p o l i t i c a l     s c i e n c e
POL 1001 College: An Introduction     1 QH
Intended for freshmen in the College of Arts and Sciences. Seeks to introduce freshmen to the liberal arts in general, as well as to familiarize them with their major; help them develop the academic skills necessary to succeed (e.g. analytical ability and critical thinking); provide grounding in the culture and values of the University community; and help them develop interpersonal skills--in short, to familiarize students with all skills needed to become a successful university student.
POL 1110 Introduction to Politics     4 QH
Offers an overview of basic concepts such as power, authority and sovereignty, methods of political analysis, and contemporary political ideologies. Discusses such dynamics as political culture, public opinion and participation, and political systems. (Core Category II)
POL 1111 Introduction to American Government     4 QH
Analyzes the American system of government and politics. Includes the philosophical origins and design of the Constitution, public opinion, political behavior and participation, parties and interest groups, and formal governmental institutions. May cover cases in domestic and foreign policy-making. (Core Category II)
POL 1112/IAF 1112 Introduction to International Relations     4 QH
Applies basic theories of international relations to examining the foreign policies of the key actors in the international system. Covers topics of international aid, trade, and monetary affairs; issues relating to the arms race, nuclear proliferation, arms control, and disarmament; international law and organizations, human rights, and the impact of technology on the functioning of the international system. (Core Category II)
POL 1113/IAF 1113 Introduction to Foreign Governments     4 QH
Presents a comparative study of political organization and behavior in selected countries. Includes such topics as political economy, leadership, political institutions, political culture, and political participation.
POL 1114 The United States Constitution     4 QH
Introduces the U.S. Constitution by exploring its theory, its origin, and the institutions by which it bestows and restrains power. Surveys the constitutional liberties guaranteed. Examines what this fundamental supreme United States law means today, two centuries after its ratification. Other topics include congressional areas of policy-making responsibility, presidential power, the role of the judiciary in the American system of government, and the reconciliation of majority rule with minority rights.
POL 1260 Public Policy Analysis     4 QH
Uses both theoretical literature and case studies to analyze the structure of and dynamics inherent in the American policy-making process. Introduces such concepts as problem definition, agenda development, policy formation, implementation, and program evaluation. Examines basic policy-analysis methods. (Core Category VI)
POL 1261 Public Administration     4 QH
Provides a broad overview of the administrative aspects of public policies and programs. Topics include public management, organizations, budgeting, personnel administration, and program evaluation.
POL 1262 Bureaucracy and Government Organizations     4 QH
Examines the general principles underlying the structures, processes, and operation of public organizations. Looks at the role of bureaucracies within the larger political system, as well as how public agencies develop and change over time.
POL 1266 Public Personnel Administration     4 QH
Presents an overall introduction to the field of public personnel administration. Examines selected topics such as recruitment, selection, classification, case development, equal opportunity, public employee unionism, and collective bargaining.
POL 1267 Politics of Budgeting and Taxation     4 QH
Focuses on the function of budgeting in a variety of governmental contexts, specifically, the appropriations process, the budget as a management tool, and the public-policy impacts of the budget. Emphasizes budgeting techniques within this context.
POL 1301 Research Methods 1     4 QH
Offers an introduction to the principal quantitative methods used in political analysis, public administration, political behavior, international relations, and policy sciences. Emphasizes basic statistical techniques, survey methods, and SPSS programming. Prereq. Prior completion of college mathematics requirement.
POL 1302 Research Methods 2     4 QH
Focuses on methods of quantitative analysis. Covers the following primary statistical topics: significance testing, bivariate regression and correlation, and multiple regression and correlation. In addition, teaches elementary computer skills and the use of a programming language to calculate advanced statistics. Emphasizes the practical application and understanding of statistical techniques by providing numerous examples in the areas of political behavior, public opinion, and public-policy analysis. Prereq. POL 1301 and prior completion of college mathematics requirement.
POL 1303 Political Behavior     4 QH
Examines selected topics in contemporary political science from a political behavior perspective. Focuses on political attitude formation and change, ideology, socialization, public opinion and voting behavior, political campaigning, political violence, and empirical democratic theory.
POL 1306 Politics in Western Europe     4 QH
Offers a comparative survey of the societies, economies, and political systems in the democracies of Western Europe. Examines governing structures and major political developments within the major European states, as well as major policy issues (e.g., nationalism, federalism, environmentalism) and issues of European integration within the European Union. (Core Category III)
POL 1308/AFR 1271 The Politics of Poverty     4 QH
Explores how and why there is poverty, how it affects people's lives, and how it can be eliminated. Examines the relations between poverty, racism, and the economic, political, and administrative systems. Evaluates a number of alternatives and provides an opportunity for clarifying individual assumptions and feelings about poverty.
POL 1309 International Political Economy     4 QH
Focuses on international political and economic relations. Examines how nations interact in such areas as trade, finance, and labor relations. Includes such topics as the International Monetary Fund, multinational corporations, economic sanctions, military interventions, technology transfer, and foreign aid. Prereq. A course in either economics or international politics is recommended but not required. (Core Category V)
POL 1310 American Ideology     4 QH
Analyzes the main American ideologies, including liberalism, neoliberalism, conservatism, neoconservatism, and nationalism. Examines the historic roots of each ideology and its impact on American politics. Explores the ongoing interaction of political ideology and the political process in contemporary American society. (Core Category V)
POL 1311/AFR 1324 Blacks and Jews     4 QH
Compares the black and Jewish experiences in the United States. Themes include: remembered slavery and commemoration of freedom; holocaust and genocide; religious expressions of politics; Black-Jewish relations; and Black Judaism.
POL 1312 Politics and the Mass Media     4 QH
Analyzes several facets of the mass media: the role of newspapers, radio, and television in public opinion formation; their use and effectiveness in political campaigns; their objectivity and/or bias in reporting the news; their impact on political parties and the distribution of power between Congress and the President.
POL 1313 International Organizations     4 QH
Focuses on the development of roles played by international governmental organizations, examining their dual roles as collections of sovereign states and as political actors in their own right. Analyzes the structure and functions of such global organizations as the United Nations as well as regional organizations like the European Union and Organization of American States.
POL 1314 Interest Groups and Public Policy     4 QH
Surveys the roles of organized interests in American public policymaking. Examines why groups are formed, how they work, why they succeed or fail, and what cumulative impacts groups have on policy. Spans a variety of groups, from traditional economic interests to social movements, public interest organizations, and professional lobbyists.
POL 1316 Contemporary Revolutionary Politics     4 QH
Examines revolution as a political option and revolutionary movements throughout the world today. Examples will be taken from Marxism-Leninism (e.g., Bolshevik Russia, China, Cuba), revolutionary Islam (e.g., Iran, Algeria), and the anti-Communist forces in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Examines the perennial conflict between revolution as an ideal and regime consolidation as a necessity. (Core Category VI)
POL 1317 Law and Society     4 QH
Examines the sociological understanding of legal phenomena. Places special emphasis on the role of law in promoting cultural and social cohesion in American society.
POL 1318 State and Local Government     4 QH
Introduces students to the political and administrative context of state and local government and surveys the structure, function, and politics of states and localities within the context of the
United States federal system. Prereq. POL 1111.
POL 1319 Government and Politics of Massachusetts     4 QH
Emphasizes the political and administrative aspects of government in Massachusetts. Considers the structure and functions of state government as well as major policy problems confronted by public officials. Analyzes the relationship between state and local governments in Massachusetts.
POL 1320 Parties and Elections     4 QH
Analyzes political parties and the American system of elections. Focuses on structural and constitutional biases, the organizational aspects of the parties, mass voting behavior, the impact of elections on public policy-making, and national and state historical trends.
POL 1322 World Politics     4 QH
Emphasizes various principles, techniques, and patterns that governments have followed to implement their goals or objectives. Uses a case-study approach.
POL 1324 Urban Politics     4 QH
Analyzes the political, administrative, economic, and social dynamics of urban areas.
POL 1327 Gender Politics     4 QH
Explores the relation between what is and what ought to be--and why--in the roles of women in American politics. Examines the traditional roles of women in politics, the suffrage movement, the woman as citizen and voter, the role of gender in achieving power and in political efficacy, and the place of women in Ònew politics.Ó Also covers political action to promote women's issues and modern feminism. (Core Category VI)
POL 1329 American Social Welfare Policy     4 QH
Introduces social welfare policy, with emphasis on programs and services in the contemporary United States. Discusses theoretical frameworks for analyzing social welfare policy; then focuses attention on the substantive areas of welfare, mental health, and social security. Explores various issues and processes related to the design, administration, and implementation of social welfare policy in the context of the American sociopolitical system.
POL 1331 Science, Technology, and Public Policy     4 QH
Considers the effects of science and technology on politics and policy-making in America and how politics influences science and technology. Focuses on the differences between scientific and democratic values and definitions of rationality, the nature of public problems, and why some problems are easier to ÒsolveÓ than others. Particularly looks at such issues as nuclear power, recombinant DNA, abortion, and medical research; addresses the question of who should decide such complex matters. (Core Category VI)
POL 1332 Government and Politics of Japan     4 QH
Focuses on the development of Japan's political system since World War II. Examines Japan's political institutions and practice of democracy in the context of its political culture; the interrelationship between business and government; Japan's foreign policy; and business practices and organization. Raises issues concerning Japan's extraordinary economic success and the limitations of Japan as a model for other countries. (Core Category IV)
POL 1334 Environmental Policy and Politics     4 QH
Examines the policy-making processes, historical and socioeconomic factors, political forces, governmental institutions, and global trends that shape environmental policy at national and subnational levels in the United States. Gives attention to a wide range of environmental policy areas, with comparisons made between the United States and other nations.
POL 1335 The American Presidency     4 QH
Examines the presidential electoral process and the constitutional and extraconstitutional powers of the American President. Studies presidential leadership styles and analyzes the relationship between the executive branch and Congress, the Court, the bureaucracy, and the media.
POL 1336 American Constitutional Law     4 QH
Employs excerpts of United States Supreme Court decisions and other reading materials to analyze some of the theoretical, structural, and substantive issues inherent in and relevant to the American constitutional system. Prereq. POL 1111 and junior or senior standing.
POL 1337 United States Foreign Policy     4 QH
Examines formulation and conduct of foreign policy and the United States since World War II.
POL 1338 Religion and Politics     4 QH
Explores the role of religion in domestic and international politics. Examines religion as a source of political tension and strife. Draws examples from the United States and the developing world. Covers Islamic fundamentalism in Africa and the Near East, Orthodox Jewish parties in Israel, Catholic liberation theology in Latin America, and Protestant fundamentalism and the Religious Right in America. (Core Category V)
POL 1339 Current Political Issues     4 QH
Analyzes the constitutional and political background of selected contemporary public issues. Primarily for nonpolitical science majors.
POL 1340 Crisis and Change in Central/Eastern Europe     4 QH
Studies the six former Soviet bloc socialist countries, Albania, and Yugoslavia, and examines political, economic, social, and international problems of post-Communist development. (Core Category IV)
POL 1342/AFR 1342 Government and Politics of Africa     4 QH
Explores contemporary politics in African nations south of the Sahara. Studies South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia, among others. Examines apartheid, colonialism, Afro-Marxism, chieftaincy, development, and Pan-Africanism. (Core Category VI)
POL 1343 Politics and Violence in Northern Ireland     4 QH
Analyzes the causes of violence in Northern Ireland. Considers historical, sociological, and economic roots of the conflict, but places major emphasis on politics. Also discusses the international dimension (the roles of southern Ireland, the United States, and so on), paramilitary organizations, legal political parties and groups, and the peace process. Draws comparative parallels, including possible lessons for the United States. (Core Category IV)
POL 1345 Government and Politics in the Middle East     4 QH
Approaches the political, economic, military, and ideological factors within the Arab states and Israel, inter-Arab politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the great power rivalry in the region. (Core Category VI)
POL 1346 Gender, Family, and Politics in the Middle East     4 QH
Surveys the roles that gender and family play in political, economic, and social issues of the Middle East. Focuses on several political systems to provide a view of the diversity and similarity between various governments and societies. Topics include women in development; the connection between family and political power; women and Islam; legal status of women; and women in liberation movements. Prereq. POL 1345 or INT 1150/HST 1490 or permission of instructor. (Core Category IV)
POL 1347 Russian Politics After Communism     4 QH
Presents an analysis of the roots of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and studies problems of political development after communism. Emphasizes the introduction of democracy, the movement toward a market economy, the reorganization of the military, and the control of interethnic strife. (Core Category IV)
POL 1348 Russian Foreign Policy     4 QH
Presents an analysis of the goals, methods, and achievements of Russian policy in the post-Soviet era toward Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Middle East, Central and East Asia, and the United States, against the background of Soviet behavior toward these areas in the recent past.
POL 1350 American Legislative Process     4 QH
Explores the structures, dynamics, and styles inherent in public policy-making within the U.S. Congress. Focuses on elections; representation of constituents' interests; the roles played by members, the president, interest groups, and other participants; and how all of this is affected by the structure of Congress and the processes embedded in the legislative body.
POL 1351 Techniques and Practices of Public Management     4 QH
Focuses on practical skills and techniques of public management. Employs the case method in examining typical management problems at different levels of government. Also covers time and resource management for public sector managerial personnel.
POL 1353 Law and Personal Morality     4 QH
Examines the use of political power to enforce standards of personal morality and behavior in contemporary American society. Considers such subjects as pornography, sexual privacy and expression, Sunday closing laws, abortion, and prostitution.
POL 1355 Ethnic Conflict     4 QH
Analyzes the causes and consequences of ethnic political violence in the contemporary world. Examines selected cases based on their importance and their usefulness for understanding ethnic conflict (such as Bosnia, Canada, Northern Ireland, and states of the former Soviet Union). Considers various policies for preventing and resolving ethnic political violence. (Core Category IV)
POL 1362 Civil Liberties     4 QH
Uses United States Supreme Court decisions and other reading material to examine the substantive and procedural guarantees of the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment and their relation to a liberal democratic society.
POL 1364 Business and Government Relations     4 QH
Surveys the relation between economic developments and political processes in the United States. Considers government planning of the economy, monopoly and government regulation, government programs to promote social welfare, and the impact of Federalism on the political-economic system, among other topics.
POL 1368 Government and Politics of Latin America     4 QH
Examines the governmental systems, political parties, socioeconomic problems, and foreign policies of Latin American states. Focuses on political change. (Core Category IV)
POL 1369 Political Violence     4 QH
Analyzes political violence in its various contemporary forms (for example, war, revolution, genocide, political terrorism, and military overthrows). Assesses the causes and consequences of political violence (from both practical and moral points of view) and considers strategies for preventing and resolving political violence. (Core Category VI)
POL 1371 Government and Politics of China     4 QH
Focuses on China's political system during Communist party rule. Addresses fundamental issues that the government has been unable to resolve successfully, including leadership recruitment and succession; economic growth; class and class struggle; political culture and the educational system; the nature of socialist democracy and socialist legality; and the appropriate form of socialism for a country wishing to modernize rapidly. Examines the interaction among ideology, development, and culture on these issues. (Core Category IV)
POL 1373 Premodern Political Thought     4 QH
Presents an analytical and historical examination of the great political thinkers and the main trends of political thought from classical Greece to the Renaissance. (Core Category V) Prereq. Middler standing or above.
POL 1374 Modern Political Thought     4 QH
Presents an analytical and historical examination of the great political thinkers and the main trends in political thought from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. (Core Category V) Prereq. Middler standing or above.
POL 1378 Contemporary Political Thought     4 QH
Analyzes current ideals, ideologies, and political movements, including existentialism, neo-Marxism, black power, and women's liberation. Also studies the decline of ideology and behavioralism.
POL 1379 Marx and Marxism     4 QH
Studies the social and political thought of Karl Marx. Examines the development of Marxian theory after Marx's death. Discusses class struggle, social revolution, and communism. (Core Category V)
POL 1382 Intergovernmental Relations     4 QH
Analyzes the relationships among national, state, and local levels of government in the United States and the changing patterns of those relationships.
POL 1384 Arab-Israeli Conflict     4 QH
Analyzes the effects of the Arab-Israeli confrontation on the internal politics of the Arab states and Israel, Pan-Arab politics, and the role of the great powers in the region. (Core Category VI)
POL 1386 International Law     4 QH
Focuses on territory and jurisdiction of states, treaties, recognition, peaceful settlement of disputes, resort to force. Prereq.
POL 1112.
POL 1388 Political Polling and Survey Research     4 QH
Examines the entire survey research process, which is the most common approach to program evaluation, survey design, sampling, questionnaire design, survey administration, data processing, and data analysis. Also involves some statistical analysis. Prereq. POL 1301.
POL 1389 American National Security Policy     4 QH
Traces the evolution of American national security policy in the postÐWorld War II period. Considers American nuclear military policy and conventional nonnuclear military policy. Explores arms control policy.
POL 1396 Latino Politics in the U.S.     4 QH
Focuses on Latinos in the U.S. political system. Latinos share many characteristics with previous wave of immigrants, but geographic proximity to Latin America and the constant influx of other Latinos present significant differences. Explores issues of Latino identity: who Latinos are, conflicting loyalties to particular group versus pan-Latino solidarity, their status in American society, and Latino relations with other American ethnic groups. Discusses these issues to provide the necessary background to explore Latino involvement in local, state, federal, and international politics. (Core Category IV)
POL 1410 Seminar in American Government     4 QH
Offers an in-depth study of selected topics in American government. Prereq. Senior political science major and permission of instructor.
POL 1411 Seminar in International Relations     4 QH
Offers an in-depth study of selected topics in international relations. Prereq. Senior political science major and permission of instructor.
POL 1413 Senior Seminar in Political Science     4 QH
Offers an in-depth study of selected topics in political science. Prereq. Senior political science major.
POL 1415 Seminar in Public Law and Social Issues     4 QH
Explores the various attempts to give law a satisfactory philosophical foundation and the major critiques of the role of law in modern society. Places special emphasis on the attempt by courts to render justice in various areas of law. The central issue is whether law is a source of objective and determinate, rather than merely personal or political, answers to contentious legal questions. Prereq. Junior or senior standing.
POL 1710 Introduction to Politics (Honors)     4 QH
Honors equivalent of POL 1110.
POL 1711 Introduction to American Government (Honors)     4 QH
Honors equivalent of POL 1111.
POL 1712 Introduction to International Relations (Honors)     4 QH
Honors equivalent of POL 1112.
POL 1800, POL 1801, POL 1802     4 QH each
Directed Study
Offers independent work on chosen topics under the direction of members of the department. Prereq. Junior or senior standing and permission of instructor.
POL 1803 Internship in Politics     4 QH
With department approval, students engage in a political or governmental internship under the supervision of a faculty member. This course fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences experiential education requirement for political science majors. Prereq. Junior or senior standing normally required.
POL 1804 Vote Smart Practicum     4 QH
Offers supervised hands-on experience with a nationally recognized nonpartisan voters' information resource center. Students are trained on the computer in the use of various databases, engage in assigned research tasks, and assist voters and journalists seeking information on candidates for federal and state office. This course fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences experiential education requirement for political science majors.
POL 1805 Internship in American Government and Politics     4 QH
Students engage in an internship in the Federal government with department approval, under the supervision of a faculty member. This course fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences experiential education requirement for political science majors. Prereq. Junior or senior standing usually required.
POL 1815 Internship in State Government     6 QH
Combines state government work experience with academic studies. Students work 15 hours per week in a state government office and attend classes every other week in which work experience and related readings are discussed. This course fulfills the College of Arts and Sciences experiential education requirement for political science majors. Prereq. POL 1111 or POL 1318.
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