Correspondence Directory

Majors and Courses of InstructionPolitics and Government210. Global Issues (Choi, Kay)Students in Global Issues will examine the evolving dynamics of the international system at anintroductory level. This discussion focuses on facilitating international governance and cooperationrelative to major contemporary international issues. The class examines the positive effects andchallenges posed by the new distribution of power in the international system. Finally, we considerthe quest for international peace and security. We will use these three major issue areas to introducesome of the critical issues facing a new generation of political science and global civic engagement.F., S.211. Comparative Political Issues (J. Franklin)A general comparative overview of the world’s political systems. This overview consists of two parts.First, students will assess how countries differ in terms of their political systems, governmentalstructures, patterns of political behavior, political culture, and patterns of political change.Second, the class will examine attempts to conceptualize and explain such differences. Rather thanproceeding country-by-country, this course is organized around topics that are central to the field ofcomparative politics. However, students will gain some country-specific knowledge. Diversity. S.260. Equality and American Politics (McLean)An examination of the pursuit of political equality in the United States. The course focusesprimarily upon the post-1945 experiences of several groups: women, African Americans, Hispanicsand, more recently, to a lesser extent upon the efforts by gays and lesbians, Asian Americans, andNative Americans. A thorough examination is undertaken of (a) the place of equality in the U.S.political ideology and beliefs; and (b) the various strategic environments and the choices made bythese groups and their elites to obtain their respective objectives. Diversity. F.261. American Politics and the Mass Media (McLean)Examines how American politics is affected by the mass media in such areas as politicalparticipation, campaign politics, and public policy. Explores how new technologies help shape therole the media play in the relationship between citizens and government. Special emphasis is placedon understanding how political institutions and interest groups interact with the mass media. S.270. Contemporary American Political Issues (Louthan, Ramsay)A systematic introduction to and analysis of selected contemporary American public policy issues.The topics selected will vary from semester to semester. The foci are on the politics of agendasetting, problem and issue definition, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation,and policy evaluation. The roles of elected officials, government institutions, and interest groupswill be examined. Among the broad policy areas from which topics will be selected are: budgetand taxation, health care, education, abortion, gun control, Social Security, social welfare, energy,tobacco control, and criminal justice issues. S.279. The Conduct of Political Inquiry (McLean, Ramsay)An overview of the political science discipline focusing on definitions of the discipline,epistemologies of the discipline, the function of concepts and concept-building, modes of advancingand verifying theoretical propositions, and techniques used to provide data out of which theoreticalpropositions are constructed. Through these foci, a series of themes emerges: the interrelationshipbetween subject matter and method, the consequently changing character of the discipline, thescientific aspects of political science, the role of creativity in advancement of the discipline, and theessential task of theory-building. F, S.234