Chinese Politics
This course provides an overview of China's political system. We will begin with a brief historical overview of China's political development from 1949 to the present. The remainder of the course will examine the key challenges facing the current generation of CCP leadership, such as economic reforms, regime stability, and political reform. Students will also be familiarized with prominent theories of authoritarian politics. Among other topics, we will examine: factionalism, power-sharing, and political purges; corruption; avenues for political participation and representation; public opinion; protest movements and dissidents; co-optation of ethnic minorities; and media and internet control.
Analyzing Politics
This course focuses on the question of how political science is done. We will walk through the frameworks guiding our thinking about politics and review descriptive, experimental, and observational approaches to research. Students will learn how to evaluate normative and empirical claims and practice constructing research questions and hypotheses. We will also consider the challenges of interpreting data and making inferences about politics.
Comparative Political Behavior
This seminar provides an introduction to some of the major themes in political behavior, including partisanship, elections, political attitudes, information, ideology, participation, and the role of the mass media in shaping the public’s political beliefs and orientations. We will consider how well our theories explain political outcomes in both democracies and autocracies.
Fall 2019 Undergraduate Syllabus
Introduction to Comparative Politics
This course will introduce students to comparative politics – the study of domestic political institutions, processes, behavior, and outcomes across and within countries. We will study concepts such as democracy and autocracy, political and electoral institutions, political violence, and identity. Cases will be drawn from around the world to give students a grounding in the method of comparative analysis. This course is recommended for those thinking about a major or minor in political science and for anyone interested in learning more about the politics of developed and developing countries.