Political Science Courses
Political Science | Advanced

Political Science

101 American Federal Government. The structure and function of the federal government, with emphasis on the concept of limited government, constitutional stuctures such as federalism and seperation of powers, and consideration of how it actually functions in the contemporary world.

102 State and Local Government. How state and local governments function, issues they face and how they relate to the federal government, with special emphasis on Michigan. Attendance at governmental meetings, interviews of public officials and presentations by governmental guest speakers are included. Fall.

205 Introduction to Public Policy. The public policy process is the heart of politics, where decisions are made about who gets taxed, who gets that money, and who determines what rules we have to live by. Investigates how policy is made, who the players are, and the effects of different types of policies.

210 Career Seminar. Prepares students for the transition from college to graduate school, law school, or the working world. Students will develop their resumes, learn to write application letters to improve interviewing skills, and explore career opportunities for political science majors.

220 United States Presidency. Examines the role and function of the Presidency in the American political system. Focus areas include presidential elections, the growth of presidential power, relations between President and Congress, and the President's role in foreign affairs.

236 International Relations. Analysis of current worl politics in terms of biological, psychological, institutional, technical and geographical factors. Exphasizes the United States role in major world issues.

237 Anicent and Medieval Political Philosophy. Survey of classical and medieval political philosphy.

238 Modern Political Theory and Philosophy. Survey of modern and postmodern political philosophy.

245 Environmental Politics. Considers the problems of humans' effect on the environment and political responses to it. Different approaches to environmentalism are considered, and different environmental problems analyzed.

250 United States Foreign Policy. How foreign policy is made; how and why the U.S. has been involved in recent world affairs, including trade, foreign aid, alliances, diplomacy, terrorism, wars and revolutions, and arms control.

260 Contemporary Democracies. Political institutions, policies, and practices of contemporary democracies throughout the world, as well as the effects of different democratic arrangments on political and economic policy and on democratic sucesses and failures.

295 Research Methods for Political Science. Introduction to the research methods used in Poltical Science, including casual inference, hypothesis testing, measurement, sampling, survey research, document analysis, and basic statistical analysis.

301 Special Topics in Political Science.

305 Political Economy. Examination of government's role in the economy, including consideration of the theoretical foundations of free trade, Marxism, Keynesianism and monetarism, with emphasis on Public Choice theory. rent seeking behavior, market distorting effects of government regulation and economic analysis of politics.

315 Globalization. Central issues of the global political economy: global governance, international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization, and the phenomenon of globalization and its implications. Offered occasionally.

328 Politics in the Third World. Politics and problems of selected third and fourth world nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and their relations with the United States and the rest of the world. Offered occasionally.

330 Public Opinion, Parties and Elections. The nature, sources and effects of public opinion; techniques, strategies and effects of propaganda; and membership, beliefs and campaigns of political parties. Coursework will include analysis and creation of propaganda and working for political parties or candidates. Offered occasionally.

340 Constitutional Law. Select topics of Constitutional law, including civil rights and criminal law. Explores legal reasoning and the procedures of the Sumpreme Court. Students will engage in a Supreme Court simulation involving a current case.

351 European Politics. Examines the political institutions, culture, history and problems of selected European countries and the European Union, as well as their relations with the United States and the rest of the world.

355 Model Arab League. The politics and policies of the member-states of the Arab League and the League itself. Course involves participation in the Michigan Model Arab League and other MAL events.

370 Democratization. Examines the processes by which authoritarian regimes become democartic, as well as current understandings of why some democratic transitions are more successful than others, by examining a number of historical and contemporary cases from around the world.

394 Constitutional Law I: Government Powers.Study of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions that resolve struggles for power betweem the three branches of federal government and the federal state governments. Consideration of such issues as the governement's authority to regulate drugs, the president's commander-in-chief powers and the distinctions between federal and state court cases.

395 Constitutional Law II: Civil Liberties. Study of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that determine the extent to which individual liberties are protected under the U.S. Constitution, with special attention to the constitutional rights of the accused during criminal investigations and litigation and exporlation of civil rights issues and the limits of free speech and the religious expression.

405 Political Behavior. Examines the foundations of social and political behavior, considering such issues as the evolutionary basis of cooperation, the foundations of racism and violence, the confluence of power and sex, the strategic value of deception, and what it means to behave rationally in a complex political world.

409 Capstone: Research Seminar. Culmination experience for political science majors. Students will select a research topic, review the published literature on that topic, prepare a research proposal, conduct the research, and present their findings publicly. Important writings in the discipline may be assigned. May be repeated once for credit, with permission of instructor.


Advanced and Special Classes top

199 Exploratory Internship. Arrangements may be made for internships fulfilling individual needs and interests. The Lenawee County Pre-Law Internship offers an introductory look at the field through visits and interviews with persons at a dozen or more agencies related to the legal process. Fall, spring, summer.

222 Washington Symposium. On-campus study combined with study at the Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Topics may include the presidency, Congress, leadership for women, foreign policy, or the news media in politics. Study in Washington includes lectures by government leaders, field trips to government agencies and one-day internships in government offices. May and August.

299 Experimental Course.

399 Professional Internship. Political science interns have been placed with judges, private and prosecuting attorneys, city and county managers, police departments, probate and district courts, newspapers, social service agencies, political campaigns and state and national legislators. Fall, spring, summer.

451 Independent Study. Supervised reading, research or work in an area of special interest to the student.

499 Advanced Experimental Course.