WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2022-2023       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
American Political Development
GOVT 375
Spring 2023
Section: 01  

This is a course about the big questions in American politics. What is it all about? What does it mean to be living under a text written more than two centuries ago? Is the very concept of development an oxymoron for constitutional government? This course introduces students to a scholarship and a method of analysis that melds the historical with the institutional, applied to understanding the evolving state/society relationship in American political life. We will examine the ways in which developing state institutions constrain and enable policy makers; the ways in which ideas and policy-relevant expertise have impacted the development of new policies; the ways in which societal interests have been organized and integrated into the policy process; and the forces that have shaped the evolution of institutions and policies over time. This seminar will provide an opportunity to survey the literature drawn from several theoretical perspectives in the field and to consider competing arguments and hypotheses concerning the development of the American state and its changing role in the economy and society.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-American)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459