Government and Law Minor

GOVT1000 Structure and function of American national government: roles of interest groups and political parties, voting behavior, powers of president, Congress, bureaucracy and federal judiciary, Fall, Spring.

GOVT1100 This course introduces students to two dimensions of world politics: the domestic politics of countries outside the United States and interactions between countries. Topics covered include states and the international system, regimes, democratic and non-democratic political institutions and change, war, international political economy and trade, human rights and international law, transnational problems, and globalization. The course explores these themes through an examination of prominent theories and case studies.

GOVT1120 Analysis and comparison of contemporary political institutions and process of selected countries.

GOVT1200 Overview of substantive and procedural law, and scholarly research on legal behavior and institutions. Course emphasizes the contemporary U.S. legal system, but includes discussion of comparative and historical issues.

GOVT1850 Politics can be conceptualized as a "game" a situation of strategic: interaction between two or more players. In this course students adopt the perspective of different political actors and actually play important political games-elections, campaigns, state formation, forming a coalition government, and more.

GOVT2010 Organization, political leadership and procedures of each houses of Congress: the committee system; Proposed congressional reforms.

GOVT2015 Introduction to and survey of: election laws including ballot access regulation, campaign finance and structure of primary elections; polling; advertising; the role of parties; and media relations.

GOVT2020 Roles and functions of president, Cabinet, executive agencies; relations with Congress.

GOVT2030 The Supreme Court of the United States has emerged as the most powerful tribunal in the world. It plays a major role in resolving conflicts, making policy, and developing the rule of law. This class examines how history, theory, social science research, jurisprudence, public opinion, and a range of social and political forces help us in understanding why and how the Court is a major force in American politics.

GOVT2045 Explores the nature of public opinion and its connection to survey research, mass media influence and public policy-making, as well as the psychology of opinion-holding, and the role of public opinion as a mechanism of democratic linkage.

GOVT2050 The relationship between the two branches of government in the policy making process. Why do presidential initiatives succeed or fail? What are the sources of presidential and congressional influence in the policy process?

GOVT2070 This course examines the participation of women in American political life. It will analyze the role of feminism in altering woman's public roles in historical and contemporary contexts, women participation in electoral politics, and the role of women and their influence as officials within governing institutions.

GOVT2071 This course examines how women are treated by the law with respect to public policies that include but are not limited to, workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and domestic violence. The work of feminist legal theorists will frame examinations of the historical, current and future development of case law relating to women and gender in American public policies.

GOVT2120 The effect of globalization on the political organization of modern states, with special emphasis upon the developing world.

GOVT2130 Theories and problems of international politics and foreign policy.

GOVT2230 Students will be introduced to the litigation process, including basic evidentiary rules, courtroom procedures and trial advocacy. Students will use this knowledge to prepare and conduct a simulated trial in which they serve as attorneys and witnesses.

GOVT2281 Students in the mock trial class use hypothetical cases to develop their knowledge of (and ability to analyze) criminal and civil law and to develop courtroom advocacy skills.

GOVT2282 Students in the mock trial class use hypothetical cases to develop their knowledge of (and ability to analyze) criminal and civil law and to develop courtroom advocacy skills.

GOVT2300 This interactive course will offer students the skills to participate in a democratic society through education and direct service. Students will engage in an experiential learning process whereby they work collaboratively to identify a problem, evaluate solutions and create an action plan for change. The course will address such key concepts as tracing the history of civic engagement in the United States critically analyzing the methods to effectuate change in a democratic, pluralistic society, and learning about the various levels of government. Local and state policymakers will supplement the course through in-person presentations.

GOVT2400 This course surveys and critically examines the dominant approaches to political ethics, including deontology and rights, consequentialism and utilitarianism, and contemporary critiques of liberalism. Students will explore the substance and implications of these approaches in applications to contemporary ethical and political problems and questions.

GOVT2500 Theory and method of the study of politics, research designs, theory building techniques of data collection and analysis.

GOVT2520 The course provides an introduction to the theories and methods underlying modern social science research across sociology, political science, economics and criminology. In this course, students will learn to assess the validity of social science research and design their own projects using a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques such as ethnography, content analysis, experiments and surveys. Students are required to have completed Math 1126 or Math 1128 and should have this level of mathematical skill in order to succeed in the required Methodological course.

GOVT2526 How to comprehend, evaluate, construct and conduct public opinion polls as well as surveys of special populations.

GOVT2810 Gender, Film and History explores the representation of women, gender roles and sexism from the advent of the motion picture to the present. The class will ponder the benefits and limitations of gender in film here changed over time. Whether films merely reflect existing attitudes towards gender, or help shape those attitudes, will also be explored. The course will consist of film, viewings, discussions, lectures and readings. Historical periods covered in the course will vary.

GOVT3015 Interest group membership, structure and impact on public policy; components of American political parties, party in the electorate, party organization, party in office.

GOVT3040 The course will examine the relationship between the mass media and government. It will consider imperatives the media will follow in choosing to run particular stories, and how government seeks to take advantage of those imperatives to influence the media. Finally, the course will investigate how the media try to arouse public opinion in order to influence government policy.

GOVT3060 Impact of public opinion, voting, protests on public policy.

GOVT3120 Compass the processes of political change from authorities to democratic regime in Southern Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe, as well as South Africa since the mid-1970's. Emphasizes analysis over description.

GOVT3121 This course provides students with a broad overview of the major theories of nationalism, paying particular attention to ethnic violence and conflict. Emphasis is on the critical evaluation of different theories of both nationalism and conflict, with case studies illustrating the competing theories.

GOVT3122 This course examines multiple forms of violent political conflict, from riots through rebellions and civil wars to revolutions. We do so from a variety of approaches, including economics, political, psychological and sociological and a variety of methods (qualitative case studies, formal modeling, quantitative analysis, computer simulations). The overarching goal, however, is singular; To assess the various approaches, methods, and theories in terms of their ability to account for emergence, duration, and outcomes of violent political conflict. We will compare cases from across the globe and through time, from classic social revolutions in France, Russia, and China, through riots in the US and India and civil war in Greece to rebellions in Ukraine and Syria.

GOVT3150 This course examines an important problem: terrorism and how to respond to it. In order to better understand terrorism we explore who commits terrorism when and why, who gets targeted, and why terrorist groups decline. We also survey different approaches to combating terrorism and assess their efficacy. Our approach top both will be theoretical and empirical and readings and assignments reflect a wide diversity within each: from detailed case studies to large-N quantitative analyses, from formal models to exploration of several data scts.

GOVT3200 Development, Scope and role of judicial review; problems of federalism; civil rights and civil liberties.

GOVT3210 Analysis of Supreme Court decisions concerning speech, press, religion, rights of women, racial discrimination and affirmative action.

GOVT3220 A basic introduction to criminal law in the United States. Emphasis is upon social factors, values and social policy, considerations that shape modern criminal law. Subject areas include issues such as the justification of punishment, the elements of just punishment and the death penalty as well as the study of substantive laws of homicide, rape and other criminal acts. Attention is also given to the emergence of international criminal law and the punishment of war crimes.

GOVT3230 A review of the key concepts, processes, institutional and organizational components of the international criminal legal system. Problems to be analyzed include terrorism, crimes against humanity and war crimes, piracy, drug trafficking of women and children. The course examines the foundations and justifications of the establishment of the mechanisms of international criminal law, the relationship between treaties and custom, the problems of sovereignty and the use of force, the emergence of international tribunals and courts for the trying of offenders.

GOVT3240 Law as a determinant of social control and change. Analysis of legal systems and their administration, with special emphasis on law affecting the poor.

GOVT3841 This course explores a wide range of questions about a particular form of political violence practiced by many states: torture. Examining state-sponsored torture from empirical, normative, and analytical perspectives over time and across political space, we explore the what, why, when, where how and who of torture.

GOVT3851 Exploration of political and social nightmares and dreamscapes, drawing on literature, political theory, and contemporary policy and public affairs.

GOVT4200 In this class, we examine the Constitution from the perspective of a political architect or framer-someone actually responsible for designing and maintaining a polity. We supplement (and transcend) the traditional emphasis on the Constitution as supreme law and as a text that courts alone should consider. Instead, we look at our Constitution as a dynamic blueprint for achieving certain aspirations, a "machine that would go of itself". We evaluate the Constitution as a source of American values, a basis for institutional conflicts, and a touchstone for our political and social life.

GOVT4220 This seminar offers an in-depth analysis of recent scholarship and emerging issues related to contemporary and enduring issues in criminal law. Students should have taken POLS 3220; Criminal Law or have a working knowledge of basic criminal law before taking this class.

GOVT4551 This course is an introduction to some basic concepts in non-cooperative game theory and their application to a range of problems in several social science disciplines, including economics, criminology, political science and sociology.

GOVT4552 Agents in the Matrix: Creating & Analyzing Agent-Based Models This course introduces students to a powerful transdisciplinary computational for exploring complex systems; a large of autonomous agents interacting independently without central control. Rooted in mathematics and computer science, agent-based modeling (ABM) is one of the most widely used methodologies for simulating complex systems by drawing on computing power to run experiments. The introduction to ABM in this course is more than just learning about the methodology; students will also learn how to design, program, execute, and analyze their own ABM and then write up and present the results.

GOVT4800 Independent study under the direction of a specific faculty member after consultation with the department chairperson.

GOVT4801 Independent study under the direction of a specific faculty member after consultation with the department chair.

GOVT4900 Faculty-student research on faculty projects.