Politics 387PE - Advanced Topics in Politics: 'The 1%'

In recent years, scholarship on American politics has challenged the idea that our government has upheld and expanded basic democratic principles since the fall of Jim Crow. This scholarship notes a growing wealth gap since the 1970s and 1980s that has given rise to a "New Gilded Age." Along with this rising wealth gap, the United States has also endured rising incarceration rates, a shrinking middle class, an eroding public sphere, and charges that plutocracy -- or governance by the rich -- has overtaken American democracy. In this course we will explore, investigate, and challenge several arguments and assumptions at the heart of these critiques of contemporary US politics. Students will read and discuss cutting edge scholarship and journalism exploring the inequality debates, including inquiries into the complex interrelations of race, gender, and class.

Prereq: 8 credits in Politics including POLIT-104.