This course analyzes politics from the four main vantage points of the discipline of political science, that is, political theory, comparative politics, international relations and American government. Of special concern is the U.S. Constitution, its classical and English roots, and its development to the present. This course is required for Political Science Majors. Meets SEEDS Political and Civic Life Learning Outcome Social Justice and Equity,"Engagement, Agency and Leadership" Value. Meets Gen-Ed 2002 Social Science Perspectives requirement.
This course will introduce students to the basic institutions and processes of American politics, and will do so, in part, through a focus on current policy issues. Meets Gen Ed - Social Science Perspectives.
This class uses the themes of power, trade, persuasion, rights and peace to introduce students to current issues in international security and diplomacy, with particular emphasis on the place of non-western societies in the international system and the challenges these states face from other states and non-state actors. Meets Gen Ed - Global Cultural Perspectives.
An experience for Political Science, Jurisprudence and Pre-Law freshmen that will help them succeed as Political Science and/or Jurisprudence majors by learning study skills and becoming acquainted with the culture of higher education. Meets Gen Ed - New Student Seminar.
Constitutional principles, governmental institutions and political processes of selected contemporary states. Meets the Graduation Writing Requirement for majors in Political Science. Meets Gen Ed - Global Cultural Perspectives.
Recent and contemporary world politics and the foreign relations and policies of selected states. Meets Gen Ed - Global Cultural Perspectives.
The nature, place, need, evolution, principles, achievements and functioning of major international organizations, with emphasis upon the United Nations and selected regional organizations.
The salient characteristics of government and politics in the independent black African states, and the way these impinge on developmental efforts therein, are examined. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Literature and developments in the field of public administration; the federal bureaucracy in the policy-making process.
Governmental and political development, institutions, and practices in contemporary China-Japan. Meets Gen Ed - Global Cultural Perspectives. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202. A consideration and analysis of the goals that the nation's foreign policy officials seek to attain abroad, the values that give rise to those objectives, and the means or instruments through with they are pursued.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101. There exists a need to understand the actions of government and, more importantly, the intentions underlying those actions. In this course, students will develop an understand of what public policy is and how policies help solve social and economic problems facing transnational, federal, state municipal, corporate and non-profit policymakers. Students will develop an in depth understanding of the public policy process, its key institution and actors (such as Congress, legislative groups, the courts, interest groups, the chief executive, administrative agencies, etc.). Students will develop an understanding of the key parameters of public policy formulation, (policy window, agenda setting, implementation, evaluation, law, theories, etc.) and understand the importance of context (political climate, economic, social and technological) in developing efficient policies.
The role of women in the functioning of the American political system. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
The political behavior of American ethnic groups from the Puritans to the Puerto Ricans. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
The policies, processes, inter-relationships and organization of governments in heavily populated areas of the United States.
Prerequisite(s): Any POLS 200-level course. This course is designed to acquaint students with the major ideas that shape politics and political science as a discipline. Blending both historical and conceptual approaches to the development of political ideas, this class will also introduce fundamental concepts in political science as a whole.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 100 or POLS 101 or departmental approval. Organization, function and practice of political parties in the U.S.; campaign functions, membership problems, political finance and policy-formation practices.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 100 or POLS 101 or departmental approval. The nature and development of public opinion and pressure groups in the United States and their influence on public policy and political process.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201. The major contemporary schools of political modernization and development theory; inter-relationship among political, social and economic variables.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. State political sub-systems, including their administrative and local sub-systems, federal-state relations, political institutions and groups in the states and in New Jersey. This course helps students understand lawmaking and enforcement as functions of state and local government.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 100 or POLS 101. This course is taught in election years and provides the student with field experience at the local precinct or party level.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 300 or JURI 300. This course will provide an introduction to the main strands of American political thought from the founding of the American colonies to the present day. Our goal will be to come to grips with the major questions that have driven our politics throughout the nation's history.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 205 or departmental approval. The problems and processes in the U.S. of public personnel administration at the state and local level.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 205 or departmental approval. The budgetary process in governmental agencies from the perspective of political demands and influences.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. Black participation in the American political system from the colonial period to the present. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): Any POLS 200-level course or departmental approval. This course introduces undergraduates to the intersection of technology and politics. Students will discuss how internet-based applications alter political behavior and processes, along with governing institutions.
Corequisite(s): POLS 306. Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. Seminar in Campaign Politics provides an introduction to the history and theory surrounding elections in the United States and complements students practicums in POLS 306.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or POLS 205 or departmental approval. Problems and policy-making in the larger urban or metropolitan complexes.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. This course will provide a detailed examination of the United States Congress. It will allow students to explore in depth one of the key American political institutions introduced to them in POLS 101, American Government and Politics.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. This course will provide a detailed examination of the American presidency. It will allow students who were introduced to the presidency in POLS 101, American Government and Politics, to explore in depth one of the key institutions of the American political system.
Prerequisite(s): Any POLS 200-level course or departmental approval. This course is designed to introduce undergraduates to film and politics. Films and assigned readings on a particular topic will familiarize students with particular aspects of government or politics, including but not limited to institutions, processes, movements, and the media. Students will attempt to reconcile portrayal of politics in films with scholarly work.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or LAWS 200 or JURI 210 or departmental approval. This course will examine the American civil legal system as it affects a variety of our social institutions.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or LAWS 200 or JURI 210 or departmental approval. Introduces the student to institutions, processes, and social functions of criminal law. Students may take POLS 321 or PALG 301 but not both courses as part of the Political Science Major, the Paralegal Studies Minor or the Criminal Justice Minor.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101. Interpretation of supreme court decisions in the areas of the distribution of power within the national government and between the national government and the states.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or LAWS 200 or JURI 210 or departmental approval. The development of the constitution and the Supreme Court of the United States illustrated through reference to court opinions in civil rights and liberties.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. A study of the methods used to analyze public policy and an examination of current public policy issues. Special attention is given to the use of comparative analysis in analyzing American public policies. This course deals with issues such as crime, punishment, social welfare, drug abuse, child abuse, equality, health, education and the environment. It focuses on public policy responses to these issues.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or POLS 202 or POLS 300 or departmental approval. This course takes a global and interdisciplinary approach to studying the phenomenon of Food and Politics. It explores questions ranging from how is food produced to how effective is food regulation? Through a comparative approach this course explores various social movements including the organic, local and slow food movements and policy areas ranging from hunger to obesity.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201, POLS 202, POLS 203, POLS 204, POLS 205, POLS 206, POLS 207, POLS 214, POLS 215 or POLS 216. This course will be an in-depth examination into the nexus between terrorism and drug trafficking. Students will explore topics such as U.S. law, policy, and strategy in regards to targeting terrorist organizations involved in the drug trade, as well as an overview of the most infamous narco-terrorists in history and the present day.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201, POLS 202, POLS 203, POLS 204, POLS 205, POLS 206, POLS 207, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 216 or JURI 210. This course seeks to provide students with an understanding of how human-animal relations have been affected by politics and the rule of law. It will generate debate about the treatment of animals in a multitude of contexts, including agricultural food production, product development, wild fauna, and domestic pets. Students will develop an understanding of the political nature of human-animal relations. Students will analyze the individual and group efforts to exercise power over and on behalf of animals. Also, students will analyze the efforts to grant political power to animals themselves. Students will seek to understand the values and interests that vie for control of collective decision-making, institutions, and public policy regarding animals. Students will analyze the interests for and against animal protection laws and the nature of such laws. Throughout the course, students will develop their critical reading, writing, and analytical reasoning abilities. Also, students will increase their knowledge of human-animal relations.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or LAWS 200 or JURI 210 or departmental approval. This course explores the interrelationships among the legal, political and societal factors in major legislative enactments of U.S. immigration and nationality law as they relate to government institutions and affected populations. The course examines the law and politics of restrictive immigration since the founding of our nation, including exclusion laws of the nineteenth century, quota systems of the twentieth century, and key legislative acts of the later 20th and early 21st centuries.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 300. This course allows instructors to develop a new course not regularly offered in the area of political thought. Texts and topics will vary from semester to semester. The course may be repeated for credit up to four times as long as the titles differ.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 300. This class will use prominent science fiction novels and some classics of political thought and political science to investigate some ways that the imagined worlds of science fiction in the last century resonate with and amplify our understanding of important political concepts such as citizenship, the nature of power, the relationship between choice and fate, and the evolution of social order. The course will also explore important belief systems such as anarchism, libertarianism, classic republicanism, and liberal constitutionalism, which will bring the class discussion to bear on today's political dilemmas.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201, POLS 202, POLS 203, POLS 204, POLS 205, POLS 206, POLS 207, POLS 214, POLS 215 or POLS 216. This course provides students an understanding of the fundamental notions in political economy. By engaging with the practical and moral ideas that drive different understandings of politics and the economy, students will acquire an understanding of the forces that shape modern societies.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or departmental approval. Government and politics of Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Institutions, parties, ideologies and interest groups.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or departmental approval. The political experiences and institutions of the Indian subcontinent since 1947: The Republic of India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Bangladesh. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or departmental approval. Governmental and political development, organization and practices in the states of Central America and South America. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or departmental approval. Government and politics in the Arab states, Turkey, Israel and Iran.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or departmental approval. The political and institutional organizations of the countries of the former Soviet Union; contemporary political issues; party and governmental structures.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201 or POLS 202 or LAWS 200 or JURI 210 or JAST 201 or permission of department. This seminar explores the legal and political traditions giving rise to contemporary Israeli and American legal systems. This encompasses such aspects as democratic process with its origins and influences, governmental institutions within each legal system, the role of religion and the protection of minority rights. Comparative perspectives provide an understanding of each legal system within its national context. Mutually Exclusive with JAST 351.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 201, POLS 202, POLS 203, POLS 204, POLS 205, POLS 206, POLS 207, POLS 214, POLS 215 or POLS 216. This course primarily examines the role of the U.S. intelligence community in national security but will also engage with issues of international espionage. Students will learn about the collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of intelligence products. Students will also discuss the moral and political questions intelligence work and covert action raises both for leaders and citizens in a liberal democracy.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202. This course explores and debates some of the key questions facing the U.S. and other countries in Asia, including Japan, China, the Koreas and Russia. Students will study the concepts, institutions and cooperative frameworks in Asia that enable the countries in the region to address their common economic and security concerns. The course addresses three current conflicts (Taiwan-China relations, North Korea's nuclear program, war in Afghanistan) and looks at the costs and benefits of globalization for Asia.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202 and POLS 300. This course aims at giving students an understanding of how thinkers and practitioners try to limit the violence of armed conflict. To accomplish this, the class will engage with the major elements of the just war tradition and its realist, militarists, and pacifist critics. The course ends with an intensive examination of the moral issues presented by recent conflicts such as assassination, terrorism, counterinsurgency, occupation, and nation-building.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202. This course aims at giving students an understanding of basic concepts in grand strategy, war, and diplomacy. By studying the concepts and practices at the hard edge of international politics, students will acquire an understanding of the forces that shape global peace and conflict.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202. The course will introduce students to the politics of global environmental issues. Students will begin by studying the key actors, concepts, forms of governance and debates that are central to the field. The course then will address important questions in international relations such as the relationship between environmental protection and trade, the achievement of sustainable development, the connection between environmental change and security, and differing perspectives on the environment among different types of states and social groups. The last section will involve case studies which highlight the state and human security consequences of particular environmental problems and explore the forms of governance designed to address them.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. Juniors and seniors may elect three to six credits of independent study under the direction of a member of the Political Science staff. May be repeated without limit as long as the topic is different.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 100 or POLS 101 or departmental approval. This course allows the instructor to select a political problem which is either not covered in the curriculum or which deserves more in-depth treatment than is possible in a regular course. May be repeated without limit as long as the topic is different.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 and departmental approval. In this course students will work as interns for one semester in the office of a N.J. State Legislator, U.S. Congressperson or Senator, or state or federal executive.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. In-depth examination of the federal bureaucracy in relationship with national, state and local agencies.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. A one semester public administration field experience in local government. Application must be made directly to the instructor in preceding semester.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. A one semester public administration field experience in local government. Application must be made directly to the instructor in preceding semester.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 101 or departmental approval. The main goal of this course will be to familiarize students with various polling methods used in political science research with the aim of giving them the ability to evaluate and criticize such research. A variety of polling techniques will be covered including simple descriptive statistics, tracking polls, and quota polls.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202 or POLS 203 or departmental approval. The nature, place, evolution, subjects, sources, principles, role and substance of international law in the international system of nation-states.
Prerequisite(s): POLS 202 or permission of instructor. After reviewing debates on globalization, this course covers its impact on global security through an examination of key issues such as crime, terrorism, migration, environment, and health, and a detailed case study of the Bosnian War. The course includes evaluation of the role of the international community and civil society in addressing these new security challenges.
Corequisite(s): COED 401, COED 402, COED 403, or COED 404. Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. In this course students intern in Washington, D.C., at governmental offices, interest groups, party and electoral organizations, law and lobbying firms or other political organizations. Students' academic learning is assessed by faculty, and their work performance is evaluated by their placement supervisor. Students may receive up to 7 credits in Political Science and up to 8 credits in a corequisite Cooperative Education course. Mutually Exclusive with GSWS 436.
Prerequisite(s): Open only to junior and senior majors with at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average in Political Science. The course will involve intensive research in a seminar setting for junior and senior political science majors. Students will conduct original research and present reports to meetings of the seminar.
Prerequisite(s): A course in the scope and theories of political science, or equivalent. Required of all master's degree candidates concentrating in political science, this course deals with the methodologies and orientations that have guided the study of political phenomena. Utility of methods and the validity of theories are examined by reference to data related to specific political systems. Perspective is comparative and theoretical.
Prerequisite(s): A course in political theory. Systematic analysis of the main traditions of Western political thought. Study of major political philosophers from Plato to Marx. Leading concepts of each major tradition are related to their historical contexts and their contemporary significance.
Prerequisite(s): A course in politics of development and modernization. Introduction to the field of political stability and change in the world's developing areas. Theoretical and empirical factors that have contributed to the contemporary and continuing search for political modernization in the emerging nation-states of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Prerequisite(s): A course in Government and Politics of Africa, or Government and Politics of South Asia, or departmental approval. The position and role of African and Asian nation-states in contemporary international relations, mutual relations; their encounters with the major powers; involvement in general international organizational and diplomatic activity and domestic political and economic factors that affect or underlie their international interactions.
A study of the nation-state system and those forces affecting its interactions. Special attention is given to the recent theories and approaches in the study and understanding of international politics today.
The concern of the course is to review the various theoretical explanations of the relationship between politics and economics: to depict the political forces that underpin the international economic system and its institutions and generally to shed light on the salient issues of the global political economy.
After reviewing debates on globalization, this course studies its impact on global security through an examination of key issues such as crime, terrorism, migration, environment, health, and a detailed case study of the Bosnian War. We will evaluate the role of the international community and civil society in addressing these new security challenges.
This course explores the interrelationships among the legal, political and societal factors in major legislative enactments of US immigration and nationality law as they relate to government institutions and affected populations. The course examines the law and politics of restrictive immigration since the founding of our nation, including exclusion laws of the nineteenth century, quota systems of the twentieth century, and key legislative acts of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries.
Prerequisite(s): A course in constitutional law or permission of the instructor. The supreme court's decisions in the area of public law. Critical analysis and in-depth study of the first ten amendments, especially as related to the court's recent decisions.
Prerequisite(s): A course in American political thought. The various interpretations of American political thought. Nature and limitations of the liberal ethos underlying the American political and constitutional system; the controversy over the "bias" of American pluralism.
This course explores international and domestic terrorism from a broad perspective consistent with contemporary scholarship in a global context. The course will examine transnational security as it is manifest is the United States criminal, environmental, public health, terrorism and migratory policies in the broader context of evolving geopolitical realities. Special attention will be given to the post-cold war era and Bosnia.