printer friendly pagePOLISCI 1: The Science of Politics
Why do countries go to war? How can we explain problems such as poverty, inequality, and pollution? What can be done to improve political representation in the United States and other countries? We will use scientific methods to answer these and other fundamental questions about politics.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Grimmer, J. (PI)
;
Haber, S. (PI)
;
Schultz, K. (PI)
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Instructors:
Grimmer, J. (PI)
;
Haber, S. (PI)
;
Schultz, K. (PI)
;
Tomz, M. (PI)
;
Malik, M. (TA)
;
Malone, I. (TA)
;
Parthasarathy, R. (TA)
;
Streeter, S. (TA)
;
Williamson, S. (TA)
POLISCI 18N: Civil War and International Politics: Syria in Context
How and why do civil wars start, drag on, and end? What does focus of post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy on countries torn apart by civil war tell us about contemporary international relations? We consider these and related questions, with the conflict in Syria as our main case study.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Fearon, J. (PI)
POLISCI 22SC: The Face of Battle
Our understanding of warfare often derives from the lofty perspective of political leaders and generals: what were their objectives and what strategies were developed to meet them? This top-down perspective slights the experience of the actual combatants and non-combatants caught in the crossfire. This course focuses on the complexity of the process by which strategy is translated into tactical decisions by the officers and foot soldiers and on what actually occurs on the field of battle. We will visit Washington, DC, and meet with national security officials and members of non-government organizations there. In addition, we will spend a day visiting the battlefields of Gettysburg (July 1863) in Pennsylvania, and the Little Bighorn (June 1876) in Montana. The course's battlefield tours are based on the "staff rides" developed by the Prussian Army in the mid-1800s and employed by the U.S. Army since the early 1900s. While at Stanford, students will conduct extensive research on individual participants at Gettysburg and Little Bighorn. Then, as we walk through the battlefield sites, students will brief the group on their subjects' experience of battle and on why they made the decisions they did. Why did Lt. General Longstreet oppose the Confederate attack on the Union Army at Gettysburg? What was the experience of a military surgeon on a Civil War battlefield? What role did just war principles or law play in the treatment of enemy fighters and civilians? Why did Custer divide his 7th Cavalry troops as they approached the Little Bighorn River? What was the role of Lakota Sioux women after a battle? The final part of the class covers contemporary military conflicts discussing what the US public, political leaders, and military commanders have learned (and not learned) from the past. The course is open to students from a range of disciplines; an interest in the topic is the only prerequisite.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Felter, J. (PI)
;
Sagan, S. (PI)
POLISCI 24Q: Law and Order
Preference to sophomores. The role of law in promoting social order. What is the rule of law? How does it differ from the rule of men? What institutions best support the rule of law? Is a state needed to ensure that laws are enforced? Should victims be allowed to avenge wrongs? What is the relationship between justice and mercy?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci
POLISCI 25N: The US Congress in Historical and Comparative Perspective
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.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Cox, G. (PI)
POLISCI 26SC: Environmental & Resource Challenges on Native American Lands (EARTHSYS 15SC, LAWGEN 15SC, NATIVEAM 15SC)
This seminar will study and examine the varied environmental and resource challenges facing Indian reservations in the western United States. Over 360 Indian reservations, the majority of which are in the western United States, encompass over 56 million acres - a land total approximating the size of the State of Idaho While Indian treaties and executive orders often relegated tribes to isolated and unwanted lands, Indian reservations frequently contain valuable natural resources such as oil, gas, hard minerals, and forests. Many Indian tribes, moreover, enjoy special fishing rights and the legal right to vast amounts of water. At the same time, Indian reservations face serious environmental challenges, including water contamination, habitat decline, and climate change. To examine these questions, we will start with a week of classroom study and discussion. During this week, we will examine the nature of the environmental and resource challenges facing Native American tribes today, the relevant ins and outs of federal Indian law and the legal rights of tribes, Native American governmental systems, and the approaches that tribes are currently taking to these challenges. We will then move into the field and spend approximately ten days in the states of Washington, Montana, and Wyoming, meeting with tribal officials and seeing firsthand the environmental and resource challenges that they face. On our return to Stanford, students will break into groups, and each group will analyze a particular challenge facing a Native American tribe and how best to address that challenge. The course will culminate in student presentations on these analyses. Over the summer, students also will be responsible for assigned readings, online interactive materials, and relevant recent news articles. The class begins on-campus and then travels to Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. Travel expenses during the course will be provided (except incidentals) by the Bill Lane Center for the American West and Sophomore College. Application required, due noon, April 5, 2016. Apply at
http://soco.stanford.edu. Cross-listed with Earth Systems (
EARTHSYS 15SC), Native American Studies (
NATIVEAM 15SC) and Political Science (
POLISCI 26SC).
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Cain, B. (PI)
;
Thompson, B. (PI)
POLISCI 27N: Thinking Like a Social Scientist
Preference to freshman. This seminar will consider how politics and government can be studied systematically: the compound term Political SCIENCE is not an oxymoron. The seminar will introduce core concepts and explore a variety of methodological approaches. Problems of inference from evidence will be a major concern. Classic and contemporary research studies will be the basis of discussion throughout.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Fiorina, M. (PI)
;
Fresh, A. (TA)
POLISCI 29N: Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AFRICAAM 52N, ENGLISH 52N)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? In this course, we approach issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st century U.S. We will examine issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation and racial prejudice in American society. Topics we will explore include the political and social formation of ¿race¿; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the ¿one-drop rule¿ and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of Census categories and the rise of the Multiracial Movement.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Davenport, L. (PI)
;
Elam, M. (PI)
POLISCI 31N: Political Freedom: Rights, Justice, and Democracy in the Western Tradition
Freedom is one of our core values. Most people can agree that freedom is a good thing. Yet there is far less agreement about how to understand the concept itself and what kinds of political arrangements are best suited to protect and enhance freedom. Is freedom about being left alone? Undertaking action with others? Participating in governance? Does freedom require a limited state? An active and interventionist government? A robustly participatory political system? How is freedom connected to other political values, like justice and equality? This seminar will consider and evaluate some of the most controversial and challenging answers that have been given to these questions by both historical and contemporary political thinkers from Europe and North America. Thinkers covered will include: Plato, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Robert Putnam, and Jeremy Waldron.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
McQueen, A. (PI)
POLISCI 33S: Religion, Democracy, and Human Rights (RELIGST 35S)
What is the relationship between religion, democracy, and human rights? What is the status of religion within modern human rights regimes? Do religions have "special" rights in democracies? Why did the French outlaw the hijab (Islamic headscarf) and the Swiss the building of mosques and is that good for human and democratic rights? What is (and what should be) the relationship between religious human rights and democratic self-determination? How do we balance between concerns over blasphemy and free speech, in the case of the Danish cartoon depiction of Mohammad, for example? Is the idea of "religion" even useful in human rights or democratic language anymore, as some now claim? These are just some of the questions students will take up as they are introduced to several important areas within the larger field of religion and international relations.nnReadings are interdisciplinary in nature, and include case studies. No prerequisite. Open to all majors/minors, and will be particularly beneficial to students in International Relations, International Policy Studies, Political Science, and Religious Studies, as well as students with specific regional political interests where the themes of the course are especially relevant (e.g., Middle East, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, Africa, and so on) and Pre-Law students.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
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