Courses : Catalogue 2006-07 : University of Vermont

Search site
A-Z
Directory
myUVM

Skip Local Navigational Links

2006-07 Online Catalogue

Skip Main Content Area

Courses in Political Science

POLS 021 - American Political System: Institutions, processes, and problems of American government.; Credits: 3.
POLS 029 - American Civil Rights Movemnts: Examination of American racial discrimination; emphasis on strategies and actions of NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, to end racial discrimination.; Credits: 3.
POLS 041 - Intro Prob Political Thought: Examination of basic problems in political philosophy, e.g. morality and law; punishment; freedom; equality; obligation and disobedience.; Credits: 3.
POLS 051 - Intro International Relations: Examination of the basic theoretical concepts in international relations. Introduces the student to systemic, domestic, and individual levels of analysis for assessing foreign policy decisions.; Credits: 3.
POLS 071 - Comparative Political Systems: Examination of political behavior, political structures, and political processes from a cross-national perspective.; Credits: 3.
POLS 095 - Special Topics: Introductory courses or seminars on topics beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 1-6.
POLS 096 - Special Topics: Introductory courses or seminars on topics beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 1-6.
POLS 121 - Law & Politics: Examination of the U.S. courts focusing on the legal and political factors that influence court action, and judicial action that affects public policy. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 122 - Constitutional Law:Gov Powers: Emphasis on developing skills of legal analysis. Historical origins and general principles of constitutionalism. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 123 - The Vermont Political System: Analysis of the political processes and institutions of governance in Vermont in the context of the federal system and other American states. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 124 - The Presidency: The functions and activities of the president and staff. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 125 - Political Parties & Elections: Analysis of U.S. political parties and elections, including partisan realignments throughout history, campaign technology, and voting for president and Congress. Prerequisite: POLS 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 127 - The Congressional Process: Organization, procedure, and behavior of the chambers of the U.S. Congress. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 129 - Const Law:Civil Rights America: Critical examination of role of judiciary in enforcing 14th Amend-ment's "Equal Protection Clause." Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 131 - Political Leadership: Methods of identifying leaders, their relationships with nonleaders and with one another, their impact on public policy, and their personalities and social backgrounds. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 132 - US Supreme Court:Proc&Policy: The U.S. Supreme Court as one of the three major political institutions, including the selection process, intracourt politics, and dynamics of court decision making. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 133 - Public Opinion/Political Part: Theories and the empirical study of public opinion and political participation. Topics include: public opinion polling methodology, the origins of political outlooks, ideology, authoritarianism, generational politics, public opinion on race, voting behavior. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 137 - Politics and The Media: The role of the media in politics, including how media presentation and interpretation of events affect public opinion, political institutions, and public policy. Prerequisites: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 138 - Const Law: Civil Liberties: Investigation of the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment, rights of the accused, and the right to privacy. Prerequisite: 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 139 - Public Policy:Tools&Processes: Examination of public policy process with particular focus on tools used to fashion public policy such as contracts, regulations, legislation, and presidential orders. Pre/co-requisites: POLS 21.; Credits: 3.
POLS 141 - History of Political Thought: Development of Western political thought from Plato to Aquinas.Prerequisite: 41.; Credits: 3.
POLS 142 - History of Political Thought: Modern political thought from Machiavelli to Nietzsche. Prerequisite: 41.; Credits: 3.
POLS 143 - Philosophy of Law I: (Same as Philosophy 142.) Analysis of the nature of law, the relation between law and morality, obligation to obey the law, the judicial decision, responsibility in law, legal ethics. Prerequisite: 41 or Philosophy 1 or 3 or 4.; Credits: 3.
POLS 144 - Philosophy of Law II: (Same as Philosophy 143.) Problems of liberty, e.g. freedom of expression, privacy, paternalism; scope and limits of the criminal law; philosophy of punishment; selected problems in criminal justice. Prerequisite: 41 or Philosophy 1 or 3 or 4.; Credits: 3.
POLS 147 - 20thC Political Thought: This course examines selected major works by the leading political thinkers of the twentieth century. Pre/co-requisites: POLS 41; Credits: 3.
POLS 149 - Intermediate Political Theory: Intermediate courses on topics in political theory beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisite: 41 or instructor's permission.; Credits: 3.
POLS 151 - American Foreign Policy: Overview of the United States' involvement with the world. Focuses on the domestic political, institutional, and ideological influences on the formation of policy. Prerequisite: 51.; Credits: 3.
POLS 153 - International Organization: Theory and practice in supranational institutions. Prerequisite: 51; Credits: 3.
POLS 157 - Internatl Politics Middle East: Formation and operation of the state system in the 20th century Middle East. Emphasis on Great Power involvement, Arab-Israeli issues, regional conflict, transitional ideologies. Prerequisite: 51.; Credits: 3.
POLS 161 - Political Geography: (See Geography 177.) Prerequisite: 51 or 71 or Geography 1 or 73.); Credits: 3.
POLS 168 - Middle East Politics: State formation in the Middle East and problems it has occasioned. Review of modern history and examination of contemporary politics of several countries. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 171 - Western European Political Sys: A comparative examination of the British, German, and French political systems. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 172 - Politic&Society in Russian Fed: Examines the nature of politics and the development of post-Soviet social and economic institutions in Russia. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 173 - Canadian Political System: Institutions, process, and problems of the Canadian polity. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 174 - Latin American Politics: Comparative examination of selected Latin American political systems. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 175 - Govt & Politics of China: Institutions, processes, and problems of government of China. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 176 - Govt & Politics of Japan: Institutions, processes, and problems of government in Japan. Prerequisite: 71.; Credits: 3.
POLS 177 - Pol Systs of Tropical Africa: Development of differing political systems in African countries located south of the Sahara and north of South Africa. Prerequisite: 71, or one course in African Studies.; Credits: 3.
POLS 181 - Fund of Social Research: (Same as Sociology 100.) Introduction to research methods in social science. Includes examination of research design, measurement, data collection, data analysis, and the presentation and theoretical interpretation of research findings. Prerequisite: One core course.; Credits: 4.
POLS 191 - Internships: Credits: 1-6.
POLS 192 - Internships: Credits: 1-6.
POLS 195 - Special Topics: See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 3.
POLS 196 - Special Topics: See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 3.
POLS 197 - Readings & Research: Credits: 1-6.
POLS 198 - Readings & Research: Credits: 1-6.
POLS 220 - Topics in Law: In-depth analysis of selected topics in law. May repeat for credit with different content. Prerequisite: POLS 21, 3 hours at 100-level; Credits: 3.
POLS 222 - Constitutional Law II: Selected topics in constitutional law. Prerequisite: 122.; Credits: 3.
POLS 225 - Intergovernmental Relations: Problems of the federal system. National-state-local cooperative administration of selected public functions. Prerequisites: 21, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 226 - Topics on the Presidency: Further study of the exec-utive branch and its operations. Selected topics, e.g. presidential decision making. White house staffing and operations, congressional-executive relations. Prerequisite: 124.; Credits: 3.
POLS 228 - Congress & Foreign Policy: Congress's role in foreign policy making, emphasizing congressional action in the post-Vietnam period. Prerequisites: 21, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 229 - Seminar in American Politics: Credits: 3.
POLS 232 - Comparative State Politics: Politics, policy, and institutions of state governments of the U.S.; techniques for comparative analysis of these aspects of politics. Prerequisite: 21, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 234 - Topics in Public Opinion: This course will examine the quality and sophistication of public attitudes, and the motivations that underlie political participation and electoral choice. Pre/co-requisites: POLS 21; 3 hours at 100 level; juniors and seniors only.; Credits: 3.
POLS 238 - Law & Public Policy: Examination of courts as policymakers, relationships with other actors in the policy process, fields in which courts play policy roles, and difficulties facing judges. Pre/co-requisites: POLS 21, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 241 - Justice & Equality: (Same as Philosophy 242.) Examination of contemporary normative theories of distributive justice and equality. Prerequisites: 41, or Philosophy 1 or 3 or 4, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 242 - American Political Thought: American political thought from the colonial period to recent times. Prerequisites: 41, three hours at 100 level. Background in American history recommended.; Credits: 3.
POLS 243 - Democratic Theory: The nature of democracy. Both contemporary debates within democratic theory and the classical sources of democratic theory are examined. Prerequisites: 41, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 244 - Liberalism and its Critics: This course examines the works of leading contemporary liberal political theorists, and also works representing various theoretical approaches critical of liberalism. Pre/co-requisites: POLS 41; 3 hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 249 - Seminar in Political Theory: Credits: 3.
POLS 251 - Foreign Pol Newly Indep States: Examines the development of foreign relations of post- Soviet states, with a special focus on Russia and the post-Communist era. Prerequisites: 51, or three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 257 - Pol of European Integration: Survey of the European Union including historical development, public opinion, governmental institutions, internal policies, external relations, and future prospects. Prerequisites: 51, or 71 plus three hours at the 100 level; or appropriate International Studies background.; Credits: 3.
POLS 258 - Causes of War: Examination of various theories explaining the outbreak of war, with applications to historical cases. Prerequisites: 51, three hours at the 150 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 259 - Sem in International Relations: Credits: 3.
POLS 260 - War, Strategy and Politics: The domestic, international, and geopolitical factors determining states' choice of strategies and tactics in interstate conflicts and confrontations. Contemporary and historical examples. Prerequisites: 51, three hours at the 150 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 261 - Topics American Foreign Policy: In-depth examination of selected topics related to the making and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Prerequisites: 51, three hours at the 150 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 263 - Third World Foreign Policy: The particular security and political economic challenges facing states in the process of nation-building in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia. Prerequisites: 51, three hours at the 150 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 264 - US-China Relations: Examination of the historical context and various causes of the recurring tensions and unresolved issues in U.S.-China relations since 1945. Prerequisites: 51, one 100-level course.; Credits: 3.
POLS 265 - East Asian Political Economy: Examination of the historical, political, economic, and international factors for the rise of East Asia since the Second World War. Prerequisites: 51 or 71, one 100-level course.; Credits: 3.
POLS 266 - Politics of the Persian Gulf: Covers the political systems of the states bordering the Persian Gulf, the role of oil in regional politics and the international relations of the region. Prerequisite: POLS 157 or POLS 168 or permission of the instructor; Credits: 3.
POLS 270 - Mexican Politics: An in-depth examination of the Mexican political system. Topics will include an overview of Mexican history, one-party authoritarian rule, democratization, and political economy. Prerequisites; POLS 71, 174; Credits: 3.
POLS 272 - Eastern European Pol Systems: Examination of Eastern European political systems with emphasis on the role of ethnic conflict and Marxist-Leninist ideology. Prerequisites: 71, three hours at 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 276 - British Politics: Topics include the role of the citizenry; the character of political and governmental institutions; and policy making in particular fields. Northern Ireland is also covered. Prerequisites: 71 plus three hours at the 100 level; or appropriate International Studies background.; Credits: 3.
POLS 277 - Comparative Ethno-Nationalism: Ethnicity and nationalism in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Political, historical, social, and economic factors are examined comparatively. Prerequisites: 71, three hours at the 100 level.; Credits: 3.
POLS 279 - Sem in Comparative Politics: Credits: 3.
POLS 284 - Public Opinion:Thry & Rsch I: (Same as Sociology 241.)* Prerequisite: 181 or Sociology 100.; Credits: 3.
POLS 285 - Public Opinion:Thry & Rsch II: (Same as Sociology 242.)* Prerequisite: 284 (Sociology 241).; Credits: 3.
POLS 293 - Senior Honors Seminar I: Examination of major contemporary research topics in political science. Prerequisite: Admission by invitation only.; Credits: 3.
POLS 295 - Advanced Special Topics: Advanced courses or seminars on topics beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 3.
POLS 296 - Advanced Special Topics: Advanced courses or seminars on topics beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.; Credits: 3-4.
POLS 297 - Advanced Readings & Research: For advanced undergraduate and graduate students.; Credits: 3.
POLS 298 - Advanced Readings & Research: For advanced undergraduate and graduate students.; Credits: 3.