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For the official course schedule, including restrictions, classrooms, and current enrollments, click here. Students currently enrolled in classes should also check syllabi at my.rochester.edu.
PSC 101 Introduction to Comparative Politics
This course will introduce students to comparative politics - the study of domestic political institutions, processes, and outcomes across and within countries. These important themes and concepts of contemporary comparative politics include the vibrancy of democracy, the centrality of political and electoral institutions, the possibility of revolution and the power of ethnicity. Cases will be drawn from different countries and historical periods to give students a grounding in the method of comparative analysis. This course is recommended for those thinking about a major, minor, or cluster in Political Science and others who are simply interested in learning more about the politics of developed and developing countries. It is a required course for the International Relations major.
This course is most aptly called Thinking About Politics. It aims to examine a range of contemporary issues and to explore the political and philosophical conflicts and controversies that those issues raise. So, for example, we might examine the concepts of patriotism and explore the tensions that arise between it and such other concepts as democracy or freedom or dissent or security. Readings will be drawn both from contemporary sources and classic political thought.
Why do we always hear about "gridlock" paralyzing the federal government? When politicians talk about what "the people want" or "the public interest," what do they actually mean? Is there an electoral system that is best for a country or state? Is it ever rational to vote? These are some of the questions we will tackle in this course using positive political theory, a rigorous set of tools that will help you view politics in a new way and challenge the conventional wisdom in the process. Through examples drawn from all aspects of politics, from elections to lawmaking to regulation, as well as from everyday life, we will study the challenges of group decision making and the ways in which rules influence outcomes.
How do political institutions affect economic growth? How do economic conditions affect political decisions? This course is an introduction to the history of thought and current debates in political economy. We review great texts in the history of political economy (by Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and others), present an introduction to the modern tools used in the field, and show their applications in the context of democratic and nondemocratic politics.
An introduction to the understanding of politics through data analysis. This course introduces students to the elementary theory underlying commonly used statistical methods and provides them with experience in hands-on data analysis in regular computer labs. No prior computer or statistical expertise is expected. PSC 200 satisfies the Techniques of Analysis requirement for undergraduate majors and minors in Political Science.
Students generally take PSC 202 in their sophomore year, but the course is also open to juniors and seniors. The course introduces students to the questions, concepts, and analytical approaches of political scientists. This version of the course focuses on the tension between majority rule and minority rights in the American political tradition. Issues include tyranny of the majority, slavery, individual rights, civic engagement, parties and interest groups, international diplomacy, legislative organization, and representation. Readings are drawn from classic texts in American thought -- the Declaration of Independence, "The Federalist," Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" --as well as from books and articles written by contemporary political scientists. Assignments include several short papers and a final exam.
This course is designed to introduce the issues that concern political scientists (especially) and economists about interest groups in American politics. The goal of the course is to provide a better substantive understanding of interest groups specifically and the political system more generally. Foci include the historical development of the interest group system, the formation of organizations, the relationship between associations and formal political institutions, money and politics, and policy-specific case studies. Instruction is primarily though lectures, although class participation is strongly encouraged.
This course offers an overview of the legislative branch of the United States government. We will discuss the electoral process, the nature of representation, legislative organization, the committee system, floor procedure, congressional parties, and inter-branch relations. We will examine theories of lawmaking and the impact of institutional and electoral rules on legislative behavior and outcomes.
This semester, special attention will be paid to the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. Campaign finance reform is also a timely topic. We will certainly examine the role of money in elections and strategies for regulating its use. Other issues of current concern will include party polarization in Congress, the decrease in the number of elected moderates, congressional redistricting, and term limits for elected officials.
In this course, through the lens of the Constitution and Supreme Court cases, we examine the essential structure of the American legal system (both separation of powers at the federal level and the authority of, and relationship among, states and the federal government), as well as the essential nature of civil rights of citizens vis-à-vis the political order. Topics covered include the nature of the Supreme Court's authority; separation of powers; federal limits on state powers; and individual rights, including economic rights, certain of the rights embraced by the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, and due process and equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The ability to read and discuss (as well as place in perspective and disagree with) Supreme Court opinions is an essential part of the course.
Despite gains made by racial and ethnic minorities in the areas of civil and voting rights, race remains a major source of cleavage in American politics. This upper-level course introduces students to the concepts, theories, and methodological approaches that political scientists use to examine the intersection of racial politics and political representation in the American political context. We will examine democratic theory, the Voting Rights Act, public opinion and electoral behavior, elected officials and public policies, and the effect of electoral rules and districting decisions on minority representation in Congress. This course has considerable reading, writing, and discussion requirements and may best suit experienced juniors and seniors.
The course will cover policies in such areas as social security, public assistance, health care, and social services for the elderly. The factual and philosophical assumptions underlying each policy will be examined, as will the division of responsibilities between public and private institutions and individuals. A variety of books, articles, and official publications that bear on the issues covered will be assigned.
This course will explore women's evolving roles in American politics. Topics include: a brief historical review of women's rights; women's roles in social movements; and women in electoral politics and as elected officials. Students will examine the quality of women's political leadership, comparing and contrasting it to the traditional gender-based models. Course readings will be supplemented by video presentations and guest lectures.
This course introduces students to the contemporary politics of the Middle East from both comparative politics and international relations perspectives. It starts with a brief historical introduction to the region, and focuses on patterns of decolonization and the formation of the state. Then the course looks at aspects of current domestic politics of three smaller regions within the larger Middle East: the Levant, the Gulf, and North Africa. Major attention is paid to regimes, institutions, ethnic and religious cleavages, and energy politics. The second part discusses the international linkages of the Middle East with major powers such the United States and the European Union, as well as with states that have an increased interest in the region, such as Russia and China. It finishes with a discussion on how the Middle East relates to non-traditional security threats such as international terrorism and illicit trafficking, and to larger forces of globalization, such as economic liberalization and identity politics.
Taking the post-communist decades as a point of departure, this course explores the roots and fates of different varieties of nationalism in Central Europe. We will start with the development of national identities in Europe in the 19th century and analyze the impact of World War II in crystallizing particular nationalisms. The main part of the course will focus on varieties of nationalism under communism, i.e. Romanian mythologies of Ceausescu, official anti-Semitism in Poland, and pan-Yugoslavianism contrasted to the Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim nationalisms. We will end with discussion of the recent rediscovery of old nationalisms and the so called "old hatreds." In addition to readings from different disciplines, the course uses documentaries and feature films as source materials. Grading based on: participation, one presentation, one short paper, and a final.
What are the challenges and prospects facing Europe today? The European Union is the realization of a bold vision: a large economic and political space with free movement of goods, services, capital and labor. Yet rigid markets, overregulation and reform resistance make it hard to adapt to globalization, the process of Eastern enlargement has created great divergence, and some economies in the West perform disappointingly. This course will examine the European Monetary Union, the Lisbon Strategy, and the challenges facing new entrants, with an eye toward analyzing the state of European integration. In examining Europe today, we will also consider the relation of Europe to Russia and compare the European model to the dynamic societies of China, India, and the United States. Special attention will be given to the economic rationale and political implementation.
Comparative politics is the study of politics within political systems. It seeks to describe and explain various features of politics in different countries. The course introduces theories in the field of comparative politics. We want to understand how the national and international environment, the political culture, the political institutions and the choices of citizens and leaders affect political performance. We explain such features as democratization, stability, competition, citizen influence, and policy outcomes as consequences of the environment, culture and institutions - and human choices in these contexts. Requirements include a midterm, a final exam, and an optional paper.
Democratic transitions are easy to see as they occur - they are often shown on CNN. But the consolidation of democracy is much trickier. It is difficult to measure, and even harder to determine its causes. As with many concepts in social science, many take the attitude that we know it when we see it. This course will examine a number of countries from across Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia, and Ukraine), Southern Europe (Portugal and Greece), and Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, and Peru) that experienced democratic transitions as part of the Third Wave of Democracy to determine where we do and do not see democratic consolidation, and then use these cases to inform theoretical discussions of why democracy is consolidated in some places, but not in others. We will focus especially on the trajectories of electoral cycles and political competition, constitutional development, and political crises.
The last ten years or so have seen a major revolution in the social sciences. Instead of trying to discover and test grand "covering laws" that have universal validity and tremendous scope (think Newton's gravity or Einstein's relativity), the social sciences are in the process of switching to more narrow and middle-range theories and explanations, often referred to as causal mechanisms. Mechanisms play a crucial role in this new conception of theory in the social sciences. In this course we will examine one particular mechanism each week and see how it has been applied in international political economy and/or security studies. Students will be introduced to formal reasoning in an informal manner. We will explore several substantive themes, such as the "democratic peace," ethnic conflict and international trade to illustrate the mechanisms and cumulative potential of this research approach.
The contemporary world economy is characterized by its unprecedented level of integration. This course focuses on the politics of international economic relations in the globalized world economy. It addresses important themes in international political economy including international trade, international financial relations, multinational corporations and foreign direct investment, international organizations for trade and finance, globalization, and development. Particular attention will be given to the question of how international market integration affects domestic political and policy decisions and how nation-states can respond to and influence international markets. Students are expected to develop an understanding of the interaction between domestic and international politics and international economics.
This course introduces students to contemporary debates about international security. It focuses on traditional and new security threats and on their impact on the relations between states and nations in a globalized world. The first part explores traditional approaches to international security, focusing on realism, liberalism and constructivism. Specific attention is paid to the concepts of balance of power, collective security, deterrence, and containment, and to the diffusion of norms. The second part discusses non-traditional security threats and how governments and international organizations face the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and small arms. The course further explores the link between conflict and immigration, epidemic diseases, manipulation of sex ratios, and energy and environmental scarcities. The third part examines how large theoretical frameworks discussed in the first part, and current policy challenges, discussed in the second, relate to existing security concerns in different regions of the world. Close attention is paid to the Middle East, Africa, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union.
Delegation is a pervasive feature of representative democracy. For instance, voters delegate public policy choices to elected politicians, elected politicians delegate choices of electoral strategy to party leaders, and elected politicians delegate the details of public policy to non-elected bureaucrats. This course introduces students to some of the big questions raised by political delegation, and to the basic tools that positive political theorists use to grapple with these questions. Finally, it surveys the use of these tools in a wide range of applications, including elections and electoral accountability, legislative politics, bureaucratic politics, federalism, and the politics of economic policy.
Game theory, despite its frivolous-sounding name, gives us a unified approach to understanding social phenomena. It helps us understand not just the way people play games in the usual sense, like tic-tac-toe, chess or poker, but the way they behave in complex social situations as well. Examples of situations to which we will apply the theory include (but are not limited to): arms races, provision of public goods, competition between firms, electoral campaigns, voting, auctions, and bargaining. There are no formal prerequisites,but some aptitude for logical or mathematical reasoning is desirable.
The Honors Project is a year-long research project supervised by a faculty member in the department and culminating in a written work. It begins, in most instances, with enrollment in the Junior Honors Seminar. Registration in PSC 393 requires approval of the faculty member who will supervise the honors project.
Most internship placements are in the District Attorney's or Public Defender's offices. Occasionally one or two other law placements are available. Students may also propose an alternative political or law placement. Interns work 10-12 hours per week through the entire semester. Grades are primarily based on a research paper. Applicants should have an appropriate course background for the internship and at least a B average. Students must be accepted in the course before approaching an agency for an internship. Students interested in an internship should pick up an application in the Political Science office (Harkness 333). Applications are available a week before registration starts, and an interest meeting is also held at that time.
Internships are available for students in London, Brussels, Paris, Bonn, and Madrid. Students need a modest amount of French in Brussels and need substantial fluency in the language for the latter three placements. For applications and information, students should contact the Study Abroad Office.
This course in mathematical statistics provides graduate students in political science with a solid foundation in probability and statistical inference. The focus of the course is on the empirical modeling of non-experimental data. While substantive political science will never be far from our minds, our primary goal is to acquire the tools necessary for success in the rest of the econometrics sequence. As such, this course serves as a prerequisite for the advanced political science graduate courses in statistical methods (PSC 405, 505, and 506).
This course is the first half of a two-course sequence consisting of PSC 407 and PSC 408. The goal of the sequence is to give a rigorous introduction to the main concepts and results in positive political theory. At the same time, we will teach you the mathematical tools necessary to understand these results, to use them and (if it suits you) to surpass them in your own research in political science. The course will emphasize rigorous logical and deductive reasoning -- this skill will prove valuable, even to the student primarily interested in empirical analysis rather than modeling. The sequence is designed to be both a rigorous foundation for students planning on taking further courses in the positive political theory field and a self-contained overview of the field for students who do not intend to do additional coursework in the field. The sequence will cover both social choice theory, which concerns finding an axiomatic basis for collective decision making, and game theory, which analyzes individual behavior in strategic situations. Students should have, at a minimum, a sound familiarity with basic algebra (solving equations, graphing functions, etc.) and a knowledge of basic calculus. Consistent with department policy, students are required to attend the "math" camp offered in the weeks before the first fall semester.
The aim of the seminar is to encourage students to examine political science in a reflective, disciplined, critical way. It is primarily designed for entering Ph.D. students, but may be appropriate for undergraduate seniors considering graduate work in political science. We use basic concepts in the philosophy of science to explore a range of specific examples of research in the discipline with the aim of discerning more clearly what it means to say that social and political inquiry is scientific.
The classical linear regression model is inappropriate for many of the most interesting problems in political science. This course builds upon the analytical foundations of PSC 404 and 405, taking the latter's emphasis on the classical linear model as its point of departure. Here students will learn methods to analyze models and data for event counts, durations, censoring, truncation, selection, multinomial ordered/unordered categories, strategic choices, spatial voting models, and time series. A major goal of the course will be to teach students how to develop new models and techniques for analyzing issues they encounter in their own research.
This is a reading, discussion, and research seminar that will introduce you to the literature on political participation, voting behavior, and related aspects of public opinion. There is an enormous literature in this field, and it is growing all of the time. Nonetheless, at the end of this course, you will have an excellent foundation in the field. I include a few classic readings, but most are contemporary works that represent the latest theories and empirical work as well as suggest new directions for study. Where appropriate, the material deals with public opinion more broadly and with institutional factors that influence voting behavior. At times I bring in appropriate comparative studies, though most of the work is on the U.S. You should finish the course with a comprehensive understanding of past public opinion and voting behavior research and a good idea of the directions in which that research is now moving.
Despite gains made by racial and ethnic minorities in the areas of civil and voting rights, race remains a major source of cleavage in American politics. This upper-level course introduces students to the concepts, theories, and methodological approaches that political scientists use to examine the intersection of racial politics and political representation in the American political context. We will examine democratic theory, the Voting Rights Act, public opinion and electoral behavior, elected officials and public policies, and the effect of electoral rules and districting decisions on minority representation in Congress. This course has considerable reading, writing, and discussion requirements and may best suit experienced juniors and seniors.
In recent years there has been an upsurge in American politics research that combines formal modeling and data analysis. In this seminar we will critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of the approach and explore some of the major contributions to this literature. Topics will include committee composition, party power, interbranch bargaining, lobbying, and the role of rules.
This seminar offers a broad survey of research in comparative political economy. More specifically, we will study how various political institutions, processes, and events affect economic policy and outcomes as well as the converse, how economic performance and interests influence the development of institutions and political outcomes. The primary goal of this course is to help students identify research opportunities in the literature. Accordingly, emphasis will be placed on the generation of research proposals that reflect a sound understanding of the state of the field. Students will be evaluated on short assignments, participation, presentations, and a final research proposal. This is a graduate seminar but it is open, with the instructor's approval, to undergraduates who have shown extraordinary promise and interest in the subject.
The course takes up several foundational topics in theoretical political economy. It begins with the analysis of fundamental concepts used throughout the course: binary relations, preferences, and choice. We then study social choice theory, where we view collective decisions as arising from social preference relations determined in some arbitrary way by the preferences of individuals, covering (among other things) Arrow's impossibility theorem which informs us of inherent limitations on the rationality of collective decisions. We then change perspective, viewing collective decision as outcomes of a game played by individual decision-makers. We will consider game-theoretic models of static elections, sequential voting, bargaining, and repeated elections, with a special focus on connections to social choice.
This course is the third semester of the formal theory sequence for graduate students. It focuses on teaching students more sophisticated tools for modeling more complex games. Specifically, the course concentrates on games of incomplete information such as signaling games and communication games and develops analytical tools such as Bayesian-Nash equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, and equilibrium refinements. The course also covers repeated games, bargaining games and equilibrium existence in a rigorous fashion. The prerequisites for the course are PSC 407 and 408, or an equivalent background in complete information game theory. Grading is based on homework assignments and a midterm and final exam.
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PSC 104 Introduction to Political Philosophy
PSC 200 Applied Data Analysis
PSC 213W The U.S. Congress
PSC 245/245W Aging and Public Policy
PSC 254 Political Economy of Europe
Mondays and Wednesdays, 14:00-15:15
PSC 404 Probability and Inference
PSC 511 Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior