Political Science (POLS)

Examines institutions, processes and dynamics of the American governmental system emphasizing problems of policy making in a pluralistic democratic system.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Meets: Social & Behavioral Science: POLS

Explores questions such as the role of the state, electoral systems and issues such the separation of Church and State, terrorism, war and security, human rights and nationalism through qualitative and quantitative analysis. Examines why some developed democracies have extensive welfare states.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Meets: Social & Behavioral Science: POLS

Conceptual and theoretical tools for interpreting world politics and navigation the international system. Basic foreign policy analysis, key actors in the international system and a special focus on the United Nations. European Union, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall.

Meets: Social & Behavioral Science: POLS

Provides a general introductions to politics, including basic concepts such as power, authority, legitimacy, types of political systems, approaches to the study of politics, and challenges common to all political systems.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Meets: Social & Behavioral Science: POLS

Utilizing the case approach, students will analyze the structure of the legal system and the process of judicial decision making. Students will also be introduced to substantive areas of common law.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Yearly.

Meets: Social & Behavioral Science: POLS

Comparative analysis of state and local governments in the United States, and their relationships with the federal government. Focus on organization, structure, function, and administration of state and local government, addressing issues such as education, criminal justice, economic development and social services. It also examines the various roles of political leaders and interest groups at the state and local levels with a special emphasis on Wisconsin politics and government. Recommended for Teacher Education students.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall.

Covers methods, philosophy and sources of political science research.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Yearly.

Explores the processes, problems, methods and issues involved in the formulation of public policies. Emphasizes policy formation at the national, state and local levels. Employs case studies.

Prerequisites: POLS 100.

Offered: Yearly.

Examines the environmental, systematic and political variables that define the existing and potential political position of women in a variety of international cultures. Cross-listed with: WGSS 203.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

The works of the classical Greek political philosophers, Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle. Cross-listed with: PHIL 207.

Prerequisites: One of the following: POLS 105, PHIL 101, HIST 118.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines two of the three branches of government; investigates them in isolation and look at their origins, their structural evolution, and the sources of their power. Explores how their interaction results in policy making at the federal level.

Prerequisites: POLS 100.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines tactical decision making from both a rational and cognitive-bureaucratic perspective. Multi-career cross-listing: MAPS 517.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall (even years).

Formulation and implementation of foreign policy in the United States. Relationship of American foreign policy to its domestic foundations and to the larger international system.

Prerequisites: One POLS course or junior standing.

Offered: Occasionally.

Provides an overview of state and local political institutions, including state constitutions, structural organization, relationships between legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and intergovernmental relations at state and local levels. Delves into contentious public policy areas such as safety and environmental regulations, unionization, and economic development planning.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Selected topics in political science. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.

Prerequisites: Varies by topic.

Offered: Occasionally.

Surveys the political and social aspects of environmental policy making and how different political decision-making structures respond to various environmental issues. Community-based learning designation.

Prerequisites: POLS 202.

Offered: Occasionally.

Meets: Community Based Learning

Exploration of current political and social issues using works of science fiction. Topics include individualism, collectivism, democracy, gender issues and biopolitics. Various dystopic political futures will be discussed.

Prerequisites: POLS 104 or POLS 105.

Offered: Summer.

Contemporary theories of international relations with selected applications to current issues or relationships in international politics. Emphasis on critical theories in the evaluation and comparison of various theoretical approaches. Cross-listed with: PHIL 304.

Prerequisites: POLS 104 and POLS 200.

Offered: Spring.

Exploration of the origins of liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. Readings may include Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche. Cross-listed with: PHIL 306.

Prerequisites: One of the following: POLS 105, PHIL 101, HIST 119, HIST 120.

Examines contemporary philosophical works including themes of the meaning of equality, liberty, autonomy, gender, race and community in contemporary society. Cross-listed with: PHIL 307.

Prerequisites: One political science or philosophy course.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines U.S. Supreme Court cases concerned with the protection of civil liberties. Topics may include race and equality; sex, marriage, and reproduction; free speech; freedom of religion.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or POLS 116, or junior standing or consent of instructor.

Offered: Yearly.

Examines and evaluates greenhouse gas mitigation and adaption policies which are being implemented by a variety of national and sub-national governments. Multi-career cross-listing: MAPS 512.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or equivalent.

Offered: Occasionally.

An examination of the interrelationships between local and state politics and the professional sports teams located in those communities. Topics to be covered include: team location and relocation, public subsidy of stadium construction, economic development impacts, and what it means to be a "big league" city.

Prerequisites: SPMT 100; POLS 100 recommended.

Analyzes the relationship of African Americans to the United States Constitution, and includes such topics as slavery, the Fugitive Slave Acts, the Civil War Amendments, segregation, the civil rights movement, voting rights, affirmative action, and housing laws. Cross-listed with: ETHN 316.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or Ethnic Studies minor, POLS 216 recommended.

Offered: Occasionally.

Meets: Ethnic Diversity

Examines decision making from both a rational and cognitive-bureaucratic perspective. Investigates the universal applications of theoretical strategic thinking, integrates tactical and strategic decision making, and applies creative and critical thinking in strategic formulation and implementation. Explores case studies of military, political, and corporate strategies.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Spring.

Introduces to the politics of the U.S. Congress. Examines the workings of the U.S. Congress focusing on congressional elections; goals and strategies of congressional members; parties and leaders; rules of the legislative game; committees; floor and voting; inter-branch politics; and scientific research on congressional politics. ONLINE instruction; additional online class fee.

Prerequisites: POLS 100.

Offered: Spring (even years).

Examines the structure of government established by the Constitution. Includes the relations between the states and the federal government, the power of Congress to regulate the economy, and the power of the President to conduct war.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or POLS 116, or junior standing or consent of instructor.

Offered: Yearly.

Examines how law and politics interact with personal and social identity, including race, gender, and class. Cross-listed with: PHIL 321.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines political culture, political institutions, and public choices of European democratic states. Focuses on the history, institutions, and policies of the European Union.

Prerequisites: POLS 103 or POLS 104.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines problems of developing political institutions as they cope with and generate processes of social change, economic development and cultural independence.

Prerequisites: POLS 103 or POLS 104.

Offered: Occasionally.

Explores the thought of Marx and his later interpreters, such as Lenin and Bernstein. Discussion of the ideological foundations of and political dynamics of socialist systems. May include discussion of other socialist thinkers.

Prerequisites: POLS 103, POLS 104, or POLS 105 or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines the concept and genealogy of modernity as understood by Foucault and Adorno; extends the Foucauldian understanding of Power and Resistance within modern and post-modern contexts by examining the works of Deleuze, Hardt and Negri, and others.

Prerequisites: Junior or instructor consent.

Offered: Spring.

Explores the politics of sounds and songs and the role of popular music in opening up democratic spaces for a viable and vibrant democracy. Examines the theories and practices of human rights and democratization within the nexus of interactions between popular music and social movements. Topics include the Civil Rights Movement, Tropicalismo in Brazil, Nueva Canción in Latin America and Arab Spring music.

Prerequisites: One course in political science.

Offered: Yearly.

Examines the historical trajectories of the Fascist and Nazi ideologies and compares and contrasts these ideologies with the contemporary radical right movements in Western nations.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall (even years).

Focuses on the Latin American Left-the environment that spawned it, its historical role in changing Latin American politics, and its role in the present and future political and economic development of the region.

Prerequisites: POLS 104.

Offered: Occasionally.

Cooperation and competition in the anarchic environmental of international politics. Selected models of world order investigating integration and fragmentation of nation-states, development and maintenance of international regime structures, and the influence of international/reg'l organizations.

Prerequisites: POLS 104 and one 200-level World Politics course.

Investigates African politics and society, stressing the transboundary linkages that exist in the local, national, and global level. Includes common challenges to African countries, such as colonial history, debt, resource development, and violent conflict. Examines political, economic and cultural strengths of African countries.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Offered: Yearly.

Combines knowledge of indigenous politics and philosophy with specific regional discussions of indigenous movements and will typically focus on a specific indigenous movement or group. May include a study tour with additional fees required. May repeat with different topic.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines current global issues, conditions, and choices in terms of the ethical questions they present. Topics vary. May repeat with different topic.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Offered: Occasionally.

City and metropolitan politics in the United States; definition and description of the "urban crisis". Material from political science and allied disciplines included.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or consent of instructor.

Examines the relationship between politics and the larger social structure, such as structure of power in the United States and the economy; political consciousness and the debate on the changing nature of industrial societies. Cross-listed with: SOCA 356.

Prerequisites: SOCA 101.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines political party development in the United States; structure, functions, and behavior of parties and pressure groups; responsiveness to the electorate and public opinion; and some theories on the role of parties and interest groups in a democracy. Comparative material included.

Prerequisites: POLS 100.

Offered: Occasionally.

Introduces and examines experiences Latinos(as) encounter with and within the U.S. criminal justice system, as well as related international and transnational issues. Uses a range of theoretical frameworks, including socio-ecological, political and psychological. Cross-listed with: LBST 367/POLS 367.

Prerequisites: CRMJ 101 or POLS 100; or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Meets: Ethnic Diversity

Introduces students to some of the major topics of debate and research in political science with regard to voter behavior and political participation in U.S. politics, with a heavy emphasis on federal elections.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Selected topics in political science will be examined. May repeat for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examination and criticism of several competing explanations of voting behavior and political participation in the United States. The dynamics of citizen involvement in the political process will be featured.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 and POLS 200 (or concurrent registration in 200).

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines the environmental, systematic, and political variables that define the existing and potential political position of women in the United States. Requires a research paper.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall.

Examines international legal relationships among actors in world politics. Investigates the legal framework of public international law.

Prerequisites: POLS 104 or consent of instructor.

Offered: Fall.

Provides a historical and political overview of the development of the international criminal court in the context of international law. Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression will be investigated. Highlights specific cases.

Prerequisites: Junior standing.

Offered: Occasionally.

A capstone research experience for majors in their last year. Also serves to assess mastery of the discipline of political science. Required of all political science majors who are not concentrating in legal studies.

Prerequisites: Senior standing.

Offered: Occasionally.

Studies selected topics in political science at an advanced level.

Prerequisites: POLS 100 or consent of instructor and section prerequisites.

Offered: Occasionally.

Provides opportunities to serve as intern in state, regional, county or local government offices or in the offices of elected officials.

Prerequisites: POLS 104, POLS 200; senior standing; consent of instructor and department chair.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Provides individual instructions on topics related to political science. Maximum of 6 credits may be applied toward the major.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and department chair.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.