Development of American constitutional law and a study of the Supreme Court as a policy-making institution. Emphasis on landmark cases and the substantive impact of the Supreme Court in the American polity during different political eras.

Development of American constitutional law and a study of the Supreme Court as a policy-making institution. Emphasis on landmark cases and the substantive impact of the Supreme Court in the American polity during different political eras.

What are the problems associated with developing equitable and just policy? Why does social policy in the United States continue to be marked by tensions between the principle of equality and the reality of inequalities in social, political, and economic realms? How might policy subvert or reinforce these differences and inequalities? This class examines the history of social policy in the United States, particularly those policies affecting concerns of gender, race, and class.

This course is part of the Political Science and Legal Studies Undergraduate Research Engagement Program (UREP). When possible, student interests are paired with faculty in need of research assistance.

This course evaluates the role of international ethical norms in regulating the practice of organized political violence. We will be gin by considering how to think analytically about the effects of ethical norms on international policy-making. We next consider the origins and evolving dynamics of the laws of war, explore why political actors so often violate these rules and the conditions under which they follow them, and examine the political and ethical dilemmas involved in enforcing them.

Power is a central feature of political life and one of the key concepts of political science. This course will examine the main approaches and controversies in the study of power. We will investigate how these approaches help us to better understand how power operates in the real world by engaging with various case studies, including: how power works in prisons, schools, at home, in local and global politics, in an Appalachian mining town, a small village in Malaysia, and in countless ways in every day life. (Gen. Ed. DG, SB)

In this class we examine the changing role and significance of interest groups, nonprofits, and, to a lesser extent, political parties, in politics and society. We consider the extent and nature of group influence in government and policy making and how this has changed over time.

This course serves as a survey of the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of American political behavior. The course is designed to: 1) provide an overview of the burgeoning literature on political behavior in the discipline of political science and the myriad of frameworks and methods used to study political behavior and 2) to prepare graduate students to teach courses on political behavior, political psychology, and/or public opinion.

Reading of selected political theorists from 16th to 19th centuries: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx, and Nietzsche. Emphasis on the nature of the political world and the forms of understanding and activity appropriate to it.

Origin and evolution of political ideas and ideals that have shaped the American constitutional system. Tensions within and between liberalism and democracy and the impact of changing social and economic conditions on political beliefs and values. (Gen.Ed. HS)