Course Descriptions

This course is an introduction to American government and politics.  While the main focus is on the national level, additional attention is paid to the state and local governments of Texas. Topics will include U.S. political history, political institutions, elections, public opinion, rights and freedoms, and public policy issues.

This course is an introduction to American government and politics.  While the main focus is on the national level, additional attention is paid to the state and local governments of Texas. Topics will include U.S. political history, political institutions, elections, public opinion, rights and freedoms, and public policy issues.

Prerequisites

12 hours of college course-work and a passing score on the reading section on the THEA test.

Course Description

The course fulfills the first half of the legislative requirement for Government. This course provides an introduction to American politics. The course centers on the fundamental role played by the institutions of American government including Congress, the Presidency, Federal Judiciary, and the Bureaucracy in understanding political dynamics in the United States. The course also examines public opinion and participation as inputs to the institutions of American government, and the mediating role of organizations such as interest groups, the news media, and political parties. In addition to mastering basic facts about American government, the course will apply political science theories to the broader questions of democratic government and examine evidence assessing these theories. The course also makes connections between politics at the federal level of government and the political institutions of the state of Texas.

Grading Policy

Course grades will be based on four in-class examinations with no final. 

Texts

Kollman, Ken. 2012. The American Political System. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.the state of Texas.

Prerequisites

12 hours of college course-work and a passing score on the reading section on the THEA test.

Course Description

The course fulfills the first half of the legislative requirement for Government. This course provides an introduction to American politics. The course centers on the fundamental role played by the institutions of American government including Congress, the Presidency, Federal Judiciary, and the Bureaucracy in understanding political dynamics in the United States. The course also examines public opinion and participation as inputs to the institutions of American government, and the mediating role of organizations such as interest groups, the news media, and political parties. In addition to mastering basic facts about American government, the course will apply political science theories to the broader questions of democratic government and examine evidence assessing these theories. The course also makes connections between politics at the federal level of government and the political institutions of the state of Texas.

Grading Policy

Course grades will be based on four in-class examinations with no final. 

Texts

Kollman, Ken. 2012. The American Political System. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.the state of Texas.

Prerequisites

At least six college level credit hours.

Course Description

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the processes and issues of United States and Texas government. The course will cover the relevant institutions in the development of the governmental process as well as discuss the role of the citizens in shaping our government.

Grading Policy

Quizzes: 25%

Exams: 75%

Texts

Kollman, Ken. 2012. The American Political System. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

Course Description

In this course, we’ll examine the American political system through the lens of elections.  We will analyze them from a political science as well as political junkie perspectives, paying particular, though not exclusive attention to the 2012 elections.  The first half of the course will focus on the campaigns and the second half of the course will deal with election outcomes and their consequences on policy making.  There will also be a semester project that focuses on a particular campaign. 

The number of students in the course will demand that it be mostly lecture, however, I like to get the students involved in my lectures.  Consequently, it’ll feel like the class is just you and 300 of your friends.

Grading Policy

Grades will be determined by a semester project, several midterms, and in-class participation:

• 20% Midterm 1
• 20% Midterm 2
• 20% Midterm 3
• 20% Course Project
• 20% Class Participation

Texts

The course readings TENTATIVELY consist of the following:

• Gary Jacobson’s The Politics of Congressional Elections
• Aldrich and Rhode’s Change and Continuity
• Sean Theriault’s Party Polarization in Congress
• A course packet available at Speedway (in Dobie Mall)

Course Description

This course is an introduction to American Government. It is designed to give you a basic idea of the functions, activities, and interactions of our federal system. Our government is a dynamic entity that has evolved over time and shaped by both internal and external forces. The goal of this class is to provide you with tools to understand American Institutions.  Through learning the duties, powers, and limitations of government, you can better appreciate the impact of current events upon America.

Grading Policy

I use plus/minus.  4 tests (first 2 are worth 20% each, second 2 are worth 25% each), 2 assignments worth 5% each.

Text:

Logic of American Politics 5th edition, CQ Press by Samuel Kernell, Gary Jacobson, and Thad Kousser 

Course Description

 This course introduces you to the politics and government of the United States (a lot) and the state of Texas (some).  Among the issues we address are the following:

•  What is politics? 

•  What is democracy?

•  What is political science?

•  What ideas about the political system have been most relevant to understanding the United States as a representative democracy? 

•  What political processes and principal policies characterize the governments of the United States and of Texas, past and present?

•  What events, documents, and political realities lie behind the development of the United States from thirteen Atlantic colonies to its emergence as a superpower?

•  How do you, the citizen, fit into state and national politics and government?

The course concentrates on the political philosophy and political history of the United States and Texas.  It also takes a critical look at the institutions and processes of American and state government as they have developed up to the present.

Films and guest lectures will supplement course lectures.  Class attendance and participation is expected, and students may be called upon in class. The course is accompanied by a required text and a required course packet.  The packet contains documents from the founding, Supreme Court cases, the texts of U.S. treaties, readings from American political science, and other materials.

Grading Policy

Final grades will be determined in the following proportions.  Your instructor and teaching assistants may also factor in your improvement over the course of the semester and take into account how your grades are distributed among the several course components

1.Tests (3) - 65%

The first is worth 20 percent of your grade, the second is worth 20 percent, and the third is worth 25 percent of your grade. 

2.Class exercises (5) - 20%

You have five short assignments in which you have to learn about your congressional representative, U.S. senator, state representative (Texas, other), and state senator (Texas, other).  You will also have to write a brief report about an out-of-class assignment for which you are to visit the Texas State Capitol.

3.Quizzes (3) - 15%

        You are responsible for three quizzes on the assigned readings and lectures (5 percent each).   

4.Class participation - bonus up to 3%

In-class participation, such as questions, contributions to the Blackboard (BB) discussion site, and other indicators of interest and participation (speaking to your teaching assistants or instructor after class, in office hours, or by appointment) may be a tipping factor in the determination of overall grades.

Texts

American Government textbook (to be determined), course packet, and Texas Politics website.

Prerequisites

Students must have completed twelve semester hours of college credit and received a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) or another appropriate test before enrolling in this course.

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to American government and politics. Topics include the structure of government, theories of electoral campaigns, public opinion and legislator behavior.

Grading Policy

Course grades will be based on four exams, which will be worth 25% of the final grade each.

Text

The New American Democracy (7th Ed., Alternate Edition) Fiorina et al. 978-0-205-79134-7

Pub: Pearson/Longman  Year: 2011 Status: REQUIRED

Course Description

This course will introduce you to the government and politics of the United States and Texas.  We will cover U.S. political history, political institutions, elections, public opinion, rights and freedoms, public policy issues, and social science perspectives on politics and policy.  The class begins with the creation of the nation and its fundamental features, including the adoption of the Constitution, the development of democracy, and the importance of federalism.  The class then examines public input into the political system, particularly congressional and presidential elections, public opinion, individual and group participation, and the political parties.  We then explore the basic institutional building blocks of government – the Congress, presidency, bureaucracy, and courts, as well as the media.  We continue by studying fundamental civil liberties and civil rights, followed by the key policy issues that face national, state, and local governments today.  The class will also discuss the central features of Texas government and politics and make frequent comparisons between American government and Texas government. 

Grading Policy

Midterm #1: 25%

Midterm #2: 30%

Final exam: 40%

Writing assignments: 5% 

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to American politics.  The course topics include an introduction to America’s constitutional foundations, the function of institutions (Congress, Presidency, Courts), the role of intermediary organizations (parties, interest groups, media), and the relationship between the mass public and politics (public opinion and participation).  In addition to mastering a set of basic facts about American government, students will learn theories addressing “big questions” in American politics, and will explore critical assessments of the evidence brought to bear on these questions. Some of these topics will also be examined in the context of Texas politics.  This class has no prerequisites.

Grading Policy

20%-  1 paper (5-7 pages)

5%- 3 in class writing exercises

50%- 2 midterms (25% each)

25%- 1 final exam

Texts

Fiorina, Peterson, Johnson and Mayer.  2011.  The New American Democracy, Alternate 7th Ed.  Pearson. (NAD)

Supplemental readings will be available on Blackboard.

Government 312L satisfies the second half of the mandated six hours of government that every UT student must take.  Course covers analysis of varying topics concerned with American political institutions and policies, including the United States Constitution, and assumes basic knowledge of government from GOV 310L, which is a prerequiste. May be taken for credit only once.

*Course Canceled*

Course Description

Purpose:

This course seeks to help you do better the two things citizens must do well if the presidency is to work:  choose and judge presidents.  It tries to offer useful answers to the question, “Where should I look and what should I look for to better choose and judge?”  The concepts and information presented are similar to those found in other presidency courses, but with one important difference.  Here they are subordinated to the citizen’s-eye-view of the presidency and tested for relevance to the evaluation of presidential performance and presidential candidate qualifications.

Organization:  

The course is organized into the following three parts and associated lecture topics.

A.  Presidential Precedents How do past presidents (and national experience, and changing circumstances) influence the way an incumbent chief executive performs and is judged?

  1. Introduction:  Functions and Values

  2. The Presidency Defined and Launched: Washington

  3.The Presidency Democratized:  Jefferson and Jackson                          

  4.  Presidential Morality and Power:  Polk and Lincoln

          5.  The Presidency Modernized:  TR, Wilson, FDR

          6.  Why Reputations Change:  Truman, Eisenhower, JFK

          7.  The Impact of Vietnam and Watergate:  Johnson and Nixon

          8.  Preliminary Appraisals:  From Ford to Bush II

          9.  The Lessons of Presidential   History

B.  Current Presidential Operations  What is the president's "job description", and how can we tell if the incumbent is performing well?

            1.  Introduction:  The Grounds for Judgment

            2.  The Campaign for Office

            3.  The Domestic Policy Arena

            4.  Confronting Congress

            5.  Media:  The Classic Dilemma

            6.  The Budget and Economic Policy

            7.  Foreign Policy

            8.  Presidential Competence and the Public Interest

C.  Evaluating Presidential Candidates.  What are the reasons for preferring one presidential candidate to another?

            1.  Introduction:  Five Dimensions of Presidential Leadership

            2.  Candidate Qualifications

            3.  Character:  Avoiding Troubled Candidates 

D.  Course Conclusion:  The Division of Labor

Grading Policy

2 multiple choice mid-term examinations 30% each

1 essay final exam, 40%

- Attendance is required. More than three absences = lower course grade (one-half letter grade reduction for each absence after three).

- Make-up exams are for emergencies only, not for scheduling convenience.  Eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis.  Students facing emergencies must notify the instructor or a T.A. before missing an exam unless it is physically impossible 

- Unexcused absences from any scheduled exam may result in a score of zero for that exam.

Texts

J.A. Pika, and J.A. Maltese. 2013.  The Politics of the Presidency, (8th Edition).

M. Nelson, ed. 2012. The Evolving Presidency. (4th Edition).

One national daily newspaper:  e.g., The Washington Post, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal.

Other readings on Blackboard (as indicated on weekly schedule) 

Substantial writing component.  Fulfills second half of legislative requirement for 6 hours of American Government.  Includes strongly encouraged, but voluntary, Supplemental Instruction discussion sections, which are statistically associated with higher grades for those students who participate.

Course Description 

Americans are often said to be obsessed with their Constitution.  So be it; but then it behooves us to know something about it.  The approach taken in this course is to return to the early debates surrounding its writing and ratification.  We make no use at all of textbooks; rather we study the political thinking of the early Americans in their own words.

Another old saw is that history is written by the winners.  However, this is not be a course in winner-worship:  Equal attention and respect are given, on the one hand, to those who wrote the Constitution and argued for its ratification, and on the other, to those who argued against it or demanded sweeping changes in its content.  There are several good reasons for such evenhandedness.  One is that, for all we know, the losers might have been right.  Another is that they might have had some influence on the winners.  Still a third is that we can't fully understand the arguments by which the winners won unless we understand what they were arguing against.

Having spoken of history, I should now admit that this is not a "history course" in the ordinary sense.  Rather it is a course in early American political thought -- in political theory and philosophy.  Another thing that you should understand is that this course puts heavy emphasis on the development of skills in interpretive reading, critical thinking, and analytical writing.  For instance, it doesn't matter that you can read what a writer has written and figure out what he believes.  What matters is whether you can learn to figure out why he believes it, and how it is logically related to other things he believes.  In other words, when you read you are expected to look for arguments, not just propositions.

Grading Policy

Unit 1: Required analytical outline.

Unit 2:  Required take-home essay.  Analytical outline for extra credit.

Unit 3:  Required take-home essay.  Analytical outline for extra credit.

Thirteen short quizzes.

Attendance in Supplemental Instruction discussion sections is STRONGLY recommended but not required, and is statistically correlated with better performance and therefore higher grades.

Final grades are calculated in four steps.  First, each student's TWO lowest quiz grades are dropped, and remaining quiz grades averaged.  Second, this average is "curved."  Third, the uncurved exam grades and the curved quiz average are weighted, as follows:

Unit 1 analytical outlines- 25%

Unit 2 take-home exam (uncurved, counting extra credit points)- 25%

Unit 3 take-home exam (uncurved, counting extra credit points)- 25%

Curved quiz average- 25%

Class participation and attendance modify grades; see the Course Policies handout.  Scholastic dishonesty results in a failing grade for the course.

Texts

The following required books have been ordered.  Each book must be purchased.  Bring the books we are using at the moment to class.

1. Ralph Ketcham, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates, excerpts.

2. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist, excerpts.

3. Herbert J. Storing, ed., with Murray Dry, The Anti-Federalist, excerpts.

Prerequisites: 

None

Course Description:

 In recent decades, social movements have mobilized people concerned about issues ranging from the rights of women and ethnic minorities to the environment, human rights, and world peace.  These new social movements are frequently distinguished by the socio-economic heterogeneity of their members, the informal and fluid nature of their organization, the uneasy relationship they have to established political institutions, and the unconventional forms of protest they employ.

This course will examine and analyze the origins, modes of action, and impact of movements centered on three issues:  women, racial minorities, and the environment.  Comparisons will be made between the civil rights movement in the United States and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, feminism in the United States and in Chile, and the Greens in West Germany and Brazilian efforts to diminish the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. 

The goal of this comparative enterprise will be to examine how different socio-economic and political contexts shape social movements based on somewhat common issues.  For example, in many developing societies, where great numbers of people are poor, uneducated, and often intimidated by authoritarian governments, social movements face particularly stiff obstacles to organization.  International attention and support have often been necessary to protect these movements.  By contrast, in the West, basic human rights are more likely to be guaranteed and an articulate middle class with a sense of political efficacy is more likely to assure the success of a social movement.   In this vein, the course will analyze how social movements emerge and function within existing structures of politics, and how they try to create new structures of interest representation to influence policy-making.

Grading Policy: There will be two in class examinations during the course of the semester and one final take-home essay assignment.

Texts 

Sidney Tarrow.  2011.  Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics.  New York:  Cambridge University Press. 

Clayborne Carson.  1995.   In Struggle:  SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s.Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 

Boehmer, Elleke.  2008.  Nelson Mandela:  A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Ruth Rosen.  2000.  The World Split Open:  How the Women’s Movement Changed America. New York:  Viking/Penguin. 

Lisa Baldez.  2002.  Why Women Protest:  Women’s Movements in Chile.  New York: Cambridge University Press.

Other readings will be made available through Blackboard.   

Course Description

An overview of poverty, inequality and welfare issues in the United States, with some attention as well to Texas and to global issues. 

Grading Policy

Three exams (short answers and essay); optional extra paper

Texts

DiNitto and Johnson, Essentials of Social Welfare

Rodgers, American Poverty in a New Era of Reform

Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed

Isbister, Promises Not Kept

Prerequisites

Twenty-four semester hours of college coursework, including Government 310L, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test (or an appropriate assessment test).

Description

This course examines the ways in which the media shape how we think about race. In doing so, this course will first explore the nature and construction of race. Second, it will examine the media establishment and its role in politics. Third, it will apply theories of media norms to explore how racial stereotypes of the four largest minority groups in the U.S. are created and perpetuated. Finally, this course will examine the effects of racialized media images on political processes.

Grading Policy

Your grade will be based on two exams, one term paper, and several pop quizzes/in-class assignments. The format for the two exams will be a combination of multiple choice and essays and will cover the lectures, films, and readings.  Quizzes will be given at random and at any time during lecture. Frequently, I give quizzes at the beginning of class so be on time.  If you miss a quiz because of tardiness, you CANNOT make it up.  Each quiz/in-class assignment will be worth 5 points each. You will receive one point for just handing in a quiz/in-class assignment. Credit for the remaining 4 points is determined by the quality of your work. Your quiz/in-class assignment grade will be calculated by taking the total number of points that you have earned divided by the total number of points available minus one quiz. In other words, each student can miss one quiz without it counting against his/her grade.  Your quiz grade is a weighted average (see below), with a maximum of 25 points.  In the case of a conflict, please notify me ahead of time so that we can make alternative arrangements. Without prior notification and proper documentation, missed quizzes, assignments and exams cannot be made up. NO EXCEPTIONS. The weight of each assignment in determining your final grade is as follows:

Exam 1 (March 22)                                        25%

Term Paper (due April 12)                              25%

Exam 2 (May 3)                                            25%

Quizzes and in-class assignments                   25%

A         93-100

A-        90-92

B+       87-89

B         83-86

B-        80-82

C+       77-79

C         73-76

C-        70-72

D         60-69

F          0-59

Texts

There are two required text books for this course. Both books are available at the University Co-op.

Larson, Stephanie Greco.  2005.  Media and Minorities: The Politics of Race in News and Entertainment.  Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Leighley, Jan E. 2003.  Mass Media and Politics: A Social Science Perspective. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Supplementary Readings: Readings not found in the required texts can be accessed through Blackboard (courses.utexas.edu).

Prerequisites: 

None

Course Description:

 In recent decades, social movements have mobilized people concerned about issues ranging from the rights of women and ethnic minorities to the environment, human rights, and world peace.  These new social movements are frequently distinguished by the socio-economic heterogeneity of their members, the informal and fluid nature of their organization, the uneasy relationship they have to established political institutions, and the unconventional forms of protest they employ.

This course will examine and analyze the origins, modes of action, and impact of movements centered on three issues:  women, racial minorities, and the environment.  Comparisons will be made between the civil rights movement in the United States and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, feminism in the United States and in Chile, and the Greens in West Germany and Brazilian efforts to diminish the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. 

The goal of this comparative enterprise will be to examine how different socio-economic and political contexts shape social movements based on somewhat common issues.  For example, in many developing societies, where great numbers of people are poor, uneducated, and often intimidated by authoritarian governments, social movements face particularly stiff obstacles to organization.  International attention and support have often been necessary to protect these movements.  By contrast, in the West, basic human rights are more likely to be guaranteed and an articulate middle class with a sense of political efficacy is more likely to assure the success of a social movement.   In this vein, the course will analyze how social movements emerge and function within existing structures of politics, and how they try to create new structures of interest representation to influence policy-making.

Grading Policy: There will be two in class examinations during the course of the semester and one final take-home essay assignment.

Texts 

Sidney Tarrow.  2011.  Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics.  New York:  Cambridge University Press. 

Clayborne Carson.  1995.   In Struggle:  SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s.Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 

Boehmer, Elleke.  2008.  Nelson Mandela:  A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Ruth Rosen.  2000.  The World Split Open:  How the Women’s Movement Changed America. New York:  Viking/Penguin. 

Lisa Baldez.  2002.  Why Women Protest:  Women’s Movements in Chile.  New York: Cambridge University Press.

Other readings will be made available through Blackboard.   

Course Description

 This course will examine the major events in Texas political history from 16th century Spanish Texas up to the present.

Grading Policy

There will be three in-class, multiple-choice exams on the dates noted below. There is no final exam. The first two exams have 35 questions and the last one has 30 questions for a total of 100 questions on all three exams.  The raw scores on the three exams are added and the total raw scores are then curved to determine your final grade. There is no extra credit. A make-up exam (not multiple-choice) will be given only if an exam is missed for a valid reason. A plus/minus grading system will be used. See Blackboard/Course Documents for a full description of the grading system.

Texts

Randolph B. Campbell, Gone To Texas: A History of the Lone Star State, Oxford University Press, 2003.

Prerequisites

None 

Course Description

This course will analyze the origins and consequences of U.S. policies toward Latin America. The first third of the course provides some basic background on U.S.-Latin American relations. We will identify the main actors in U.S. policymaking in the region, discuss different theories that seek to explain U.S.-Latin American relations, and examine the history of U.S.-Latin American relations from the colonial period to World War II. The second part of the course will deal with U.S.-Latin American relations during the Cold War, from 1945 to 1990. The topics examined here will include the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs, U.S. support for South American military regimes, and U.S. policy toward guerrilla movements in Central America. The final section of the course will examine current issues in U.S.-Latin American relations, including trade, immigration, narcotics and the promotion of human rights and democracy.

Grading Policy

2 in-class examinations with multiple choice and essay questions (30% each)

1 in-class examination with multiple choice questions only (20%)

1 5-6 page policy research paper (20%)

Texts:

Danner, Mark. The Massacre at El Mozote. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Kennedy, Robert. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton and Co. 1999.

Weeks, Gregory. U.S. and Latin American Relations. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008.

Course packet

Close readings from primary texts that have shaped or that reflect deeply upon American democracy, including the Declaration of Independance, the Federalist Papers, and Tocqueville's Democracy in America.  Fulfills second half of the legislative requirement for government. May be taken for credit only once. Government 312L and 312P may not both be counted for credit.

Course Description

The focus of this course is the most famous book ever written on American politics, Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. The wide-ranging insights of this classic work  speak not only to American political life and culture, but also to race, class, the family, friendship, and the state of the American soul. We will read as much of the two-volume work as possible, focusing particular attention on its main themes, such as the American love of equality, the importance of local government, the perils of American materialism, and the dangers of tyranny of the majority. We will discuss his observations on American religion, ambition, intellectual life, family life, and the relations between the sexes. We will consider such questions as: What is unique about American democracy? What are its strengths and weaknesses? What can the world learn from American democracy, and what can legislators and citizens do to ensure that it remains healthy and vibrant? What were Tocqueville’s broader concerns about the future of America? In the latter part of the course, we will examine the ways in which Tocqueville’s predictions have and have not been borne out. Now over a century and a quarter old, Tocqueville’s analysis remains surprisingly accurate and surprisingly relevant.

This course fulfills the second half of the legislative requirement for government.

Grading Policy

A mid-term exam, an optional paper, and a final exam. Class participation is taken into consideration and attendance counts.

Texts

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Volumes I and II, Vintage Classics edition

A Course Reader

Prerequisites

None

Course Description

This seminar provides a basic introduction to human rights by exploring competing answers to such questions as: What is the idea of human rights? Who are the “humans” of human rights? In a state-centric world, how do human rights relate to the nation-state and beyond any state? How are human rights related to the history of European empire and commerce? How are human rights related to the European Enlightenment? How are human rights related to global poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment? What roles do international instruments play -- or fail to play? How are human rights related to non-European cultures, such as various East Asian and African cultures? The seminar will also consider alternative approaches to understanding and advancing human rights, including human rights as political not theological; generating universal human rights out of local norms; individuals as authors of human rights; translating human rights into local cultural vernaculars; and advancing human rights through cognitive reframing.

Grading Policy

 Average of four essays (each 5 pages), adjusted for quality of in-class participation

 Texts

 Benjamin Gregg, Human Rights as Social Construction (Cambridge University Press, 2012), print

(ISBN-13: 9781107015937) or digital (ISBN-13: 9781139059626)

This course will serve as an introduction to American politics and critical race theory, with a focus on the Asian American community. Against the backdrop of the 2012 presidential election, students will gain an understanding of the American political process, and the historic and contemporary role of Asian Americans within that process. We will explore whether and how factors such as race, religion, transnationalism and socio-economic and immigration status affect political participation.

Course Description

Europe has experienced major change since World War II, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to European enlargement, with Bulgaria and Romania increasing the size of the EU to 27 member states.  Enlargements of Europe, European integration, and ethnic conflict have presented major challenges for the governments of Western Europe. The current fiscal crisis has complicated politics in the EU, and challenged the survival of both the Euro and the broader European project. This course will introduce the governments and politics of countries in Western Europe and a comparative politics approach will be used.

What is comparative politics?

Comparative politics is the field within political science that tries to explain why countries vary in their domestic political institutions, their level of political and economic development, and their public policies.  Other fields in political science include international relations, political theory and American politics.

Grading Policy

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the political institutions of European governments and the European Union.  By the end of the course students will be expected to be able to describe the different types of government institutions and how they impact politics and policy making in Europe. They will also be expected to describe some of the important issues facing European governments, including issues related to immigration, the financial crisis and European enlargement. Student achievement of these goals will be assessed through exams and written assignments as described below.

To receive credit for the course, students are required to complete all assigned readings and to attend lecture (the TA will be taking attendance after the first week of class).  Any assignments not completed within a week of the due date will be given a zero.  There will be two exams and weekly assignments.  The overall grading breakdown is as follows:

Exam 1                                                            20%

Exam 2                                                            30%

Weekly assignments                                          40%

Participation                                                      10%

Total                                                                100%

Prerequisites

GOV 310L and GOV 312L

Course Description

An introduction to the politics of Latin America that includes a brief historical overview, discussion of social and economic conditions and principle political actors, along with several case studies. It also includes materials on US-Latin American relations.

Grading Policy

Three exams (short answer and essay); optional paper

Texts

Blake, Politics in Latin America

Wiarda and Kline, Concise Introduction to Latin American Politics and Development

Weeks, US and Latin American Relations

Course Description

This course offers an over view of the place of the presidency in the American political order.  Topics covered include: constitutional design of the office; nominations and elections; legislative leadership; leadership of the bureaucracy; staffing and organizing the White House; the presidency and the judiciary; war and emergencies.  We will spend extra time this fall on the presidential campaign and election of 2012.

Grading Policy

Two in-class examinations  (50% of the final grade)

One short (1000 word) take-home essay (30% of the final grade)

Class participation and quizzes (20% of the final grade)

Texts

Richard J. Ellis, The Development of the American Presidency (Routledge, 2012)

Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, eds, Debating the American Presidency, (2nd edition, CQ Press, 2009)

Packet of selected primary texts (to be linked or posted on Blackboard).

Course Description

This course offers an over view of the place of the presidency in the American political order.  Topics covered include: constitutional design of the office; nominations and elections; legislative leadership; leadership of the bureaucracy; staffing and organizing the White House; the presidency and the judiciary; war and emergencies.  We will spend extra time this fall on the presidential campaign and election of 2012.

Grading Policy

Two in-class examinations  (50% of the final grade)

One short (1000 word) take-home essay (30% of the final grade)

Class participation and quizzes (20% of the final grade)

Texts

Richard J. Ellis, The Development of the American Presidency (Routledge, 2012)

Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, eds, Debating the American Presidency, (2nd edition, CQ Press, 2009)

Packet of selected primary texts (to be linked or posted on Blackboard).

Course Description

In this course we'll be reading and discussing various ideas about why different people experience reality differently, and how the differing ways people experience reality and then act upon that experience can result in changes in reality--for them and for others--over time.  We'll then ask how we and others can use this knowledge to create changes we or they desire.  

    Much of our study will focus on basic aspects of everyday life, especially interpersonal and intergroup relations.  Most of that study will be theoretical, combining aspects of psychology, philosophy, sociology, theology, anthropology, and other aspects of the human sciences.  From time to time, however, we'll also consider some aspects of political action.

Texts

The basic readings will be the following three paperbacks available in the Co-op (and likely in used bookstores):

Ronald Laing/The Politics of Experience/Ballantine

Peter Berger & Thomas Luckmann/The Social Construction of Reality/Anchor

Owen Barfield/Saving the Appearances/Wesleyan University Press

We will also have supplementary readings from time to time throughout the semester, and the last quarter of the class will consist entirely of such readings.  I shall select these readings as the semester progresses to critique, complement and expand upon the readings listed above.  Most will be available either via the electronic reserve program E-Res administered by the General Libraries (which will give you free access to them and allow you to download them and print them so you can read them and bring them to class) or from a local copyshop.  I'll make specific reading assignments in class from session to session rather than in advance, because specific assignments will depend in part on how the course progresses.

The course will review Southern political history from the 1780s to the present. In the first part of the course, we review the events which transformed the South from a region of progressive nationalism from the 1780s to the 1810s to a region of defensive sectionalism from the 1820s to the 1860s. Touching briefly on the Civil War, we then take up Reconstruction and the agrarian movement of the late 19th century, followed by the period of the “Solid South” in the first half of the 20th century. Next we examine the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, followed by the rise of southern Republicans in the late 20th century.

There will be three in-class, multiple-choice exams on the dates noted below. There is no final exam. The first two exams have 35 questions and the last one has 30 questions for a total of 100 points on all three exams. The raw scores on the three exams are added and the total raw scores are then curved to determine your final grade. There is no extra credit. A make-up exam (not multiple-choice) will be given only if an exam is missed for a valid reason. A plus/minus grading system will be used. The grading system is fully explained on Blackboard under “Course Documents.”

Texts

Steve Bickerstaff, Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom DeLay, University of Texas 2007.

Course Description

Twice in the 20th century Russia experienced revolutionary political, economic, and social change. Since the communist regime collapse in 1991, Russia has attempted to simultaneously transform its political system from a communist regime to a democratic one and its state-controlled economy to one based on a free market. While engaged in this daunting task, the country has also had to deal with the precipitous decline in international power and influence that accompanied the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, loss of empire in Eastern Europe, and defeat in its superpower struggle with the United States. Begun with high hopes of a smooth transition to free market democracy, this transformation instead produced a decade-long economic collapse and very fragile democratic and capitalist institutions.  In the 2000s, President Vladimir Putin ushered in a highly centralized political system that was marked by excessive executive power, severe restrictions on civil liberties, human rights, and media freedoms, and manipulated and fraudulent elections.  Essentially, Russia has returned to authoritarian rule despite retaining some of the trappings of democratic politics.

This course will introduce students to the political development in Russia from 1917 to the present. It is vitally necessary to have some background on the Soviet system if one is to understand the contemporary situation. Thus, we will spend the first one-third of the course examining the birth, life, and death of the Soviet Union. After this, we will discuss the twin challenges of democratization and radical market reform facing the new post-Soviet Russian state. We will examine competing explanations including culture, institutions, and leadership decisions that can account for the difficulties Russia has had establishing a functional democracy and market economy.

Grading Policy

First Take-Home Essay                                              25%

First Midterm Exam                                                   20%

Second Take-Home Essay                                          25%

Second Midterm Exam                                               20%

Participation (based on in-class quizzes)                      10%

Texts

M. Steven Fish, Democracy Derailed in Russia.

Z. Barany and R. Moser (eds.), Russian Politics: Challenges of Democratization.

Course Description

An introduction to game theory.

Grading Policy

There will be three in-class multiple-choice exams covering material from each of the three sections of the course. Each exam is of the problem-solving type, similar to the SAT math exam. There is no final exam and no extra credit. A make-up exam (not multiple-choice) will be given only if an exam is missed for a valid reason.

The first two exams will have 20 questions, the third 16 questions. Each question is worth one point. The points you receive on the three exams are added together to determine your total score. These scores will be curved to determine your final grade, approximating as closely as possible the following distribution: 25% A’s, 30% B’s, 25% C’s, 15% D’s and 5% F’s. A plus/minus grading system will be used.

Texts 

Joel Watson, STRATEGY: An Introduction to Game Theory. 2nd edition. W.W. Norton, 2008.

Below each reading are a chapter number and a list of exercises, which can be found at the end of the chapter. It is strongly recommended that these exercises be attempted before they are done in class. Parts of the Appendix (App) are also assigned.

Course Description

This course introduces basic concepts and methods of statistics. Unlike the typical elementary statistical courses you may have taken, the emphasis here will be on applications in political science. The objective of this course is to help students acquire the literacy for understanding political science literatures based on the scientific approach, as well as to prepare interested students for more advanced methods courses.

Topics include descriptive statistics, probability and probability distributions, sampling, sampling distribution, point estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, contingency tables, and other statistical procedures. Computing will be an integral part of this course. You will use SPSS to analyze data from Gallup Survey, General Social Survey, and National Election Study in homework assignments. In particular, you will be asked to replicate results reported in journal articles and book chapters. You are also encouraged to develop and work out your own research problems.

Grading Policy

Homework Assignments (6-7 sets): 30%

In-Class Midterm Exam: 30%

In-Class Final Exam: 30%

Instructor Discretion (Attendance, Participation, etc.): 10%

Required Texts

* T. H. Wonnacott and R. J. Wannacott. 1990. Introductory Statistics, 5th Ed. Wiley. (Or 4th Ed., Introductory Statistics for Buisness and Economics, 1990, which is the same as the 5th Ed.)

Optional Texts

 * S. B. Green and N. J. Salkind, 2011. Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data, 6th  Ed. Prentice Hall.

Course Description

What is justice?  What are its demands as a virtue of individuals?  What is its status as a guiding principle of domestic politics and as a restraint or standard in times of war?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of political orders in their quest for justice or in their pursuit of alternative ends?  What is the relationship between politics and philosophy?  In this course we will consider these fundamental and enduring questions of political philosophy primarily through a careful study of two of the masterpieces of classical antiquity:  Plato’s Republic and Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War.  Although we will supplement our study of these two great texts with a look at other works, such as Plato’s Apology of Socrates, our focus will be on reading and discussing the Republic and The Peloponnesian War.  These works will be approached, not just as crucial documents for our understanding of a distant age, but as works that still speak directly and profoundly to permanent questions of moral and political life.  

Grading Policy

Paper: 20%

First exam: 25%

Second exam: 25%

Attendance: 10%

Participation: 10%

Quizzes: 10%

(Note:  These percentages are approximate, and the paper may be made optional.)

Texts

Plato and Aristophanes, Four Texts on Socrates, trans. by T. West and G. West (Cornell)

Plato, The Republic of Plato, trans. by Allan Bloom (Basic Books)

Thucydides, The Landmark Thucydides, ed. By Robert Strassler (The Free Press) 

Course Description

This course examines the philosophic origins of modern political thought by means of a close textual analysis of Machiavelli's Prince, Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, and Rousseau’s Second Discourse and Social Contract. Taking as our starting-point some of the leading questions of modern political philosophy – such as the aims and limits of politics, the role and function of religion, and the status and end of philosophy –, we will attempt not only to come to grips with the sometimes profound disagreements between the thinkers under consideration, but also to come to appreciate the fact that in spite of these disagreements, they all fought one and the same power: the kingdom of darkness.

Grading Policy

Attendance and Participation- 15 %

Papers- 35 %

Midterm Exam- 20 %

Final Exam- 30%

Texts

Machiavelli: The Prince (transl. Harvey C. Mansfield), second edition, Chicago UP, 1998 ISBN: 0226500446)

Hobbes: Leviathan (ed. E. Curley), Hackett Publ., 1994 (ISBN: 0872201775) 

Locke: Two Treatises of Government (ed. P. Laslett), Cambridge UP, 1988 (ISBN: 0521357306)

Rousseau: The Discourses and other early political writing, (ed. V. Gourevitch), Cambridge UP, 1997 (ISBN: 0521424453); The Social Contract and other later political writings (ed.V. Gourevitch), Cambridge UP, 1997       (ISBN: 0521424461)

Course Description

This class is a study of international relations through the lens of political philosophy.  Through a careful study of classic texts, we will raise and attempt to answer basic questions about relations among states, including: What place does justice in issues of war and peace?  Under what circumstances is war just?  How do religious teachings affect one’s approach to foreign policy, and whatdifferences are there between different religions?  Are there any natural laws which govern how states should conduct themselves to each other?  How have modern political institutions shaped international relations?  Is it reasonable to hope for an era of lasting international peace, and if so, how might it be attained?  How can looking at war and peace help us come to a better understanding of what justice itself is?

We will see the answers which competing philosophic schools have given to these questions, and the arguments they made for them. 

 Our study will cover: the classical republican struggle for and against empire in Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War; Christian Just War theory in Aquinas and Vitoria; Islamic Jihad Theory; the moral supremacy of independent national sovereignty in Hobbes; the defense of a globalizing moral community achieved through commercialization by Montesquieu; and the proposal of a world legal order achieved through international legal organization byKant.

 By studying these works, we will gain a better understanding of the most common contemporary approaches to war and peace.  Our goal is not only to get a better sense of where the reigning answers to our questions came from, but to try to answerthem for ourselves as best we can.  As such, this class requires serious engagement, a willingness to think critically about one’s own beliefs, and regular, active participation. 

Grading Policy

Grading will be based on two short papers, a midterm, a final exam, quizzes, participation in discussion sections, and attendance.

Prerequisites

Some previous study of political philosophy is recommended.

Course Description

This course will explore the themes of morality and leadership in the writings of two great political philosopher, the ancient Athenian Xenophon and the renaissance Florentine Machiavelli. First, we will read Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus, a rich fictional depiction of a virtuous ancient polis and the process by which a man of boundless talents and ambition easily subverts it. In place of the virtuous republic, Xenophon’s Cyrus creates a progressive, dynamic, multi-ethnic society, aimed at wealth and expansion and glory, in which merit is rewarded and a self-sacrificing view of justice is replaced by a frank pursuit of the good things of this world. Yet in exploring this entrancing vision, Xenophon gives clear reasons why, in the end, he rejects it as the best model for a healthy society. Thus we will turn next to Xenophon’s Memorabilia of Socrates, in which he presents an alternate model of human excellence, that of the philosopher Socrates. Machiavelli had the highest opinion of Xenophon and gave all his works the closest study. Yet he came to the opposite conclusion from Xenophon, and devoted his writings to promoting the progressive, expansive political vision and the embrace of ambition that Xenophon rejected. We will read next Machiavelli’s two great masterpieces, the Prince and Discourses on Livy. What did Machiavelli see that Xenophon did not, or what did Xenophon see that Machiavelli did not? How can these contrasting works help us understand and assess the deepest differences between ancient and modern republicanism and the fundamental presuppositions of modern liberalism?

Grading Policy

Attendance, quizzes, and participation- 20%

5-page paper on Xenophon- 25%

5-page paper on Machiavelli- 25%

Final exam- 30%

Texts

Xenophon, Education of Cyrus, trans. Ambler, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-8750-1.

Xenophon, Memorabilia of Socrates, trans. Bonnette, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-8171-6.

Machiavelli, Prince, trans. Mansfield, Chicago, ISBN 0-226-50038-1

Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, trans. Mansfield, Chicago, ISBN 0-226-50036-5

Prerequisites

6 hours lower division Government courses

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the American legal system with a particular emphasis on the roles of its key actors. The political nature of many legal disputes will be explored as will the legal aspects of many political disputes. This course will also examine the potential (as well as actual) impact of citizen participation at all levels of the legal system.

Grading Policy 

Two examinations will be given - a midterm worth 30% of your grade and a comprehensive final exam worth 30%. Two short papers are also required. They are worth 30% of your final grade. Additional assignments and class participation will be worth 10%. Papers must be completed to receive a passing grade in the course.

Text

Robert Carp, Ronald Stidham and Kenneth Manning (2011) Judicial Process in America. Washington, DC: CQ Press. 8th Edition

What do I mean by the Face of Justice? In our democracy, justice concerns certaininalienable rights: liberty, due process, equality. And it concerns freedom fromgovernmental intrusion on the right to speak, to assemble, to be secure in our homes, topractice or not practice any religion we choose. Certainly justice includes some notion offairness. These fundamental values are expressed in the Declaration of Independence andthe Bill of Rights. The Face of Justice reflects the individuals whose rights are beingprotected (and those whose rights are being overlooked) by our operating system ofjustice at given time. But these rights have little meaning without a political structure that enforces them. OurConstitution establishes a unique form of government, characterized by a separation ofpowers and an independent.judiciary. The Face of Justice also reflects the individualswho are allowed to fully participate (and those who are excluded) in the civic andpolitical society that enforces our individual rights.Women are not the only individuals whose rights have been overlooked even under ourConstitution, even under our Bill of Rights. Women are not the only actors who havebeen formally excluded from voting, running for office, holding and managing theirproperty, serving on juries, obtaining the education they seek, entering the professionsthey desire, and receiving equal pay for the work they perform. By focusing on the ways that women have been excluded from political, educational and professional opportunities, and their struggles to redefine their rights and their roles, we learn that justice is never fully attained and is never fully secure. It is my hope that by observing some of the faces once excluded from the tent of justice, we can learn to recognize those who are still excluded. It is my hope that by studying the persistence and doggedness of those who were once excluded, that we may find the courage to further extend thepromises of justice and to shore up the institutions that enforce it. This is a small class and it will only work if you do the readings and participate in the discussions. Attendence is required.

Course Description

This course is designed for government majors, students who are interested in some of the core issues of "retail" politics, students who want to become political practitioners or are political “junkies,”  students who want a little taste of what law school might be like, future government teachers, and students who are interested in some of the difficult and current theoretical issues at the intersection of law and politics.

There are many ways to conceptualize the structure of this course. One way is to see it as being about the way institutional structures affect or cause results in our political system. For example, how requiring a voter i.d. law may affect the outcome of elections. From another viewpoint, it is a course in constitutional and statutory interpretation with the subject matter being elections and electoral law. From still another point of view it is about what structures and processes are necessary or sufficient to create the American form of republican government. Of course, that also requires constantly defining what is "republican government."

The course is a discussion course, not a lecture course. Students are expected to prepare for each day's assignments so they can discuss the assigned material in class. There is no way to be highly successful in this course without such preparation.

Grading Policy

    3 Hour Exams -approx 65%(19, 22, 24%)

    Papers - approx 17%

    Class participation, quizzes and attendance - approx 18%

Examinations

Each examination will be divided into two parts, 60% essay and 40% objective or short answer.  The objective will be 30 or so true/false, multiple choice or similar kinds of questions. Generally, there will be 2 essays  worth approximately 30 points each. 

Papers and Class Project

There will be a briefing assignment using the full text of one of the cases we cover in this course Everyone in the class will be required to participate in some aspect of the 2012  elections in Travis County, mainly as poll watchers at early voting.   If you do not want to register to vote in Travis County, you can go to your home county to complete the project. If you cannot register to vote in the U.S., we will have an alternate project. The second paper will be about your observations during the elections. A couple of times during the semester you  may be asked to turn in one of your daily class briefs.  These will be graded on a 4 point scale, well done, adequate, unacceptable, not done.  These points will count toward your class participation grade

Class Participation and Attendance

This part of your  grade consists of the following:

         A. Demonstrating a reasonable level of daily preparation and understanding of the material covered.

         B. Contributions made to class discussion and analysis.

         C. Overall attendance.  More than 3 unexcused absences will affect this part of your grade. More than      5 will lead to a loss of one grade.

Texts

Election Law: Cases and Materials: by Daniel Lowenstein and Richard HasenDemocracy in America,  by Alexis De TocquevilleDon’t Vote It Just Encourages The Bastards by P.J. O’Rourke

Prerequisites

None

Description

In this class, we will attempt to bring together the study of public law and political theory by exploring the philosophical principles underlying court decisions on civil liberties.  For 2009, topics to be covered include: (1) freedom of religion; (2) freedom of speech; (3) abortion; (4) sexual orientation; (5) racial and sex discrimination; and (6) affirmative action.

Grading Policy  

Plus and minus grades based on Paper (20%), midterm (30%), final exam (40%), attendance and participation (10%).

Texts

1.   Sullivan and Gunther, Constitutional Law (17th ed).

2.   Sullivan and Gunther, 2011 Supplement to Constitutional Law.

3.   Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty.

4.   Rawls, A Theory of Justice.

5.   Cohen, Marshall, ed., Rights and Wrongs of Abortion.

Course Description

Politics is often defined as "the authoritative allocation of values."  In the American political system, the Constitution is an important source of authority, and it gives preference to certain values.  The Constitution is a document of law, politics, and political theory.  Determining what the Constitution means, determining how to determine what it means, and determining who should determine what it means are fundamental tasks for participants in the American political process and for students of it.  The course may be of interest to those thinking about attending law school, but it is equally valuable to those who have no such interest.  Given the nature of our society, understanding the Constitution and constitutional law is part of a liberal arts education.  For the most part, the course does not focus on the "civil liberties" provisions in the Constitution; those important subjects are left to other courses.One objective of the course is for the student to become a constitutional interpreter who contributes intelligently to this ongoing process.  Judges have never been, nor should be, the only ones engaging in constitutional interpretation.  Presidents, members of Congress, and many others engage in constitutional interpretation.  A more complete course would examine their statements and actions in greater detail.  Judges, however, play a very important role in defining the meaning of the Constitution.  As such, it is important to learn what judges have said the Constitution means and to understand how they came to such conclusions.  This necessitates learning how to read and analyze judicial opinions.  The student should develop a sufficient comfort level with legal analysis so that she or he can evaluate intelligently some important interpretations of the justices and ask the questions that a student of politics should ask.  Prominent among such questions are those concerned with the proper role of courts and judges in the American political system.  We concentrate on the primary material--the Constitution and cases--so that the student can begin to develop his or her own ideas without undue influence.     Another objective of this course is to improve reasoning and communication skills.  Engaging in constitutional reasoning can assist in developing intellectual precision and political persuasiveness.  As in most courses, good writing is demanded, but it is also important to develop the capacity to think and speak on one's feet.  Mastering the use of language, orally and in writing, increases the ability to think and communicate clearly.  Moving toward such mastery is a vital part of education.    The course requires a substantial time commitment.  The time required varies greatly over the course of the semester, and as described below, it is hard to plan ahead.

Course Description

This course will examine the politics and history of public policymaking in America.  We will examine how policy is made, and study contemporary policy challenges, especially focusing on financial and budgetary challenges, and health care.   We will also examine education, environment, and justice. 

Since good policies can only come about with good information, properly interpreted, the course will emphasize the roles of ideas and information in the policy process: how elected and appointed political leaders use it to formulate and implement public policies.

Objectives:

* Survey the approaches used by political scientists to understand the public policymaking process.

* Integrate current public affairs into our understanding of public policy.

* Survey the use, history, and success of the major tools used by governments in the US to address policy problems in several major issue areas.

* Further the development of analytical skills in policy analysis through brief exercises and a major paper employing library and web-based sources. Students will use the Policy Agendas Project's datasets located at the University of Texas to trace public policy activity across time.

Grading Policy

First and foremost, acquire and read the assigned material.  Second, attend class! Attendance will be monitored and will influence grades.

Grades will be based on:

Two Examinations (20% each)- Exams are non-cumulative, and will be objective-style. They will concentrate on your understanding of the course material--readings (including texts, newspapers, and CQ Researcher reports), lecture, and discussions

Two Exercises (10% each)- These will be short papers (2-3 pages), based on the Policy Agendas Datasets. The datasets are located at http://www.policyagendas.org.

Policy Paper (20%)- The paper will ask you to use the analytic skills that you are learning in the course to study the course of policy development in a major policy area. You will develop a policy history (including using the resources of the Policy Agendas Project), analyze the current implementation arrangements (if any), and make policy recommendations (if you wish).  REMEMBER John Adams!

Course attendance and participation (including in-class quizzes)- (20%)

Required Texts ( may be modified)

    * Carter A. Wilson, Public Policy: Continuity and Change.

    * Staff of the Washington Post, Landmark

    * David M. Walker, Comeback America

    * Subscription to the New York Times

    * Readings available on Blackboard

    * Readings from CQ Researcher -- on line through UT Libraries:

http://library.cqpress.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/cqresearcher/

Prerequisites

Six hours of lower-division Government

Couse Description

This class examines the evolution of American statecraft since World War II, with special emphasis on the president’s role in defining the nation’s interests.  Drawing on historical and contemporary cases, we will consider how international power and domestic politics shape the president’s geopolitical priorities and how those priorities have changed over time.  The course is designed to increase your knowledge of how US foreign policy is made and why America’s leaders pursue the grand strategies they do.

Grading Policy

Grades based on three in-class exams and one take-home writing assignment.

Texts

John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (Oxford 2005)Peter Trubowitz, Politics and Strategy (Princeton 2011)Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World (Norton 2011)

Course Description

This course examines the forces that shape global stability (and instability).  Building on a basic framework outlining how and why actors interact in the international system, this course will explore how states reach international agreements, what those agreements consist of, and how those agreements influence state behavior.  The course will also expose students to studies of international law and organizations. 

Grading Policy

2 exams (25% each), 1 5 page paper (25%), 1 discussion leading and 2 page response paper (25%)

Texts

Required: Frieden, Lake, and Schultz, World Politics.  Other readings will be available electronically through blackboard.

Prerequisites

None

Course description

International relations have enormous impacts on our daily lives, even in the absence of events such as terrorist attacks on the homeland, whether we realize this or not, and whether we play any conscious roles in international relations or not.  In fact, as we’ll see this semester, many of the things we do in everyday life are influenced by international relations, and things we do in our own lives in turn can have impacts on aspects of international relations.

In this course we’ll examine the varying political, military, economic, and cultural phenomena that cross state boundaries in the world today—among them war, diplomatic negotiation, peacekeeping, terrorism, economic relations, ecological problems, cultural exchange, and spiritual movements.  Our major interests will be in discovering what actually happens, in examining competing ideas about why things happen as they do, and in considering various ideas about how things could change or be changed.

Grading Policy

Two in class exams and a final exam, each of which will be part multiple choice and part essay.

Texts

 Textbook, not yet selected, plus daily reading of the N.Y. Times, Monday through Friday throughout the course.

Prerequisites

None

Course description

International relations have enormous impacts on our daily lives, even in the absence of events such as terrorist attacks on the homeland, whether we realize this or not, and whether we play any conscious roles in international relations or not.  In fact, as we’ll see this semester, many of the things we do in everyday life are influenced by international relations, and things we do in our own lives in turn can have impacts on aspects of international relations.

In this course we’ll examine the varying political, military, economic, and cultural phenomena that cross state boundaries in the world today—among them war, diplomatic negotiation, peacekeeping, terrorism, economic relations, ecological problems, cultural exchange, and spiritual movements.  Our major interests will be in discovering what actually happens, in examining competing ideas about why things happen as they do, and in considering various ideas about how things could change or be changed.

Grading Policy

Two in class exams and a final exam, each of which will be part multiple choice and part essay.

Texts

 Textbook, not yet selected, plus daily reading of the N.Y. Times, Monday through Friday throughout the course.

Course Description

Grading Policy

There will be three requirements for this course.  First, you will be expected to attend class, keep up with the assigned readings, participate in our discussions, and complete short in-class writing assignments and/or quizzes.  Second, there will be two mid-term examinations.  Third, a comprehensive final exam will be given during the assigned.

Attendance, participation, and quizzes- 20%

Midterm 1- 20%

Midterm 2- 25%

Final- 35%

Texts

The reading material for this course will be made available through two primary formats.  First, our course blackboard site will contain electronic copies of our assigned article readings.  Second, the following required texts are available at the University Co-op bookstore.

Paul Collier.  2010.  The Plundered Planet:  Why we must and how we can—manage nature for global prosperity.  New York:  Oxford University Press.

Dani Rodrik.  2011.  The Globalization Paradox:  Democracy and the Future of the World Economy.  New York:  Norton.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites and/or other Restrictions:

Acceptance into the University of Texas, Archer Fellowship Program

Course Description: This course will focus on the role of media, the Congress, the

President and other governmental and non-governmental actors in the policy-making

process. Through a variety of sources (academic texts, newspaper and journal articles,

websites, blogs, advocacy papers) we will look at (and hopefully reconcile) the textbook

and “real world” versions of how policy is made in Washington, D.C.

This course is divided into four phases where we will use a variety of techniques

(lectures/discussion, in-class presentations and guest speakers) to gain a better

understanding of the policy-making process. In Phase I, we will discuss how policy is

defined: where ideas come from and who plays a role in defining what we consider to be

important policy problems. In Phase II, we will look at how policy is made and how the

structures of our unique form of government affect the policy-making process. In Phase

III we will meet with policy-makers to hear their first hand accounts of the policy-making

process and finally, in Phase IV we will try to understand the policy-making process

through a legislative simulation and class discussions/debates of some of the important

issues of the day.

Course Description

This intensive reading and writing course explores the political economies of East Asia—by all accounts the world’s most economically dynamic region. With an emphasis on Japan, China and South Korea, we examine a number of themes that have intrigued both scholars and policymakers over the years: the reasons for the region’s “miraculous” GDP growth rates; the notion of the “developmental state” and the role of industrial policy in economic development; the nature of government-business relationships; industrial structure (chaebol, keiretsu, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises); the experiences of East Asian consumers and workers; the business community’s contributions to the development of East Asian welfare states; and the reactions (both positive and negative) of East Asian political economies to the pressures of globalization.  In addition to examining these themes from theoretical, comparative, and historical perspectives, the course introduces students to political-economic themes and concepts that will benefit them in their reading of current events in global economics and finance. 

Individual classes will alternate between lectures and seminar-style sessions based on discussions of assigned readings. Some knowledge of East Asia and or comparative politics/political economy is recommended but not required.

This course has a writing flag.

Grading Policy 

1.  Attendance and participation in class discussions:  15%

2.  Two take-home midterm exams (5 pages each):  20%

3.  Research paper (4,000-4,500 words) in 2 drafts:  40%

4.  Final exam:  25%

Texts

1.  Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle (1982)

2.  Ming Wan, The Political Economy of East Asia: Striving for Wealth and Power (2008)

3.  Barry Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transition and Growth (2007)

A packet of book chapters, government reports and journal articles will be available for purchase at the beginning of the semester.

Prerequisites

Six hours of Government are recommended but not required. No prior knowledge of the region is required.        

Course Description

Toward the end of the 20th century, pundits looked to the spectacular economic growth of East and Southeast Asia and predicted that the 21st century would be the “Pacific Century”.  Although analysts have been far less optimistic about the economic and political future of the region following the 1997 financial crisis, most nevertheless agree that the region has the most growth potential compared to any other region in the world.  It is also home to some of the globe’s most dangerous “hot spots”: North Korea’s ongoing nuclear threat, tensions in the Taiwan Straits, and escalating tensions between Japan and China.        This upper division undergraduate course introduces students to some of the basic themes of the post-Cold War international relations of East and Southeast Asia.  In addition to tracking current events in the region, we explore basic theoretical approaches to international relations, “Great Power” (China, Japan and the United States) contributions and challenges to the military and economic security of the region, the objectives and processes of economic globalization and institutional integration in the Asia-Pacific, and the nature of and potential solutions to the North Korean security threat.      

Grading Policy

         1.    Quizzes on readings: 15%

         2.    First mid-term exam: 20%

         3.    Second mid-term exam or short research paper:  25%

         4.    Final exam: 40%

Texts

         1.    Susan L. Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (2008)

         2.    David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda, eds., International Relations of Asia (2008).

         3.    Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (2002).    

A selection of book chapters and journal articles will also be made available to students online.

Course Description

This course carries out a comparative study of the nature of courts and law, their position in political systems, and their potential impact on society. We will look at experiences around the world, in part, in order to gain a better understanding of how the US legal system works. The course is very theoretical, and organized around key themes rather than countries. The main themes of the course include the following: why politicians create powerful courts, how do judges and courts make decisions, what is judicial independence, how do we get it, and which systems have it, and how effective are courts as tools for political and social change. The court has a heavy emphasis on judicial design, and the class will design a court structure for an imaginary country.

Two modes of approaching the material will distinguish this class. First, we will not read pre-digested summaries or textbooks, but original social science research. We will engage critically with the readings, testing authors’ claims against their evidence, challenging the logic of their arguments, and questioning their conclusions. Secondly, we will apply what we have learned to an imaginary country modeled roughly on Iraq’s constitutional and ethno-political situation. The class will represent some of the factions present in the Iraqi parliament, and will model debates about how the judiciary should be shaped in our imaginary country.

The readings are often quite challenging and many of them are quite long. In order to participate in the debates regarding institutional design you will need to be very familiar with the readings. I expect that the class will demand a significant amount of preparation each week. You should not take this class if you are not able or willing to spend time on it outside of class hours. Attendance is mandatory and part of your grade.

Grading Policy

• 2 quizzes worth 10% each (20% total)
• A midterm worth 25%
• A final worth 30%
• Class participation, worth 25% total, calculated on the basis of

• The quiz lottery results (the quiz lottery randomly tests student preparation and attendance)
• A series of very short written assignments due throughout the semester
• Participation in class debates and group assignments

Course Description

Political institutions are the rules that govern politics.  Constitutions, electoral systems, federalism, legislative rules, and laws governing civil-military relations are just some of the examples of political institutions that permeate political systems and thus affect our lives every day.  Not surprisingly, the “rules of the game” have important consequences on how politics work and what type of outcomes are produced.  It matters whether a political system is presidential or parliamentary, has a plurality or proportional representation (PR) electoral system, or is a unitary or federal system.  Moreover, the impact of rules is surprisingly broad.  Scholars have argued that political institutions affect everything from the number of political parties and the proportion of women or minorities in the legislature to the degree of ethnic conflict and the level of corruption.  

This course will introduce students to the role of political institutions in comparative politics. The first part of the course examines the concept of institutions – what they are (and are not), their origins, and how they change.  The rest of the course examines specific institutions, most notably presidential versus parliamentary systems, electoral systems (especially the contrast between plurality and PR systems), and federalism.  In the process, we will examine specific effects commonly attributed to political institutions, especially the type of party system, the election of women and ethnic minorities, ethnic relations and conflict, and the stability of democracy itself.

Grading Policy (Tentative)

Test I                          20%

Test II                         20%

Take-home Essay          25%

Take-home Essay          25%

Participation                  10%

Texts (Tentative)

R. Moser and E. Scheiner, Electoral Systems and Political Context: How the Effects of Rules Vary Across New and Established Democracies

A. Reynolds, Designing Democracy in a Dangerous World

Prerequisites

None (but Comparative Politics and especially European Politics recommended)

Course Description

This course is designed to provide students with a detailed introduction to the European Union, one of America?s major economic  and political partners and one of the major actors (and problem areas)  in contemporary international relations. In this course students will  learn how the EU came about, how the EU component institutions are  designed and how they work with each other, and how the EU functions  in international relations. Students will also be able to more fully understand the causes and consequences of the European sovereign debt crisis that threatens to undermine not merely the euro currency but the survival of the entire European Union itself.

During the first part of the course, students will be exposed to the  geopolitical history of the EU from its beginning as a supranational  organization designed to regulate the coal and steel economic sectors  to its present status as the political and economic force second only to the United States. Students will also learn to think about the European Union in theoretical terms and will explore various theoretical explanations for the creation and continuation of the European integration project. In Part Two, students will learn the history and politics of the EU?s major treaties. Part Three examines the EU?s major decision-making institutions, specifically the Council of Ministers, the Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. In Part Four, the course will examine some major EU policies and their consequences, and Part Five looks at the future of the EU.

The research requirement for this course will consist of a structured policy memo with individual sections integrated into a cohesive whole. Students will be divided into research teams by the end of week one. Working in those teams over the course of the semester, students will be given a current or potential problem area for the European Union from the case studies and, using the political and economic history learned during the course of the semester, develop a strategy memo for  EU leaders. Students will present their memos to the class in the last meetings of the semester.

Student Learning Outcomes: At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to analyze the European Union across time and space. Students will achieve a  comprehensive understanding of the European Union, and will be able to synthesize complex arguments concerning alternative mans of  international organization. Students will conduct collaborative research and present evaluative arguments in a group setting.

Grading Policy

Grading and Assignments:

Grading for this course will be composed of a combination of an end-of-the-semester map quiz, in-class formal exams, student presentations, and in-class (and electronic) discussion. The map quiz will count for 5% of your grade. There will be two midterm exams which together will count for 30% of the course grade. Each midterm will  cover only the portion of the course before it (or between it and the prior exam, in the case of the second midterm). The cumulative final exam will count for 35% of the grade, while the student presentations will count for 20% (10% individual and 10% group). In-class/online discussion will count for 10% of your grade.

Grading Standards:

I will use the following grade standards. Grades for individual assignments will be weighted according to the scale in the preceding paragraph. All grades given during the course of the semester will be converted to a 100-point scale. Group projects will be given both a group grade and an individual grade.

93 >            A

90-92         A-

87-89         B+

80-86         B

77-79         B-

75-76         C+

70-74         C

67-69         C-

60-66         D

< 60            F

Texts

Required:

Neill Nugent, The Government and Politics of the European Union  

(7th edition)

The Economist magazine. Students are required to sign up for at  

least 12 issues (more if they choose). See  

https://www.economistsubscriptions.com/students/us/ for subscription  

information.

Readings from the official EU website (http://www.europa.eu)

Readings from various scholarly journals or books, available online at the Blackboard site or as in-class handouts.

Recommended Readings:

Nathaniel Copsey and Tim Haughton (eds.) The JCMS Annual Review of  the European Union in 2009 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

It is also a good idea to follow European events via contemporary news sources such as the New York Times or the Christian Science Monitor, or the Economist. Attempting to garner an in-depth understanding of European events via local news sources is not recommended.

Course Description

 Australia is the principal democratic, economic, and military power in the Southwest Pacific.  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples inhabited the continent and its surrounding islands for some 50,000 years before Europeans arrived.  In 1788, British colonization began with establishment a penal colony near present-day Sydney.  Six distinct colonies federated voluntarily in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Today, the country boasts a multi-ethnic population of 22 million, dispersed unevenly across a landmass nearly the size of the lower 48 US states.  It has served as a key US ally since World War II. While Australia retains special ties to Britain and the US, it has become an important economic and political actor in the Asia Pacific region, with strong trading links to China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, and, increasingly, India. This course will (1) provide a succinct overview of Australia’s history and constitutional development; (2) examine the country’s political institutions and party politics; and (3) consider distinct opportunities and challenges that Australia faces across a range of domestic and foreign policy areas, including energy, trade, immigration, welfare, and issues concerning its Indigenous population. Throughout the course, Australia will be compared and contrasted with Texas, the US, and the other Anglo-American democracies – Britain, Canada, and New Zealand.  

Grading Policy

(1) Three exams, each worth 30% of the final grade.  The last of these will be cumulative and administered during the final examination period.  All exams will include a combination of essay, short-answer, multiple-choice, and true-or-false questions.  (2) Attendance and participation will determine the remaining 10% of the course grade.  Students who anticipate missing more than two or three classes are advised not to enroll. Likewise, reading and absorbing assigned materials will be important, with roughly half of each examination concentrating on their content. Students unwilling to read two relatively compact books and a collection of articles are advised not to enroll.

Texts

(1) Stuart Macintyre, A Concise History of Australia, 3rd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2009); (2) Dennis Woodward, John Summers, and Andrew Parkin, eds., Government, Politics and Policy in Australia, 9th ed. (Pearson/Longman Publishers, 2010); a course packet of additional readings will also be made available for purchase from a local vendor.

Prerequisite

Upper-division standing in Government.

Course Description

Purpose: To help students become better scholars and citizens by helping them to understand how to apply the concepts of political science to an understanding of the functioning of the American political system, and by showing them how to compare the normative concepts of the public interest and democratic theory to the actual functioning of national institutions.  The first third of the class is about Congress as an institution, the second third is about the Presidency as an institution, and the final third is about individual Presidents.

Grading Policy

Each of the three assignments in this class will be counted equally; that is, each will count one‑third toward the final grade.  At the end of the semester, the three numerical scores will be averaged, and final grades will be assigned on the basis of the conventional scale: 92.3 and above will receive an “A” in the course, 90 to 92 will receive an "A minus," 88 to 89.7 will receive a "B plus," 82.3 to 87.7 will receive a “B,” 80 to 82 will receive a "B minus," 78 to 79.7 will receive a "C plus," 72.3 to 77.7 will receive a “C,” 70 to 72 will receive a "C minus," 68 to 69.7 will receive a "D plus," 62.3 to 67.7 will receive a “D,” 60 to 62 will receive a "D-minus, and below 60 will receive an “F.”  Anyone missing a grade (that is, anyone failing to take a test or turn in an essay) will also receive an “F.”  I may make some small adjustments in these averages to reflect the quality of contribution to class discussion.

For your three assignments, you may choose to write two essays and take one test, or take two tests and write one essay.  It is up to you to decide how you mix the tests and essays, and in what order you choose to do them.  You may not, however, "load up" by turning in an essay at the same time that you take a test, thus getting two‑thirds of the assignments out of the way on the same day.

Texts

• Lawrence Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer (eds.) Congress Reconsidered ninth edition  (CQ Press, 2009; see note below)
• Michael Nelson (ed.) The Presidency and the Political System ninth edition (CQ Press, 2010; see note below)
• Roger Davidson, Walter Oleszek, and Frances Lee, Congress and Its Members, 13th edition  (CQ Press, 2010; see note below)
• Julian Zelizer, (ed.)  The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment (This is a paperback, available at the usual bricks-and-mortar venues in town).    
• Some news articles, to be distributed in class

NOTE: I am not completely committed to assigning the Zelizer book.  I may find another one on the Bush Presidency that I think is better suited to the needs of this class.

NOTE:  Instead of making you buy these three CQ Press books, and then assigning you to read only some of the chapters, I have chosen the relevant chapters for each and put them into an electronic textbook, which you can access through the CQ Website.  The cost to download all the chapters will be considerably less than the cost of the three paper books.  Notice, however, that you must buy or otherwise acquire a copy of the Zelizer book, which is not published by CQ Press.

Course Description

This course introduces and explores the development of the urban landscape in America.  Cities did not simply spring into existence.  Their geographical and physical constraints combined with social, ethnic, and political pressures shaped and continue to shape their development.  This course is designed to mostly introduce you to some ideas of urban politics in America.  The first part of the semester concentrates on the development of the cities.  This part of the class will focus primarily on the rural to urban shift in America.  The second part of the semester will explore the move from urban to suburban living.  This part of the class will look at more modern issues and topics in the cities (i.e. problems created by people moving out, financial attempts to solve these problems, new urbanism, gated communities, social/racial strife). 

Grading Policy

I use plus/minus.  3 tests (first test is worth 25%, last two tests are worth 30%) 3 paper assignments worth 5% each

Text

City Politics, 8th edition Longman by Judd and Swanstrom

Course Description

In this course, we’ll examine congressional elections historically and contemporaneously.  We’ll also analyze them from a political science as well as political junkie perspectives.  The first half of the course will discuss campaigning and the second half of the course will deal with election outcomes and their consequences on policy making.  Each student will be required to become an expert on a particular congressional and senate race. 

Though there will be more than 100 students in the class, it will be a personal challenge of mine to make it feel like 30 students.  As such, I expect all of the students to do all of the readings for all of the classes.

Grading Policy

Grades will be determined by a major paper, several midterms, and in-class participation:

• 20% Midterm 1
• 20% Midterm 2
• 20% Midterm 3
• 20% Course Project
• 20% Class Participation

Texts

The course readings TENTATIVELY consist of the following:

• Gary Jacobson’s The Politics of Congressional Elections
• Aldrich and Rhode’s Change and Continuity
• Sean Theriault’s Party Polarization in Congress
• A course packet available at Speedway

Course Description

This research course is the first half of a year-long research program under the direction of Professors Bryan Jones and Sean Theriault.  Throughout the year, we have two major goals.  First, and less important, we aim to familiarize the students with our own research agendas (past and present).  Second, and more important, we will introduce the students to the research experience.  In this sense, the class will attempt to replicate the “laboratory” of the hard sciences.  In those laboratories, students are engaged in independent, though related projects.  Their work is coordinated and synthesized by a principal investigator who uses the independent projects to form a greater whole.  This course is a social science laboratory.  To that end, your work is synthesized by two principal investigators engaged in comprehensive research projects on the legislative and policy processes. 

The class will meet regularly to discuss the two major course objectives.  It is the student’s responsibility to come to class with all of the assigned work – both research and reading – completed.  Rarely will the class stray from a seminar format.    

Grading Policy

Grades will be determined according to the following formula:

25%   Class Participation.

10%   Homework Assignments

40%   Research Assignments

25%   Research Proposal

Texts

The course books are both available at the UT Co-op:

Theriault, Sean M.  2008.  Party Polarization in Congress.  New York: Cambridge University Press.

Baumgartner, Frank R., and Bryan D. Jones.  2009.   Agendas and Instability in American Politics, 2nd Edition.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Prerequisites

Gov 310 & 312 or equivalent; consent of instructor via application.  Application available at:  http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/government/internship/prospective-interns/applications.php 

Description

The Government Department internship program provides students an opportunity to combine work experience in government and politics with intellectual reflection on their experience.  Making the most of the course requires interns to work as diligent part-time employees in their positions while reflecting thoughtfully and analytically on their experience in the organizations in which they work. 

The academic objectives of the internship course are:

To provide students with first-hand experience working in government and politics;

To incorporate this experience into the contexts of their intellectual education at the university and of public expectations of politics and government;

To use interns’ experiences to think about the dynamics of politics and government as features of contemporary society; and

To use interns’ experience to think about the practice of politics as a profession. Most of students’ time and energy will be directed toward performing the duties of their internships in a manner that reflects positively on them and on The University of Texas at Austin.  A solid performance as an intern provides a rich learning experience, the possibility of future intellectual and professional opportunities, and also reflects well on the program, paving the way for future students to have the same opportunities current interns enjoy.

However, interns should be clear about the nature of this course. Students are not receiving credit from the Government Department primarily for fulfilling their internships.  Students receive grades and credit for completing the internships in conjunction with guided course work.  Supervisor evaluations are taken into account in assigning grades, but the primary consideration in assigning grades is the quality of academic work completed for the course.

Grading Policy

Course Requirements: 

4 mandatory group meetings

3 papers

Work hours:  9-12 hours per week, beginning first day of semester, concluding the last regular day of the semester. 

The minimum total hours worked should 150 hours.  How you track this is up to you and your supervisor/employer, but it should be verifiable if necessary.

Two evaluations by internship supervisor

One video taped exit interview (about 15-30 minutes)

4 Texas Politics Speaker Series attendance (see below, plus times & dates TBA)`

Respond to readings on email list as directed

NOTE:  all requirements must be fulfilled to receive credit for the course.

Grade Calculation:

Writing assignment #1   20%

Writing assignment #2   20%

Writing assignment #3   25%

Mid term supervisor evaluation  10%

Final supervisor evaluation      15%

Exit interview    10%

Grade scale:

A  94-100

A- 90-93

B+ 87-89

B  84-86

B- 80-83

C+ 77-79

C  74-76

C- 70-73

D+ 67-69

D  64-66

D- 60-63

Texts

Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation” (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Politics_as_a_Vocation, or in print in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (Translated and edited), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, pp. 77-128, New York: Oxford University Press.) Karen Olsson, Waterloo.  New York:  Picador, 2006.  (Available in paperback and is discounted at Amazon.com.  If you order ahead from one of their associated vendors, you can get a real deal on a used copy. There are also usually copies in used bookstores around Austin.)

Prerequisites

For 679HA, upper-division standing, admission to the Government Honors Program, and written consent of the Government Honors Program adviser; for 679HB, Government 679HA.

Course Description

Lectures and supervised individual research dedicated to the writing of a substantial paper on a special topic in the field of government.

Grading Policy

Based on class participation, individual research and successful completion of a preliminary chapter of the thesis.

Texts

Readings assigned for individual projects.

Course Description

The Honors Tutorial is designed to facilitate the successful completion of a thesis in political science. The goals of the tutorial are three: first, to provide students with supervision and advice in the development of their ideas, and in the crafting of a thesis itself; second, to provide structure (read: deadlines!) in the completion of work that is primarily self-directed and independent in nature; and third, to provide a forum for students to develop their ideas, test out theories, and present their work to one another in a collegial setting. 

The Honors Tutorial is part of the year-long Honors Thesis Program. By the end of the academic year, students are expected to complete a thesis under the supervision of the Honors Advisor (Fall) and their individual thesis advisor (Spring). There are only a few required readings in the Honors Tutorial. But bear in mind that this is because a tremendous amount of outside reading and writing relating to your individual thesis projects is required. In the Honors Tutorial, students will be expected to complete all required readings before class, read extensively in their research areas, participate in all class discussions and other in-class activities, such as reading and commenting on other students’ research, meet regularly with their individual thesis advisors, and hand in all assignments on time. By the end of the Tutorial, students are required to have completed a 10-15 page proposal, including an outline of their thesis in its entirety, and the first chapter of their thesis. Students making sufficient progress at the close of the fall semester will be admitted to the spring semester of the Honors Tutorial (GOV679B).

Grading Policy

Students will earn a grade in the fall semester of the Honors Tutorial on the basis of the following factors: quality and rate of progress on the thesis project, particularly the first chapter submitted in the last three weeks of the course; quality of participation in class activities, including in-class presentations, class discussions, and assessments of peers’ work; and their ability to meet deadlines.  Attendance does not comprise a part of the grade per se. But it is expected that students doing work at this level will be dedicated participants in the tutorial and will attend every class. Any absences should be explained in advance, and repeated lack of attendance will prompt re-evaluation of your participation in the program.

Texts

The Elements of Style. By William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.  50th Anniv. Ed. Longman, 2008.

Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing. By John R. Trimble. 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall, 2000.

Prerequisites

In order to take this class you must be enrolled in the Government Department’s honors program.

Course Description

This course will offer something more, and something less, than a standard survey of American political thought.  It will offer more because its focus is just as much on economic thought as on political thought, or more precisely, its focus is on the interaction of political and economic thought.  It will offer less because it does not cover some of the standard topics of American political thought courses—much Constitutional development, federalism, civil rights, and civil liberties, for example—except where those topics directly impinge on the interaction of the political and economic.

We address such questions as:  Under what circumstances should government regulate the economy?  Should government encourage industry, or agriculture, or both, or neither?  Should taxes be progressive?  Under what circumstances, if any should government redistribute wealth?  Is the unregulated market the best producer of social wealth?  In pursuit of these and other topics we will read some of the writings of John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, the Populists, the Progressives, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, George Gilder, Paul Krugman, and many others.  In other words, this is an old-fashioned history-of-ideas course with a great deal of reading and, I hope, a significant amount of class discussion.

Grading Policy

Two in-class quizzes                            5% each

Class participation                               20%

Two short essays                                 20% each

Final essay                                         30%

Texts

Everyone must read:

John Locke   Second Treatise Of Government (public domain)

Adam Smith   The Wealth of Nations (public domain)

Michael B. Levy (ed.)   Political Thought In America:  An  Anthology, selected readings, second edition (The Dorsey Press, 1988)

George Gilder  Wealth and Poverty   (1981; now out of print, but available through libraries, used-book stores, Amazon.com, etc.)

Paul Krugman   The Conscience of a Liberal (W. W. Norton, 2007)

Selected articles and documents from a reading packet, available at the House of Tutors on the corner of 24th and Pearl Streets

This course explores the nature and consequences of money in American politics and why, at this point in history, we find ourselves embroiled in the most significant debate over campaign finance reform in over thirty years. The debate goes to the heart of the U.S. Constitution, pitting the First Amendment rights of speech and assembly against the perceived fairness and efficacy of a republican government awash, some claim, in increasingly unaccountable money.

Campaign finance issues lie at the crossroads of a bewildering number of analytical perspectives.  We (must) examine the work of historians, social scientists, legal scholars, and interested parties on all sides of the debate in an effort not only to assess current policy debates but also to understand how we got here.  During the course we confront and seek answers to a host of questions, including, but by no means limited to:

     - How will corporations respond to the Supreme Court’s recent decision permitting unlimited    political advertising? 

     - Why did most 2008 presidential candidates abandon the system of public financing for presidential elections?

     -Why does the public believe that corporations play such a large role in funding federal election campaigns?

     -Why does the Supreme Court allow public perceptions to determine the constitutionality of campaign finance laws?

     -Why do U.S. Senators refuse to report their campaign finance activity electronically to the Federal Election Commission?

     -How and why is the Internet treated differently than other means of political communication by campaign finance laws?

     -What are the consequences of unlimited individual contributions to state election candidates in Texas?

Texts

Corrado, Anthony, et al. The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook. 2004. Washington D.C.: Brooking Institution; 

Corrado, Anthony and David Magleby Financing the 2008 Election. 2010. Washington D.C.: Brooking Institution; 

McChesney, Fred. Money For Nothing: Politicians, Rent Extraction, and Political Extortion.  1997. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 

Urofsky, Melvin., Money & Free Speech: Campaign Finance Reform and the Courts. 2005. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press.

La Raja, Raymond.  Small Change: Money, Political Parties and Campaign Finance Reform. 2008. University of Michigan Press

This course examines the sources and consequences of U.S. foreign

policy. Discussion and readings focus on historical and contemporary

cases, organized by presidency.  The course aims to help students

think systematically and critically about how U.S. foreign policy is

made and its effects, at home as well as abroad.

Texts

Fredrik Logevall and Campbell Craig, America's Cold War (Harvard 2009)

Leslie Gelb, The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked (Brookings 1979)

Robert F. Kennedy, Thirteen Days, (Norton 1979)

Ron Suskind, The One Percent Doctrine (Simon and Schuster 2006)