | Normative political theory combined with positive political theory to better explain how major texts may have responded to and influenced changes in formal and informal institutions. Emphasis is on historical periods in which catastrophic institution... |
| POLISCI332T | The Dialogue of Democracy | All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just... |
| POLISCI333M | Research and Methods in Political Theory | This seminar has two aims. First, we examine the methodological approaches of scholars working within political theory as well as those working at the intersection of political theory and empirical social science. Second, we discuss in an informal wo... |
| POLISCI334 | Philanthropy and Civil Society | Cross-listed with Law (LAW 7071), Political Science (POLISCI 334) and Sociology (SOC 374). Associated with the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Year-long workshop for doctoral students and advanced undergraduates writing senior these... |
| POLISCI334P | Deliberative Democracy and its Critics | This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern... |
| POLISCI335 | Chinese Political Thought: 1895-2021 | Everybody is talking about China now. The competition between China and the Western world is not only about economic growth, technological advancement, and military strength. What is ultimately at stake is a key theoretical question: Can China's poli... |
| POLISCI335A | From Cold War to New Cold War: Politics and Political Theory in Contemporary China | "China lacks everything: middle managers, engineers and capital," so wrote French political thinker Raymond Aron. That was 1950, three years after Harry Truman's 1947 Address to Congress, which was usually considered the beginning of the Cold War, an... |
| POLISCI335B | Political Memory and Democratic Citizenship | We may not always realize it, but political discussions often invoke historical memory. As we debate about political ideas and praxes, we often draw on history to criticize our interlocutors and build our arguments. Meanwhile, historical memory also... |
| POLISCI335C | Misinformation and Democracy: Past and Present | Many today consider misinformation to be one of the most significant challenges faced by democratic societies. Some see this as a new phenomenon, arguing, for example, that modern technology - and, above all, social media giants like Facebook or Twit... |
| POLISCI335N | Political Thought in Modern Asia | The study of political theory in the United States has been accused of being Western-centric: We tend to focus on intellectual traditions from Plato to NATO, while ignoring the vast world of non-Western societies and the ways they think about politic... |
| POLISCI336 | Introduction to Global Justice | Our world is divided into many different states, each of which has its own culture or set of cultures. Vast inequalities of wealth and power exist between citizens of the rich world and the global poor. International commerce, immigration, and climat... |
| POLISCI336S | Justice | Justice, as we use the term in this class, is a question about social cooperation. People can produce much more cooperatively than the sum of what they could produce as individuals, and these gains from cooperation are what makes civilization possibl... |
| POLISCI337 | Philosophy of Law: Protest, Punishment, and Racial Justice | In this course, we will examine some of the central questions in philosophy of law, including: What is law? How do we determine the content of laws? Do laws have moral content? What is authority? What gives law its authority? Must we obey the law? If... |
| POLISCI337A | Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition | (Graduate students register for 276.) What makes political institutions legitimate? What makes them just? When do citizens have a right to revolt against those who rule over them? Which of our fellow citizens must we tolerate?Surprisingly, the answer... |
| POLISCI337R | Introduction to Apocalyptic Thinking | At the time of the European Enlightenment, the talk about the end of the world was taken to be a remnant of religious beliefs or the domain of insane people. The rational mind knew how to eliminate those obstacles to continuous scientific and technol... |
| POLISCI338 | Universal Basic Income: the philosophy behind the proposal | Universal basic income (or UBI) is a regular cash allowance given to all members of a community without means test, regardless of personal desert, and with no strings attached. Once a utopian proposal, the policy is now discussed and piloted througho... |
| POLISCI338B | Unequal Relationships | Over the past three decades, a relational egalitarian conception of equality has emerged in political philosophy. Proponents of the view argue that the point of equality is to establish communities whose members are able to stand and relate as equals... |
| POLISCI338E | The Problem of Evil in Literature, Film, and Philosophy | Conceptions of evil and its nature and source, distinctions between natural and moral evil, and what belongs to God versus to the human race have undergone transformations reflected in literature and film. Sources include Rousseau's response to the 1... |
| POLISCI339 | Directed Reading and Research in Political Theory | For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political theory. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI341 | The Political Economy of China: Policy and Development from Antiquity to Revolution | Welcome to the Political Economy of China! Over the course of the semester, you'll gain a rigorous, historically informed understanding of the long-term trajectory of policy and economic change in China from antiquity to the present day. By taking a... |
| POLISCI342 | Foreign Policy Decision Making in Comparative Perspective | This seminar will examine how countries and multilateral organizations make decisions about foreign and international policy. The hypothesis to be explored in the course is that individuals, bureaucracies, and interest groups shape foreign policy dec... |
| POLISCI342G | Political Mobilization and Democratic Breakthroughs | Mass political mobilization occurs in both democracies and autocracies. Sometimes political protests, demonstrations, and acts of nonviolence civic resistance undermine autocracies, produce democratic breakthroughs, or generate democratic reforms. Ot... |
| POLISCI343A | Field Methods | Familiarizes students with a variety of field methods potentially applicable to ongoing research projects and dissertations. Topics include case selection, process tracing, participant observation, interviewing, archival research, survey design, labe... |
| POLISCI343C | Public Opinion and Elections in the Populist Era | Brexit, Donald Trump, the collapse of party systems in established democracies like France and Italy - these striking developments have a common thread: the disruption of politics as usual by insurgent "populist" movements and/or parties. The seminar... |
| POLISCI344 | Politics and Geography | The role of geography in topics in political economy, including development, political representation, voting, redistribution, regional autonomy movements, fiscal competition, and federalism. |
| POLISCI344U | Political Culture | The implications of social norms, preferences and beliefs for political and economic behavior and societal outcomes. |
| POLISCI347A | Games Developing Nations Play | If, as economists argue, development can make everyone in a society better off, why do leaders fail to pursue policies that promote development? The course uses game theoretic approaches from both economics and political science to address this quest... |
| POLISCI347G | Governance and Poverty | Poverty relief requires active government involvement in the provision of public services such as drinking water, healthcare, sanitation, education, roads, electricity and public safety. Failure to deliver public services is a major impediment to the... |
| POLISCI348 | Chinese Politics | China, one of the few remaining communist states in the world, has not only survived, but has become a global political actor of consequence with the fastest growing economy in the world. Why has the CCP thrived while other communist regimes have fa... |
| POLISCI348A | Politics and Institutions in Latin America | The broad academic purpose of the course is to evaluate presidential democracies in Latin America and their impacts on the politics in this region. The goal is to give students an introduction to the main debates on political institutions in the Lati... |
| POLISCI348C | Key Issues in Chinese Politics | (Course is available only to students participating in Stanford's SCPKU study abroad program in Beijing, which is operated by the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).) A broad overview of China's politics and the role o... |
| POLISCI348D | China in the Global Economy | An examination of China in the global economy. Focus will be on China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The goal of the course is to provide students an in-depth understanding of a key initiative of China's efforts to globalize. The approach examines... |
| POLISCI348S | Latin American Politics | Fundamental transformations in Latin America in the last two decades: why most governments are now democratic or semidemocratic; and economic transformation as countries abandoned import substitution industrialization policies led by state interventi... |
| POLISCI349 | Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics | For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI34Q | Nationalism | Nationalist platforms have been on the rise for years across the globe. The success of nationalist parties and candidates is often accompanied by backlash against outgroups, from immigrants to religious and ethnic minorities. Nationalism often leads... |
| POLISCI35 | Sustainability and Civilization | Our civilization faces multiple sustainability challenges. Climate change often dominates public conversation, but in fact, a whole range of environmental, economic, political, and cultural trends threaten the structures that sustain the societies we... |
| POLISCI351A | Foundations of Political Economy | Introduction to political economy with an emphasis on formal models of collective choice, public institutions, and political competition. Topics include voting theory, social choice, institutional equilibria, agenda setting, interest group politics,... |
| POLISCI351B | Economic Analysis of Political Institutions | Applying techniques such as information economics, games of incomplete information, sequential bargaining theory, repeated games, and rational expectations of microeconomic analysis and game theory to political behavior and institutions. Applicatoins... |
| POLISCI351C | Institutions and Bridge-Building in Political Economy | This course critically surveys empirical applications of formal models of collective-choice institutions. It is explicitly grounded in philosophy of science (e.g., Popperian positivism and Kuhn's notions of paradigms and normal science). Initial se... |
| POLISCI353A | Workshop in Political Methodology | Mathematical and statistical models and applications to political science. Guest speakers, faculty, and students present research papers. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI353B | Workshop in Political Methodology | Continuation of POLISCI 353A. Mathematical and statistical models and applications to political science. Guest speakers, faculty, and students present research papers. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI353C | Workshop in Political Methodology | Continuation of POLISCI 353B. Mathematical and statistical models and applications to political science. Guest speakers, faculty, and students present research papers. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI354 | Strategy: Introduction to Game Theory | This course provides an introduction to strategic reasoning. We discuss ideas such as the commitment problem, credibility in signaling, cheap talk, moral hazard and adverse selection. Concepts are developed through games played in class, and applied... |
| POLISCI355A | Data Science for Politics | Data science is quickly changing the way we understand and and engage in the political process. In this course we will develop fundamental techniques of data science and apply them to large political datasets on elections, campaign finance, lobbying... |
| POLISCI355B | Machine Learning for Social Scientists | Machine learning - the use of algorithms to classify, predict, sort, learn and discover from data - has exploded in use across academic fields, industry, government, and the non-profit sector. This course provides an introduction to machine learning... |
| POLISCI355C | Causal Inference for Social Science | Causal inference methods have revolutionized the way we use data, statistics, and research design to move from correlation to causation and rigorously learn about the impact of some potential cause (e.g., a new policy or intervention) on some outcome... |
| POLISCI356A | Formal Theory I | An introduction to noncooperative game theory through applications in political science. Topics will include the Hotelling-Downs model, the probabilistic voting model, contests, the tragedy of the commons, and political bargaining models, among other... |
| POLISCI356B | Formal Theory II | A continuation of Formal Theory I covering applications of asymmetric information game theory to political science. Topics include the Condorcet jury model, asymmetric information crisis bargaining, and political accountability models, among others. |
| POLISCI358 | Data-driven Politics | Covers advanced computational and statistical methods for collecting and modeling large-scale data on politics. Topics will include automated and computer-assisted methods for collecting, disambiguating, and merging unstructured data (web-scraping, i... |
| POLISCI359 | Advanced Individual Study in Political Methodology | For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political methodology. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI400 | Dissertation | Pre-TGR dissertation research. Open to Poli Sci PhD students who have advanced to candidacy. |
| POLISCI400C | Research Design | This course is a research design practicum. Students are required to propose a research question that speaks to a consequential political issue, and one which can be successfully addressed relying on disciplinary tools. Over the quarter, they will be... |
| POLISCI410A | International Relations Theory, Part I | This course offers a PhD-level introductory overview of the field of international relations. The primary purpose is to understand and evaluate the main theories, arguments, claims, and conjectures made by scholars in the field so as to enable studen... |
| POLISCI410B | International Relations Theory, Part II | Second of a three-part graduate sequence. Security and armed conflict, both interstate and civil war. Nuclear weapons, terrorism, political economy of defense, and related topics. Prerequisite: POLISCI 410A. |
| POLISCI410C | International Relations Theory, Part III | Third of a three-part graduate sequence. History of international relations theory, current debates, and applications to problems of international security and political economy. Prerequisite: POLISCI 410A. |
| POLISCI410D | Research in International Relations | Part of the graduate sequence in international relations. Focus is on developing research papers and exploring active areas of research in the field. Prerequisites: POLISCI 410A and 410B. 410C should be taken before or concurrently. |
| POLISCI411A | Workshop in International Relations | For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI411B | Workshop in International Relations | For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI411C | Workshop in International Relations | For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI42 | Democracy Matters | Should the U.S. close its border to immigrants? What are the ramifications of income inequality? How has COVID-19 changed life as we know it? Why are Americans so politically polarized? How can we address racial injustice? As the 2020 election appr... |
| POLISCI420A | American Political Institutions | Theories of American politics, focusing on Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts. |
| POLISCI420B | Topics in American Political Behavior | For graduate students with background in American politics embarking on their own research. Current research in American politics, emphasizing political behavior and public opinion. Possible topics: uncertainty and ambivalence in political attitudes,... |
| POLISCI421A | Current Debates in American Political Institutions | Each week of this class will focus on a recent debate in the American political institutions literature, with the term institutions being broadly defined. Topics will span elected officials' behavior, including by congressional members, the president... |
| POLISCI421K | Questionnaire Design for Surveys and Laboratory Experiments: Social and Cognitive Perspectives | The social and psychological processes involved in asking and answering questions via questionnaires for the social sciences; optimizing questionnaire design; open versus closed questions; rating versus ranking; rating scale length and point labeling... |
| POLISCI422 | Workshop in American Politics | Research seminar. Frontiers in mass political behavior. Course may be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI422F | Seminar on Political Change | This seminar will examine broad changes in American Politics in the modern era, roughly the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. A central theme of the seminar will be how sociological and economic change disrupts party alignments and leads... |
| POLISCI423A | The Laboratory of the Study of American Values | Designed for graduate students who are writing dissertations about American public opinion. Students participate in all phases of the research process and include questions on nationally representative surveys. Enrollment requires permission of the i... |
| POLISCI423B | The Laboratory of the Study of American Values II | Designed for graduate students who are writing dissertations about American public opinion. Students participate in all phases of the research process and include questions on nationally representative surveys. Enrollment is limited to members of the... |
| POLISCI424A | Democratic Elections | How do democratic elections work? Do elections make representatives accountable, and if so, under what conditions? What preferences do electorates reveal to us when they choose candidates for office, and how do candidates and representatives respond... |
| POLISCI424C | Party Polarization | This seminar surveys the literature on party polarization in the U.S and other industrialized democracies, considers alternative conceptualizations of polarization, and what is known about the causes and consequences of polarization. |
| POLISCI425 | Political Communication | An overview of research in political communication with particular reference to work on the impact of the mass media on public opinion and voting behavior. Limited to Ph.D. students. |
| POLISCI426 | Identity Politics | Whether one considers the partisan and electoral choices citizens make or the judgements citizens render in response to officer-involved shootings or other salient social and political events, the centrality of identity in our politics is indisputabl... |
| POLISCI427C | Money in Politics | This course will cover campaign finance, lobbying, and interest group politics. |
| POLISCI428C | Law and Politics of Bureaucracy | Same as Law 7096. Modern government is bureaucratic government. In the words of Justice Jackson, the rise of the administrative state is likely "the most significant legal trend of the last century and perhaps more values today are affected by [agenc... |
| POLISCI430 | Origins of Political Thought | Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and... |
| POLISCI430A | Ancient Greek Economic Development | Historians have been arguing about ancient Greek economic development since the 1890s. By the 1980s, opinion had swung toward what is sometimes called - the Cambridge consensus. - This held that the Greek economy was a typical premodern one, in which... |
| POLISCI431 | Grad seminar: Contemporary Political Theory | Graduate seminar. |
| POLISCI432R | Selections in Modern Political Thought | This graduate-level seminar explores selections from the canon of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. Throughout the course, we will engage in close textual readings of individual thinkers and consider some... |
| POLISCI433 | Workshop in Political Theory | For graduate students. Faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students conducting research in political theory present works-in-progress. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI435 | Asian Political Thought | The study of political theory in the United States has been accused of being Western-centric: We tend to focus on intellectual traditions from Plato to NATO, while ignoring the vast world of non-Western societies and the ways they think about politic... |
| POLISCI437C | 20th Century and Contemporary Political Theory | This course provides a survey of some of the major contributions to political thought in the past century. The course will place special emphasis on the development of theories of political authority and legitimacy in the context of the modern burea... |
| POLISCI438R | Ancient Greek Rationality, Public and Private | In this seminar, we'll consider ancient Greek views about and theories of practical rationality and compare and contrast them with some modern theories, especially theories of instrumental rationality. We'll consider both philosophic authors, especi... |
| POLISCI440A | Theories in Comparative Politics | Theories addressing major concerns in the comparative field including identity, order, regime type, legitimacy, and governance. |
| POLISCI440B | Comparative Political Economy | Required of Political Science Ph.D. students with comparative politics as a first or second concentration; others by consent of the instructor. The origins of political and economic institutions and their impact on long run outcomes for growth and de... |
| POLISCI440C | Research Design in Comparative Politics | Current methodological standards in comparative politics. Students develop their own research design that meets these standards. |
| POLISCI440D | Workshop in Comparative Politics | Faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students conducting research in comparative politics present work-in-progress. May be repeated for credit. |
| POLISCI441L | Grad Seminar on Middle Eastern Politics | Survey of major topics in the study of Middle Eastern politics including state formation, authoritarian resilience and political Islam |
| POLISCI443S | Political Economy of Reform in China | Content, process, and problems of China's post-Mao reforms. Changes in property rights, markets, credit, and the role of the state in economic development. Comparative insights about reform in the Chinese communist system that distinguishes it from t... |
| POLISCI443T | Approaches to Chinese Politics | This graduate seminar is designed to give doctoral students bibliographic control of the major secondary literature on Chinese Politics. This course is organized around theoretical concepts and issues found in studies of China's political system and... |
| POLISCI444A | Authoritarian Politics | This course offers a thematic approach to the study of authoritarian politics. We will cover the major areas of political science research on authoritarian politics and governance while simultaneously building empirical knowledge about the politics o... |
| POLISCI445C | The Logics of Violence: Rebels, Criminal Groups and the State | This course explore the logics of violence. The course offers an overview of the literature on civil wars as well as organized violence involving armed groups that do not seek formal state power, such as drug cartels, prison gangs, and paramilitaries... |
| POLISCI446 | Political Development Economics | There is a growing awareness that many of the key challenges in fostering development in poor societies are political challenges. What can we do to encourage trade, cooperation and peace in environments riven with social and ethnic divisions? How do... |
| POLISCI446A | Paths to the Modern World: The West in Comparative Perspective | How and why did Europe develop political institutions that encouraged economic growth and industrialization? And why have many other regions lagged in the creation of growth-promoting institutions? This course uses a comparative approach to understan... |
| POLISCI447 | Gender and Development | Gender remains an identity that defines structures of opportunity and representation in markets, society, and importantly in politics. This course studies how gender conditions experiences in political, economic, and social institutions. This seminar... |
| POLISCI448R | Workshop: China Social Science | For Ph.D. students in the social sciences and history. Research on contemporary society and politics in the People's Republic of China. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. |
| POLISCI450A | Political Methodology I: Regression | Graduate level introduction to statistical research in political science, with a focus on linear regression. Teaches students how to rigorously apply multiple regression models as used in much of political science research. Also covers elements of... |
| POLISCI450B | Political Methodology II: Causal Inference | Graduate level survey of statistical methods for causal inference in political science research. Covers a variety of causal inference designs, including experiments, matching, regression, panel methods, difference-in-differences, synthetic control m... |
| POLISCI450C | Political Methodology III: Model-Based Inference | Provides a survey of statistical tools for model-based inference in political science with a particular focus on machine-learning techniques. Topics include likelihood theory of inference and techniques for prediction, discovery, and causal inferenc... |
| POLISCI450D | Political Methodology IV: Advanced Topics | Covers advanced statistical tools that are useful for empirical research in political science. Possible topics include missing data, survey sampling and experimental designs for field research, machine learning, text mining, clustering, Bayesian met... |
| POLISCI451 | Directed Readings on Causal Inference with Panel Data | In this seminar, we will be reading recent papers from the emerging literature on causal inference using panel data. The class will meet once a week; each week, two papers will be discussed. Prerequisites for Political Science PhD students: POLISCI 4... |
| POLISCI452 | Machine Learning with Application to Text as Data | Machine Learning methods are increasingly useful for the social sciences. This course introduces a framework for using machine learning methods to make social science inferences, with a particular focus on text as data. The course will explain how ma... |
| POLISCI460A | Political Economy I | Introduction to empirical and theoretical research in political economy. This course focuses on issues in democracies, while Political Economy II focuses on issues in non-democracies. Topics may include institutional foundations, social choice, elect... |
| POLISCI460B | Political Economy II | Continuation of ECON 220 / POLISCI 460A. Preparation for advanced research in political economy. This quarter will focus on topics related to culture, institutions, political and economic development, historical evolution, nondemocratic politics, con... |
| POLISCI461 | Advances in Experimental Political Science | In recent years there has been a surge in the use of experiments, both survey and field, in political science. This has resulted in substantial advances in experimental research within political science. This course will explore these advances throug... |
| POLISCI462 | How to Write and Publish a Quantitative Political Science Paper | This course helps students to write a publishable research paper in political science. We will focus on how to specify an important research question, how to identify appropriate research methods to answer that question, how to present evidence effec... |
| POLISCI464 | Survey Design and Implementation | Surveys are one of the most important sources of data for political scientists. With the rise of field experiments, the design and implementation of surveys has become and even more critical component of a political scientist's tool kit. This course... |
| POLISCI46N | Contemporary African Politics | Africa has lagged behind the rest of the developing world in terms of three consequential outcomes: economic development, the establishment of social order through effective governance, and the consolidation of democracy. This course seeks to identif... |
| POLISCI480 | The Science of Politics: Foundational Concepts for Political Science Graduate Students | This class is an introduction to the different ways that social scientists have proposed to understand politics. The emphasis is on understanding how the way a question is posed structures the way it can be answered, and how the way it can be answere... |
| POLISCI482A | Political Science Departmental Workshop | The Political Science Departmental Workshop provides a forum for graduate students and faculty involved in political science research to engage with the core themes and questions of research across the discipline. Meetings will include presentations... |
| POLISCI482B | Political Science Guest Speaker Workshop | The workshop brings in a distinguished speaker from outside the department each week, focusing on the sub-fields of international relations, comparative politics, American politics, and political methodology. The workshop will give participants a bro... |
| POLISCI62 | Defending Democracy at Home and Abroad | The United States, once a key champion of democracy around the world, has experienced unprecedented polarization during the past decade, with divisions running deep over Covid, voting rights and election results, and questions of identity and inclusi... |
| POLISCI70 | Dangerous Ideas | Ideas matter. Concepts such as equality, tradition, and Hell have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like race and urban renewal, play an important role in contemporary d... |
| POLISCI71 | Current Issues in European Security | Russia's annexation of Crimea in Spring 2014 posed not only a threat to post-World War II Europe formed around the norm of national sovereignty, but possibly also the very real threat that Russia had awakened from its 20 years of peacefulness to once... |
| POLISCI73 | Energy Policy in California and the West | This seminar provides an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies and Western energy organizations in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures, in California, the West and internationally. The... |
| POLISCI74 | Pathways to Public Service | This one-unit lecture series explores potential careers in public service, including roles in government as well as in many other organizations; such as nonprofits, foundations, corporations, and arts organizations that help shape public policy and c... |
| POLISCI74B | Public Service and Social Impact: Pathways to Purposeful Careers | How do I translate my interests and skills into a career in public service and social impact? This course will introduce you to a wide range of roles that help shape public policy and civic life, including government, education, nonprofits, social en... |
| POLISCI76 | Protagonists in Policy | Interested in learning from activists, academics, and politicians about the different ways you can be an agent of change and affect public policy? This course presents a lecture/discussion series in which students will have the opportunity to engage... |
| POLISCI801 | TGR Project | No Description Set |
| POLISCI802 | TGR Dissertation | No Description Set |
| POLISCI82 | Politics 2022: America at a Crossroads | The historic convergence of social, economic, and public health challenges has profoundly impacted the lives of millions of Americans. In the midst of great uncertainty, the 2022 U.S. midterm elections will be among the most important in our lifetime... |