Undergraduate Minor in

Political Science

This course examines the American democracy by looking at the dynamic interaction between the founding ideals of the United States government, the institutions established by the Constitution, and the ongoing contest for power within and through those institutions.

This course explores the historical and contemporary struggles of particular groups within American society to expand their rights.

This course provides students with the tools to empirically evaluate policy proposals and outcomes in the American states.

This course engages students in the empirical study of electoral politics in the United States.

This course engages students in the empirical study of public opinion.

An examination of how politics and public policy affect and are shaped by the news media, as a political institution, in America.

The origins of judicial review, landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, and their impact on the American form of government.

Analysis of the roles, procedures, and policies characterizing the American legal system.

Analyzes behavior of judges and other participants in the legal process; examines how and why courts function as policymaking bodies.

Basic characteristics and processes of the national legislature and executive; roles and interaction of these institutions in the policy process.

Advanced analysis of public policy, emphasizing policy evaluation and the factors that determine policy success and failure.

Introduction to study of comparative government and politics: normative/empirical theories; government functions in modern societies; representative structures and processes.

This course introduces students to the politics and governing institutions of European countries through a historical and comparative perspective.

Introduction to various methods of analyzing strategic behavior using social choice and game theories.

Social forces and processes, governmental institutions, foreign policies of major states of Latin America.

Characteristics of modern nation-states and forces governing their international relations; nationalism; imperialism; diplomacy; current problems of war and peace.

Introduction to various methods of analyzing strategic behavior using social choice and game theories.

The transnational politics of trade, investment, aid, raw materials, and the environment; nation-states, multinational corporations, and the U.N.

A survey of traditional and contemporary conceptual frameworks and theoretical approaches for the analysis of international relations.

Analysis of political terrorism as a violent alternative for peaceful change and traditional warfare in the nuclear age.

Principles of American foreign policy; processes of policy formulation; roles of the President, Congress, the State Department, and other government agencies.

The international relations of the Middle East, stressing national security policies of regional and outside actors, and major contemporary conflicts.