williams college political science course catalog

By the end of the course, students will develop their ability to think about foreign policy issues, improving their ability to participate in public life as engaged citizens. Why do people vote or engage in other types of political action? Are legal citizenship and formal political rights sufficient for belonging? Should this coincide with the cultivation of a distinctively Jewish modern language? What kinds of selfhood and relationships do they promote or thwart? This seminar explores how our understanding of politics and political theory might change if visuality were made central to our inquiries. The course will review the political development of the PRC since 1949 and, then, focus on the dynamics of political contention and regime persistence since the Tiananmen Crisis of 1989. We consider how this history confirms or undermines influential views about U.S. foreign relations and about international relations generally. This course confronts these questions through readings drawn from a variety of classic and contemporary sources, including works of fiction, autobiography, journalism, law, philosophy and political theory, and social science. And on what grounds can we justify confidence in our provisional answers to such questions? This tutorial unsettles that framing, first by situating the black radical tradition as a species of black politics, and second through expanding the boundaries of black politics beyond the United States. In an organization comprised of equals, how and why do some senators and representatives acquire more power and authority than others? Looming environmental catastrophes capable of provoking humanitarian crises. Then, we will look at some important factors that shape how followers approach would-be leaders: inequality and economic precarity; identity and group consciousness; notions of membership, community, and hierarchy; and declining local institutions. Or could they go anywhere? climate change) are organized and mobilized. sell! [more], American politics is often unequal, and well-organized advantaged interests tend to triumph. Does economic development drive political change, or the other way around? While focusing primarily on the welfare states of Western Europe, we will also examine how the politics of social risk unfold around the world, extending our investigation to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Finally, could the Cold War have been ended long before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989? Some states have developed robust institutions that provide for citizens' basic needs and check the power of business; others leave the poor threatened by starvation and workers exposed to exploitation. In this course, we will look at how leaders have marshaled ideas, social movements, and technological changes to expand the scope of American democracy--and the reasons they have sometimes failed. What conditions are necessary to sustain effective leadership in the contemporary world? What is the relationship between leadership and morality-can the ends justify the means? How is political power generated and exercised? We will assess traditional theories about the weakness of the American state in light of arguments about the state as: regulator of family and "private" life, adjudicator of relations between racial and ethnic groups, manager of economic inequalities, insurer of security, and arbiter of the acceptable uses of violence and surveillance. We will discuss theories of right-wing populism's appeal from both Left and Right perspectives. This course will examine how New Yorkers have contested core issues of capitalism and democracy-how those contests have played out as the city itself has changed and how they have shaped contemporary New York. A century after Rosa Luxemburg's challenge, it is clear that socialism did not win. The aim is to identify and analyze the principal structural and situational constraints--both foreign and domestic--that limit leaders' freedom of action, and which they must manage effectively to achieve their diplomatic and military goals. [more], The Oxford English Dictionary defines Decolonization as "the withdrawal from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies." This course explores the politics and practices that arise from UNCLOS. Economically, the course will look at the institutional configuration of neo-liberalism, changes in economies, growing inequality, the financial crises, and prevalence of debt. The course delves into theories on political parties, ethnic politics, electoral institutions, civil-military relations, political violence, state-building, inter-state conflict, and civil wars to understand the variation in regime type in the region. In weekly one-hour sessions, students read their work aloud followed by dialogue and critique. [more], Geography has decreed that the futures of Mexico and the United States will be tightly bound. Political Theory and Comparative Politics. This course explores the theme of meritocracy--rule by the intelligent--in comparative perspective. Critics argue that today's media is shallow and uninformative, a vector of misinformation, and a promoter of extremism and violence. Senior Seminar: Leadership and the Anxieties of Democracy. Particular attention will be given to the modern liberal tradition and its critics. In the mid-1970s, New York was a poster child of urban crisis, plagued by arson and housing abandonment, crime, the loss of residents and jobs, and failing public services. This class investigates one of the most polarizing and relevant issues of our time: the politics of migration. And how do institutions such as the media and campaigns encourage or discourage it? For instance, do the claims of individual freedom conflict with those of community? Here we look closely at whether it is economic development which leads to the spread of democracy. How can we expect cyberweapons to shape the future of warfare, intelligence, and security competition? Do particularly aggressive states? However, since the Vietnam War, Chomsky has also established himself as perhaps the most influential critic of American foreign policy and the Washington national security establishment. The course integrates theoretical perspectives related to a range of international security issues--including the causes of war, alliance politics, nuclear strategy, deterrence, coercion, reassurance, misperception, and credibility concerns--with illustrative case studies of decision-makers in action. Theorists we read will represent many kinds of feminist work that intersect with the legal field, including academic studies in political theory, philosophy, and cultural theory, along with contributions from community organizers engaged in anti-violence work and social justice advocacy. They help us ask: What is freedom? In other words, to what extent and in what respects were these fundamental turning points made "democratically"? course focuses on the adoption and development of policies to address poverty and inequality in the U.S. Those who proclaimed "liberty, egality, fraternity" for themselves violently denied them to others. In this course we will assess various answers to these questions proffered by Jewish political thinkers in the modern period. Drawing on Freud, and challenged by his philosophical exchanges with Angela Davis, Marcuse came to the view that these movements were addressing not only material deprivations such as poverty and structural oppression, but also the effects of social alienation and a damaged psychic life. inexplicably lawless, violent, and anarchic. How do various algorithms influence political partisanship and beliefs and intersect with existing hierarchies of race, class, gender, and sexuality? We invite students either to organize their major through the subfields that structure the discipline of political science (American politics, international relations, political theory, and comparative politics), or to develop individual concentrations reflecting their particular interests, regardless of subfields. For instance, musical sound is often read as a metaphor for political structures: eighteenth-century commenters pointed out that string quartets mirrored reasoned, democratic discourse, and twentieth-century critics made similar arguments about free jazz. In this class, we will consider the promise and limits of political theory to illuminate present day environmental crises and foster movements to overcome them. The third part surveys significant topics relevant to the themes of the course, with applications to current public policy issues, such as: power relations and autonomy in the workplace; asymmetric information and social insurance; economic inequality and distributive justice; equality of opportunity; the economics of health care; positional goods and the moral foundations of capitalism; social media and addiction; economic nationalism; behavioral economics; climate change and intergenerational equity; finance and financial crises; and rent-seeking. [more], Impeachments. [more], The dominant world economies -- the USA, China, and the European Union -- are responding to the economic risks that might arise from the coronavirus with what have become the standard responses to economic crises. This course will examine the political underpinnings of inequality in American cities, with particular attention to the racialization of inequality. [more], This seminar examines the role of women in "liberation movements," it focuses on their contributions to civil and human rights, democratic culture, and theories of political and social change. Everything else--including political ideology, nationalism, conservative religion, and sovereignty--was consigned to the ash heap. What functions does leadership fill, and what challenges do leaders face, in modern democratic states? Beginning with the 18th-century's transatlantic movement to abolish slavery, we will examine international movements and institutions that have affected what human rights mean, to whom, and where. These failures have created space for a politics of populism, ethno-nationalism, and resentment--an "anti-leadership insurgency" which, paradoxically, has catapulted charismatic (their critics would say demagogic) leaders to the highest offices of some of the largest nations on earth. How do resource gaps tied to inequality in society (such as race and class) influence who votes and for whom? It's a phenomenon we all love to hate. The basic format of the course will be to combine very brief lectures with detailed class discussions of each session's topic. seem to solve some problems while often leading to perverse economic and political outcomes? or a substance and what is the relationship between democratic government and market economies? The implications of Garvey's conflict with W. E. B. Readings: black politics in the latter's liberal, libertarian, and conservative forms. In this course we will respond to these and related questions through an investigation of "religion" as a concept in political theory. CAPSTONE: Sylvia Wynter, Black Lives, and Struggle for the Human. attack! This seminar explores such questions by investigating the political use of media in the organization of power. life -- define the American political tradition and consume the American political imagination. It then considers how nationalism is manifest in the contemporary politics and foreign relations of China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan. perhaps the most influential critic of American foreign policy and the Washington national security establishment. One Comparative Political Economy/General Public Policy Course [9] Examples ECON 233 Behavioral Economics and Public Policy PSCI 246 The Politics of Capitalism PSCI 248T The USA in Comparative Perspective We will also explore the current implications of Wynter's thought for Africana political theory, Afro-futurism, social justice, human rights, and critiques of liberal humanism. Why do people vote or engage in other types of political action? out that most Americans know very little about politics and lack coherent political views, are easily manipulated by media and campaigns, and are frequently ignored by public officials anyway. Rather than treating science as a monolith, we will endeavor to understand the implications of various sciences--as practiced and envisioned in various, historically specific situations--for gender and politics. The second half of the course will look at leaders in action, charting the efforts of politicians, intellectuals, and grassroots activists to shape the worlds in which they live. The course will show how Muslims were constructed as subjects in history, politics, and society from the very beginning of the making of Europe and the Americas to the end of the Cold War to the post-9/11 era. We will examine the history of immigration to the U.S. and the policies that have shaped it; recent developments in electoral and protest politics; the policy initiatives of recent presidential administrations, Congress, and state and local governments; and the incorporation of immigrants into U.S. society and politics, past and present. How can this be? Case studies will include antislavery politics and the American Civil War; the global crises of the 1930s and 1940s; and the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. [more], This course is a chronological survey of major works of political theory from the 16th to the 20th century. Any diagnosis of contemporary maladies is premised on a vision of what a healthy functioning republic looks like. The course extends over one semester and the winter study period. Despite the importance of notions of power across the social sciences, there is a broad lack of consensus. of politics generally--the state, legitimacy, democracy, authoritarianism, clientelism, nationalism--to comprehend political processes and transformations in various parts of the world. Politically, the course will address changes in the role of government, what governments do and do not do, the growing influence of financial interests, the role of identities in mobilizing support for and legitimating governments, and the impact of these developments on the status of citizenship and democracy. The readings will consist mostly of Palestinian authors, with an emphasis on documents, histories, and political analyses. [more], Authoritarian regimes are plentiful in the world today. Why do people identify with political parties? [more], This course is an introduction to the contemporary politics of Africa, with the aim of sparking a life-long interest in the affairs of the region. Or is economic crisis the key to understanding the conditions under which dictatorships fall? colony, then covers the Cuba- US relationship from Jos Mart and 1898 through the Cold War to the present, emphasizing the revolutionary period. However, with the election of Donald Trump, the American presidency is now in the hands of someone who proudly claims the America first mantle. Thus, this class is organized as a collaborative investigation with the aims of: 1) examining how whiteness and other historically dominant perspectives shape International Relations theory and research areas; 2) expanding and improving our understanding of International Relations through different lenses (e.g. use tab and shift-tab to navigate once expanded, Experiential Learning & Community Engagement. In addition to engaging this debate about what the public thinks about politics, we will also explore how people behave in the political realm. We will investigate theories about where they come from, what they do, and to whom they matter, and explore controversies surrounding their agency, legitimacy, efficiency, and accountability. Despite this, national government has grown in scope and size for much of this history, including under both Democratic and Republican administrations. [more], What does it take to be free in the free world? This seminar considers our relationship with our ocean and coastal environments and the foundational role our oceans and coasts play in our Nation's environmental and economic sustainability as well as ocean and coastal climate resiliency. This course begins with the observation that power is often described as a causal relation--an individual's power is supposed to equal their capacity to produce a change in someone else's behavior. The course also will examine the arrival of Arab Jews in the 1950-60, the conflicts between them and European Jews, and the effects of their conflicts on Israeli politics. This course investigates the historical and contemporary relationship between culture and economics, religion and capitalism, in their most encompassing forms. [more], Nationalism is a major political issue in contemporary East Asia. As a background to understanding the reasons for and histories of these policies, this course will read several important books that deal with the Great Depression, the financial crisis a decade ago, and the risks of debt. It looks at how difference works and has worked, how identities and power relationships have been grounded in lived experience, and how one might both critically and productively approach questions of difference, power, and equity. This course introduces students to the dynamics and tensions that have animated the American political order and that have nurtured these conflicting assessments. First, it will consider the the terms of American foreign policy after the Cold War, how it sets these, and continuities and discontinuities between the Clinton and Bush administrations. But what does this mean? Do the mass media and political elites inform or manipulate the public? These failures have created space for a politics of populism, ethno-nationalism, and resentment--an "anti-leadership insurgency" which, paradoxically, has catapulted charismatic (their critics would say demagogic) leaders to the highest offices of some of the largest nations on earth. Yet, more than ever before, the means exist in affluent regions of the world to alleviate the worst forms of suffering and enhance the well-being of the poorest people. What is the relationship between constitutional and political change? Riven by polarized partisanship and gridlock, the most powerful assembly in the world seemed incapable of representing citizens and addressing problems. We will begin by surveying institutional constraints confronting contemporary political leaders: globalization, sclerotic institutions, polarization, endemic racism, and a changing media environment, among others. *Please note the atypical class hours, Wed 4:45-8:30 pm*, formulation? [more], Up through the 1960s it was popular to claim that the world was becoming increasingly and inevitably secular, with the development of modern capitalist social relations as a signature cause. How is the office and purpose of the presidency affected by an economic order predicated on private capital? Attention will focus largely on the modern, twentieth and twenty-first century, presidency, though older historical examples will also be used to help us gain perspective on these problems. What does it mean to be "philosophical" or to think "theoretically" about politics? itself. [more], Martinican psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary Frantz Fanon was among the leading critical theorists and Africana thinkers of the twentieth century. Finally, we examine China's growing expansion into Africa and ask whether this is a new colonialism. [more], Coastal communities are home to nearly 40% of the U.S. population, but occupy only a small percentage of our country's total land area. In this seminar we will openly discuss unmentionable topics and get our hands dirty (sometimes literally) examining the politics of waste. [more], Taught by: Galen E Jackson, James McAllister, This is a course about the Middle East in international politics. The Communist Party still monopolizes power and works hard to suppress organized opposition. Students will take up the central philosophical questions that shaped the tradition from the early nineteenth century to the present by engaging historical thinkers like Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B. What policies paved the way for and resolved the crisis, how were they reached, and who participated in formulating them? Marcuse famously supported the aims of student activism, feminism, black liberation movements and Third World anti-colonialism during that period, publicly affirming their efforts to integrate ethical idealism with concrete concerns for the economic wellbeing and political freedom of oppressed groups. Do science and technology serve to transform or reinforce power imbalances based on gender, race, and sexuality? If the welfare state has a future, it will look different from the past, but how? Us" became a rallying cry of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in late 2019. We will examine how founders such as Benjamin Franklin and James Madison envisioned the relation between the people and the government; how workers, African Americans, and women fought to participate in American politics; and how globalization, polarization, and inequality are straining American democracy and political leadership in the 21st century. The course begins with the political economy of the colony, then covers the Cuba- US relationship from Jos Mart and 1898 through the Cold War to the present, emphasizing the revolutionary period. Contemporary Africana Social and Political Philosophy. story. Those whose proposals are accepted by a committee of faculty chosen by the department will continue on as thesis students, under the supervision of an advisor to be assigned by the department, for the remainder of the academic year; those whose proposals are not accepted will complete an abridged version of their project as an independent study in Winter Study but not continue in the honors program in the spring semester. The combination of the historical focus of the early part of the course with discussion of modern policy issues and debates in the latter part of the course permits you to appreciate the ongoing dialogue between classical and contemporary views of political economy. Critics argue that today's media is shallow and uninformative, a vector of misinformation, and a promoter of extremism and violence. Power may be used wisely or foolishly, rightly or cruelly, but it is always there; it cannot be wished away. Meanwhile, national activists look to international apologies and reparations for models of what to demand. [more], Although some protest that the U.S. is heading toward European-style socialism, social welfare programs in the U.S. differ in important ways from those in other wealthy and democratic nations. One of the key questions we will seek to answer is why Kennan and Kissinger disagreed on so many important issues, ranging from the Vietnam War to the role of nuclear weapons, despite their shared intellectual commitment to Realism. Does the structure of the international system necessarily cause conflict? American Realism: Kennan, Kissinger and the American Style of Foreign Policy, In addition to their distinguished careers in government, both men have published well regarded and popular scholarship on various aspects of American foreign policy, international relations, and nuclear weapons. Is leadership that privileges desirable ends, such as justice or security, at the expense of democratic means acceptable? How does corruption grow and what can we do about it? The primary objective of the course is for students to improve dramatically their understanding of the role of leaders and strategic choice in international relations. In whose interest is the prevailing system? The institution of slavery is a particularly egregious example. Do the People Govern? How has globalization changed the international system? It begins by addressing the arrival of Zionists, the pursuit of statehood and the in-gathering of Jews, and the responses of neighboring Arab states and local Palestinians. [more], We rely on environmental laws to make human communities healthier and protect the natural world, while allowing for sustainable economic growth.

Corvias Resident Portal Apg, Convert Dint To Int In Rslogix 5000, What Happened To Shawna, Articles W