Courses
POLS 101 American Politics 3.00 credits
The American Constitution; the evolution of democracy; the structure of the national government. Congress; the Presidency; the courts. Political parties and interest groups. Public policy in domestic and foreign affairs. How to think about politics.
 
POLS 102 Political Thinkers & Actors 3.00 credits
Treatment of six distinctive figures in political life--philosopher, saint, prince, revolutionary, statesman, and citizen-- in order to determine their characteristic contributions to an understanding of politics. Examples: Socrates, Thomas More, Machiavelli's Prince, Marx and Engels, the American Founding Fathers, and the students of the 1960's. Uses a variety of materials, including pamphlets, philosophical dialogues, essays, and dramas.
 
POLS 103 People & Politics World Wide 3.00 credits
Comparison of key political institutions, political attitudes, patterns of interaction, and long-term quarrels in France, Germany, Russia, China, Mexico, and Nigeria. How legislatures, executives, and political parties work and the influence of culture, social structure, ideology, and nationalism.
 
POLS 300 American National Politics 3.00 credits
An in-depth analysis of the five major institutions and processes of the U.S. government: Congress, President, Courts, Parties and Elections, and Bureaucracy.
 
POLS 302 Legal Analysis 3.00 credits
Training in the methodology needed for understanding the law. Three main parts: analytical-deductive reasoning for developing a theory of the case; argument by analogy for applying precedent in the Anglo-American legal tradition; and legal research into complex legal arguments, their structure and techniques. All will be grounded in the liberal arts. The Law School Admissions Test measures these skills.
 
POLS 303 Civil Liberties 3.00 credits
Current meaning of the Bill of Rights: freedom, privacy in and outside the home, equal protection and affirmative action, defendants "versus" society, property and economic rights. How the Supreme Court and the country can read the Constitution.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 343 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
POLS 304 Crim Just Amends & Courts 3.00 credits
Study of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th amendments to the constitution and how they are applied in the criminal justice system. Focus on relevant case law, operation of the courts and law enforcement in the criminal justice system.
 
POLS 306 Congress and the Presidency 3.00 credits
The Congress, its rules and procedures, committee and party leadership, and the influence of Congress on national policy. The Presidential office, its constitutional powers and its evolution over the years. The "modern presidency" since Franklin Roosevelt. Conflict and co-operation between the Congress and the President.
 
POLS 309 Political Parties And Election 3.00 credits
The nature of American political parties at the local, state, and -- especially -- the national level. Political reform and other causes of the decline of political party organization. New service and money-raising roles of parties. Presidential and congressional elections. Rise of "candidate-centered" campaigns. Role of interest groups, media, and professional campaign management firms in the conduct of elections. Explaining voter behavior and election outcomes through the tools of survey research.
 
POLS 311 State & Local Gov 3.00 credits
Surveys state and local government: intergovernmental relations, finance, state sovereignty, shifts in federalism and social policy, politics of urban and rural regions. State election systems may be studied for their significant influence over national elections.
 
Equivalent: ENVS 323 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
POLS 312 Urban Politics & City Life 3.00 credits
"Why aren't our cities like that," asks University of Pennsylvania Professor Witold Rubczynski? We begin by asking this question. Explores city life and all the elements that define it, the problems and prospects of the urban policy that surround, influence, constrain and color city life. A course in political science complimented with an interdisciplinary literature--history, political-economy, urban studies and planning, organization theory, social criticism, even architecture.
 
POLS 313 Think Globally, Act Locally 4.00 credits
Develops awareness that globalization precipitates changes in the nature of the American economy and in the nature of civic life; then consciously develops the civic skills and 'habits of the heart' globalization demands. Features several learning modes: traditional academic reading, classroom discussions, and engagement in service, leadership training and community activism. Students work with locally based groups devoted to economic justice, community activism and service to women and children.  We discuss the means available to bring about a more socially just form of globalization in our own communities as well in the 'global village,' while at the same time developing the skills and knowledge needed for active citizenship in our era.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 340 - OK if taken between Fall 2003 and Sum Doc 2007
POLS 315 Law Enforcement & Pub Policy 3.00 credits
This course examines law enforcement from two different, and at times conflicting, perspectives: theory and practice. By theory, we mean the underlying principles and philosophies about why law enforcement is necessary, the ways best to accommodate society's law enforcement needs, and importantly, how to bbguardth e guardians." By practice, we mean the real world, everyday application of those principles and philosophies. Questions related to these two thematic topics are: Why do societies need some form of law enforcement? What accounts for differences in law enforcement practices over time and across cultures? What is the history of law enforcement in America? How did the terrorist strikes on 9/11 alter the objectives and practices of law enforcement agencies? What are the controversies that consistently complicate the job of police officers and their administrative superiors? Because this course provides a close and analytical look at a fundamental function of government, it often focuses on politics and policy. Indeed, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to present a comprehensive view of law enforcement without covering the tensions that exist between liberty and law, democracy and order. The discipline of political science is, in large part, dedicated to an exploration of these tensions.
 
POLS 316 Church & State in US Politics 3.00 credits
History of church-state separation in American government and constitutional law. Focus on religion and politics from the Puritans to the Bush administration, touching on everything in between. The latter portion of the course focuses on relevant Supreme Court cases.
 
POLS 317 Ecological Thought & Politics 3.00 credits
This Service Learning course focuses on the writings of seminal figures in American ecological thought, such as John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and Aldo Leopold. Examines the history and politics of land use and wilderness planning. Class will go on field trips in partnership with the United States Forest Service (USFS) and local environmental groups to learn first-hand about the politics of local land use.
 
Equivalent: ENVS 321 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
POLS 318 Administrative Law 3.00 credits
Shows how the laws and regulations governing federal, state, and local bureaucracies make up and fit into the politics of the country.
 
POLS 319 American Foreign Policy 3.00 credits
Evolution of American foreign policy, with emphasis on contemporary issues, national interests, interrelationship with domestic politics, and the decision-making process. Evaluation of Nationalist, Revisionist, and Realist views of foreign policy. How foreign policy may do justice.
 
POLS 320 Bureaucracy & Citizens 3.00 credits
From a citizen's viewpoint, the need for public bureaucracy, its politics, improvement, and relations with citizens.
 
POLS 321 Politics & Public Admin 3.00 credits
The way American public bureaucracy operates.
 
POLS 322 Gender And Politics 3.00 credits
Survey of feminist theories and their impact on the political position of women in America. History of the post-war women's movement in the U.S. Explores issues raised by women and places them in comparative context to further illuminate possible choices and consequences.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 340 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 323 Constitutional Law 3.00 credits
Roles of law, politics, and ethics in our constitutional system; workings of the Supreme Court; constitutional development during the three major eras of our history, and how those experiences are relevant today; how to "brief" court opinions; six different but valid ways to interpret the Constitution. (Most students find this difficult course easier after taking POLS 303.)
 
POLS 324 Participatory Democracy 3.00 credits
Examination of past town-meeting and recent theory and practice aimed at increasing direct use of political power by ordinary American citizens. Emphasis on the possibility of a new model of democratic government. On demand.
 
POLS 325 Selected Topics: Amer Politics 3.00 credits
The study of selected topics in American politics. On sufficient demand.
 
POLS 326 Race & Ethnicity Pol US 3.00 credits
Examines America's identity and diversity politics, its benefits to society as well as the divisions it fosters and democratic ideals it undermines. Attention to new controversies surrounding various immigrant and religious groups'a historic dilemma with global security implications since 9/11'and to the challenges of integrating and governing a modern, plural society in a global era.
 
POLS 327 American Social Policy 3.00 credits
Examines the origins, patterns, reforms, and criticisms of American social policy, the ties between knowledge and social policy; the impact of education, health care, and welfare policies on women, children, different racial and ethnic groups, and the middle class. Reviews normative claims for the proper role of the state and capitalism. Compares other western, capitalist societies and their policy regimes.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 344 - OK if taken since Fall 2001
POLS 328 Politics of the Pacific NW 3.00 credits
State and society in the Pacific Northwest: government, parties, reform movements, regionalism, and social forces in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and British Columbia and Alberta. Regional issues such as taxation, health care, urbanization, land use, education, the environment, and resource-based economics are addressed in a comparative Canadian-U.S. context.
 
POLS 329 N Amer Environmental Policies 3.00 credits
Study of local, regional, and international environmental policy, its challenges for not only administration and understanding, but also citizenship and accountability. Topics include water, ecosystem management and sustainability in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
 
POLS 330 Classical & Medieval Pol Thgt 3.00 credits
Thorough examination of the most important texts from Plato's Republic to The Prince and The Discourses of Machiavelli. Fall.
 
POLS 331 Modern Political Thought 3.00 credits
European political thought from Hobbes's Leviathan to John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. The development of liberalism in Britain and France between the 17th and 19th centuries. Spring.
 
POLS 332 Am Pol Thgt of Founding Era 3.00 credits
Political thought of the Puritan founders of Massachusetts. The American Revolution and the Constitution. Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Tocqueville's Democracy in America.
 
POLS 333 Am Thght Civil War & After 3.00 credits
Political thought from the Progressives through the rise of Neoconservatism and the newly emergent Republican majority. Relies on political documents such as speeches and essays, fiction with political overtones, and scholarly writing about American politics and thought.
 
POLS 334 Politics and Literature 3.00 credits
"Why are there so few political novels that are first rate as literature?" Political relations are abstractions; people live concretely. But literature can still bridge this gap. Comparing mediocre political novels with a great one teaches not only about literary quality but also about political reality. Truly great novels show how political realities appear even in private lives. Such "spectacles" express the shallowness of political ideology, and reveal the political features of ordinary lives as well as the personal meaning of politics. On demand.
 
POLS 335 Marxism 3.00 credits
Foundations of Marxism-Leninism. Major writings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Significance of Marxism in light of the apparent collapse of world communism. Marxism as a critique of American liberalism.
 
POLS 336 Selected Texts In PolThgt 3.00 credits
Intensive look at a single writer or group of writers; designed to achieve greater understanding than is possible in a broad survey course. On sufficient demand.
 
POLS 337 Ethics And Politics 3.00 credits
Problem of "dirty hands" in politics and why it occurs. Three different ways politics can be ethical. How the separation of powers in the American Constitution is a distinction of moral authorities. Close reading of classic works including Machiavelli, Just War, the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Spring.
 
POLS 338 20th-Century Political Thought 3.00 credits
Treatment of 20th-century authors who examine the difficulties for democratic political life in contemporary mass society. Fall.
 
POLS 339 Liberalism & Conservatism 3.00 credits
Study of current liberal and conservative ways of thinking about American politics; exploration of possibly valid philosophical grounding for them; application of the views to current policy.
 
POLS 340 Christian Political Thought 3.00 credits
Examines Protestant and Catholic theologies of politics: ancient, modern, and contemporary. Variety of Christian reactions to politics: power, authority, social justice, freedom, rights, obligations, citizenship, sin, and grace in history and institutions. Considers secular critiques of Christian thought. On sufficient demand.
 
POLS 341 Feminist Thought 3.00 credits
Analyzes the contributions of feminist scholars to political theory and shows how feminist scholarship is transforming how we study politics and what we consider political. Reviews both the classics of feminist political theory and more current attempts to illuminate the gendered nature of state, economic and social power.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 401 - Successful completion
POLS 342 Law as a Vocation 3.00 credits
Can the practice of law be both a "profession" and a true "vocation?" Lawyer-statesman ideal and the realities of today's practice of law. Nature of a rule of law system and how it is ethical.
 
POLS 343 War and Peace 3.00 credits
Analyzes several political philosophers' writings about war and peace, such as Kant's Perpetual Peace; also looks into recent case studies about establishing peace in various parts of the world.
 
POLS 344 European Relations 3.00 credits
Offered in Paris only.
 
Equivalent: FREN 435 - Successful completion
POLS 345 Machiavelli & The Romans 3.00 credits
An extended examination of Machiavelli's political thought. The course will focus on The Prince, The Discourses (including some treatment of Livy's Discourses) and other relevant works (including Plutarch's Essays).
 
POLS 350 Survey of Internatnl Studies 3.00 credits
Contemporary global issues and background information for all courses in international studies. Studies the wisdom of the world's main civilizations, comparative economic systems and ideas, international politics, and the potential for international integration.
 
Equivalent: INST 301 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 351 International Relations 3.00 credits
Theory and practice of the international political system and the behavior of the nations within it.
 
Equivalent: INST 342 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 352 Latin American Politics 3.00 credits
Impressive contributions and drawbacks of the caudillo or leader in Latin American history, culture, and society, in the range of contemporary forms of government-democratic, dictatorial, revolutionary. Some treatment of U.S. foreign policy.
 
Equivalent: INST 385 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 353 Japan: Culture And Politics 3.00 credits
Historical and cultural context of Japanese politics today. Explains Japanese democracy and capitalism in terms of Confucian tradition, Buddhist spirituality, and indigenous aesthetics. Relations between these three, personal relations, and politics as seen through literature, film and other arts. Effects on Japan's international relations.
 
POLS 354 Politics In Western Europe 3.00 credits
Survey of the parties, institutions, political processes, issues and policies of the major western European industrialized nations. Special focus on England, France, and Germany, but coverage extends to the other European democracies as well.
 
Equivalent: INST 395 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 355 Post-Soviet Russia And China 3.00 credits
Focus on the pre-1985 Soviet political system; how Gorbachev's six-year reform program led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union; and the difficult transition to democracy and a market economy in post-Soviet Russia. Similarly, contrasts Maoist China with the uneasy mixture of economic reform and political repression coexisting in China today.
 
Equivalent: INST 325 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 356 Area Studies In Politics 3.00 - 4.00 credits
An analysis of selected foreign governments.
 
POLS 357 Italian Political System 3.00 credits
Constitutional principles and governmental agencies in Italy today. Taught only at Gonzaga-in-Florence.
 
POLS 359 Third World Development 3.00 credits
Focus on political development in the Third World. After examining the making of the Third World through imperialism and colonialism, analyzes key political institutions (the state, political parties, the military), the international economic context of dependency and vulnerability. Several case studies follow a common analytical framework to trace experiences with democratic and authoritarian rule and assess the underlying causes of democratic success and failure.
 
Equivalent: INST 310 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 360 Parliamentary Government 3.00 credits
Parliamentary or Cabinet government contrasted with the American government. Focus on disciplined parties, prime ministers, civil servants, and elected politicians, written and unwritten constitutional rules, parliamentary supremacy and rights-based politics. Usually features Canada but draws examples from Great Britain, New Zealand, India, and Australia.
 
Equivalent: INST 346 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 363 Women in Comparative Societies 3.00 credits
Compares women's movements around the world by examining women's roles in various nations and how women themselves are both redefining and using their new roles to bring about political change. U.S., European, Latin American, Russian, and Palestinian women's movements.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 342 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 364 Politics of the Pacific Rim 3.00 credits
Focus on the role played by the East Asian capitalist development states (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) in the accelerated economic growth of the Pacific Rim; a consideration of the Philippines or Indonesia as a representative of ASEAN; analysis of the Asian financial crisis and its impact on Hong Kong, USA, Russia, and China.
 
Equivalent: INST 389 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 365 African Politics & Development 3.00 credits
Examines contemporary sub-Saharan Africa in four key areas: (1) contemporary social, economic, and ecological conditions; (2) origins of the modern African state; (3) development strategies and post- independence decline; and (4) state and society after developmentalism.
 
Equivalent: INST 390 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 366 Perspectives on Global Issues 3.00 credits
Critical analysis of vital global issues from the different perspectives of realists, idealists, and system-transformers. Exploration of competing worldviews and value systems, weighing of evidence from differing ideological, cultural, and gender perspectives. Introduces major analytical perspectives and organizing concepts fashioned by scholars to make these issues comprehensible.
 
Equivalent: INST 410 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 367 New Europe 3.00 credits
Problems of and prospects for democracy in Eastern/Central Europe. Considers the history, movements, institutions, and politics of the nations the issue of democratization and economic reform.
 
Equivalent: INST 393 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 368 Tyranny to Democracy 21 C. 3.00 credits
Between 1974 and 2000 more than fifty countries in Southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. Examines the causes and nature of these democratic transitions. Investigates several case studies of democratic transitions in different areas of the world in order to understand the factors responsible for the democratic trend and to ascertain which key variables best explain completed democratic transitions and democratic consolidation.
 
Equivalent: INST 392 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 370 Modern Democracies 3.00 credits
Selected foreign democratic systems; constitutional and ideological principles; governmental forms, practices, and problems. Taught at Gonzaga-in-Florence.
 
POLS 371 International Law 3.00 credits
Examines the fundamentals of public international law by studying its sources, methods of dispute resolution, and current problems of interest to North Americans.
 
Equivalent: INST 345 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 372 Comp Middle East Politics 3.00 credits
Shows the Middle East is more than a region fraught with violence, ethnic hatred and the struggle for control of oil by examining the modern Middle East's history and context, a diverse set of country case studies, and current issues including the role of women, Islamic fundamenta