Political Science (PSC)

Introduces political science; focuses on concepts that have been developed over the long tradition of research and that advance our understanding of different features of political life.

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of the American political system. Students will come to know the basic functioning of American political institutions and understand the ways in which they have changed over the years. At the end of the course, they will be able to relate the institutions and behavior that have been discussed to a variety of core concepts and persistent problems that arise any time humans are confronted with the prospect of taking collective action. The course will cover how parties, interest groups, public opinion, the media, campaigns, and the institution of federalism influence the political process. Finally, students will become familiar with the scientific approach to the study of politics and develop an understanding of political science as a unique discipline. This course is a controlled environment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade other than W may repeat the course in the summer or winter session; or only in the fall or spring semester with a petition to the Dean¿s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences.

This course introduces students to contemporary and historical international relations centered on the scientific study of international politics and the principal forms of international conflict and cooperation. The nature of the international system, the causes and effects of international conflict, and the difficulties faced by countries in establishing international cooperation will all be discussed in this course. In addition to the traditional focus on war and peace, students will consider political dimensions of the international economy, the role of international organizations, the worldwide trends toward democratization and economic interdependence, and prospects for global development. This course is the same as SSC 102, so course repeat rules will apply.

This course in Comparative Politics will equip you with the necessary concepts, theories, and methods to better understand variations in politics across different regions of the world. This course compares the behavior of governments and citizens across various country contexts. The course explores the understanding of many political phenomena, including theoretical explanations of political institutions, state-building and state failure, political ideologies, intra-state violence, and domestic economic and political systems.

Most political science courses contend with theories that purport to describe how the world does work. By contrast, this course introduces students to a variety of different perspectives on normative political theory¿theories that deal with questions of how the world should work. What does a just society look like? What does being a good citizen require? What is the nature of the state? Such inquiries have occupied political theorists for millennia. This course will address these questions, and others like them, through classic works by Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Niccolo Machiavelli, Karl Marx, and John Stuart Mill, as well as more contemporary writings by scholars such as John Rawls and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The one credit UB Seminar is focused on a big idea or challenging issue to engage students with questions of significance in a field of study and, ultimately, to connect their studies with issues of consequence in the wider world. Essential to the UB Curriculum, the Seminar helps transition to UB through an early connection to UB faculty and the undergraduate experience at a comprehensive, research university. This course is equivalent to any 198 offered in any subject. This course is a controlled enrollment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade of F or R may not be able to repeat the course during the fall or spring semester.

The three credit UB Seminar is focused on a big idea or challenging issue to engage students with questions of significance in a field of study and, ultimately, to connect their studies with issues of consequence in the wider world. Essential to the UB Curriculum, the Seminar helps students with common learning outcomes focused on fundamental expectations for critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and oral communication, and learning at a university, all within topic focused subject matter. The Seminars provide students with an early connection to UB faculty and the undergraduate experience at a comprehensive, research university. This course is equivalent to any 199 offered in any subject. This course is a controlled enrollment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade of F or R may not be able to repeat the course during the fall or spring semester.

This course teaches students how to think scientifically about politics by introducing them to research methods applied in political science and other social science fields. The first part of the course focuses on the nature of scientific research. Rather than simply describing what occurs, scientific research proposes theories to explain why particular political outcomes occur under certain circumstances and conditions. The remainder of the course provides an introduction to statistical methods used by political scientists to evaluate theories about political outcomes and behavior. Well-designed theories should have observable implications or hypotheses that can be investigated empirically, such that statistical methods serve as a means of objectively judging a theory¿s relevance in explaining and predicting outcomes. Students in this course will learn how to apply basic statistical methods and interpret the results so as to draw inferences about the causal processes underlying political behavior.

This course provides an introduction to the American legal system. A primary focus is the connection between law and politics. To that end, it examines the nature of judging and judicial decision-making, the organization of the state and federal legal systems, judicial selection, the power and role of the Supreme Court, and the relationship between the courts and the other two branches of government. This course is the same as SSC 215 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

This course provides an overview of the social, political, and economic processes that shape contemporary American sociopolitical life. Students will study and analyze a range of scholarship from different disciplines in order to decipher the underlying sociopolitical themes in contemporary, American sociopolitical life. Students are provided with the theoretical tools needed to assist them in their interpretations of salient sociopolitical processes central to our contemporary world. While the course will focus on the American context, many of the theoretical arguments apply cross-nationally, so comparisons to and examples from other advanced industrial societies will also be discussed.

This course investigates the intersection between technology and contemporary politics. Technological advances have altered many political processes and the way in which we study and approach mass political behavior, especially in areas such as political communication, elections, and citizen participation. Technology has affected the basic functioning of government and international affairs, creating new questions surrounding personal surveillance and international security. This course will address these topics as well as investigating how technology has changed the study of politics and the implications these changes have on political institutions and individual behavior. The course addresses these topics theoretically in a manner that allows for application across different political systems, while also relating traditional topics in comparative politics to new research, focusing on the influence of technology on political behavior and institutions.

This course focuses on the historical development of the conflict between the American people¿s commitment to equality, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, and its correspondence with economic realities. It touches upon equality and race, equality and gender, equality and sexuality, and the relationship these topics have had with economics over the course of this nation¿s history. The development of U.S policy in these areas will also be compared and contrasted with other approaches around the world, including how the selection of particular policies in the United States influences America¿s evolving relationship with the rest of the world. Students will develop analytical thinking skills through evaluating concepts and literature in political science and other fields.

This course introduces students to the interdependence of political life and its geographic context. The interrelationship of politics and geography is explored at the international, national, and local levels.

Explores institutions that operate within and among China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea; also considers the political, social, and economic settings in which international business is transacted in East Asia.

This course explores the part of U.S. law that has dealt with the human and civil rights of African Americans (and by implication other racial ethnic groups in U.S. society: Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, etc.). Special attention is given to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960¿s and contemporary issues/topics.

This course focuses on the opinions of the Supreme Court interpreting the two great clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment: the clauses that prohibit states from denying persons life, liberty, or property without due process of law and that compel states to provide the equal protection of the law. The due process and equal protection clauses have given rise to some of the most profound constitutional issues in all of our history. The due process cases touch upon subjects such as economic liberty, the right to privacy as it relates to abortion, sexual orientation, and the right to control the time and manner of one's death. The equal protection cases deal with racial, gender, and age discrimination. Students will develop analytical thinking skills through evaluating concepts and literature in political science and constitutional law. Students will also gain skills in research and debate. This course is designed for students with at least the status of sophomore. It is recommended that students should have completed either PSC 101 or PSC 215 before taking this course. This course is the same as SSC 301, and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

This course analyzes the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States produced by the Justices in cases regarding fundamental civil liberties. This course will focus largely on case law and constitutional outcomes of cases involving freedoms of speech, religion, press, and of the criminally accused. This course seeks to familiarize students not only with the Supreme Court opinions that have shaped laws in this country, but also to examine the context in which these decisions were reached, and how the Justices arrived at their conclusions. Not only will the decisions themselves be looked at, but so will the political environment in which they were made. This course is designed for students with at least the status of sophomore. It is strongly recommended that students should have completed either PSC 101 or PSC 215 before taking this course. This course is the same as SSC 302, and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

This course addresses the history of the Constitution, the role of the Supreme Court (and other courts) in interpreting the Constitution, and the powers given by the Constitution (as interpreted by the Court) to the different branches of the federal government and the states. Readings consist of Supreme Court decisions themselves, and students are expected to carefully read cases before they are analyzed in class. This course is designed for students with at least the status of sophomore. It is recommended that students should have completed either PSC 101 or PSC 215 before taking this course. This course is the same as SSC 303 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

This course provides an overview of the scholarship on legislative politics, with a focus on the U.S. Congress. In this course, students gain a deep understanding of how Congress has evolved since its founding (and why it has evolved the way it has), who chooses to run for Congress (and why), who gets elected to Congress (and why), how members of Congress represent their constituents, how Congress is organized (and why it is organized the way it is), how legislation is enacted, and how Congress interacts with other actors such as the President and the bureaucracy. We will also explore several topics especially relevant to contemporary legislative politics in the U.S, such as the rise of partisan polarization and legislative gridlock, the incidence and impact of filibusters and obstructionism, the intricacies of the budgetary process (including debates surrounding the debt ceiling and government shutdowns), and Senate confirmations of presidential appointees. This course is the same as SSC 304, so course repeat rules will apply.

This course examines the distinguishing characteristics of the legal process. It treats the adversarial system, the nature of law, the character of legal reasoning, the system of precedent, law school education, judicial policy-making, and the limits and nature of judicial power. It seeks to examine the unique characteristics of the judicial process, contrast those characteristics with those found in the legislative and executive processes, and explores how the process of judicial decision-making influences what courts do and the power they wield. This course goes beyond simply learning the rules that govern judicial processes to consider and evaluate the implications of those rules. This course is the same as SSC 306, and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

This course examines the role of the president in the American political system. As one of the most powerful political positions in the world, it is important to understand the powers, duties, and roles (both formal and informal) involved in being president. The presidency has changed considerably since the early days of the republic as the United States has grown and transformed. Even though the president occupies a powerful office, the executive branch is only one of three co-equal branches of government. This course will examine how presidents organize the executive branch to accomplish their goals and how presidents interact with other important institutions such as Congress, the courts, and the news media. Additionally, the course will explore the ways presidents influence economic, domestic, and foreign policy during their tenure in office. As the only elected office with a national constituency, the president can use the ¿bully pulpit¿ to try to persuade the public, and other political actors, to go along with the White House¿s agenda. Presidents also have certain unilateral powers, like executive orders, which are important to understanding the extent of presidential power. The course will cover impeachment and other legal concerns that can embroil a presidency. Lastly, students will reflect on how to assess the success or failure of presidents.

As one of the preeminent observers of American politics, E.E. Schattschneider once opined that, ¿modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.¿ There are many ways in which this statement rings true, as the difficult task of aggregating the preferences of the electorate is made workable when voters are presented with a limited number of choices at the polls. For their part, though, the American electorate has often expressed a deep-seated ambivalence about political parties, and a number of major reform movements throughout American history have been geared toward lessening their impact on the political process. Yet the parties have exhibited a remarkable ability to survive and adapt to shifts in the political climate. This course will confront such changes and examine how parties¿as organizations, in government, and in the electorate¿serve to shape politics in the United States.

Examines political relationships and policy outcomes associated with the changing nature of the federal system and intergovernmental relations over the past fifty years.

This course considers state and local politics in the US, and begins with an assertion: states matter. States matter because states are the primary drivers of many policy areas that affect people -- higher education, K-12 education, health care regulation, and family law are all examples. The course considers three primary questions. First, how can we understand why different states do different things and choose different policies? Why does New York spend more on education than Mississippi? Second, state governments are organized in different ways, so how can we understand why they made different organizational choices and what effects those choices have? Why did some states choose term limits for their legislators, and what effects did they have? Finally, how can we use the laboratory of the states to examine other important questions for American democracy? How does looking at states help us learn that parties are important for democracy, or what fosters good representation?

Considers social and historical patterns underlying the organization of power in American municipalities, and the means by which power is brought to bear upon the problems of the city.

The existence of free and fair elections is a hallmark of a democratic society. This course focuses specifically on the American case and will explore how well American elections stack up against widely-held democratic ideals. Students will encounter evidence concerning the conduct of elections in the United States, the ¿rules of the game¿ that govern electoral politics in this context, and the aspects of the voters themselves that threaten the prospect of democratic accountability in the U.S. The course will cover the strategic considerations that go into candidates¿ campaign strategies, the administration of elections, and the effects of both on individual members of the electorate. Other important topics include: partisan identification, candidate positioning, primary elections, down-ballot (e.g., not presidential) races, and voter turnout. The course will close with a discussion of the different electoral reforms that have been suggested over the years and the degree to which they might shape the electoral landscape in the U.S

This course looks at the policy-making process, broadly construed. This is not a course about specific health policy or specific educational policies. Instead, this course is about developing a toolkit for understanding the policy process or policy development in any substantive area. The course begins by looking at how policy-makers tend to view the world. What are the theoretical and empirical models they tend to use, and why? Next, the course considers different kinds of market failures and how each suggests that a different kind of governmental intrusion would be appropriate, along with how policy-makers test and evaluate policies. Finally, the course looks at how elected officials and other explicitly political forces affect the policy process, and how executives and legislatures control the policy process. This course is the same as SSC 314, so the course-repeat rules will apply.

This course considers the dynamic relationship between the political and economic systems of the United States. The initial focus will be on government regulation of the economy and the trade-offs between the economic efficiency and income redistribution consequences of alternative methods of regulation. The course will then explore the interactions among politics and the economy more broadly, discussing topics such as the political business cycle, economic voting, and the impact of international trade on domestic politics. While an emphasis will be placed on understanding theoretical arguments about the US political economy, the implications of such theories will be illustrated with contemporary examples.

This course considers the principles and practice of politics. Citizens in democracies are socialized to believe that certain ideals are upheld when political choices are made. These ideals range from voters making informed, issue-oriented decisions, to elected politicians enacting policies in pursuit of national interests, to government officials implementing those policies, to maximize the public good. Politics in practice, however, conflicts with these ideals. In general, political outcomes are the results of decisions by strategic, goal-oriented actors who promote their interests by choosing the best responses to the expected behavior of other strategic, goal-oriented actors. When these actors have competing interests, institutions and uncertainty shape political outcomes as much as the political decision-makers¿ preferences over the set of possible outcomes. This course examines why this contrast between the principles and practice of politics exists and how values and ideology interact with strategic calculations to drive the choices made by political actors.

This course will introduce students to the politics of the formulation and implementation of environmental policy. Students will critically assess the nature of the public policy debates concerning environmental protection, conservation of natural resources, and energy production and use. Students will learn to think analytically about the governmental process that produces environmental policy and the associated motivations of politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and media elites who contribute to this process. While the course materials focus largely on the American context, attention will also be given to considering more generally how international actors and events can influence domestic environmental politics and to discussing the limitations of international laws designed to regulate the environmental policies of countries.

This course introduces students to the history of the mass media in the United States and the norms surrounding the production of news in this context. It also details the role that the media plays in campaigns and elections. In addition, the course explores how the media as a political institution¿the so-called ¿fourth branch¿ of government¿interacts with the other three constitutionally-ensconced branches of American government, how citizens respond to news coverage of political events, and the cultural impact of media consumption. Particular attention will be paid to the increasingly fragmented nature of the media environment today and the consequences of selective media exposure.

The course teaches students about the fundamental aspects of American public opinion¿what public opinion means; how it is measured; problems in ¿getting at¿ what individuals and the public as a whole think about political matters; the many problems in surveys from low response rates to biases produced by question wording, response wording and even question order; the stability and volatility of public opinion on different subjects; the public¿s general orientations toward politics as well as their views on political issues, groups, institutions, and people; the extent and change in the polarization of the public; what influences public opinion (e.g., political leaders and parties, the media, events and circumstances); whether public opinion is grounded in adequate information; the impact of a prevailing dominant outlook on the opinions and behaviors of political minorities; and the effects of American public opinion on the functioning of democratic government. The course focuses particularly on the polarization of American public opinion and the reasons why Americans are so divided. Students will learn about public opinion, about evaluating and applying evidence to answer social scientific questions, and about relating those empirical answers to democratic theory.

The study of war and conflict is one of the most exciting sub-fields of international relations. The course discusses the impact of power, economics, international organizations, and nuclear weapons on the likelihood of international war. The goal of this course is to introduce students to studies of war and international security that examine why states use force against each other. The secondary goal of this course is to improve students¿ research skills and help them gain a better understanding of political science research. Thus, the theory and methods of conflict literature will be compared and contrasted both to improve students¿ knowledge of why nations go to war and to develop their analytical skills.

This course provides an introduction to the study of international political economy. The goal is to gain a better understanding of increasingly complex interactions between political and economic realms of the contemporary world and to learn to analyze current policy as well as historical developments. Major topics that will be covered in this course include international trade, debt, economic development, regional and international integration, economic sanctions, international environmental politics, and the role of international institutions in promoting international cooperation.

This seminar is designed to familiarize students with the scholarly and analytical approaches to current critical issues in international relations. The course will cover the main themes in the areas of international security, international political economy, and transnational issues across the globe. The course is not a political discussion of current or past events, but rather a survey of scientific propositions and theoretical debates that help us to analytically understand both history and contemporary issues in world politics. While specific topics may vary as they reflect major current trends in world politics (ranging from issues such as terrorism and counter-terrorism to U.S. grand strategy, environmental problems, etc.), all are analyzed through the lenses of major theoretical approaches to international politics.

This course focuses on a key mechanism facilitating international cooperation ¿ international institutions. The course examines institutions ranging from informal institutions, or regimes, to formal intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), such as the United Nations and European Union. In exploring the nature of international institutions, the following questions are asked: Why are such institutions established? Why do states choose to act through IGOs instead of on their own? What makes them change over time? What impact (if any) do these institutions have? How do they operate? How do they influence government foreign policies, such as international trade and the use of military force? How do they affect domestic politics, such as on human rights, social welfare, and economic development? The course will begin by focusing on different theoretical perspectives on these questions, and continue by examining international institutions in specific issue areas. The course will also examine the more general successes and limitations of global governance and international organization in world politics.

How do we know what is a good theory versus a bad theory? This course attempts to answer this question by introducing students to the logic of social scientific theories and their evaluation. Students will be introduced to and analyze international relations theories on topics such as war and conflict, strategic bargaining, deterrence theory, alliances, the democratic peace and terrorism. In studying these issues theoretically, students should improve their analytical skills and also gain an understanding of how both researchers and policy makers use theory to address important issues in statecraft and foreign policy implementation.

This seminar is designed to introduce students to the historical and contemporary issues related to U.S. foreign policy. The course will start with a brief overview of the trends and pivotal moments in the history of American foreign policy. The course then proceeds with an in-depth coverage of major institutions, individuals, and groups involved in formulating American foreign policy. The particular focus will be on the roles of the presidency, Congress, executive branch (e.g., State Department), interest groups, mass media, and public opinion. The course will conclude with discussions of major international issues facing U.S. foreign policy today.

This course considers historical patterns in Russian foreign policy, what factors motivate Russian actions in world affairs, and selected contemporary problems in Russian international politics. To fully understand Russian foreign policy, one must first understand the nature of domestic politics in Russia, so the course starts by exploring the ideologies, institutions, and leaders who have shaped Russia from the Tsarist period of the 19th century to the modern society under Putin. The course then develops the student¿s understanding of current Russian foreign policy by comparing Russia to other major powers, contrasting their national security interests and domestic policy challenges as a means of identifying the factors that differentiate their policy choices. Students are exposed to leading theories of foreign policy choice and how those theories apply to the Russian case, illustrated with examples from recent events in international politics.

Study of the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China. The historical background and specific issues such as China and the U.S., China and the Third World, and China and Russia are examined.

This course reviews theoretical approaches to explaining foreign policymaking with selected case studies. The course examines foreign policy doctrines and other conceptual means of understanding foreign policy and foreign policymaking in comparative perspective. The first part of the course introduces foreign policy as it has developed and is practiced in the United States. This includes a brief overview of the historical and cultural elements of American foreign policy and a description of the policymaking process. This overview sets the foundation for subsequent parts of the course in which we compare the generation, quality, efficacy, and outcomes of various foreign policy approaches to extant international problems. This includes evaluations of the efficacy of chosen policies, counterfactual estimates of policies not pursued, and prospective analyses of future approaches.

This course will examine how the international legal system is structured, with a particular focus on how it serves to shape international relations. While this course will introduce students to several key legal concepts, its primary focus is on how politics and law interact in the context of the international political system. In substantive terms, the course will cover international laws relating to human rights, trade, and war using a variety of primary (e.g., treaties) and secondary materials. Students will learn how international law is made, explore how national governments and national courts (e.g., the Supreme Court of the United States) often resist the dictates of international courts, and understand the barriers to enforcement that the international legal system often face.

This course introduces students to political systems in Western Europe, covering their governments, policies, party systems, shared history, and social movements. Recent developments in Europe are also explored, including the evolving role of the European Union (EU) in domestic politics and the growing connectedness of the Western and Eastern European countries. The course is organized thematically according to the features of Western European political systems. Themes such as electoral systems, political cleavages, referenda, the welfare state, regional integration (the EU), the common currency (the Euro), and nationalism are also discussed.

Explores both violent and peaceful transitions within political systems; examines theories and selected cases.

This course examines the politics of developing nations. As the world has become increasingly interconnected, the political issues and controversies facing developing nations have become more relevant to world politics. The course will begin by distinguishing the developing world, highlighting how the governments and economies of developing countries differ from those of advanced industrial countries. Next, students will consider how the differences between developing and developed countries shape their interstate relations and account for differences in their political economies. Finally, the course will discuss contemporary issues and how relations between developing and developed countries are likely to change in the future. Specific topics covered in this course include the North-South wealth divide, dependency theory, the politics of economic reform, societal transformation via modernization, the effects of globalization, the problems of nation-building, the impact of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and the politics of foreign aid.

This course examines theories of violent political upheaval, and it assesses the empirical record of these theoretical approaches. Civil war has become the primary form of mass organized violence in the international system. Students will therefore seek to understand why civil wars occur, what consequences are wrought by them, and how the international community may respond in terms of conflict resolution. Furthermore, students will explore explanations of various phenomena associated with civil war and severe unrest including political violence. Thus, this course will seek to provide a rationale for extreme violence and atrocious behaviors that are common during periods of political instability. On these issues, this course seeks to reveal broad, general patterns of violent political behavior, across several countries and provide a theoretical framework by which students can understand the global historical record on civil conflict, with particular emphasis on conflicts in such places as Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

This course teaches students about the fundamental characteristics of American presidential campaigns and how they affect elections and the public's ability to control the government. The course begins with some basic questions about presidential campaigns: What is a campaign? What are they supposed to do? Although every presidential campaign is different, what factors affect the results of presidential elections? The course then examines the most recent presidential election with evidence about the context of recent elections, the fundamental context in which the campaign was conducted, the key events of the campaign, and the preference polls leading up to the vote. The course then turns to the broad history of presidential elections, examining the impact of ¿the fundamentals¿ that shape campaigns, the ¿playing out¿ of those fundamentals through the candidates and campaign events in presidential elections, and both the systematic or regular aspects of campaign effects on elections and the unsystematic or ¿wild card¿ developments of campaigns. By examining presidential campaigns in both depth and breadth, students will learn about how presidential campaigns work, about evaluating and applying evidence to answer social scientific questions, and about relating those empirical answers to democratic theory.

Explores the politics and government of America's largest trading partner and neighbor to the north. Gives primary attention to Canadian politics and institutions, but also makes some comparisons with the United States. This course is the same as CDN 345 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements

Surveys international politics from the individual decision maker's vantage point.

Civil war, interstate conflict, terrorism and other forms of organized, violent competition are perpetual problems that threaten political order and stability. A large body of academic research explains the occurrence and dynamics of these violent processes, offering insights into the reasons why organized belligerent groups confront one another with violence. However, much of the violence associated with these political conflicts is aimed directly at innocent civilians who are otherwise uninvolved in formal conflict processes. Indeed, the exploits of some extraordinarily violent groups cause one to wonder if war has become more brutal and inhumane over time, as noncombatants suffer at the hands of armed actors. In fact, in many cases the savagery associated with violence against civilians may cause observers to believe that the violence has no logic or rationale at all. Is this violence senseless? Does it have no strategic motivation? If not entirely senseless, then how might we understand such brutal behaviors as mass rape, child soldiering, physical mutilation, and the killing of innocents in the context of war? This course will consider these questions by introducing students to theoretical perspectives on war and violence in the international state system

Introduces political processes and institutions of government in the former U.S.S.R and its successor states from 1917 to present.

This course introduces students to political systems in Eastern Europe, covering their governments, policies, party systems, shared history, and social movements. Many of the Eastern European countries have experienced multiple regime changes over the past 100 years, and all of them were influenced at least indirectly by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to market-based economic reform as well as democratization. The course compares the institutions and policy choices made by different Eastern European countries and then explores how those choices contributed to the different outcomes experienced by these countries. As part of this comparison, students consider the impacts of other factors such as nationalism, democratic values, political stability, the nature of economic reform, and ethnic fractionalization. While the course exposes students to general theories about economic development and democratization, it also illustrates the logic of such theories using historical examples from Eastern Europe.

Explores contemporary political development in Asian countries, emphasizing Chinese and Japanese politics.

This course introduces students to the politics of African countries generally, with primary but not exclusive attention to particular countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The course addresses the cultural, economic, political, and historic contexts of various African countries, particularly as it relates to political change and institutional instability. The course links broad patterns of colonial rule, post-colonial governance, domestic and international economic policy, and domestic political structures to consequent patterns of political development and breakdown. These broad patterns are then more fully developed in individual case study evaluations. No prior knowledge of Africa is necessary to take this course.

The Middle East and North African (MENA) region has experienced decades of dictatorships, civil war, and underdevelopment; yet at the same time, this region has seen some of the world's largest wealth and prosperity. This course will examine the potential explanations of these themes and of various factors that help students better understand and critically analyze the MENA region. These themes include the development of the state and stability of authoritarian regimes, the role of religion and secularism in politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, terrorism and war, oil, and popular movements to challenge the state of affairs.

How will international relations change over the next 40 years? Will war and conflict become more or less frequent? What effects will globalization and climate change have on the international political system? Will climate change eventually lead to land disputes and food shortages that increase the likelihood of conflict or will it force countries to work together to address its effects? Will globalization continue unabated, bringing citizens closer together and thereby reducing nationalism and interstate conflict, or will it heighten the likelihood of conflict by exacerbating wealth differences? Similar questions can be asked about the future of the European Union, the long-run prospects for peace in the Middle East, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the impact of artificial intelligence on international relations. This course seeks to answer questions like these by placing the student in the position of policy-makers who must rely on forecasting and the analysis of long-run trends in international politics. The course will explore how long-run changes in technology, demographics, economic integration, resource scarcity, climate, and democratization could alter the nature of international relations. Students will consider competing theories about the effects of these factors on international politics and explore what their arguments imply about the cumulative effects of these factors over several decades if expected trends hold.

Investigates how political campaigns have been funded and explores the impact of campaign financing on election outcomes and on the behavior of elected officials in making public policy decisions.

This course provides an overview of the social, political, and economic processes that shape gender roles in contemporary American politics. Students will study and analyze a range of scholarship from different disciplines to decipher the underlying sociopolitical themes in gender and politics. Students are provided with the theoretical tools needed to assist them in their interpretations of sociopolitical processes and gender formation.

Examines the importance of race and ethnicity to American politics including topics such as: historical inequalities, immigration, public opinion, racial gerrymandering, party identification and voting behavior in national and local elections.

Examines major contributions to political philosophy from Plato and Aristotle to Machiavelli. This course is the same as JDS 380, and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

Studies political philosophy from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century.

Studies the treatment of selected major problems of political philosophy by contemporary thinkers.

This course examines the fundamental American political principles. These include the individual freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the equality of individuals before the law. These also include the promotion of the public interest in providing for domestic tranquility, the general welfare, and the common defense through the rule of law formulated and enforced by a limited government based on the democratic consent of the governed through free, fair, and frequent elections.

Content varies by semester.

Introduction to some basic techniques of data collection and analysis in political science; survey research; small group experiments.

This course provides an introduction to game-theoretic models in political science. Game theory assumes that individuals act strategically to best pursue their goals, or maximize their welfare (utility), contingent on their expectations about the incentives faced by others whose decisions will influence the relative payoff of their action. The course will explore the fundamental assumptions that game-theoretical models make about human behavior as well as how individuals act strategically in contexts where information asymmetries exist that prevent them from perfectly anticipating the decisions of other actors. Depending on the instructor, the course will cover the application of game-theoretic models to topics in international relations or domestic politics.

This class focuses on key questions related to the empirical study of democratic governments, or aspects thereof.

Provides advanced instruction in civil liberties law and can focus on any area of civil liberties. Students will read the decisions of various federal and state courts - not just the U.S. Supreme Court - as well as statutes and other source of law with which they are not familiar. The course has two prerequisites: PSC 301 and PSC 302.

Enables a select number of upper-class political science and legal studies majors who plan to go to law school to delve deeply into an important issue relating to the supreme court. Provides an opportunity for students to develop legal research and library skills by writing a paper on a subject related to the seminar's main focus.

This course is a gentle but thorough introduction to statistics, building towards understanding and using multiple regression, that assumes no particular mathematical training beyond high-school algebra. Using political science and social science examples and data, the course examines descriptive statistics, the logic of hypothesis testing, bivariate statistics (such as t-tests, correlation, and contingency tables), and regression analysis. Finally, the course finishes with an introduction to multivariate statistics. The labs will introduce students to statistical programs that graphically represent and analyze data, such as Excel and R. Upon the conclusion of this course, students should have an understanding of how different types of statistics can or cannot be used, and a mathematical understanding of the statistics applied in the real world. The goals of the course are for students to be better able to read current scholarship in political science and to be able to use statistics in their research papers throughout their university studies and in the professional world.

Focuses on institutions and their relationship to political behaviors by elites and masses, as well as their connection to policy outcomes. Examines how institutions such as presidential systems, parliamentary systems, executive powers, electoral rules, and legislative structures such as committees influence political actors' strategies. Executive-legislative relations and their effects on policy will occupies a central role. Examines states both in the developed and developing world.

How do politics shape markets, and markets shape politics? Why do some countries become rich while others remain poor? Why does capitalism take such different forms in different places, and what do these differences mean for societies, firms, and individuals? What is globalization, and who gains (and who loses) from the increasingly close economic ties between different countries? This course will address these and other questions at the intersection of politics and economics by focusing on domestic variation and outcomes. Students will study how various political institutions, processes, and events affect economic policy and outcomes as well as the converse, how economic performance and interests influence the development of institutions and political outcomes.

Considers the international system's evolution from the late 19th century to the present. Uses diplomatic history and contemporary international affairs as a "laboratory" for testing various theories about international politics.

Examines internal organization, functions, and impact of political parties from a comparative perspective.

What are human rights? Do human rights have a direct impact on the policies governments pursue, or on the attitudes people hold toward others? How can human rights be enforced? How have nongovernmental organizations developed, and how effective are they in spotlighting abuses? This course explores these questions among others by focusing on the ways in which human rights have been articulated, particularly in the last 60 years. This course also looks at abuses of specific rights and the remedies that could be sought for them. Special attention will be given to nongovernmental organizations that have been instrumental in promoting and monitoring human rights around the globe. This course is the same as SSC 430, so course repeat rules will apply.

This course explores various forms of citizen participation in the process of politics and how patterns of civic engagement vary across countries. It will look at different theoretical models of political participation and examine the individual-level correlates of political engagement, focusing specifically on how access to certain resources (e.g., time, money, and education) track with citizen involvement in the political process. Particular attention will also be paid to the institutional and structural factors that serve to either encourage or discourage widespread civic engagement in advanced industrial democracies across the globe. In addition, the course will showcase the barriers to participation that are faced by minority groups and how the policies governing access to the ballot box are often shaped by partisan motivations.

This course explores the following questions: How can governments best control their armed forces so that they do not attempt to seize power? When and how is the use of force a necessary part of a state¿s domestic tranquility and of its international relations? How have military values, needs, and demands shaped societies? How do the laws of war, human rights, and international relations interrelate? How will the emergence of multiple powers armed with nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles affect strategic balances? Much of this course is devoted to in-depth analyses of civil-military relations in various countries. The causes of coups d¿état, warfare, morality, international human rights, and coming challenges in international and intrastate conflict will also be explored.

This course considers the structure of laws in general, the question of sanctions, and the relation of justice to law. ¿Legalism¿ refers to rule-making, rule-following, and legal reasoning. This course considers the meaning and value of legalism as a way of approaching conflict. The course invites students to explore the distinctive characteristics of legal modes of thought; classical theories about the nature of law and legal obligation; and moral and romantic objections to rule-making and rule-following. Legal practices and institutions that operate at the margins of ¿law¿¿international law, torture, and war crimes tribunals¿provide a location for students to test and develop their insights about the meaning and proper reach of law.

Provides advanced instruction in constitutional law and can focus on any area of separation of powers or federalism. Students will read the decisions of various federal and state courts - not just the U.S. Supreme Court - as well as statutes and other sources of law with which they are not familiar. The course has one prerequisite: PSC 303.

Examination of the political science discipline. Focus will be on the range of contemporary practice and on unresolved controversies. Students will submit proposals for the senior year honors thesis.

Enables upper-class political science and legal studies majors who plan to go to law school to delve deeply into an important issue in the American legal system. It provides an opportunity for students to read cases and secondary literature on the selected topic, and develop legal research and library skills by writing a paper on a subject related to the seminar's main topic.

The content of this course is variable and therefore it is repeatable for credit. The University Grade Repeat Policy does not apply.

Community Internship Program - Involves service with state legislators from the area, city or county government, or various public agencies. Work includes policy research, drafting legislation, field investigations, program evaluations, and contacts with other organizations. Washington Semester Internship Program - Involves a semester placement in Washington under the direction of a SUNY Brockport Program Officer. Participation includes an internship, a research seminar, and a research paper. NYS Legislative Internship Program - Involves semester placement in the Albany office of a state senate or assembly member; requires forty-plus-hour weeks as legislative assistants under a professional staff member's guidance. Also requires special readings, weekly seminar, short reports, and a major research paper, under the direction of SUNY faculty-in-residence.

Involves supervised independent study leading to the submission of an honors thesis. Requires permission of instructor.

Requires permission of instructor.