GOVT 375
Fall 2015 not offered
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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. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS GOVT |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-American) |
Major Readings:
Karen Orren & Stephen Skowronek, The Search for American Political Development (Cambridge, 2004). ISBN: 978-0521547642
Bruce Ackerman, We the People: Foundations (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1991). ISBN: 978-0674948419
Bruce Ackerman, We the People: Transformations (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1998). ISBN: 978-0674003972
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two exams |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Students who wish to be eligible to register for the course during Drop/Add should add themselves to the enrollment request system during on-line registration. They should also fill out a waitlist form from here: https://wesfiles.wesleyan.edu/home/elim/web/Waitlist.htm. |
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