241 - 250 of 266 results for: POLISCI

This course examines the works of a thinker who radically transformed the ways that we think about modern society. Marx saw fundamental problems with capitalist societies, including: un-freedom, alienation, inequality, and bureaucratization. He developed a theory to account for these problems. Our task will be to read his works critically and to evaluate their contributions to our understanding the relationship between politics, social structure, knowledge and human agency. We will also be especially interested in comparing his view with alternative diagnoses of the problems of modern capitalist societies, especially those of Max Weber and John Rawls.

Small project teams work with NGOs to design new technologies for promoting development and democracy. Students conduct observations to identify needs, generate concepts, create prototypes, and test their appropriateness. Some projects may continue past the quarter toward full-scale implementation. Taught through the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanfordn( http://dschool.stanford.edu). Enrollment limited. Application required. Prerequisites: consent of instructor(s). Design Institute class; see http://dschool.stanford.edu.

Conceptions of evil and its nature and source, distinctions between natural and moral evil, and what belongs to God versus to the human race have undergone transformations reflected in literature and film. Sources include Rousseau's response to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; Hannah Arendt's interpretation of Auschwitz; Günther Anders' reading of Hiroshima; and current reflections on looming climatic and nuclear disasters. Readings from Rousseau, Kant, Dostoevsky, Arendt, Anders, Jonas, Camus, Ricoeur, Houellebeck, Girard. Films by Lang, Bergman, Losey, Hitchcock.

The implications of the rise of China in contemporary world politics and for American foreign policy, including issues such as arms and nuclear proliferation, regional security arrangements, international trade and investment, human rights, environmental problems, and the Taiwan and Tibet questions.

The role of geography in topics in political economy, including development, political representation, voting, redistribution, regional autonomy movements, fiscal competition, and federalism.

Students apply tools of human-centered design to issues of government performance. Small project teams work with NGO and government partners (in the U.S. and abroad) on concrete design challenges focused on issues such as how to deliver services more effectively and ensure that citizens¿ voices are heard. Students identify needs, generate concepts, create prototypes, and test their appropriateness. Taught through the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford ( http://dschool.stanford.edu). Enrollment limited. Application required. Prerequisites: consent of instructor(s).

Latin America has experienced a significant wave of crime and violence in the past two decades.Criminal organizations have penetrated State organizations and are increasingly embedded insociety. These organizations have created wide and solid networks all over the region, including theUnited States. The activities of criminal organizations in Latin America have eroded the social fabric,weakened State institutions, have caused a significant number of deaths, and have created strong disincentives for productive investment. The course aims at acquainting students with the political-economy of crime and violence. It focuses on understanding the incentives that individuals face for engaging in criminal activities; the incentives that criminal organizations have to use violence against each other, against citizens, and against State forces; the incentives that citizens face to side, or not, with criminal organizations; andnthe responses that States have structured against crime and violence.nThe course focuses on Latin America, but also learns from the case of the United States for which there is a relatively more extensive literature. The course makes extensive use of available data on the topic and emphasizes the learning of adequate methods for measuring these phenomena.

Continuation of 353A. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 353A and B.

The importance of sample surveys as a source of social science data including public opinion, voting, welfare programs, health, employment, and consumer behavior. Survey design, sampling theory, and estimation. Nonresponse, self-selection, measurement error, and web survey methods. Prerequisite: 350B or equivalent.