Undergraduate Seminars
Students majoring in political science must take two 4-point 3000-level seminars. At least one of the seminars taken must be in the student’s primary subfield.
Registration
Students may not pre-register for political science seminars. To register, students must join the seminar's wait list in SSOL. Students on the wait list will receive further instructions from the instructor or the department.
Instructors' preferred methods for admitting students to seminars vary. Some will correspond with students via the wait list function in SSOL. Some will give instructions in the course notes section of the Directory of Classes. Others may communicate with students individually. Still others may ask all interested students to come to the first class meeting for instructions.
The Academic Affairs Coordinator can answer questions about seminar registration.
Seminars must be taken for a letter grade.
Fulfilling the seminar requirement
The following courses fulfill the seminar requirement. All seminars are offered for 4 points of credit.
- POLS UN3911 — Seminar in Political Theory
- POLS UN3921 — Seminar in American Politics
- POLS UN3951 — Seminar in Comparative Politics
- POLS UN3961 — Seminar in International Relations
Barnard colloquia may not be used to fulfill the seminar requirement, though they may be used to fulfill subfield or elective requirements.
Fall 2022 Seminars
Section
Section 001
Populism, Democracy and Rights
The course will concentrate on the contemporary challenge of populism(s) to constitutional democracy appearing in a wide variety of political environments. We will examine the foundations of the phenomenon in concepts of popular sovereignty and the people emerging or re-interpreted in the democratic revolutions, along with later debates around these concepts. We analyze the concept of representation as it pertains to democracy, and then discuss the concept of populism generally and it’s left and right versions. Once this theoretical work is done we will discuss social movements and populism, and then populism and political parties. The idea is to ask whether populism involves a distinctive party/movement relation and what role digital media play in it. We then turn to the history and present of populism, examining the birth of modern populism in the United States and in Latin America comparing the relevant movements, parties and regimes in the latter region, to their fascist contemporaries. With respect to the present, we will distinguish between left and right variants, and the various “host ideologies” to which populist movements and leaders have attached themselves: nationalism, socialism, and even liberal democracy. Concentrating on European case, primarily we will distinguish populism as party-movement, as government and as regime. In the U.S., we will analyze how populist social movements and savvy political entrepreneurs capture existing political parties to come to power. In each version, we will focus on the relationship to democracy and civil society. Finally, we will consider the international conditions that make populism a worldwide challenge to political democracy.Instructor
- Cohen
Section
Section 002
Ethics of International Relations
Is international relations purely the domain of raw power politics, where the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must (to paraphrase Thucydides)? If ethical ‘ought’s are out of place in international politics, why do leaders and citizens persistently appeal to them? While hard-nosed empirical approaches dominate much of mainstream international relations scholarship and teaching, this course will allow students to explore the space for normativity in international politics. It will equip students with a number of perspectives with which to craft systematic normative arguments about international politics.Instructor
- Isiksel
- Section
Section 002
Politics Parties in U.S. Politics
In 1942 E.E. Schattschneider famously wrote that “democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.” In recent years, many observers of American politics have argued that the growing division between the two parties is having a negative impact on the U.S. political system. This seminar examines American political parties from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. We will explore some fundamental questions about the U.S. party system, including: Why do we have political parties? Why do voters form attachments to particular parties? What role do political parties have in the U.S. Congress? Has politics become more polarized along party lines?- Instructor
- Hirano
- Section
Section 003
Political Psychology
Political psychology is a growing area of research in political science that uses psychological theories to understand politics. Our primary goals in the course will be to cultivate “political psychological” thinking and survey the landscape of the literature, covering topics such as attitude formation, personality, persuasion, decision making, rationality, social identity, and prejudice. Many of the lessons we will learn in this class will have applications that extend beyond political science, and should transform how you think about your own political attitudes and beliefs.- Instructor
- Velez
- Section
Section 004
Political Inequality in the United States
Scholars of democratic political systems have long examined the relationship between mass preferences and government action. Despite American ideals of equal voice, there is a clear history of violating that cherished ideal in practice. Inequality can be obvious, such as when ensconced in explicit law, but it need not be. Inequality has thus recently become a topic of much close attention in both political and academic circles, with growing economic inequality and a possible relationship to political inequality. This seminar focuses on political inequality (more so than, but not to the exclusion of considering the politics of inequality). How is political influence distributed? How equally represented are the people? How equally responsive are the various political and policymaking systems in the U.S.? If significant inequality exists, what can be done for reform? We will explore recent work that investigates the opinion-policy linkage at both national and subnational levels. One focus will be the current debate over whether the affluent have more influence. Other debates and issues are of similar importance, and I hope to broaden our inquiry based on student input and research.- Instructor
- Lax
- Section
Section 005
Issues on Race and Ethnicity in American Politics
This seminar examines how social identities based on race and ethnicity have marked politics in the United States since the founding of the republic. It focuses on the process of establishing and transforming racial regimes that have structured the conduct of politics, the process of incorporation of various racial and ethnic groups in polity, how identity formation shapes the political attitudes and behavior of different ethnic and racial groups in the political system, and how representation of interests is accomplished.- Instructor
- Vargas-Ramos
- Section
Section 006
Equality and the Law
This seminar will explore the meaning of equality in the United States, through a close reading of Supreme Court decisions involving race, gender, sexual orientation, and wealth. The central question for the course will be: what does it mean to receive 'the equal protection of laws'?- Instructor
- Amdur
- Section
Section 007
TBA- Instructor
- TBA
- Section
Section 008
The Politics of Income Inequality
This seminar considers the problem of income inequality and directs readings and research on the political causes and consequences of changes in income distribution in the US over the last three decades. There will be substantial reading—at least a book or the equivalent in scholarly papers each week—and the expectation of student engagement and discussion is high. The course focuses on politics and selected public policies affecting the distribution of income and the accumulation of wealth in the US. It is designed to help students think analytically about widening income disparity and how the logic of the political economy has structured patterns of great political and economic inequalities. Among the policies we may consider are: taxation, campaign finance reform, voting, the minimum wage and Earned Income Tax Credits, and financial sector reform.- Instructor
- Russell
- Section
Section 001
Information, Media and Political Behavior
How does political information – conveyed through print, broadcast, and social media – shape the behavior of voters and politicians in developed and developing countries? We first ask what voters know about politics, and how the news and political ads influence voter opinions, electoral turnout, vote choices, and the degree to which voters hold governments to account for their performance in office. We then explore the determinants and consequences of media biases, considering the nature and causes of editorial slant, political capture, and government censorship. Finally, we examine how social media and new technologies are changing the nature of modern political participation. This course emphasizes cutting-edge studies seeking to theorize key relationships and identify causal relationships.- Instructor
- Marshall
- Section
Section 002
Corruption and the Rule of Law
This seminar will examine debates about the sources and consequences of corruption and the rule of law. We will explore theories of corruption and legal development rooted in politics, culture, institutions, economic endowments, and society, while also considering the strengths and weaknesses of different ways of studying corruption. What do we mean by “corruption” and the “rule of law”? How can we study “illegal” activity? Why is corruption higher in some countries? What is autocratic legality? Does corruption hinder economic growth and democratic practices? If so, how? These questions will be at the center of our attention.- Instructor
- Frye
- Section
Section 001
Advances in International Political Economy
This course examines questions in international political economy, asking what we know and how we know it. It addresses questions such as: Why do some countries promote globalization while others resist it? What do IOs do in international politics? Who runs our system of global governance? We will explore these questions and others by focusing on topics such as international trade, foreign aid, investment, and the environment. For each topic, we will use a variety of theoretical lenses and then investigate the evidence in favor of each. More generally, the course will consider the challenges of drawing casual inferences in the field of international political economy. There are no prerequisites for this course but an introductory economy course would be helpful. Students will write a short reading response each week and produce a research proposal for studying a topic related to international political economy, though they not need to actually conduct this research.- Instructor
- Carnegie
- Section
Section 002
Rules of War
“In times of war law falls silent,” Cicero is often quoted. Yet war has been subject to regulation for millennia. And today we have an international legal regime that regulates both resorts to war, and conduct in war. This course offers an advanced introduction to these rules of war with a special emphasis on their origins and efficacy. We begin by examining rules concerning the resort to force, focusing on Kellogg-Briand Pact, the U.N. Charter, and the Responsibility to Protect doctrine. Then we study rules concerning conduct in war, focusing on debates about the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols. Readings are drawn from a broad range of research in international relations, international law, and international ethics, as well as moral and political psychology.- Instructor
- de la Paz
- Section
Section 003
Solving Global Problems
This course represents a hands-on approach to learning about some of the most pressing problems facing the world today. In terms of its intellectual objectives, it is designed to allow students to take part in problem-solving exercises in the context of pressing international issues and problems. The class will essentially function as a working committee, considering a different problem or issue each week. Preparations for class will rely both on assigned readings as well as additional outside materials collected by the students. A significant part of the preparations and class activities will involve team work and a significant number of verbal presentations to the class.- Instructor
- Gallarotti
- Section
Section 004
Foreign Economic Policy
This is a senior seminar in international relations on current issues in US Foreign Economic Policy. The seminar begins with general topics: what sort of world we live in – unipolar, liberal order, and whether we should be the world’s policeman, and the efficacy of soft power and economic sanctions. We then move to more specific issue areas: Tariffs and Trade Wars, International Money and Finance, Immigration, Fighting Terrorism with the Banking System, and Climate Change.- Instructor
- Spiro
- Section
Section 005
International Security
Contemporary developments in international politics are giving rise to many new challenges to international security. Understanding some of these may require revisiting and renewing some standard theories that have a long track record in literature on international relations: deterrence and bargaining theories, the balance of power, power transitions, and the effect of economic interdependence on war and peace. Other challenges—rising populism and nativism—may require borrowing insights from other fields or rummaging in the attic of semi-forgotten social theories. Some trends—the declining quality of public discourse in established democracies—may require fresh thinking entirely.- Instructor
- Snyder
- Section
Section 006
Foreign Policy Decision-Making
When we talk about the successes and failures of U.S. foreign policy in managing international crises—in the media, in classrooms, in everyday conversations—we inevitably focus on the individuals making decisions in Washington. While the president, the secretary of state, and other top officials are routinely viewed as key shapers of U.S. actions abroad, we rarely take the time to think carefully and analytically about how these actors view the world, how they arrive at their decisions, and how various psychological factors such as identity, belief, emotion, or personality shape the policies they devise to promote U.S. interests abroad.
This class has two main goals. First, to encourage students to think critically about these often-ignored questions: How do the limits of human cognition and rationality impact leadership during international crises? What role do leadership characteristics such as gender, race, prior experience, and even personality play in decisions about war and peace? Do groups make better decisions than individuals alone (or, are democratic leaders more successful than authoritarian ones)? How do constraints such as the need for intelligence collection, secrecy, and maintaining U.S. reputation abroad influence the decision-making process during crises?
A second goal of this course is to enable students to improve their own effectiveness as executive-branch officials in crisis policy making. This course also seeks to improve students’ ability to advise such officials as intelligence officers or other advisers by improving their understanding of other actors' actions, perceptions, and motivations. To practice these skills in the course of this class, students will be asked to apply the theoretical materials we cover to recent case studies.- Instructor
- Yarhi-Milo
- Section
Section 007
TBA- Instructor
- Kirschke