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Single-digit courses
are introductory; double-digit courses are specialized courses
and do not have prerequisites; courses with three digits are advanced
and have prerequisites.
Courses are clustered
by sub-field: political theory (1, 2, 10s, 20s, 110s, and 120s);
American politics (3, 4, 30s and 40s, 130s and 140s); comparative
politics (5, 6, 50s and 60s, 150s and 160s); international relations
(7, 8, 70s and 80s, 170s and 180s); and special courses (90s and
190s).
- 1A.
Classical Political Theory. Ms. Stevens. Introduction to
major works in ancient Greek, Hebraic, Roman, Christian, and
Chinese traditions that have contributed to our understanding
of political philosophy and practice. Emergence of the concept
of politics; the political role of tragic theatre and poetry;
the Socratic challenge to Athens; the Western tradition of epic
heroism; the politics of class, race, and gender; the early
Christian challenge to Rome. Readings from Homer, Aeschylus,
Sappho, Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, Virgil, Christine de Pizan,
Confucius, Lao Tzu. First semester. [PAC 10]
- 1B.
Modern Political Theory. Ms. Stevens. Second half
of sequence, but does not require or presuppose Politics 1A
(Classical Political Theory). Themes and concepts associated
with modernity: social-contract theory; equality and rights;
the origins of democracy, liberalism, individualism; the origins
of protest, revolution, and radicalism; economics and the bureaucratic
state. Development of Western political thought with readings
in Islamic texts for contrast and discussion. Readings from
Machiavelli, More, Luther, Shakespeare, Hobbes, Locke, Hume,
Rousseau, Burke, Paine, Wollstonecraft, de Tocqueville, Kant,
Hegel, Marx, Mill, Ibn Khaldun, Al-Afghani, Nietzsche. Second
semester. [PAC 10]
- 2.
American Political Thought. Mr.
Foster. Historical and topical review of American political
philosophy from the Puritans to the present. Emphasis on such
recurrent themes as equality, democracy, and racism. Next offered
2001-02.
- 3.
Introduction to American Politics. Mr.
Foster, or Mr. Flynn, first semester;
Mr. Menefee-Libey, second semester.
An overview of the institutions, processes, and content of politics
in the United States. Focus on selective policy issues and contemporary
institutional conflicts. Each semester. [PAC 7]
- 5.
Comparative Politics. Ms. Crighton
First semester; Ms. Williams, Second
semester. Introduces major analytical approaches in the field
of comparative politics and investigates some of the challenging
empirical case studies of the day. Focuses on cross-national
similarities and differences in politics, economies, and societies.
Examines the methodological tools and pitfalls of comparative
analysis, including the role of the state in political and economic
development. Each semester. [PAC 9]
- 7.
U.S. Foreign Policy. Mr. Elliott.
Examines the changes brought about in U.S. foreign policy by
the end of the Cold War and explores the problems of defining
a new role for the United States in an increasingly complex
world. Looks at the relevance of past "lessons" in charting
this new course, as well as the domestic and institutional forces
which shape foreign policy. Each semester. [PAC 7]
- 8.
Introduction to International Relations. Ms.
Williams, first semester; Mr. Arase,
second semester. International conflict and cooperation, and
the increasing importance of economic and transnational relations
in contemporary international politics. A variety of analytic
concepts concerning types of international systems and political
behavior. Lecture and discussion. Each semester. [PAC 7]
- 10.
Political Freedom. Mr. Seery.
A theoretical study of the pursuit of freedom through
politics. Topics include freedom and authority; equality and
liberty; rights, revolution; community versus individuality;
the constraints of culture, class, gender, race, and technology.
Readings from Mill, Locke, Jefferson, Madison, Plato, Dostoevski,
Rousseau, Marx, Shelley, Sartre, Freud, Wright, Douglass, Swift,
Thoreau, Emerson, Arendt, Cervantes, Ignatieff, Weil, Havel;
and a screening of Being There. Next offered 2001-02.
[PAC 10]
- 30.
The United States Congress. Mr.
Menefee-Libey. An investigation of Congress from four perspectives:
its historical development, as a collection of politicians,
as an operating institution, and as the focus of national government
and policy. Second semester.
- 35. City of Quartz, City of Angels.
Mr. Foster. This seminar will pay
particular attention to the following issues: immigration, government
reorganization, race relations and urban economics. Among the
broad questions to be asked are: What impact will increased
immigration have on municipal services? Will the role of the
federal government increase over time? Is Los Angeles becoming
balkanized along racial lines? What are the prospects for sustained
economic growth? As Los Angeles becomes an international-as
opposed to a regional-city, what impact will international events
have on Los Angeles? Lastly, can Los Angeles continue to grow
and maintain an environmental balance? Second semester.
- 36.
Urban Politics and Public Policy. Mr.
Foster. . The political problems of cities and demographic
movements in the United States. Second semester.
- 37.
Criminal Justice. Mr. Flynn.
The roles of judges, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel
in the administration of criminal laws; the relationship among
various criminal-justice agencies; and issues of policy such
as police-community conflicts, plea-bargaining practices, sentencing
patterns, and various forms of post-conviction correction/rehabilitation.
Each student observes proceedings in nearby court for several
hours. Lecture, discussion, papers. Second semester.
- 38. Democracy, Freedom, and the First
Amendment. Mr. Flynn. The origins
of First Amendment jurisprudence developed in an age when the
political broadsheet and rutted colonial post roads were primary
means of communication. Today these legal and constitutional
principles are challenged by changing technologies from telegraph
to radio to television and more recently to internet and satellite
communication. In the near future, our First Amendment tradition
will need to accommodate a world saturated with interactive
media. The seminar explores as well the changing organizational
context of mass media from the solitary printer to modern multimedia-multinational
communications conglomerates. Our study focuses on issues of
free speech, equal access, and the protection of privacy in
the fast-developing and rapidly changing world of modern mass
communications. Next offered 2001-02.
- 42.
Women and Politics. Ms. Crighton.
American politics from the perspective of women, highlighting
the contributions of race, gender, and other social constructions
to the diversity of women's political experiences. Historical
changes in women's activism. Comparison with lives of women
in other countries. Implications for traditional conceptions
of politics, power, and democracy. Second semester. [PAC 7]
- 43CC.
Blacks in the American Political Process. Mr.
Foster. The role of Blacks in the American political process;
strategies used by Blacks to gain political power and to influence
political decision making; politics related to Blacks in southern
and urban settings. Next offered 2001-02.
- 44CC.
Race, Class, and Power. Mr. Foster.
Analysis of relationship between social stratification and race,
and of distribution of power and social status in American society.
Historical and contemporary examination of various ethnic and
racial groups and their incorporation into American society.
Lecture and discussion. First semester. [PAC 9]
- 45CC. Race and Public Opinion in the
United States. Mr. Foster. Examines
public beliefs and sentiments about racial politics in the U.S.
and what constitutes "public opinion." Explores the explicit
and implicit linkages between "public opinion" and normative
conceptions of democratic politics. Next offered 2001-02.
- 60. The Global Politics of Food and
Agriculture. Ms. Williams. An
enduring paradox in world politics is the fact that hunger,
food riots, and malnutrition are perennial problems despite
the fact that farmers around the globe produce more than enough
to feed the world's population. Placing that contradiction front
and center, we will explore the evolution of food systems around
the world. Readings will address interplay among states and
growers, how environmental problems affect farms around the
world, and various ways that producers and governments attempt
to address such problems, current issues in agricultural science
and economics, and debates about genetic engineering, international
patent law, and intellectual property. Second semester. [PAC
9]
- 72A.
Traditional and Early Modern International Relations of Asia.
Mr. Elliott. Assesses prominent explanations
of how Asia (in particular China and Japan) emerged from "isolation"
into the modern world. Cultural and historical sources of national
identity are examined in terms of how each nation views itself
in the context of the larger world system, and in shaping interactions
with other countries. Explores such issues as national identity
and its international consequences, global and regional context
in which national identity is formed, and traditional patterns
of relations that have reemerged following the Cold War. Offered
alternate years; next offered 2001-02.
- 72B.
Contemporary International Relations of Asia. Mr.
Elliott. Examines the great transformations that have taken
place in the post-WWII system of international relations in
Asia through a close study of the watershed events of the post-1945
period and participation in these events by the major states
involved. Offered alternate years; first semester, 2000-01.
- 82.
The Vietnam War. Mr. Elliott.
. A study of the Vietnamese conflict from both the Vietnamese
and American perspectives. Special attention given to the ways
in which the internal and the international contexts of the
conflict changed over time, and the impact these situational
changes had on the outcome of the war. Second semester.
- 89A. Feminist Political Theory.
Ms. Stevens. This course will trace
the history of "the women question" as an aspect of the political
constitution of the family from ancient Athens to the contemporary
United States. We will read canonical and contemporary texts
in political theory, psychoanalytic theory, and feminist theory
in an effort to understand the uses of difference and identity;
the public and the private; and power and mystery. Plato, Locke,
Freud, De Beauvoir, Horney, MacKinnon, Haraway, and Butler are
among those whose works we will read. First semester.
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90. Statistics for Politics and International Relations.
Mr. Englebert. Using data from
politics and international relations, this course builds basic
numeracy skills for social scientists. It develops knowledge
of descriptive statistics and introduces students to inferential
(parametric and non-parametric) statistical techniques, including
rudiments of multiple regression analysis. Emphasis on computer
applications. Each semester. [PAC 4]
- 100. Freedom, Markets, and Well-Being.
Ms. Brown and Mr. Hurley. Our society embraces commitments both
to safeguarding basic liberties and to facilitating the pursuit
of happiness. In this course we take up a range of views concerning
the appropriate role of the market in such a society. We then
focus upon the challenges involved in bringing these arguments
to bear on issues of public policy. Prerequisites: One course
in each of philosophy, politics, and microeconomics. Same course
as Economics 160, Philosophy 160, and PPE 160. This is an integrative
course for PPE majors. First semester. [PAC 10]
- 110.
Modernity and Its Critics. Mr. Seery.
An examination of three cultural critics, Rousseau, Goethe,
and Nietzsche, and their respective influences on Mary Wollstonecraft,
Max Weber, and Michel Foucault. Seminar. Prerequisite: permission
of instructor. Next offered 2001-02.
- 112.
Hannah Arendt: Politics, Love, Violence, Gender. Mr.
Seery. Arguably the greatest political theorist of the post-war
period, Hannah Arendt and her works are today undergoing extensive
review by students interested in feminism and gender studies,
queer studies, identity politics, aesthetics, revolution and
violence, civil disobedience and constitutionalism, liberalism,
community, and the Holocaust. Major texts and some secondary
sources. Offered alternate years; second semester, 2001-02.
- 114.
The Idea of America. Mr. Seery.
Explores from several angles, periods, and points of
view, the idea of America: as an experiment in republicanism
on a scale never before attempted, as the New World, as a promised
land, as a frontier space, as a dream (albeit often dashed).
Examines critically the shifting images, ideologies, and mythologies
surrounding the idea of America as portrayed through fiction,
film, music, sports, art, poetry, and political theory. Addresses
questions of identity, diversity, community, race, gender, class,
sexuality. Second semester. [PAC 10]
- 130.
Political Parties and Elections. Mr.
Foster, Mr. Menefee-Libey.
A course on how electoral politics works (or doesn't) in the
contemporary United States, focusing especially on the evolving
role of political parties, candidates and organized interests.
On one hand, the "nuts and bolts" of campaigns and election
processes and institutions. On the other hand, the issues, interests
and values at stake at the time the course is offered. Class
discussions will focus on sustained individual case studies.
Prerequisite: Politics 30 or 131. Offered alternate years; first
semester, 2000-01.
- 131.
The American Presidency. Ms. Quinley.
The American presidency from 1787 to the present. Presidential
leadership, power, and influence in relationships with Congress,
courts, parties, bureaucracy, and the public in the formulation
and administration of foreign and domestic policy. Nominations,
campaigns, and elections. First semester.
- 133A.
Constitutional Law I. Mr. Flynn.
The nature and extent of constitutional power, the separation-of-powers
doctrine, federal-state relations, the power of Congress and
the Presidency, and political and civil rights. Briefing and
analysis of cases and statutes. Lecture, discussion, papers.
First semester. [PAC 10]
- 133B.
Constitutional Law II. Mr. Flynn.Political
and civil rights in the American Constitutional system and the
limitations on governmental powers with emphasis on the rights
of the accused. Briefing and analysis of cases and statutes.
Lecture, papers, discussion. Second semester. [PAC 10]
- 134.
American Politics in a Media Age. Mr.
Flynn. Equips the student, already visually oriented from
infancy, with ability to monitor and critically interpret political
institutions and communications. Explores ways in which news
media shape American politics and ways in which politicians
seek to influence media. Focuses on effect of the media in specific
events. Examines how new communications technologies structure
political conflict and decision making. Second semester. [PAC
5]
- 135.
Policy Implementation and Evaluation. Mr.
Menefee-Libey. Public policy in the United States,
the ways governments implement policy decisions, and alternative
means of evaluating the impact of policy on society. Major field
research-based term paper. Prerequisite: Politics 3. First semester.
- 136.
Environmental Politics and Policy. Mr.
Worthington. Examines the effectiveness of political action
to improve ecological sustainability and the quality of life.
The actors studied include states, corporations, unions, and
activist groups such as Greenpeace and Mothers of East LA. Topics
include the nature of social movements, coalition-building among
environmental activists, interactions with the political center
(states and corporations), and the outcomes of environmental
action. Prerequisite: Politics 3 or STSI or ID 50. Second semester.
[PAC 7]
- 137.
Politics and Social Welfare Policy. Staff. Seminar on
public efforts to reduce poverty in America. First half considers
the development of social-welfare policy during the New Deal,
Great Society, and Reagan periods. Second half explores dependency,
feminization of poverty, race and poverty, and Clinton-era efforts
at welfare reform. Term paper. Prerequisite: Politics 30 or
131. Next offered 2001-02.
- 138.
Organizational Theory. Mr.
Worthington. Theories of complex organization, and their
contributions to an understanding of organizational life and
associated policy processes and outcomes. Focuses on the transition
during the 20th century from scientifically managed to flexible
organizations, including the social and political implications
of this transition. Prerequisite: Politics 3. Identical to Sociology
133. Second semester.
- 147. Education Politics and Policy.
Mr. Menefee-Libey. Elementary
and secondary schooling in the contemporary United States. Focuses
especially on competing public expectations and political demands:
schools as preparation for democratic citizenship and schools
as preparation for economic productivity (among other goals).
Each student will conduct a sustained case study. Prerequisite:
Politics 3. First semester.
- 161.
Japanese Politics. Mr. Arase.
The Japanese political system, the relationship between
the Japanese economy and domestic politics, foreign policy,
and the growth of Japan's role as a world economic power. Second
semester.
- 162.
Comparative Political Economy of Africa. Mr
Englebert. A survey of the main political issues
facing contemporary African states, including poverty, instability,
ethnicity, class conflicts, integration in the world economy,
corruption, authoritarianism, democratization and reversion
to authoritarianism, state collapse, social disengagement, structural
adjustment, and relations with former colonial powers. Emphasizes
historical and structural determinants. First semester. [PAC
9]
- 163.
Comparative East Asian Politics. Mr.
Arase. Analysis of the different political systems of Asia,
the legacy of colonialism and international conflict on the
domestic politics of China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, then
changes in traditional political culture. The problems of ethnic
conflict, human welfare, and rapidly expanding political participation.
First semester. [PAC 9]
- 165.
Comparative Latin American Politics. Ms.
Williams. Major axes of political contention, economic development,
and reform in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin America.
The impact of Iberian conquest and colonization on the region's
political institutions and social structures, and analysis of
how the course of political development following struggles
for independence sometimes altered and sometimes maintained
existing political arrangements. Examination of how industrial
modernization, global trade, immigration, and turbulent world
events have shaped contemporary political systems. The commonalities
and differences in the vast Latin American region, including
the Southern Cone, Brazil, the Andean Region, the Caribbean,
and Mexico and Central America. First semester.
- 167. The Reconfiguration of Power in
Africa. Mr. Englebert. The
1990s have witnessed numerous episodes of "state failure" in
Africa, from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Somalia and Congo,
to name but a few. As more and more African states sink into
institutional oblivion, however, ruling elites scramble to find
new arrangements to perpetuate their power. This class will
study these contemporary trends, at the edge of African political
developments, and investigate the extent to which they represent
a new process of state formation. Second semester.
- 168.
Reform and Revolution: The Rise of Modern East Asia.
Mr. Gibney. Examines main trends in
Asian revolution and reform movements over the past 250 years,
from peasant populism in China's Taiping and Korea's Tonghak
revolts, to disciplined cultural reformism of Japan's Meiji
leadership and modernizing ideas of people like Thailand's Chulalongkorn
and Philippines' Jose Rizal. Provides students historical grounding
for the understanding of modern Asian politics, and suggests
some social and political common denominators of East Asian
reform movements. First semester.
- 169.
Social Movements in Latin America. Ms.
Williams. Readings on insurgency, revolution, democratization,
and social reform in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin
America. The Cuban Revolution forward, guerrilla warfare, agrarian
and/or environmental struggles, labor insurgency, solidarity
and human rights movements, identity politics, and diasporic
movements in the U.S. (e.g., United Farm Workers, Young Lords
Party, Mixtec Indian organizations). Second semester.
- 170.
Introduction to International Political Economy. Mr.
Arase. Historical development of the world economy
from the 1700s to the present day. International economic institutions,
multinational corporations and transnationalism, dependency
and imperialism. Issues in international trade and finance,
including Third World debt and protectionism vs. free trade.
Problems in managing the world economy. Prerequisite: Economics
51. Next offered 2001-02.
- 171.
Conflict and Change in the International System. Mr.
Elliott. Sources and types of conflict that cause change
in the international system, as well as patterns of international
cooperation that structure and mediate these conflicts. Next
offered 2001-02.
- 173.
Worlds in Collision. Mr. Elliott.
Examines the great historical encounters between different civilizations
that have shaped our thinking about international relations
(e.g., the Greeks and Persians, Islam and the West, Europe and
the New World, Europe and Asia, and more contemporary encounters
between the Third World and the West). Considers the extent
to which conventional international relations theory can account
for the cultural, historical, and ideological causes and consequences
of these encounters. First semester.
- 178.
Political Economy of Development. Mr.
Englebert. Building on the concepts of comparative politics,
this course surveys contending explanations of the inequality
of economic and political development, including modernization
theory, dependency, liberalism, institutionalism, and new approaches
such as social capital theory. Focuses on the interaction of
political and economic variables, domestic and international
facts. Prerequisite: Politics 5. First semester.
- 183.
America's Pacific Century. Mr.
Gibney. Surveys the political and economic relationships
between the United States and the Asia/Pacific nations over
the past 150 years. The course covers the steady expansion of
American interests and commitments to East Asia, from Commodore
Perry and the "China Trade" to present-day trade and security
concerns, APEC, and the growth of a Pacific community. Second
semester. [PAC 9]
- 189D. Nietzsche: Birth, History, Gender
and Democracy. Ms. Stevens. This
course will engage in close readings of texts by and about Nietzsche.
Class discussions will center on discerning the relevance of
his views to a critical engagement with contemporary dilemmas
of nationalism and gender. Relations between political and artistic
forms of creativity will also be explored. Second semester.
- 190B.
Senior Seminar in Comparative and International Politics.
Ms. Crighton. Topic: the politics
of ethnicity and nationalism. Papers and research projects.
Open to non-Politics majors. Second semester.
- 190C.
Senior Seminar in Contemporary Politics and Theory. Mr.
Seery. Survey of readings in contemporary political theory,
both European and American, with occasional overtures toward
greater cosmopolitanism. Topics will include the politics of
interpretation, science and technology, mass culture, postmodernism
and deconstruction, feminist theory and feminist politics, democratic
theory and reconstructed liberalism, multiculturalism, and neo-conservativism.
Open to non-Politics majors. First semester.
- 191.
Senior Thesis. Staff. By special application only. Deadline
for fall thesis application: April 15; for spring thesis application:
November 15. Applications available in the department office.
Each semester.
- 199.
Independent Study. Staff. Course or half-course. Each
semester.
- Related Program:
The
Washington Semester Program. The Claremont McKenna College
Washington Program is open to students from all of the Claremont
Colleges. Offered every semester, it provides an opportunity
for first-hand study of American national politics.
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