12276

PS 104 International Relations

Michelle Murray

M . W . .

1:30 – 2:50 pm

RKC 103

SSCI

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies, Human Rights This course provides an introduction to competing theories about the structure, functioning and transformative potential of the international system. Part 1 deals with the traditional problem of international life, maintaining order among relatively equal states in a condition of anarchy. Part 2 calls the assumption of anarchy into question by looking at hierarchical power relationships in a variety of issue areas. Part 3 addresses contemporary challenges to the state’s authority and the problems of governing in an increasingly global community. Throughout the course an effort will be made to illustrate the relevance of theoretical disagreements for the real world. Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the assumptions and logics of competing theories as well as their ability to apply those theories to historical and contemporary global problems. Class size: 22

12309

PS 105 Comparative Politics

Ken Haig

. T . Th .

1:30 -2:50 pm

OLIN 202

SSCI

(PS core course) Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies The basic intellectual premise of comparative politics is that we can better understand the politics of any country by placing it within a broader, global context. This comparative “method” allows us to address some of the most fundamental questions in the study of politics, such as what makes democracy possible, how is political representation organized around the world, and why some nations are more successful than others at generating wealth and prosperity, while contributing to the building of theories about the nature and evolution of states, interest groups, civil society, and the dynamics of political processes such as revolution, modernization, and democratization. Class lectures and discussions will cover developed and developing states, as well as democratic and non-democratic ones. Class size: 22

12865

PS 115 Intro to Political Thinking

David Kettler

. T . Th .

11:50 -1:10 pm

OLIN 107

SSCI

An introduction to some central themes in modern political thought, drawing primarily on four seminal thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century: David Hume (supplemented by Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill (including The Subjection of Women), and Karl Marx.  Among themes to be discussed are property, interests, democracy, power in the socio-economic and political domains, historical periodization, revolution, and ideology.

Class size: 15

12267

PHIL / PS 117 Intro to Political Philosophy

Ruth Zisman

. T . Th .

11:50 -1:10 pm

OLIN 307

HUM

Cross-listed: Human Rights; Political Studies From Plato’s “philosopher kings” to Hegel’s “master-slave dialectic” to Michel Foucault’s “disciplined subject,” political philosophers have struggled to come to terms with the concept of authority. What is authority? What does political authority entail and represent? Who has authority and how is it obtained, maintained, and/or lost? Under what conditions is authority legitimate? Does political authority represent a seat of power or does it mark the absence of power? In other words, how, when, and in what ways is authority meaningful or, on the other hand, meaningless (i.e., an empty gesture)? This course will explore various themes in political philosophy, all of which seem to revolve around and branch out from the concept of authority: the state, rights, law, liberty, justice, citizenship, duty, obedience, and sovereignty. Texts will be drawn from the following: Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Hobbes’s Leviathan, Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government, Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality, Kant’s Perpetual Peace, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals, Hannah Arendt’s What is Authority?, Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, and, lastly, Jacques Derrida’s The Force of Law. Course requirements include regular attendance and participation, two short papers, one longer paper, and an informal class presentation in which students lead a class discussion on one of the assigned texts. Class size: 18

12316

PS 145 Human Rights in Global Politics

Omar Encarnacion

M . W . .

11:50 -1:10 pm

OLIN 205

SSCI

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies; Human Rights (core course) This course aims to familiarize students with the principal historical and sociological explanations behind the rise of human rights, its principal actors, institutions and legal frameworks, and the main international, regional and national settings in which the debates and practices of human rights take place. The course is divided into three core sections. The first explores the origins of the notion of human rights, taking into consideration the importance of such historical developments as the atrocities of World War II, especially those committed by Germany's Nazi regime, and sociological explanations derived from theories of modernization and globalization and the main actors and institutions in the human rights arena, from the basic legal framework of human rights standards (e.g., the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, to name a few), to the role of major international players, such as the United States and the European Community, to powerful non-governmental actors such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and the Center for Transitional Justice. The second part examines human rights activism in action, such as humanitarian interventions against genocide and the process of transitional justice in nations exiting political regimes notorious for their human rights abuses. The third and final section examines the dominant debates within the human rights movement, such as the rejection of the expansive “Western” view of human rights in many parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and the increasing scrutiny being paid to how mature democracies, like the United States, often fail to conform to internationally-accepted human rights norms. Class size: 22

12317

PS 222 Latin American Politics

Omar Encarnacion

M . W . .

3:10 -4:30 pm

OLINLC 206

SSCI

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies, Human Rights In contrast to the United States and Western Europe, Latin America’s political experience is characterized by an inability to hang on to stable democratic government. Throughout the 20^th century, Latin America gravitated between democracy and variety of non-democratic regimes (caudillos, military juntas, and revolutionary governments), with the last wave of democratization occurring in the last three decades. At the present time all the Latin American nations (save Cuba) operate under democratic rules, but the quality of democracy leaves a lot to be desired, leading many scholars to qualify contemporary Latin American democracy as “low-quality, “delegative” and even “illiberal.” Understanding the social, economic, and political roots of this political trajectory is the main concern of this course. The course is organized in three main sections. The first section provides a broad historical overview of patterns of political development in Latin American from the independence period to the present. The second section examines theories of political development in Latin America, with an emphasis on the major schools of thought: “cultural” approaches that focus on Latin America’s Iberian heritage, “economic” approaches such as the Marxist inspired “dependency” theory, which views domestic politics in Latin America as intimately tied to European and American imperialism, and “political” approaches” that emphasize the weakness of the post-independence state and the disorganization of civil society. The third and final section examines democratic development in selected Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela). These countries are selected for their importance in suggesting paradigmatic political junctures of political development in Latin America, such as corporatism, populism, and bureaucratic-authoritarianism.

Class size: 20

12319

PS 224 Sex, Power & Politics

Verity Smith

M . W . .

10:10 - 11:30 am

OLIN 204

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: American Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Human Rights, Social Policy This course asks how sex, power, and politics are related to one another in the United States by bringing work in feminist and queer theory to bear on the study of contemporary public policy controversies, and vice versa. The course explores the history and politics of several recent social movements: Second Wave Feminism, Gay Liberation, and the Men’s Movement, and provides students with the theoretical and philosophical tools with which to critically assess the assumptions embedded in U.S. law and public policy. Topics considered may include, but are not limited to: debates over reproductive freedom, pornography, marriage, adoption, gay rights, the role of race, ethnicity, and nationality, and gender and political leadership. Class size: 22

12108

PS/ LIT 2270 Political Theology

Nancy Leonard

M . W . .

1:30 -2:50 pm

OLIN 310

HUM

See Literature section for description.

12320

PS 247 American Foreign Policy Debates

Walter Mead

. . W . F

11:50 -1:10 pm

OLIN 201

HIST

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies This course, which normally requires some background in American history, invites students to examine the questions facing American foreign policy today through several lenses: global geopolitics, economics, resource issues, culture and ideology, and regional politics. The course will stress the connections between domestic and international policy and help students understand the leading alternative schools of thought currently contending to shape the foreign policy agenda of the Obama administration and of various critics and opponents. The readings will include essays and books by leading scholars and practitioners. Class size: 18

12321

PS 254 Security & International Politics

Michelle Murray

M . W . .

10:10 - 11:30 am

RKC 200

SSCI

Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality Studies; Global & Int’l Studies; Human Rights Security is one of the foundational concepts in the study of international politics. As the principle rationale for war, the quest for security influences both states’ behavior in the international system as well as the structure of state and society relations in domestic politics. Too often, however, the meaning of security is taken for granted in the study of world politics, with individuals, societies and states homogenized into one coherent model. This course will interrogate the concept of security in an attempt to denaturalize the taken-for-grantedness of the traditional understanding of security. Some of the broad theoretical themes covered include challenges to the mainstream approach to security, the construction of dominant discourses of security and its representation in international politics, critical and discursive approaches to security and the politics of threat construction. The aim is to assess the validity of these alternative approaches and highlight their value-added to security studies. We will then (re)consider some contemporary security problems in light of these alternative conceptualizations of security: migration, the environment, health, development, the war on terror, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among others. The course ends with a discussion of the ethics of national security by looking at the politics of torture, human rights and the suspension of civil liberties in the state of exception. Class size: 16

12590

PS/ PHIL 287 Anarchism

Roger Berkowitz

M . W . .

3:10 -4:30 pm

OLINLC 118

HUM

Cross-listed: Human Rights; Philosophy Anarchism is the political theory of government without rulers, or the idea that communities can organize themselves politically without hierarchical authority. Often utopian, there are also many practical and historical examples of anarchic politics and self-organization. Most recently, large elements of the Occupy Wall Street movement have embraced fundamental anarchist ideas. In this course, we explore the intellectual history of anarchism in order to understand its place in contemporary politics. Readings include: Emma Goldman, Martin Heidegger, Commandante Marcos, David Graeber, and many others. Class size: 20

12322

PS 343 Civil Liberties in the States of Emergency

Verity Smith

. T . . .

4:30 -7:00 pm

OLIN 310

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: American Studies, Human Rights In his now classic work, Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies, Clinton Rossiter wrote that “No form of government can survive that excludes dictatorship when the life of the nation is at stake.” He further argued that dictatorship can be constitutional – that is, government can – indeed, sometimes should – suspend the “normal” constitution during states of emergency in order to preserve the constitutional order itself. He also notes, however, the danger that “temporary” suspensions of civil liberties may become permanent ones. The problem, then, is whether a government by law can take measures to subvert the rule of law and the democratic state without destroying the essence of the very thing it seeks to save. This seminar takes up the question of how the United States should be governed during times of crisis by situating the War on Terrorism in historical and comparative context, and by asking broader questions about the relationship between the rule of law, sovereignty, and democracy. A special focus of the seminar will be on how and when civil liberties have been rescinded in the United States, and with what longer-term effects. We will read case law alongside work in democratic and constitutional theory, and legal history. Authors considered may include Carl Friedrich, Clinton Rossiter, Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Andrew Arato, David Dyzenhaus, and Bonnie Honig. Class size: 15

12323

PS 349 The Nature of Power

Jonny Cristol

M . . . .

1:30 -3:50 pm

OLINLC 208

SSCI

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies; Human Rights Hans Morgenthau, one of the preeminent international relations theorists, wrote in his “Six Principles of Political Realism” that “power may comprise anything that establishes and maintains control of man over man. Thus power covers all social relationships which serve that end, from physical violence to the most subtle psychological ties by which one mind controls another.” This seminar will investigate “physical violence,” “subtle psychological ties,” and everything in between in an attempt to understand the nature and role of power in the international system. At West Point, it will also examine the implications of power for contemporary foreign policy.  The seminar will focus on the great books of international relations that explore power in all of the major schools of international relations theory. Each week we will read and discuss one of the major books on power and the international system, including: Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations, Mearsheimer’s The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Zakaria’s From Wealth to Power, Nye’s Soft Power, Keohane’s Power and Interdependence, and Kagan’s Of Paradise and Power, among others. Our debates on the nature and use of power will benefit from joint sessions with Professor Scott Silverstone and his students at the United States Military Academy, West Point. (Approximately one third of class meetings will be with West Point cadets.) Prerequisite: Either PS 104, BGIA 306, or BGIA 310 and/or the permission of the instructor. Class size: 12

12325

PS 368 Promoting Democracy Abroad

Omar Encarnacion

. T . . .

10:10 - 12:30 pm

OLIN 306

SSCI

Cross-listed: American Studies, Global & Int’l Studies, Human Rights Almost alone among the world’s superpowers, the United States has made promoting democracy abroad a central objective of its foreign policy. The origins of what has been called “America’s Mission” runs from the very birth of the American state in 1776, when the founding fathers declared the United States to be an exemplar state to guide the political development of other nations, to the ongoing attempt by the George W. Bush administration to give Iraq a democratic makeover. This course explores three core questions about America’s attempts to promote democracy abroad. What explains the genesis and persistence of the centrality of democracy in American foreign policy? How have American administrations endeavored to construct policies to advance democratic development abroad? And why have American attempts on behalf of the promotion of democracy abroad so often fallen short of their intended goal of creating stable democratic states, a point underscored by the American experience in Iraq. Readings will include Abraham Lowenthal, ed., Exporting Democracy: The United States and Latin America; Tony Smith, America’s Mission: The United States and the Global Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century; Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve; Walter Russell Mead, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World; and Larry Diamond, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq. Class size: 15

12324

PS 377 Grand Strategy from Sun Tzu to Clausewitz

Walter Mead

. . . Th .

1:30 -3:50 pm

OLINLC 210

SSCI

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies The question of what war is and how wars can be won has exercised great minds from the dawn of recorded history. In this advanced seminar, students will explore classic texts on conflict from ancient China to modern Europe. The class will examine the nature of conflict, the role of chance in human affairs, the definition of power and the development of strategic thought. Students will be expected to produce a significant research paper. Class size: 15

12326

PS/ PHIL 380 Advanced Topics in Political Thinking

Roger Berkowitz

. T . . .

4:40 -7:00 pm

DUBOIS

HUM

Cross-listed: Human Rights; Philosophy This course will focus on a reading of one thinker or book.  While the text or texts will vary, our approach will be a page-by-page reading of important works in the tradition of political and legal theory.  Our effort will be both to understand the selected texts as well as to comprehend its place in the history of political thought.  This semester, our guiding question will be: What is a human being? In pursuing this question, the focus will be Martin Heidegger’s long essay, Letter on Humanism. Class size: 15