Results for POLISCI

This course traces the development of legislatures from their medieval European origins to the present, with primary emphasis on the case of the U.S. Congress. Students will learn about the early role played by assemblies in placing limits on royal power, especially via the power of the purse. About half the course will then turn to a more detailed consideration of the U.S. Congress's contemporary performance, analyzing how that performance is affected by procedural legacies from the past that affect most democratic legislatures worldwide.

Our civilization faces multiple sustainability challenges. Climate change often dominates public conversation, but in fact, a whole range of environmental, economic, political, and cultural trends threaten the structures that sustain the societies we know. These problems cannot be understood in isolation, because they interact in complex ways. Solving them will require collaboration across many different fields, from the natural and social sciences to the humanities. This one-unit course brings together over two dozen faculty from across the entire university for a series of interdisciplinary conversations around cross-cutting themes. Our aim is to encourage dialogue and perhaps even future collaborations among students and professors who might otherwise rarely interact in a classroom. All students are welcome, but frosh and sophomores may find the course especially useful as an introduction to a wide range of sustainability-related disciplines and teachers at Stanford.

American democracy faces a series of unprecedented challenges. This course will identify the greatest areas of weakness in the American political system, make sense of the most pressing threats facing democracy, and contemplate how democracy can be strengthened. With this them - in defense of democracy - in mind, we will examine several questions: What guiding principles, norms, and institutions organize and structure American politics, and how do they affect the health and effectiveness of American democracy? What do patterns of political participation and representation in the United States tell us about the health of our democracy? How do partisan and social identities breed hostility and antagonism among the mass public? How does information from the media and other sources advance or frustrate democratic outcomes? What does increased violence - political, racially motivated, or otherwise - reveal about the trajectory of democracy in the United States? This is a course built on the science of politics, and our aim is to bring the scientific study of politics to bear on these pressing questions.

Russia presents a puzzle for theories of socio-economic development and modernization and their relationship to state power in international politics. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought into being the new Russia (or Russian Federation) as its successor in international politics. Russia suffered one of the worst recessions and experienced 25 years of halting reform. Despite these issues, Russia is again a central player in international affairs. Course analyzes motivations behind contemporary Russian foreign policy by reviewing its domestic and economic underpinnings. Examination of concept of state power in international politics to assess Russia's capabilities to influence other states' policies, and under what conditions its leaders use these resources. Is contemporary Russia strong or weak? What are the resources and constraints its projection of power beyond its borders? What are the determinants of state power in international politics in the twenty-first century? This course is a combination of a lecture and discussion, and will include lectures, readings, class discussions, films and documentaries.

International Security in a Changing World examines some of the most pressing international security problems facing the world today: nuclear weapons, the rise of China, the war in Ukraine, terrorism, and climate change. Alternative perspectives - from political science, history, and STS (Science, Technology, and Society) studies - are used to analyze these problems. The class includes an award-winning two-day international negotiation simulation.

Where does the future come from? It comes from the past, of course, but how? What are the key drivers of continuity or change, and how can we trace those drivers going forward, too? What are the roles of contingency, chance, and choice, versus long-term underlying structure? How can people, from whatever walk of life, identify and utilize levers of power to ty to shift the larger system? What is a system, and how do systems behave? To answer these questions and analyze how today's world came into being and where it might be headed, this course explores geopolitics and geoeconomics, institutions and technologies, citizenship and leadership. We examine how our world works to understand the limits but also the possibilities of individual and collective agency, the phenomenon of perverse and unintended consequences, and ultimately, the nature of power. Our goal is to investigate not just how to conceive of a smart policy, but how its implementation might unfold. In sum, this course aims to combine strategic analysis and tactical agility.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of current issues in Chinese politics and society. Each week features an invited speaker - ranging from world-renowned scholars like Scott Rozelle, Chenggang Xu, and Perry Link, to practitioners and journalists who have deep insights into China. Topics covered include China's political economy, intra-party politics, post-1980 reforms, the urban-rural divide, environmental challenges, media freedom, student movements, and higher education in China. Discussions, moderated by the instructor and TA, follow each seminar. The class is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Reading proficiency in Mandarin is a plus but not mandatory.

(Graduate students enroll in COMM 262. COMM 162 is offered for 5 units, COMM 262 is offered for 4 units.) This course examines the theory and practice of American campaigns and elections. First, we will attempt to explain the behavior of the key players -- candidates, parties, journalists, and voters -- in terms of the institutional arrangements and political incentives that confront them. Second, we will use current and recent election campaigns as "laboratories" for testing generalizations about campaign strategy and voter behavior. Third, we examine selections from the academic literature dealing with the origins of partisan identity, electoral design, and the immediate effects of campaigns on public opinion, voter turnout, and voter choice. As well, we'll explore issues of electoral reform and their more long-term consequences for governance and the political process.

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.

Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict between polls is viewed by the public; how accurate surveys are and when they are accurate; how to conduct survey research to produce accurate measurements; designing questionnaires that people can understand and use comfortably; how question wording can manipulate poll results; corruption in survey research.

Making policy is hard. There are no obvious answers to the most important disputes in modern America: policing, drugs, taxes, abortion, affirmative action, education, and welfare. Politicians, pundits, and the public all may disagree on what to do. Even if they agree on what to prioritize, they might disagree on how to accomplish that goal. And even once a policy is implemented, it is challenging to know if it worked. Yet, deciding how to address each challenge is an essential role of the government. In this class we will examine the most contentious policy disputes. And we will develop a framework for analyzing these policies including. We will develop analytic skills to address these contentious policy disputes and we will learn how to listen and respond to opposing arguments. Students¿ own views about the best policies will be challenged in this class, but they will leave the class better able to advocate for what they think is right.

The ecological, social, and economic crises of the Anthropocene suggest it is time for us to re-imagine how best to organize our communities, our institutions, and our societies. Despite the clear shortcomings, our society remains stuck in a rut of inaction. During periods of rapid social and economic change, segments of society become gripped by a nostalgia for idealized pasts that never really existed; such nostalgia acts as a powerful force that holds back innovation and contributes to a failure of imagination. How, then, might we imagine alternative social arrangements that could allow us to thrive sustainably in an environment of greater equity? Moshin Hamid reminds us that literature allows us to break from violent nostalgia while imagining better worlds, while Ursula K. Le Guin notes that "imaginative fiction trains people to be aware that there are other ways to do things, other ways to be; that there is not just one civilization, and it is good, and it is the way we have to be." There are - there has to be - other and better ways to be. In this multi-disciplinary class, we turn to speculative fiction as a way of imagining future societies that are adaptable, sustainable, and just and can respond to the major challenges of our age. In addition to reading and discussing a range of novels and short stories, we bring to bear perspectives from climate science, social science, and literary criticism. We will also be hosting several of the authors to talk about their work and ideas.

Activists devote sustained effort and attention toward achieving particular goals of social and political change. Do we have an ethical obligation to be activists? And how should those who do choose to be activists (for whatever reason) understand the ethics of that role? Questions discussed in this course may include: When is civil disobedience appropriate, and what does it entail? Should activists feel constrained by obligations of fairness, honesty, or civility toward those with whom we disagree? Are there special ethical considerations in activism on behalf of those who cannot advocate for themselves? What is solidarity and what does it require of us? Students in this course will develop skills in analyzing, evaluating, and constructing logical arguments about ethical concerns related to activism, but class discussions will also address the potential limitations of logical argument in ethical and political reasoning.

As we live in a globalized world, our lives are interconnected with many other people within and beyond the state borders. Currently, we face urgent problems of global justice, such as climate change, economic inequality, immigration, and health disparities, and how to address these issues is a crucial question for all of us. This course introduces students to normative inquiries into issues of global justice and offers an opportunity to integrate theories and practices by engaging with essential and timely questions. What normative demands does justice impose on individuals and institutions in a global world? Do people in affluent countries bear the responsibility for the suffering of those who live in other countries? Should relatively developed countries open their borders to those from developing countries? How should we allocate responsibilities for reducing global injustice, such as health disparities? How does injustice with historical roots, such as colonialism, further complicate the picture of normative demands? While there are no easy answers to these questions, throughout this course, students will be exposed to interdisciplinary approaches (including philosophy, political theory, gender studies, etc.), learn to critically analyze various theoretical approaches, and use them as frameworks to develop their views on issues of global justice. This class meets on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:30-11AM. Please note that in addition to the listed lecture time, students must sign up for a 45-min discussion session. The schedule of the discussion session will be arranged and announced during the first week of the quarter.

In this course, we will examine some of the central questions in philosophy of law, including: What is law? How do we determine the content of laws? Do laws have moral content? What is authority? What gives law its authority? Must we obey the law? If so, why? How can we justify the law? How should we understand and respond to unjust laws? What is punishment? What is punishment for? What, if anything, justifies punishment by the state? What is enough punishment? What is too much punishment? What does justice require under nonideal conditions? Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy.

Machine learning - the use of algorithms to classify, predict, sort, learn and discover from data - has exploded in use across academic fields, industry, government, and the non-profit sector. This course provides an introduction to machine learning for social scientists. We will introduce state of the art machine learning tools, show how to use those tools in the programming language R, and demonstrate why a social science focus is essential to effectively apply machine learning techniques in social, political, and policy contexts. Applications of the methods will include forecasting social phenomena, evaluating the use of algorithms in public policy, and the analysis of social media and text data. Prerequisite: POLISCI 150A/355A.

Qualified Political Science students obtain employment in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree programs. Meets the requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students on F-1 visas. The student is responsible for arranging their own internship/employment and gaining faculty sponsorship. Prior to enrolling, students must complete a petition form available on the Political Science website (politicalscience.stanford.edu/undergraduate-program/forms). The petition is due no later the end of week one of the quarter in which the student intends to enroll. If the CPT is for Summer, the petition form is due by May 31. An offer letter will need to be submitted along with the petition. At the completion of the CPT quarter, a final report must be submitted to the faculty sponsor documenting the work done and its relevance to Political Science. This course be repeated for credit up to 3 times but will not count toward the Political Science major or minor requirements.

This course offers an introduction to major topics in the study of historical and contemporary Europe. We focus on European politics, economics and culture. First, we study what makes Europe special, and how its distinct identity has been influenced by its history. Next, we analyze Europe's politics. We study parliamentary government and proportional representation electoral systems, and how they affect policy. Subsequently, we examine the challenges the European economy faces. We further study the European Union and transatlantic relations.

For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on international relations. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the end of week 1 of the quarter in which they'd like to enroll. May be repeated for credit.

This seminar will examine broad changes in American Politics in the modern era, roughly the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. A central theme of the seminar will be how sociological and economic change disrupts party alignments and leads to a changed politics. Each week a student will lead a critical discussion of a principal reading while others present additional related readings. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission of instructor.

What is an identity? What are the conditions under which identities become politicized? How do identities work to structure attitudes and affect behavior - both social and political? How do notions of power, hierarchy, and difference inform our analyses regarding the workings of identity in diverse societies Over the course of the quarter, we will read and discuss a series of scholarly papers from across academic disciplines that provide answers to these important questions and many others. To apply for this course, please send a one-page document to me (hakeem@stanford.edu), by December 14th with the following information: full name, class year, major, email, and a paragraph describing why you are interested in enrolling in the seminar. Results will be announced after.

Superpower California asks the following questions: What role does the state of California - or any powerful subnational entity - perform in the world? What role can it play? What role should it play? And how does it work towards extending - or hindering - the global power, presence, and blessings of democracy of the United States of America? The answer is critical to defining the future of American power. California is now the world's fourth largest global economy. It is not, however, a sovereign nation state. It is both enriched and constrained by its federal structure, e.g., America's unitary foreign policy and its national security structures. This course will review the ways that power is afforded to and extended by subnational entities, how that power and influence manifests itself in the global commons, and how California asserts its interests and values with other nations and subnational actors.

For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on American politics. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the end of week 1 of the quarter in which they'd like to enroll. May be repeated for credit.

Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

Modern political theorists, from Hobbes and Rousseau, to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, to Sheldon Wolin and Robert Dahl, have turned to the classical Greek theory and practice of politics, both for inspiration and as a critical target. The last 30 years has seen renewed interest in Athenian democracy among both historians and theorists, and closer interaction between empiricists concerned with 'what really happened, and why' and theorists concerned with the possibilities and limits of citizen self-government as a normatively favored approach to political organization. The course examines the current state of scholarship on the practice of politics in ancient city-states, including but not limited to democratic Athens; the relationship between practice and theory in antiquity (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and others); the uses to which ancient theory and practice have been and are being put by modern political theorists; and experiments in democratic practice (citizen assemblies, deliberative councils, lotteries) inspired by ancient precedents. Suggested Prerequisites: Origins of Political Thought OR The Greeks OR other coursework on ancient political theory or practice. (For undergraduate students: suggest but do not require that you have taken either Origins of Political Thought, or The Greeks, or some other course that gives you some introduction to Greek political history or thought. )

For millennia, an apocalypse has been just around the corner. This course examines how expectations surrounding the end of the world - and the role that human beings might play in bringing it about - have transformed over the last two centuries. After a brief look at traditional religious apocalypticism, we explore how apocalypse came to be reconsidered as an entirely this-worldly phenomenon that falls within human power to achieve and demands political attention. Along the way, the course addresses the discovery of entropy in the 19th century, development of the hydrogen bomb in the mid-20th, and the planetary science that has transformed the Apocalypse into a primarily ecological concern over the last half-century.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political theory. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the end of week 1 of the quarter in which they'd like to enroll. May be repeated for credit.

Modern Iran has been a smithy for political movements, ideologies, and types of states. Movements include nationalism, constitutionalism, Marxism, Islamic fundamentalism, social democracy, Islamic liberalism, and fascism. Forms of government include Oriental despotism, authoritarianism, Islamic theocracy, and liberal democracy. These varieties have appeared in Iran in an iteration shaped by history, geography, proximity to oil and the Soviet Union, and the hegemony of Islamic culture.

Fundamental transformations in Latin America in the last two decades: why most governments are now democratic or semidemocratic; and economic transformation as countries abandoned import substitution industrialization policies led by state intervention for neoliberal economic polices. The nature of this dual transformation.

For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the end of week 1 of the quarter in which they'd like to enroll. May be repeated for credit.

For undergraduates. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political methodology. To be considered for enrollment, interested students must complete the directed reading petition form available on the Political Science website before the end of week 1 of the quarter in which they'd like to enroll. May be repeated for credit.

Students conduct independent research work towards a senior honors thesis. Restricted to Political Science Research Honors students who have completed POLISCI 299B.

Thirty years ago the Cold War ended. Today, great power competition is back - or so it seems - with many describing our present era as a "New Cold War" between the United States and China and Russia. What happened? Is the Cold War label an illuminating or distorting analogy? What should the U.S. do to meet the challengers of great power competition in the 21st century? This course seeks to answer these questions about contemporary great power relations, first by tracing the historical origins of the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China relationships, next by assessing the similarities and differences between the Cold War and U.S.-Russia relations and U.S.-China relations today along three dimensions -- (1) Power, (2) Ideology, (3) Interdependence and Multilateralism - and third by discussing unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral policy prescriptions of US. policymakers.The main text for this course will be a new book in draft by Professor McFaul, as well accompanying academic articles.

Where does the future come from? It comes from the past, of course, but how? What are the key drivers of continuity or change, and how can we trace those drivers going forward, too? What are the roles of contingency, chance, and choice, versus long-term underlying structure? How can people, from whatever walk of life, identify and utilize levers of power to ty to shift the larger system? What is a system, and how do systems behave? To answer these questions and analyze how today's world came into being and where it might be headed, this course explores geopolitics and geoeconomics, institutions and technologies, citizenship and leadership. We examine how our world works to understand the limits but also the possibilities of individual and collective agency, the phenomenon of perverse and unintended consequences, and ultimately, the nature of power. Our goal is to investigate not just how to conceive of a smart policy, but how its implementation might unfold. In sum, this course aims to combine strategic analysis and tactical agility.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of current issues in Chinese politics and society. Each week features an invited speaker - ranging from world-renowned scholars like Scott Rozelle, Chenggang Xu, and Perry Link, to practitioners and journalists who have deep insights into China. Topics covered include China's political economy, intra-party politics, post-1980 reforms, the urban-rural divide, environmental challenges, media freedom, student movements, and higher education in China. Discussions, moderated by the instructor and TA, follow each seminar. The class is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Reading proficiency in Mandarin is a plus but not mandatory.

For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on international relations. May be repeated for credit.

For students interested in research in political science, psychology, or communication. Methodological techniques for studying political attitudes and behaviors. May be repeated for credit.

Focus is on how politicians and government learn what Americans want and how the public's preferences shape government action; how surveys measure beliefs, preferences, and experiences; how poll results are criticized and interpreted; how conflict between polls is viewed by the public; how accurate surveys are and when they are accurate; how to conduct survey research to produce accurate measurements; designing questionnaires that people can understand and use comfortably; how question wording can manipulate poll results; corruption in survey research.

Combined with LAW 7036 (formerly Law 577). This course is intended to give students a basic understanding of the themes in the legal regulation of elections and politics. We will cover all the major Supreme Court cases on topics of voting rights, reapportionment/redistricting, ballot access, regulation of political parties, campaign finance, and the 2000 presidential election controversy. The course pays particular attention to competing political philosophies and empirical assumptions that underlie the Court's reasoning while still focusing on the cases as litigation tools used to serve political ends. Elements used in grading: Class participation and one day take home final exam. (POLISCI 327C; LAW 577)

For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on American politics. May be repeated for credit.

Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

Modern political theorists, from Hobbes and Rousseau, to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, to Sheldon Wolin and Robert Dahl, have turned to the classical Greek theory and practice of politics, both for inspiration and as a critical target. The last 30 years has seen renewed interest in Athenian democracy among both historians and theorists, and closer interaction between empiricists concerned with 'what really happened, and why' and theorists concerned with the possibilities and limits of citizen self-government as a normatively favored approach to political organization. The course examines the current state of scholarship on the practice of politics in ancient city-states, including but not limited to democratic Athens; the relationship between practice and theory in antiquity (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and others); the uses to which ancient theory and practice have been and are being put by modern political theorists; and experiments in democratic practice (citizen assemblies, deliberative councils, lotteries) inspired by ancient precedents. Suggested Prerequisites: Origins of Political Thought OR The Greeks OR other coursework on ancient political theory or practice. (For undergraduate students: suggest but do not require that you have taken either Origins of Political Thought, or The Greeks, or some other course that gives you some introduction to Greek political history or thought. )

The ecological, social, and economic crises of the Anthropocene suggest it is time for us to re-imagine how best to organize our communities, our institutions, and our societies. Despite the clear shortcomings, our society remains stuck in a rut of inaction. During periods of rapid social and economic change, segments of society become gripped by a nostalgia for idealized pasts that never really existed; such nostalgia acts as a powerful force that holds back innovation and contributes to a failure of imagination. How, then, might we imagine alternative social arrangements that could allow us to thrive sustainably in an environment of greater equity? Moshin Hamid reminds us that literature allows us to break from violent nostalgia while imagining better worlds, while Ursula K. Le Guin notes that "imaginative fiction trains people to be aware that there are other ways to do things, other ways to be; that there is not just one civilization, and it is good, and it is the way we have to be." There are - there has to be - other and better ways to be. In this multi-disciplinary class, we turn to speculative fiction as a way of imagining future societies that are adaptable, sustainable, and just and can respond to the major challenges of our age. In addition to reading and discussing a range of novels and short stories, we bring to bear perspectives from climate science, social science, and literary criticism. We will also be hosting several of the authors to talk about their work and ideas.

Adam Smith and Karl Marx share a broad view of the role of markets in society. Rather than view markets narrowly as simply mechanisms for efficient distribution, both saw a role for markets in shaping culture, politics and political conflict, and society - and vice versa. However, Marx and Smith differ in their overall assessment of the value of the market as an institution for promoting liberty and equality. Indeed, their perspectives, while overlapping in some respects, are distinctive in ways that resonate with debates in contemporary philosophy and political economy over the characteristics of a just society, sources of development (political and economic), and theories of change. This course explores Smith's and Marx's views of markets, property, liberty and equality, in the context of major societal transformations that took place in the nineteenth century, such as the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of modern democracy, Dickensian England, the role of institutions, and the rise of monopoly power.

This seminar has two aims. First, we examine the methodological approaches of scholars working within political theory as well as those working at the intersection of political theory and empirical social science. Second, we discuss in an informal workshop setting the ongoing work of graduate students, considering how, if at all, the readings on methodology could inform this work.

Cross-listed with Law (LAW 7071), Political Science (POLISCI 334) and Sociology (SOC 374). Associated with the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Year-long workshop for doctoral students and advanced undergraduates writing senior theses on the nature of civil society or philanthropy. Focus is on pursuit of progressive research and writing contributing to the current scholarly knowledge of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. Accomplished in a large part through peer review. Readings include recent scholarship in aforementioned fields. May be repeated for credit for a maximum of 3 units.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

As we live in a globalized world, our lives are interconnected with many other people within and beyond the state borders. Currently, we face urgent problems of global justice, such as climate change, economic inequality, immigration, and health disparities, and how to address these issues is a crucial question for all of us. This course introduces students to normative inquiries into issues of global justice and offers an opportunity to integrate theories and practices by engaging with essential and timely questions. What normative demands does justice impose on individuals and institutions in a global world? Do people in affluent countries bear the responsibility for the suffering of those who live in other countries? Should relatively developed countries open their borders to those from developing countries? How should we allocate responsibilities for reducing global injustice, such as health disparities? How does injustice with historical roots, such as colonialism, further complicate the picture of normative demands? While there are no easy answers to these questions, throughout this course, students will be exposed to interdisciplinary approaches (including philosophy, political theory, gender studies, etc.), learn to critically analyze various theoretical approaches, and use them as frameworks to develop their views on issues of global justice. This class meets on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:30-11AM. Please note that in addition to the listed lecture time, students must sign up for a 45-min discussion session. The schedule of the discussion session will be arranged and announced during the first week of the quarter.

In this course, we will examine some of the central questions in philosophy of law, including: What is law? How do we determine the content of laws? Do laws have moral content? What is authority? What gives law its authority? Must we obey the law? If so, why? How can we justify the law? How should we understand and respond to unjust laws? What is punishment? What is punishment for? What, if anything, justifies punishment by the state? What is enough punishment? What is too much punishment? What does justice require under nonideal conditions? Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy.

For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political theory. May be repeated for credit.

Fundamental transformations in Latin America in the last two decades: why most governments are now democratic or semidemocratic; and economic transformation as countries abandoned import substitution industrialization policies led by state intervention for neoliberal economic polices. The nature of this dual transformation.

For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics. May be repeated for credit.

Continuation of POLISCI 353A. Mathematical and statistical models and applications to political science. Guest speakers, faculty, and students present research papers. May be repeated for credit.

Machine learning - the use of algorithms to classify, predict, sort, learn and discover from data - has exploded in use across academic fields, industry, government, and the non-profit sector. This course provides an introduction to machine learning for social scientists. We will introduce state of the art machine learning tools, show how to use those tools in the programming language R, and demonstrate why a social science focus is essential to effectively apply machine learning techniques in social, political, and policy contexts. Applications of the methods will include forecasting social phenomena, evaluating the use of algorithms in public policy, and the analysis of social media and text data. Prerequisite: POLISCI 150A/355A.

An introduction to noncooperative game theory through applications in political science. Topics will include the Hotelling-Downs model, the probabilistic voting model, contests, the tragedy of the commons and possible solution, electoral accountability, and political bargaining models, among others.

For PhD students. Directed reading in Political Science with a focus on political methodology. May be repeated for credit.

Pre-TGR dissertation research. Open to Poli Sci PhD students who have advanced to candidacy.

Second of a three-part graduate sequence. Security and armed conflict, both interstate and civil war. Nuclear weapons, terrorism, political economy of defense, and related topics. Prerequisite: POLISCI 410A.

For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit.

Theories of American politics, focusing on Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts.

Research seminar. Frontiers in mass political behavior. Course may be repeated for credit.

This seminar will examine broad changes in American Politics in the modern era, roughly the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. A central theme of the seminar will be how sociological and economic change disrupts party alignments and leads to a changed politics. Each week a student will lead a critical discussion of a principal reading while others present additional related readings. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission of instructor.

For graduate students. Faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students conducting research in political theory present works-in-progress. May be repeated for credit.

Required of Political Science Ph.D. students with comparative politics as a first or second concentration; others by consent of the instructor. The origins of political and economic institutions and their impact on long run outcomes for growth and democracy. Emphasis is on the analysis of causal models, hypothesis testing, and the quality of evidence.

Faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students conducting research in comparative politics present work-in-progress. May be repeated for credit.

There is a growing awareness that many of the key challenges in fostering development in poor societies are political challenges. What can we do to encourage trade, cooperation and peace in environments riven with social and ethnic divisions? How do we foster broadly beneficial political reforms and good governance when the potential losers to reforms are able to mobilise to prevent them? How do we detect and mitigate the effects of corruption? What role may modern finance play in creating or mitigating political economy challenges in developing countries?These problems are modern and endemic, but many are also old problems, and economic theory and the practical experiences of different countries have much to tell us both about what has worked in the past, and what policy experiments we may try in new environments. Rather than a survey, the objective of this course is to selectively discuss new and open research areas in political development economics and the theoretical and empirical tools necessary to contribute to them, with the topics chosen to complement other Stanford courses in applied microeconomics, development, political economics and economic history. By the end of the course, the student will have analysed a theoretical or historical solution to a key political development challenge and proposed a natural or field experiment to test it empirically. Graduate level proficiency in microeconomics and empirical methods will be required.

For Ph.D. students in the social sciences and history. Research on contemporary society and politics in the People's Republic of China. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Graduate level survey of statistical methods for causal inference in political science research. Covers a variety of causal inference designs, including experiments, matching, regression, panel methods, difference-in-differences, synthetic control methods, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity designs, quantile regression, and bounds. Prerequisite: POLISCI 450A completed for a letter grade of "B" or higher. Students who have not taken POLI SCI 450A with a letter grade of B or better must pass an entrance exam in order to take POLI SCI 450B. Attend the first day of class for information about taking the exam.