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1 - 10 of 276 results for: POLISCI

POLISCI 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: Aut, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

POLISCI 1Z: 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.

POLISCI 13N: Identity Politics 101

How do we understand the political choices citizens make? Why do Black and White Americans disagree so vehemently about racially-charged incidents like officer-involved shootings? What explains disagreements over policies like welfare and immigration? How do we understand ethnic conflict, both in the United States and around the world? What explains our commitments to salient social groups? Under what conditions should we expect group members to join in solidarity with one another? When does solidarity break down? And what helps us make sense of this strange time we find ourselves in? Identity does that--or at least it does a lot of it. But what is an identity? What are the conditions under which identities becomenpoliticized? How do identities work to structure attitudes and affect behavior? Over the course of the quarter, we will read a series of scholarly papers from across academic disciplines that provide some answers to these important questions.nStudents will be expected to engage the readings carefully and to participate in classroom discussions. Assignments will include reaction papers and a final presentation. By the end of our time together, I hope to convince you that all politics is identity politics, and that identity--in all of its complexity--is a thing worth thinking rigorously about. All students are encouraged to join, as we will benefit from the diversity of experiences and backgrounds that each of us brings to thenclassroom.
Last offered: Autumn 2020

POLISCI 14SC: River and Region: The Columbia River and the Shaping of the Pacific Northwest (CEE 17SC, EARTHSYS 16SC, HISTORY 29SC)

This seminar will explore the crucial role of the Columbia River in the past, present, and future of the Pacific Northwest. Topics will include the lives and legacies of the indigenous peoples that Lewis and Clark encountered more than two centuries ago; the historic fisheries that attracted thousands of Chinese and, later, Scandinavian workers; the New Deal¿s epic dam-building initiatives beginning in the 1930s; the impact of the Manhattan Project¿s plutonium bomb development at Hanford Atomic Works in WWII; and the twenty-first-century server farms dotted across the Columbia Plateau. We plan to visit with local water managers, farmers, ranchers, loggers, Native American fishermen, and energy administrators, as well as elected officials and environmental activists, to examine the hydrologic, meteorologic, and geologic bases of the river¿s water and energy resources, and the practical, social, environmental, economic, and political issues surrounding their development in the Pacific Northwest region.The Columbia River and its watershed provide a revealing lens on a host of issues. A transnational, multi-state river with the largest residual populations of anadromous salmonids in the continental US, it is a major source of renewable hydroelectric power. (The Grand Coulee dam powerhouse is the largest-capacity hydropower facility in the US; nearly 50% of Oregon¿s electricity generation flows from hydropower; in Washington State it¿s nearly two-thirds, the highest in the nation.) The river provides a major bulk commodity transportation link from the interior West to the sea via an elaborate system of locks. It irrigates nearly 700,000 acres of sprawling wheat ranches and fruit farms in the federally administered Columbia Basin Project. We will look at all these issues with respect to rapid climate change, ecosystem impacts, economics, and public policy.We will begin with classroom briefings on campus, in preparation for the two-week field portion of the seminar. We plan to then travel widely throughout the Columbia basin, visiting water and energy facilities across the watershed, e.g., hydro, solar, wind, and natural gas power plants; dams and reservoirs with their powerhouses, fish passage facilities, navigation locks, and flood-mitigation systems; tribal organizations; irrigation projects; the Hanford Nuclear Reservation; and offices of regulatory agencies. We hope to meet with relevant policy experts and public officials, along with several of the stakeholders in the basin.Over the summer students will be responsible for assigned readings from several sources, including monographs, online materials, and recent news articles. During the trip, students will work in small groups to analyze and assess one aspect of the river¿s utilization, and the challenges to responsible management going forward. The seminar will culminate in presentations to an audience of Stanford alumni in Portland, Oregon.
Last offered: Summer 2023

POLISCI 20N: The American Electorate in the Trump Era

This seminar will introduce students to the methods social scientists use to analyze public opinion, voting and elections, with primary emphasis on the 2016 elections and the upcoming 2020 elections. Students will utilize major databases such as the American National Elections Studies (ANES) and the General Social Survey (GSS), as well as ongoing national panels. The seminar emphasizes analysis - not ideology, activism or personal catharsis. How are Americans in various demographic categories voting today and why? What is the relative importance of voter characteristics and identities, policy issues, the records and personal qualities of the candidates, the campaign itself, the performance of the Obama and Trump Administration, and myriad other factors?
Last offered: Winter 2020

POLISCI 20Q: Democracy in Crisis: Learning from the Past (EDUC 122Q, HISTORY 52Q)

This January, an armed insurrection assaulted the U.S. Capital, trying to block the Electoral College affirmation of President Biden's election. For the past four years, American democracy has been in continual crisis. Bitter and differing views of what constitutes truth have resulted in a deeply polarized electoral process. The sharp increase in partisanship has crippled our ability as a nation to address and resolve the complex issues facing us. <br><br>There are reasons to hope the current challenges will be overcome and the path of our democracy will be reset on a sound basis. But that will require a shift to constructive--rather than destructive--political conflict. <br><br>This Sophomore Seminar will focus on U.S. democracy and will use a series of case studies of major events in our national history to explore what happened and why to American democracy at key pressure points. This historical exploration will shed light on how the current challenges facing American democracy might best be handled. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center).
Last offered: Spring 2021 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

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 individu more »
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, vivandiere, or nurse 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

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: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-SI
Instructors: Cox, G. (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.
Last offered: Winter 2016 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI

POLISCI 27SC: Policing, Violence and Migration in Latin America: Historical Origins and Contemporary Challenges

This course explores the origins of policing in Latin America and some of the contemporary challenges in the relationship between citizens, police forces and the state in the Western Hemisphere. By taking a long-term perspective, we seek to understand why highly unequal countries in Latin America (and the US) have faced such difficulties in effectively providing citizen security while ensuring the respect of fundamental human rights. We will connect such failures both to historical debates regarding the legacies of colonialism and contemporary debates regarding forced displacements and migratory flows. The provision of security in Latin America has often been plagued by torture, excessive use of force, military deployments and police brutality. During the colonial era, political order was often imposed using the coercive force of the State to police settlement patterns, repress indigenous rebellions, and chase runaway enslaved peoples. Police forces in Latin America are often unable to more »
This course explores the origins of policing in Latin America and some of the contemporary challenges in the relationship between citizens, police forces and the state in the Western Hemisphere. By taking a long-term perspective, we seek to understand why highly unequal countries in Latin America (and the US) have faced such difficulties in effectively providing citizen security while ensuring the respect of fundamental human rights. We will connect such failures both to historical debates regarding the legacies of colonialism and contemporary debates regarding forced displacements and migratory flows. The provision of security in Latin America has often been plagued by torture, excessive use of force, military deployments and police brutality. During the colonial era, political order was often imposed using the coercive force of the State to police settlement patterns, repress indigenous rebellions, and chase runaway enslaved peoples. Police forces in Latin America are often unable to contain crime, while poor citizens in urban favelas or remote villages often need to resort to solutions that bypass or even challenge the State in its monopoly of the legitimate use of violence, or seek to escape their precarious conditions through migration. We will explore both the origins of these policing failures, and their effects in terms of migratory flows to both the US and Latin America today. Movie club and salon: Class sessions will be enriched with cinema screenings in the evenings of movies and documentaries that will bring to life some of the issues discussed in class. Those screenings will include a zoom segment to allow for a follow up discussion with directors, producers or a relevant expert. Field trips: We will seek to have three field trips. One will be a visit to libraries containing historical documents of the colonial era. A second one will be a visit to a California Mission. A third trip will be a visit to the Salinas Valley or Half Moon Bay, to learn about the challenges faced by undocumented indigenous migrants in agricultural areas of California. If possible, we will arrange a fourth trip visit police headquarters in Oakland, to learn about contemporary efforts at police reform in the US.
Terms: Sum | Units: 2
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