Graduate courses in Political Science

First of a three-part graduate sequence. History of international relations, current debates, and applications to problems of international security and political economy.

5 units, Win (Schultz, K)

POLISCI 310B. International Relations Theory, Part II

Second of a three-part graduate sequence. History of international relations theory, current debates, and applications to problems of international security and political economy. Prerequisite: 310A.

5 units, Aut (Tomz, M)

POLISCI 310C. Research in International Relations

Third of a three-part graduate sequence. Focus is on developing research papers begun in 310A or B, and exploring active areas of research in the field. Prerequisite: 310B.

5 units, Spr (Goldstein, J)

POLISCI 310R. International Conflict: Management and Resolution

(Same as IPS 250, POLISCI 210R.) (Same as LAW 656) Interdisciplinary. Theoretical insights and practical experience in resolving inter-group and international conflicts. Sources include social psychology, political science, game theory, and international law. Personal, strategic, and structural barriers to solutions. How to develop a vision of a mutually bearable shared future, trust in the enemy, and acceptance of loss that a negotiated settlement may produce. Spoilers who seek to sabotage agreements. Advantages and disadvantages of unilateral versus reciprocal measures. Themes from the Stanford Center of International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN). Prerequisite for undergraduates: consent of instructor.

5 units, Win (Weiner, A; Holloway, D)

POLISCI 311A. Workshop in International Relations

For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit.

1-5 units, Aut (Goldstein, J; Tomz, M)

POLISCI 311B. Workshop in International Relations

For graduate students. Contemporary work. Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit.

1-5 units, Win (Schultz, K; Sagan, S)

POLISCI 311C. Workshop in International Relations

Organized around presentation of research by students and outside scholars. May be repeated for credit.

1-5 units, not given this year

POLISCI 312S. Managing Global Complexity

(Same as IPS 201.) The value of major theories and concepts in international relations for understanding and addressing global policy issues. Country case study with policy challenges such as development, democracy promotion, proliferation, and terrorism; the challenge of creating coherent policies that do not run at cross purposes. Case study of a policy challenge that cuts across academic disciplines and policy specializations to provide the opportunity to bring together skills and policy perspectives.

3 units, Spr (Krasner, S; Stedman, S)

POLISCI 314. The Politics of Nuclear Proliferation

(Same as POLISCI 214.) (Graduate students register for 314.) The origins and effects of the spread of nuclear weapons at international and domestic levels. The role of faulty intelligence, clandestine proliferation networks, and nuclear assistance from third parties on proliferators' programs. Case studies of relevant programs, including Iran and North Korea.

5 units, Win (Montgomery, A)

POLISCI 314D. Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law

(Same as IPS 230, INTNLREL 114D, POLISCI 114D.) Links among the establishment of democracy, economic growth, and the rule of law. How democratic, economically developed states arise. How the rule of law can be established where it has been historically absent. Variations in how such systems function and the consequences of institutional forms and choices. How democratic systems have arisen in different parts of the world. Available policy instruments used in international democracy, rule of law, and development promotion efforts.

5 units, Aut (Stoner-Weiss, K; McFaul, M)

POLISCI 314S. Decision Making in U.S. Foreign Policy

(Same as IPS 314S.) Priority to IPS students. Formal and informal processes involved in U.S. foreign policy decision making. The formation, conduct, and implementation of policy, emphasizing the role of the President and executive branch agencies. Theoretical and analytical perspectives; case studies.

5 units, Spr (Blacker, C)

POLISCI 316. International History and International Relations Theory

(Same as HISTORY 202, HISTORY 306E, POLISCI 216E.) The relationship between history and political science as disciplines. Sources include studies by historians and political scientists on topics such as the origins of WW I, the role of nuclear weapons in international politics, the end of the Cold War, nongovernmental organizations in international relations, and change and continuity in the international system.

5 units, Aut (Holloway, D)

POLISCI 317. International Organizations

(Same as POLISCI 217.) (Graduate students register for 317.) The role of international organizations in interstate cooperation. Theoretical approaches and applications. The UN, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, and regional and supranational organizations.

5 units, Spr (Lipscy, P)

POLISCI 319. Directed Reading in International Relations

May be repeated for credit.

1-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 323R. The Press and the Political Process

(Same as COMM 160, COMM 260.) The role of mass media and other channels of communication in political and electoral processes.

4-5 units, Win (Iyengar, S)

POLISCI 323S. Analysis of Political Campaigns

(Same as COMM 162, COMM 262.) Seminar. The evolution of American political campaigns, and the replacement of the political party by the mass media as intermediary between candidates and voters. Academic literature on media strategies, the relationship between candidates and the press, the effects of campaigns on voter behavior, and inconsistencies between media campaigns and democratic norms. Do media-based campaigns enable voters to live up to their civic responsibility? Has the need for well-financed campaigns increased the influence of elites over nominations? Have citizens become disengaged?

4-5 units, Aut (Iyengar, S)

POLISCI 324. Graduate Seminar in Political Psychology

(Same as COMM 308.) For students interested in research in political science, psychology, or communication. Methodological techniques for studying political attitudes and behaviors. May be repeated for credit.

1-3 units, Aut (Krosnick, J), Win (Krosnick, J), Spr (Krosnick, J)

POLISCI 325. Seminar in Law and Politics

Normative and positive literature concerning the relation of law and politics. Literature in political science and political aspects of judicial decision making. Topics include classic questions regarding judicial review of legislation and its ramifying jurisprudential issues.

3-5 units, Win (Ferejohn, J)

POLISCI 326. Race and Racism in American Politics

Topics include the historical conceptualization of race; whether and how racial animus reveals itself and the forms it might take; its role in the creation and maintenance of economic stratification; its effect on contemporary U.S. partisan and electoral politics; and policy making consequences.

5 units, Aut (Segura, G)

POLISCI 327. Minority Behavior and Representation

Politics of minorities in the U.S. Topics include: historic and contemporary struggles of Latinos, African Americans, and gays and lesbians for political power and social acceptance; group-level public opinion and electoral behavior; scholarship on group influence in the policy making process and policy issues of importance; and the jurisprudence shaping minority political access and civil rights.

5 units, Win (Segura, G)

POLISCI 329. Directed Reading and Research in American Politics

May be repeated for credit.

1-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 330A. Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought

(Same as CLASSHIS 133, CLASSHIS 333, HUMNTIES 321, POLISCI 230A.) Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

5 units, Win (Ober, J)

POLISCI 330B. History of Political Thought II: Early Modern Political Thought, 1500-1700

(Same as POLISCI 130B.) The development of constitutionalism, Renaissance humanism and the Reformation, and changing relationships between church and states. Emphasis is on the relationships among political thought, institutional frameworks, and immediate political problems and conflicts. The usefulness of the history of political thought to political science.

5 units, not given this year

POLISCI 330C. History of Political Thought III: Freedom, Reason, and Power

(Same as POLISCI 130C.) Classic works in political theory since the American and French revolutions. Readings include Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Dewey.

5 units, Spr (Stone, P)

POLISCI 331. High-Stakes Politics: Case Studies in Political Philosophy, Institutions, and Interests

(Same as CLASSHIS 332.) Normative political theory combined with positive political theory to better explain how major texts may have responded to and influenced changes in formal and informal institutions. Emphasis is on historical periods in which catastrophic institutional failure was a recent memory or a realistic possibility. Case studies include Greek city-states in the classical periodand the northern Atlantic community of the 17th and 18th centuries including upheavals in England and the American Revolutionary era.

4-5 units, Win (Ober, J; Weingast, B)

POLISCI 331S. Politics and Collective Action

(Same as IPS 206A, PUBLPOL 204A.) Classic theories for why collective action problems occur and how they can be solved. Politics of aggregating individual decisions into collective action, including voting, social protest, and competing goals and tactics of officials, bureaucrats, interest groups, and other stakeholders. Economic, distributive, and moral frameworks for evaluating collective action processes and outcomes. Applicable to collective action problems in any realm, but focus is on practical examples from environmental management.

4 units, Spr (Oleson, K)

POLISCI 332. Graduate Seminar: John Rawls's Political Philosophy

(Same as PHIL 372D.) Leading ideas in A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism, and The Law of Peoples.

5 units, not given this year

POLISCI 334. Research Workshop: Philanthropy and Civil Society

(Same as EDUC 374, SOC 374.) Associated with the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Year-long workshop for doctoral students and advanced undergraduates writing senior theses on the nature of civil society or philanthropy. Focus is on pursuit of progressive research and writing contributing to the current scholarly knowledge of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. Accomplished in a large part through peer review. Readings include recent scholarship in aforementioned fields. May be repeated for credit for a maximum of 9 units.

1-3 units, Aut (Reich, R; Meyerson, D), Win (Reich, R; Meyerson, D), Spr (Reich, R; Meyerson, D)

POLISCI 336. Introduction to Global Justice

(Same as ETHICSOC 136R, INTNLREL 136R, POLISCI 136R.) Recent work in political theory on the ethics of international relations. Topics include human rights, global economic justice, and the problem of global poverty.

5 units, Spr (Staff)

POLISCI 336M. Marx and Weber

(Same as PHIL 336.) How Marx and Weber each developed theories to account for the political problems of unfreedom, inequality, oppression, and bureaucratization; investigated the extent to which such problems could be mitigated or resolved; and believed that social science could contribute to understanding the modern world and efforts to change it. Their works with reference to politics, human agency, social change, and the role of knowledge.

4 units, Spr (Satz, D)

POLISCI 336T. Religion and the Constitution

(Same as PHIL 374D.) (Same as LAW 569.) Issues of religious toleration in political theory and in American constitutional law. Topics include: whether religion merits special the special constitutional solicitude provided by the First Amendment's religion clauses; religion as distinct from culture, morality, and philosophy as understood for constitutional purposes; the tensions between ensuring free exercise and avoiding religious establishment; cases for and against free exercise exemptions; and whether the religion clauses can be understood as serving a single fundamental value such as liberty,equality, or neutrality. Readings from political and constitutional theory including Bodin, Locke, Madison, Jefferson, Rawls, Nussbaum, McConnell, Okin, Choper, Hamburger, and constitutional cases.

3-5 units, Win (Cohen, J; Sullivan, K)

POLISCI 337. Models of Democracy

(Same as CLASSHIS 137, CLASSHIS 237, COMM 212, COMM 312, POLISCI 237.) Ancient and modern varieties of democracy; debates about their normative and practical strengths and the pathologies to which each is subject. Focus is on participation, deliberation, representation, and elite competition, as values and political processes. Formal institutions, political rhetoric, technological change, and philosophical critique. Models tested by reference to long-term historical natural experiments such as Athens and Rome, recent large-scale political experiments such as the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly, and controlled experiments.

3-5 units, Spr (Fishkin, J; Ober, J; Luskin, R)

POLISCI 337R. Justice at Home and Abroad: Civil Rights in the 21st Century

(Same as EDUC 261X, ETHICSOC 137R, POLISCI 137R.) Focus is on theories of justice. How the core ideals of freedom, equality, and security animate theories which John Rawls considers the first virtue of social institutions. Topics include the U.S. Constitution as a legal framework for the operation of these ideals, civil rights legislation and litigation as the arena of tensions between those ideals, and how ideas of justice function both at home and abroad to impact civil liberties in today's war on terror.

5 units, Aut (Reich, R; Steyer, J)

POLISCI 338E. The Problem of Evil in Literature, Film, and Philosophy

(Same as FRENGEN 265.) Conceptions of evil and its nature and source, distinctions between natural and moral evil, and what belongs to God versus to the human race have undergone transformations reflected in literature and film. Sources include Rousseau's response to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; Hannah Arendt's interpretation of Auschwitz; Günther Anders' reading of Hiroshima; and current reflections on looming climatic and nuclear disasters. Readings from Rousseau, Kant, Dostoevsky, Arendt, Anders, Jonas, Camus, Ricoeur, Houellebeck, Girard. Films by Lang, Bergman, Losey, Hitchcock.

3-5 units, Spr (Dupuy, J)

POLISCI 338J. Hobbes and Rousseau

(Same as PHIL 338.) On human nature, freedom, equality, and political authority in Hobbes's Leviathan and Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract.

3 units, Aut (Cohen, J)

POLISCI 339. Directed Reading and Research in Political Theory

May be repeated for credit.

1-5 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 346S. The Logic of Authoritarian Government, Ancient and Modern

(Same as HISTORY 378A.) If authoritarianism is less economically efficient than democracy, and if authoritarianism is a less stable form of political organization than democracy, then why are there more authoritarian governments than democracies? To address this paradox, focus is on theoretical and empirical literature on authoritarian governments, and related literatures on the microeconomic analysis of property rights and credible commitments.

5 units, not given this year

POLISCI 348R. Workshop: China Social Science

(Same as SOC 368W.) For Ph.D. students in the social sciences and history. Research on contemporary society and politics in the People's Republic of China. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

1 unit, Aut (Walder, A; Zhou, X; Oi, J), Win (Walder, A; Zhou, X; Oi, J), Spr (Walder, A; Zhou, X; Oi, J)

POLISCI 349. Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics

May be repeated for credit.

1-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 350A. Political Methodology I

(Same as POLISCI 150A.) Introduction to probability and statistical inference, with applications to political science and public policy. Prerequisite: elementary calculus.

5 units, Aut (Wand, J)

POLISCI 350B. Political Methodology II

(Same as POLISCI 150B.) Understanding and using the linear regression model in a social-science context: properties of the least squares estimator; inference and hypothesis testing; assessing model fit; presenting results for publication; consequences and diagnosis of departures from model assumptions; outliers and influential observations, graphical techniques for model fitting and checking; interactions among exploratory variables; pooling data; extensions for binary responses.

5 units, Win (Rivers, D)

POLISCI 350C. Political Methodology III

(Same as POLISCI 150C.) Models for discrete outcomes, time series, measurement error, and simultaneity. Introduction to nonlinear estimation, large sample theory. Prerequisite: 150B/350B.

3-5 units, Spr (Jackman, S)

POLISCI 351A. Foundations of Political Economy

(Same as POLECON 680.) Introduction to political economy with an emphasis on formal models of collective choice, public institutions, and political competition. Topics include voting theory, social choice, institutional equilibria, agenda setting, interest group politics, bureaucratic behavior, and electoral competition.

4 units, Aut (Hatfield, J)

POLISCI 351B. Economic Analysis of Political Institutions

(Same as POLECON 681.) Applying techniques such as information economics, games of incomplete information, sequential bargaining theory, repeated games, and rational expectations of microeconomic analysis and game theory to political behavior and institutions. Applicatoins include agenda formation in legislatures, government formation in parliamentary systems, the implications of legislative structure, elections and information aggregation, lobbying, electoral competition and interest groups, the control of bureaucracies, interest group competition, and collective choice rules.

4 units, Spr (Shotts, K)

POLISCI 351C. Testing Models of Governmental Decision Making

(Same as POLECON 682.) Applications of formal models to several stages of decision making in the U.S. national government, with an emphasis on the legislative branch. Topics include strategies of committees, roll call voting, the budget process, policy formation, effects of special rules, congressional-presidential relations, and congressional-agency relations. Prerequisites: POLECON 680/POLISCI 351A and POLECON 681/POLISCI 351B.

4 units, not given this year

POLISCI 352. Introduction to Game Theoretic Methods in Political Science

(Same as POLISCI 152.) Concepts and tools of non-cooperative game theory developed using political science questions and applications. Formal treatment of Hobbes' theory of the state and major criticisms of it; examples from international politics. Primarily for graduate students; undergraduates admitted with consent of instructor.

3-5 units, Win (Fearon, J)

POLISCI 353A. Workshop in Statistical Modeling

Theoretical aspects and empirical applications of statistical modeling in the social sciences. Guest speakers. Students present a research paper. Prerequisite: 350B or equivalent.

1-5 units, Aut (Wand, J)

POLISCI 353B. Workshop in Statistical Modeling

Continuation of 353A. Prerequisite: 353A.

1-5 units, Win (Wand, J)

POLISCI 353C. Workshop in Statistical Modeling

Continuation of 353A. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 353A.

1-5 units, Spr (Wand, J)

POLISCI 357. Sampling and Surveys

(Same as POLISCI 157.) The importance of sample surveys as a source of social science data including public opinion, voting, welfare programs, health, employment, and consumer behavior. Survey design, sampling theory, and estimation. Nonresponse, self-selection, measurement error, and web survey methods. Prerequisite: 150B or equivalent.

5 units, Spr (Rivers, D)

POLISCI 362. New Economics of Organization

Survey of economic approaches to organization, emphasizing theory and application, with attention to politics.

5 units, Spr (Weingast, B)

POLISCI 364. Theories of Political Institutions

(Same as POLECON 664.) Organized activity as it reflects the organization of political life. Eclectic and interdisciplinary. Emphasis is on political institutions and formal organizations, and the norms, expectation, and routines characteristic of informal political structure.

4 units, Win (Moe, T)

POLISCI 365. Organizational Decision Making

Behavioral theories of organization. Emphasis is on the institutional applications of bounded rationality. Models of incrementalism; evolutionary models of change; organizational learning. The differences between predictions of theories of perfect rationality and those of imperfect rationality. Organizational responses (constructive and pathological) to constraints on information processing. Institutional contexts; public agencies and firms.

5 units, not given this year

POLISCI 369. Directed Reading and Research in Political Organizations

Advanced individual study in public administration.

1-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 400. Dissertation

1-10 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff), Sum (Staff)

POLISCI 402. Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) Workshop

(Same as COMM 310.) Colloquium series. Creation and application of new methodological techniques for social science research. Presentations on methodologies of use for social scientists across departments at Stanford by guest speakers from Stanford and elsewhere. See http://mapss.stanford.edu. May be repeated for credit.

1 unit, Aut (Jackman, S), Win (Jackman, S), Spr (Jackman, S)

POLISCI 403. International Conflict Resolution Colloquium

(Same as PSYCH 283.) (Same as LAW 611.) Sponsored by the Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN). Conflict, negotiation, and dispute resolution with emphasis on conflicts and disputes with an international dimension, including conflicts involving states, peoples, and political factions such as the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Guest speakers. Issues including international law, psychology, and political science, economics, anthropology, and criminology.

1 unit, Win (Weiner, A; Holloway, D; Ross, L)

POLISCI 404. Dispute Resolution in International Economic Law

(Same as LAW 356.) Topics include: theoretical work on international trade and investment disputes; empirical work on WTO dispute resolution and the efficacy of developing country participation; and legal analysis of current, prominent disputes in the WTO and under international investment treaties. Substantial paper required. May be repeated for credit.

1 unit, Aut (Goldstein, J; Sykes, A), Win (Goldstein, J; Sykes, A)

POLISCI 420A. Approaches to the Study of American Politics

Theories of American politics, focusing on Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts.

5 units, Aut (Wand, J)

POLISCI 420B. Topics in American Political Behavior

For graduate students with background in American politics embarking on their own research. Current research in American politics, emphasizing political behavior and public opinion. Possible topics: uncertainty and ambivalence in political attitudes, heterogeneity in public opinion, the structure of American political ideology, political learning, the media as a determinant of public opinion, and links between public opinion and public policy.

5 units, Win (Sniderman, P)

POLISCI 420C. American Political Institutions

Field seminar. Major theoretical perspectives, controversies, and literature on the substance of American politics, including Congress, the Presidency, federalism, bureaucracy, and the courts. Preparation for performing publishable research. Prerequisites: 420A,B.

5 units, Spr (Moe, T)

POLISCI 422. Campaigns, Elections, and Public Opinion

Research seminar. Frontiers in mass political behavior. Sources include data sets from the 2004 election cycle. Prerequisite: 420B or equivalent.

2-5 units, Aut (Fiorina, M; Sniderman, P), Win (Sniderman, P; Fiorina, M), Spr (Sniderman, P; Fiorina, M)

POLISCI 436. Rational Choice

The scope and limits of rational choice theory. Possible topics: explanatory and normative uses of rational choice; self-interest versus altruism; the nature of social norms; incommensurable choices; and bounded rationality.

5 units, Spr (Stone, P)

POLISCI 440A. Theories in Comparative Politics

Required of Political Science Ph.D. students with comparative politics as first or second concentration; others by consent of instructor. Theories addressing major concerns in the comparative field including democracy, regime change, the state, revolutions, national heterogeneity, and economic performance.

5 units, Aut (Magaloni, B)

POLISCI 440B. Political Economy of Development

(Same as HISTORY 378E.) Required of Political Science Ph.D. students with comparative politics as a first or second concentration; others by consent of the instructor. The origins of political and economic institutions and their impact on long run outcomes for growth and democracy. Emphasis is on the analysis of causal models, hypothesis testing, and the quality of evidence.

5 units, Win (Haber, S)

POLISCI 440C. Methods in Comparative Politics

Required of Political Science Ph.D. candidates with comparative politics as a first or second concentration; others by consent of instructor. Current methodological standards in comparative politics. Students develop their own research design that meets these standards.

5 units, Spr (Jusko, K)

POLISCI 440D. Workshop in Comparative Politics

Faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students conducting research in comparative politics present work-in-progress. Graduate students may enroll for up to 5 total units apportioned by quarter. Auditors welcome. Graduate students whose major or minor field is comparative politics must make at least one presentation to the seminar.

1-5 units, Aut (Rodden, J; Jusko, K), Win (Rodden, J; Jusko, K), Spr (Rodden, J; Jusko, K)

POLISCI 443T. Approaches to Chinese Politics

Major secondary literature on Chinese politics, involving the evolution of theoretical concepts and social scientific approaches characterizing the field. Subjects include changes made to defining fundamental issues of Chinese political theory, and the implications of shifts in research methods and analytical tools. Prerequisite: basic knowledge of politics of post-1949 China.

5 units, Spr (Oi, J)

POLISCI 444. Comparative Political Economy: Advanced Industrial Societies

Political economy approaches to key policy outcomes including redistribution, the size of government, fiscal behavior, and pork-barrel politics. Theories related to institutions, interest groups, and geography, focusing on middle- and upper-income countries.

3-5 units, given next year

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Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

Alphabetical Index

Bulletin Archive

Graduate courses in Political Science