Courses

An introduction to government through the American experience. Concentrates on analysis of the institutions of government and politics as mechanisms of social control.

Students registering for introductory courses should register for the lecture only. Sections will be assigned during the first week of class. Introductory courses are also offered during summer session.

An introduction to the basic concepts and practice of international politics.

Students registering for introductory courses should register for the lecture only. Sections will be assigned during the first week of class. Introductory courses are also offered during summer session.

› Download PDF

This course is a special, writing intensive section of Government 181, designed to provide a small number of students the opportunity to practice and improve their writing skills as they learn about world politics. Students will complete a series of papers and be expected to take an active part in class discussion. Registration by instructor permission only. Interested students should register for and attend Government 181 in order to be considered for Government 182. (IR)

Students registering for introductory courses should register for the lecture only. Sections will be assigned during the first week of class. Introductory courses are also offered during summer session.

This course provides a broad overview of the evolution of Chinese politics from the early part of the 20th century to the present. It is roughly divided into three sections. Thr first traces the formation and the progression of modern state and party institutions following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, through the communist rise to power and into the Mao era (1949-1976), culminating in the period of “opening up and reform” (1978-Present). The second part of the course examines China’s institutional apparatus, focusing on mapping out the government, Party and military bureaucracies; examining relations between Beijing and the localities; and on the institutionalization of these structures and processes over time. The third part of the course combines the insights of the course thus far to illuminate some of the current “hot button” issues facing the Chinese state and the world, combining politics and policy and examining the relationships between the two. No prior knowledge of China is required or expected.

For description, see NES 2674

For description, see LAW 4131

For description, see ILRIC 4330

This course examines the relationship between politics and contemporary Islamist movements. We will investigate the following core questions: Are religion and politics inseparable in Islam? Are Islamist movements products of the modern world or reactions against it? How does ‘Islam’ mobilize adherents? Why have Islamists become prominent opposition forces in recent decades in some countries, but not others? Why do some Islamists, but not others, espouse violence? Do Islamist movements change as they participate in pluralist political processes? The course investigates the evolution of contemporary Islamist movements in the context of anti-colonial struggles, modern nation-state formation, neo-liberal reform, and in relation to forms of political opposition under authoritarianism and democracy. We will explore cases from the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Africa in order to identify and account for variation in Islamic political mobilization.

This is an introductory course on the politics of Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal is to provide students with historical background and theoretical tools to understand present-day politics on the continent. The first part of the course will survey African political history, touching on: pre-colonial political structures, colonial experiences and legacies, nationalism and independence movements, post-independence optimism and state-building, the authoritarian turn, economic crises, and recent political and economic liberalizations. The second part of the course will examine some contemporary political and economic issues. These include: the effects of political and social identities in Africa (ethnicity, social ties, class, citizenship); the politics of poverty, war, and dysfunction; Africa in the international system; and current attempts to strengthen democracy and rule of law on the continent.

This survey course provides an interdisciplinary overview of European social and political issues. Themes of the course will include, but will not be limited to, the political development of the nation-state, modes of governance, welfare state restructuring, party systems and elections, social movements, immigration and demography, culture and identity, external relations, and the special challenges posed by European political and economic integration. A series of background and contextual lectures will be complemented by presentations given by leading Europeanists. (CO)

This course will cover international current events as they unfold during the semester. Faculty from across the university will be invited to contextualize and deepen students’ understanding of elections, wars, complex humanitarian emergencies, international agreements, global health issues and other relevant international events that are in the news. The course will respond flexibly to unforeseen events. Special attention will be devoted to U.S. foreign policy issues and how U.S. foreign policies are formulated and implemented. The course will strive to expose students to different points of view on these issues.

This course will focus on critical approaches to the study of ideology in order to understand the role of ideology in political subject formation. After an initial presentation of the classical Marxist texts on ideology, we will examine twentieth century reworkings of hegemony theorist Antonio Gramsci and the critical structuralist approaches of Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard and Dick Hebdige. We will concentrate on the “lived relation” to ruling ideas in the form of ideologies of everyday life. The second part of the course will be devoted to psychoanalytically oriented theories (Freud, Lacan) which address the internalization of belief, both in relation to the intrapsychic and in the interaction between psychic and state apparatuses. We conclude with Louis Althusser’s notion of interpellation, which resumes the Marxist, structuralist and psychoanalytic objectives of the course material. The theorists in the second part of the course will be contextualized within the experience of the historical traumas of fascism and French decolonization. Throughout the semester, we will be reflecting on the continued relevance of historic ideologies, centered around notions of class interest, to late twentieth century ideologies’ attachments to national, religious, gendered, ethnic, technological identity. (PT)

For description, see PHIL 3460

For description, see SOC 2480

A survey of American political thought from the Eighteenth Century to the present. Particular attention will be devoted to the persistence of liberal individualism in the American tradition. Politicians, pamphleteers and poets will provide the reading. The professor offers insightful historical and social context.

This course surveys leading theories of the causes of interstate war–that is, large scale organized violence between the armed forces of states. Why is war a recurring feature of international politics? Are democracies more peaceful than other types of states, and if so what explains this “democratic peace”? Why do democratic publics seem to reward threats to use force by “rallying around the flag” in support of their governments? Does the inexorable pattern of the rise and fall of nations lead to cycles of great power wars throughout history? These and other questions will be examined in our survey of theories of war at three levels of analysis: the individual and small groups, domestic politics, and the international system. Topics covered include: 1) theoretical explanations for war; 2) evaluation of the evidence for the various explanations; 3) the impact of nuclear weapons on international politics; 4) ethics and warfare; 5) the uses and limitations of air power; 6) international terrorism. (IR)

This course serves as an introduction to the study of war, peace, and peacemaking. We will study different theories of peace and war from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The course will cover definitions of peace and war, causes of conflict, and modes of conflict prevention and resolution. The concepts will be applied to a range of historical and current conflicts. Students will prepare analyses of specific conflicts or instances of peacemaking for class presentation.

How important are regional groupings, non-governmental organizations, narco-terrorists, ethnic groups and transnational environmental issues, within international politics? These forces seem to be occupying an increasingly central position in the international arena, yet the factors that have caused their rise, and the degree to which they have transformed the face of international politics, are still poorly understood. In this course we will address such issues through exploring how students of international politics have described and explained the emergence of these new forces in the international system during the post-Cold War period. In short, the course will focus on determining the extent to which we are witnessing a transformation of the international political system, and why such a change is (or is not) taking place.

This course looks at the evolving relationships between the Chinese state (including the government, Chinese Communist Party, and the military) and Chinese society, as well as the functions of intermediate quasi-state organizations. In addition to these changes, we will also be analyzing and evaluating our ability to understand and to conceptualize these complex relationships over the past half-century. The course is in seminar format.

Apply on-line during the pre-enrollment period. Once classes have started, use an add-drop slip; professor’s signature is required.

Citizen participation is declining across many European nations, as it is in much of the western world. Voting turnout is down. Membership of political parties is sliding. Trade Union membership has fallen by more than a third since 1980. Perhaps the most worrying trend is the lower rates of civic engagement, interest, and knowledge among the youngest age cohort of adults. This class addresses these issues from a comparative perspective by asking the following five key questions: 1) Which types of participation matter in democracies and why?; Why is participation down in European democracies?; Do European democracies differ with regard to the level and quality of participation? Why do European democracies differ in the level and quality of political participation? What can be done about the general decline of political participation?

Apply on-line during the pre-enrollment period. Once classes have started, use an add-drop slip; professor’s signature is required.

Governments and their leaders can be pressed from above, from within, from below and from the side (transnationally) to promote human rights. How do these legal and ethical pressures work? What are their conceptual foundations? What are the structural relations and tensions among them? Our seminar will address these questions with a primary focus on the United States and the former Soviet Union (FSU), especially Russia. We will examine U.S. and FSU human rights policies and practices in relation to supra-national bodies and covenants (the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the Helsinki Accords); independent agencies within government (the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation); and local or transnational nongovernmental organizations (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Moscow Helsinki Group, the European Roma Rights Centre). Readings will include classic statements of human rights like the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Helsinki Final Act (1975), as well as court decisions and reports by human rights organizations.

Apply on-line during the pre-enrollment period. Once classes have started, use an add-drop slip; professor’s signature is required.

Throughout the globe there are numerous individuals, groups and organizations using arts based processes to support peace-building efforts in severely conflicted societies. Arts processes such as theater, music and film, can be an especially effective means to bring together identity groups who are in conflict, by sharing common cultural experiences and engaging in cooperative creative projects. The power of various arts processes to impact individuals emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually via the creative process can help foster change within and between conflicted groups. However, the arts are not necessarily a magic panacea for addressing conflicts, it also vital to explore how they can legitimate cultures of violence in conflict regions.

The course will cover a combination of theory and real-world cases, helping to contextualize many key concepts. In addition, students will receive practical exposure to several arts-based processes through exercises, guest-speakers and research projects. Through taking this course, students will develop an understanding of how professionals and organizations are incorporating innovative arts-based peace building processes in diverse settings that can help inform their future work.

How can we characterize the twentieth/twenty first century legacy and continuing impact of US foreign policy on the world? What forces-- domestic, international, institutional, electoral, economic, cultural, or personal--drive US foreign policy? These are the broad questions to be addressed this semester.

Government 4281/7281 concentrates on history and criticism of US policies and the politics associated with them. Particular attention given to the origins and character of the regulatory state and the welfare state.

This seminar will provide an advanced survey of the history of American political thought, with emphasis placed on four significant periods: Puritan New England, the Revolution and Founding, Abolition and Civil War, and the Progressive Era. Authors read may include: Winthrop, Hutchinson, Franklin, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, Warren, Tocqueville, Fitzhugh, Calhoun, Douglas, Garrison, Thoreau, Melville, Whitman, Lincoln, Adams, DuBois, Goldman, Dewey, Lippmann, Taylor, and Bourne. (PT)

Beginning with an examination of hospitality in Plato, Xenophon, Kant, Levinas, and the Bible, we focus on the writings of Jacques Derrida on hospitality from the 1990’s until his death. We also consider contemporary readers of hospitality and cosmopolitanism such as Tracy McNulty, Pierre Bourdieu, Seyla Benhabib, Bonnie Honig, James Davidson, Andrew Sandoval-Strausz, and Wayne Koestenbaum. These theoretical texts would be put in tension with practitioners such as Danny Meyers, E.M. Statler, films (Frears, Loach), novels (Kirin Desai) and labor manifestos (Ehrenreich, Levinson.)

This course is intended to introduce students to the complexities of political Islam as a modern experience of opposition that deals with issues of social justice, legitimate power, and ethical life. While we will read translations of original sources by founding theorists (Sayyid Qutb, Ali Shariati, Iqbal) as well as excerpts from speeches by Islamic militants (Ayatollah Khomeini, Osama bin Laden), our approach is not only textual. We are interested in the role Islamism plays in everyday life of hundreds of thousands of contemporary Muslims, analyzed by anthropologists, literary critics, media analysts (of cassettes, cinema, and internet) and others who describe its audio, visual, public, private, and networking effects. We will also examine recent interconnections between Islamic with Western thinkers (Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon).

This course satisfies the seminar requirement.

For description, see SHUM 4826

For description, see GERST 4150

Throughout the 1990s it has been part of the conventional wisdom of international relations scholarship that Asia was, in the words of Aaron Friedberg, “ripe for rivalry.” In this seminar we explore the accuracy of such an assessment through studying Asia’s historical and contemporary security situation. Such an examination will be oriented toward introducing students to the main security issues confronting Asia, alongside an exploration of the extent to which competing explanations drawn from different strands of IR theory and the security field can explain such issues. In addition, we will ask students to challenge the limitations of traditional security studies through considering the importance of new actors and issue areas within the region. In short, while the Seminar will have a regional focus on east Asia, it will be framed within the broader literature of the field.

This seminar creates a structured environment in which the student will study research approaches and methods for each of the four fields within the political science discipline, fully conceptualize his or her honors thesis, and complete the first phase of the thesis research. Each member of the class will develop a thesis proposal, give an oral presentation in class about his or her research project, and write the first chapter of the thesis. Students are also strongly encouraged to study past honors theses, both within and outside his or her subfield. The seminar will also serve as a “capstone” course by exposing each student to specialized research from each of the fields within the political science discipline.

This course satisfies the seminar requirement.

A general survey of the literature and propositions of the international relations field. Criteria are developed for judging theoretical propositions and are applied to the major findings. Participants will be expected to do extensive reading in the literature as well as research.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

How can we characterize the twentieth/twenty first century legacy and continuing impact of US foreign policy on the world? What forces-- domestic, international, institutional, electoral, economic, cultural, or personal--drive US foreign policy? These are the broad questions to be addressed this semester.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

This graduate course will explore the ways in which institutional rules shape the conduct and outcome of politics as collective decision-making and deliberation. The focus will be primarily on the United States Congress where the literature on institutional design and structure is both comprehensive and deep. Subordinate sections of the course will cover the general literature on theories of institutional formation and influence over politics, as well as briefly addressing law and judiciaries in order to broaden the sampling of specific cases and applications.

This course provides an overview of major theoretical and empirical works regarding the political determinants of improvements in human wellbeing. Focusing broadly on issues of economic growth and distribution, the topics we will cover include economic reform, industrialization strategies, agricultural development, the institutional foundations of growth, human capital development, regional inequality, and poverty reduction. Along the way, we will encounter a variety of theoretical traditions as well as methodological approaches, and touch on most regions of the world.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

This course provides an introduction to comparative politics, introducing students to classic works as well as major recent contributions to the field. Topics to be covered include the comparative method, democratic institutions, political culture, modernization theory, ethnicity, economic development and contentious politics. The course will require extensive reading and assignments will include several review papers. (CO)

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

This course provides an introduction to methodological and practical aspects of using various field methods to develop and test theory. Covered topics include ethics and human subject issues, case selection, ethnography, participant observation, interviewing, survey methods, and field experiments. Students will develop field research strategies for their own projects. The course assumes a grasp of research design at the graduate level.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

What role does gender play in political behavior, law, and public policy? How can we explain the variation in that role across historical and national contexts? This course considers the social, cultural, and institutional mechanisms through which states structure gender roles and relations. It also investigates how gender regimes influence patterns of political activism and social change. We will examine puzzles such as why greater gender equality is found in some political contexts than others, and why states feature different configurations of rights and restrictions with respect to gender, for example with some granting relatively high degrees of social equality while restricting reproductive freedom, and vice versa. Specific attention will be given to how gender categories and debates shape the discipline of political science, shaping the questions we ask and the answers we find.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

This class offers an in depth examination of main problems of political representation from a comparative perspective. The main focus will be on the established Western democracies. The class is structured in three main parts. In its first part we will discuss core theoretical concepts guiding the comparative analysis of representative systems. The second part will consist of a discussion of the empirical literature on representative systems; of differences between democratic systems, of the causes for these differences and of their consequences. A third part deals with the question, whether representative democracy is in need of reform because of a lack of performance and/or because of a changing social and technological environment.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

This seminar will provide an advanced survey of the history of American political thought, with emphasis placed on four significant periods: Puritan New England, the Revolution and Founding, Abolition and Civil War, and the Progressive Era. Authors read may include: Winthrop, Hutchinson, Franklin, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, Warren, Tocqueville, Fitzhugh, Calhoun, Douglas, Garrison, Thoreau, Melville, Whitman, Lincoln, Adams, DuBois, Goldman, Dewey, Lippmann, Taylor, and Bourne. (PT)

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

Beginning with an examination of hospitality in Plato, Xenophon, Kant, Levinas, and the Bible, we focus on the writings of Jacques Derrida on hospitality from the 1990’s until his death. We also consider contemporary readers of hospitality and cosmopolitanism such as Tracy McNulty, Pierre Bourdieu, Seyla Benhabib, Bonnie Honig, James Davidson, Andrew Sandoval-Strausz, and Wayne Koestenbaum. These theoretical texts would be put in tension with practitioners such as Danny Meyers, E.M. Statler, films (Frears, Loach), novels (Kirin Desai) and labor manifestos (Ehrenreich, Levinson.)

Topics vary. In fall 2009, we will reflect philosophically and politically on Imagination, dealing with theories of the image and its social participation. Our approach will be cognitive-empirical rather than romantic-artistic. Aesthetic here means experiential, i.e., perceptible through the senses. Collectively shared images are examined as social facts endowed with political power, not artistic representations created by genial subjects. With the invention of camera/digital technology, image-events have become determinant in history. Moving (away) from the modern philosophic canon - Kant, Hegel, Dewey, Adorno - we will consider imagination as a social process in the pre-printing press past (Mondzain on the icon), the post-printing press present (Benjamin on the image), and the digital future (neuro-scientific theories, imagination as metaphor).

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

For description, see GERST 6860

An exploration into a range of contemporary theories and research topics in the field of international political economy. The seminar will cover different theoretical perspectives and a number of substantive problems.

› Download PDF

Beginning from the provocative work of the late Charles Tilly on “Coercion, Capital and European States,” this course examines the relationships among state-building, war-making, and the expansion or suppression of rights. It asks: "Do states at war or planning war expand rights in order to gain revenue and popular support?" Or, conversely: "Do states attempting to control restive populations or repress dissent suppress rights"? It also asks whether some kinds of war (for example, bipolar territorial war) are more or less restrictive of rights than others -- for example, guerilla war, civil war, or international war)? And whether the substantial expansion of rights related to war in the past (for example, women suffrage, widows’ and soldiers’ pensions) are being reversed by a type of war -- like the so called "War on Terror" -- that does not demand substantial citizen mobilization. Finally, it asks whether internationalization has been expanded or reversed by the last decades’ shift from classical territorial warfare to guerilla war, civil war, and attempts to suppress international terrorism.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

Throughout the 1990s it has been part of the conventional wisdom of international relations scholarship that Asia was, in the words of Aaron Friedberg, “ripe for rivalry.” In this seminar we explore the accuracy of such an assessment through studying Asia’s historical and contemporary security situation. Such an examination will be oriented toward introducing students to the main security issues confronting Asia, alongside an exploration of the extent to which competing explanations drawn from different strands of IR theory and the security field can explain such issues. In addition, we will ask students to challenge the limitations of traditional security studies through considering the importance of new actors and issue areas within the region. In short, while the Seminar will have a regional focus on east Asia, it will be framed within the broader literature of the field.

Colloquium is the weekly seminar series hosted by the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA). It is also a required, one-credit course for al CIPA Fellows, and is graded S/U based on attendance. The colloquium series is a collaborative effort between the CIPA Colloquium Committee and the faculty and staff of CIPA.

While each CIPA Fellow must exhibit competency in many different areas in order to graduate, it is impossible to gain full exposure to the variety of policy issues that students may be confronted with as a practicing policy professional. Thus, the weekly colloquium series is structured to provide students with an opportunity to augment their education in a breadth of policy areas. The administration and faculty of CIPA consider the CIPA Colloquium Series to be an essential aspect of professional development, and as such, attendance is expected of CIPA Fellows.

For description, see ILRIC 7360

Game theory is a tool for studying strategic interaction. This course offers a critical introduction, with applications to comparative politics, American politics, and international relations. We will study the core concepts of game theory; how to formulate, solve, and empirically test games in ways that help advance research; and how to assess game-theoretic arguments in the political science literature. The course requires no prior training in game theory or formal methods.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.

Government 428/728 concentrates on history and criticism of US policies and the politics associated with them. Particular attention given to the origins and character of the regulatory state and the welfare state.

Qualified undergraduates are encouraged to apply for seminars listed with 6000 course numbers, but may only register with the permission of the instructor.