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, American Founding Fathers, Marx and Engels, 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 selected countries from Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. How legislatures, executives, and political parties work and the influence of culture, social structure, ideology, and nationalism.
 
POLS 104 International Politics 3.00 credits
An introduction to the international political organizations (e.g. U.N.) and agreements (e.g. Kyoto Protocol) through which the world's countries try to deal with each other and their successes and failures about specific global problems such as conflict, human rights, development and so forth.
 
POLS 190 Directed Study 1.00 - 4.00 credits
Topic to be decided by faculty.
 
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 Lib: Class, Race &Gender 3.00 credits
Civil liberties are the legal face of democratic politics' key issue: how combine majority rule and cultural pluralism and protection of individual rights? Begin with study of traditional civil liberties: tension between protecting individual rights and majority power in a democracy. Next how that traditional understanding overlooks justice for individuals not mainstream. Then in depth focus on two groups'African Americans and women'with books arguing why the traditional understanding of civil liberties fails to do justice.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 343 - OK if taken between Fall 2007 and Fall 2009
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
How our nation's political parties are organized inside and outside government. Whether they are weak or strong. Occasional efforts to reform parties. Their role in elections. Other influences on presidential and congressional elections. The conduct of election campaigns. How voters make up their minds. Explaining election outcomes.
 
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 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 Women and Politics 3.00 credits
History of the women's movement in the U.S. Their present political power and future prospects. Survey of feminist theories and their impact on women's political positions.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 340 - OK if taken between Fall 1996 and Fall 2009
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 Grass Roots Politics 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 Politics 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 between Fall 2001 and Fall 2009
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 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 several varieties of feminist theory to explore how conceptions of women, gender and feminism have changed and have structured women's opportunities to participate fully in politics and the economy. Central questions include: the nature of sex/gender and sex/gender difference; what is feminism; who identifies as a feminist; and how gender identities are mediated by our class, race, and ethnic identities.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 401 - Taken before Fall 2009
POLS 342 Law as a Vocation 3.00 credits
What does the practice of law involve concretely and practically? Can it fulfill the lawyer as a person? Readings: theory of morality and application to lawyering, money and meaning of life. Guest lectures by former GU students practicing law.
 
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 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 354 Comparative European Politics 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 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 361 European Relations 3.00 credits
Offered in Paris only.
 
POLS 363 Women in Comparative Societies 3.00 credits
Compares the lives of women around the world: their public and private roles and responsibilities, positions in government, the economy, and the private sphere. Seeks to explain women's status differences in various regions and societies by looking at the influence of culture, religion, economics, and politics.
 
Equivalent: WOMS 342 - OK if taken between Fall 1996 and Fall 2009
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
Traces the evolution of two Europes, East and West, from the Middle Ages through the 20th century's Cold War. Looks at the emerging 'new Europe' since 1989 as integration through the European Union deepens and widens it. Explores contemporary issues such as resurgence of extreme right-wing parties, increasing cultural diversity, building a supra-national European identity, managing immigration and migration, and Europe's place in the global economy and foreign affairs as it challenges American hegemony.
 
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 fundamentalism, terrorism, and peace in Israel-Palestine.
 
Equivalent: INST 367 - OK if taken since Fall 2004
POLS 373 Arab-Israeli Conflict 3.00 credits
Why is there an Arab-Israeli conflict? The question is much-discussed but not very often answered. Comprehensive effort to understand that question as well as the intense political debates surrounding it. Interdisciplinary, touching on the historical, political, and sociological origins and trajectory of the conflict.
 
Equivalent: INST 366 - OK if taken since Fall 2004
POLS 374 Democracy in the Middle East 3.00 credits
While the Middle East is not a wellspring of democracy, there are a diverse range of democratic institutions, ideas, and even states in the region. Examines in depth the four most democratic countries: Israel, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, the prospective democracy in Iraq plus the regional and transnational issues crucial to Middle Eastern democracy.
 
POLS 375 Global Environmental Politics 3.00 credits
Unique interdisciplinary examination of the historical, philosophical, and moral consequences of human interaction with the global environment by focusing on the relevant local, national and international governments, national and indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), regimes and industries.
 
Equivalent: ENVS 322 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
POLS 376 International Organizations 3.00 credits
Examines why international organizations exist and whether they make a difference in solving global problems. Questions to be addressed include: Where does their power come from? Why are some designed differently than others? Why do countries use international organizations to achieve their goals? Are they effective? Practical knowledge about the major ones such as the U.N., European Union, World Trade Organization, and NGOs. Their successes and failures about specific global problems such as conflict, human rights and development.
 
POLS 390 Directed Study 1.00 - 3.00 credits
 
POLS 395 Topics in Political Science 3.00 credits
Selected questions in the discipline.
 
POLS 396 Service Learning Public Affair 1.00 credit
Field work by arrangement with a community organization. Must be taken together with a designated service learning course. Requires a comprehensive internship report. Normally limited to upper division students but, in special cases, first and second year students may be granted authorization.
 
POLS 483 Seminar in Political Economy 3.00 credits
Selected topics.
 
POLS 484 Seminar in American Politics 3.00 credits
Selected topics.
 
POLS 486 Seminar in Political Thought 3.00 credits
Selected topics.
 
POLS 487 Seminar in Intn't Relations 3.00 credits
Selected topics.
 
POLS 488 Seminar: Comparative Politics 3.00 credits
Selected topics.
 
POLS 490 Directed Readings 1.00 - 3.00 credits
Credit by arrangement for directed reading and reports on selected topics. Requires completion of a form, department permission and cannot be registered for via zagweb.
 
POLS 492 Indep Research Or Study 1.00 - 3.00 credits
Credit by arrangement for research or study. Requires completion of a form, department permission and cannot be registered for via Zagweb.
 
POLS 497 Pub Aff Intrn: 1.00 - 9.00 credits
Field work by arrangement with a public agency or political party. Requires a comprehensive internship report. Normally limited to upper division students; in special cases freshman and sophomores may be allowed. No student may earn more than nine credits. Requires completion of a form, department permission and cannot be registered for via Zagweb.
 
POLS 499 Comprehensive Exam Preparation 1.00 credit
Required of all majors in their final year; students must register during regular registration.
 
POLS 900 LSAT Review Workshop .00 - 3.00 credits