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Course level: Unknown

• American Political Experience

  by Jesse Covington

  Course Description Welcome to the American Political Experience! This course offers an in-depth introduction to some of the central features of American political theory. While deeply rooted in the political history of the United States, this course proceeds thematically rather…

• American Political Thought

  by George Thomas

  Overview :::"A new political science is needed for a world altogether new." ::::-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America It is often said that American politics is wholly liberal, that it rests upon the fundamental principles outlined in the Declaration of…

• American Political Thought

  by Jonathan David Marks

  Introduction In this course, we will read and discuss some of the thinkers, statesmen, and theologians, who have long been considered the best and most influential in the American political tradition. In so doing, we will consider the American contribution…

• American Political Thought

  by Lee Trepanier

  Objectives This is an upper-division level political science course that will examine classical to modern accounts of American democracy. Students will learn the historical and theoretical underpinnings of the American republic and the social and political implications that result from…

• American Political Thought and Practice

  by David C. Innes

  Course Description: America is unique as a nation insofar as it is based not on an ethnic lineage nor on a tradition but on a set of fundamental religious and philosophical principles. These principles are expressed in our founding documents…

• American Political Thought I

  by Ken McIntyre

  Introduction Political thought takes place on three different levels. First, there is the most common kind of political thinking, which is, of course, thought and argument in the service of the practice of politics, and which is exemplified by statesmen…

• American Political Thought: Abraham Lincoln and the House Divided

  by Joseph Fornieri

  American Political Thought: Abraham Lincoln and the House Divided "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858 Course Purpose The Civil War has been…

• Ancient to Medieval Political Theory

  by Jeffrey Becker

  Course Description This is an upper division course in ancient and medieval political thought. Through analysis of major works of ancient and medieval political theory, this course examines the formation of social and political thought from approximately fifth century Greece…

• Constitutional Democracy

  by Steven Smith

  Course Description: Democracy and constitutional government have not always enjoyed an easy relationship. Democracy is based on the doctrine of popular sovereignty and rule of the people, while constitutions are forms or formalities designed to check…

• Democracy: Origins and Challenges

  by Lee Trepanier

  Introduction To understand the origins and challenges of democratic regimes is crucial to better understand liberal democracy as practiced in the United States and elsewhere in the world today. This course provides a philosophical foundation of classical, modern, and contemporary…

• Elements of Rhetoric

  by Jim Engell

  Texts: Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 4th ed., ed. Edward P.J. Corbett and Robert J. Connors (Oxford University Press) = CRMS In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century, ed. Robert…

• Introduction to Political Philosophy

  by Steven Smith

  “This is that noble Science of Politics, which, of all sciences, is the most important to the welfare of nations, which, of all sciences, must tends to expand and invigorate the mind, which draws nutriment and ornament from every part…

• Law and Society

  by Frank Colucci

    This class serves as an introduction to law for several programs. We begin by examining fundamental questions about what law is, when it is legitimate, and why (and under what circumstances) we are obliged to comply with it. In the…

• Law and Society

  by Joseph S. Devaney

  This course is intended as an intensive introduction to the basic institutions and principles of the American legal system including civil procedure, criminal procedure, rules of evidence, constitutional law, torts, contracts, and property. Particular attention will be given to the…

• Leo Strauss and Straussianism

  by Steven Smith

  Course Description: Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was one of the most influential political philosophers of the last century and this is the first class ever offered at Yale that will deal exclusively with his thought and influence. …

• Liberalism

  by Lee Trepanier

  Course Objectives This course is an examination of the origins, development, and contemporary problems that liberalism confronts. Students will study the seminal thinkers who have contributed to the history and development of liberal thought. Required texts *Federalist Papers (any edition)…

• Modern European History

  by J. Patrick Mullins

  COURSE OVERVIEW: In this course we will examine Europe’s Old Regime, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon, nineteenth-century nationalism and imperialism, the First World War, the Russian Revolution and Stalin, the rise of fascism, the Second World War, the Cold…

• Normative Foundations

  by Patrick Roberts

  Introduction This course is first of all designed to provide an intensive introduction to the study of American political thought which is a rich font of material for further studies in political theory, American political development, public administration, and public…

• Normative Foundations of Public Policy

  by Patrick Roberts

  Instructor's Note This course is an introduction to major ethical approaches for students who come to the class with little or no preparation in political theory. It is intended to be taught to some students in non-traditional locations and settings.…

• Philosophy of American Enterprise

  by Glen Moots

  Course Description Development and methods of American capitalism; nature, origins, and evolution of private property and free markets in agriculture, industry, trade and finance, with special reference to the United States, and their meanings in relation to American life, institutions…

• Problems in Civil Liberties; Privacy

  by Chris Wolfe

  COURSE OBJECTIVES: Using certain constitutional law cases as a starting point, we will examine and discuss competing philosophical grounds for an important contemporary form of liberty, namely, privacy (or autonomy). After brief identification of earlier notions…

• Survey of Western Civilization I

  by Preston Jones

  What is at stake is far from insignificant: it is how one should live one’s life. --Plato, The Republic All our dignity consists…of thought…. So let us work on thinking well. --Pascal, Pensées   Required Texts: Aristotle, The Nichomachean Ethics…

• The American Political Novel

  by Mary Nichols

  COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines classic American novelists and explores their treatment of fundamental themes of American political thought such as the state of nature and civil society, individual rights, human freedom and equality, and democratic self-government. Its goals include 1)…

• The American Political Tradition

  by Jim Ceaser and Carl Scott

  I. Course Description This Course will study the theoretical ideas that informed the creation and development of America"s political system and consider some of the major contemporary challenges to the maintenance of American democracy. Topics to be treated include…

• The French Liberal Tradition: Rereading Modernity

  by Flagg Taylor

  Course Description: After of the elaboration of the foundations of liberal democracy in the 17th century by thinkers such as Hobbes and Locke, there would seem to be two dominant paths in political philosophy. On the one hand, some appear committed…

• The History of Conservative Thought

  by William English

  Introduction The aim of this seminar is to develop a historical understanding of the evolution of ideas and conflicts within "conservative" circles of political thought with an eye towards critically evaluating their present relevance to contemporary politics and social analysis.…

• The Scottish Enlightenment: Adam Smith and David Hume on Liberty, Commerce and the Moral Life

  by Flagg Taylor

  Course Description: In this course we will seek to understand and assess the distinctive contributions of David Hume and Adam Smith to the Enlightenment. We will compare their ideas against the backdrop of other thinkers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries…

• Topics in Political Science: Freedom of Speech

  by Chris Wolfe

  COURSE OBJECTIVES: Using certain constitutional law cases as a starting point, we will examine and discuss competing philosophical grounds for free speech. In the first section of the course, we will look at the original intention…

Course level: 600 or above

• Church, State, and American Democracy

  by David Franks

  "The first truth to which the American Proposition makes appeal is stated in…the Declaration of Independence. It is a truth that lies beyond politics; it imparts to politics a fundamental human meaning. I mean the sovereignty of God over nations…

• Public Policy and Political Economy

  by Gordon Lloyd

  Purpose of Seminar This seminar examines several central conversations spanning four centuries on the theoretical and practical relationship between economics and politics. Each conversation addresses an important crisis and participants articulate the problems and recommend the solutions in their own words.   There…

Course level: 100

• Classical Political Thought

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course provides an introduction to some of the basic problems of political life as examined in the work of the great political philosophers of antiquity. We will read primary texts written by the ancients in an effort…

• Introduction to Politics

  by David C. Innes

  Course Description: This course addresses fundamental questions about the nature of politics, questions about religion and politics, the individual and the community, liberty and tyranny, and does so through a selection of great political literature, essays, films and theological classics. It…

• Introduction to the Study of Government

  by Gerson Moreno-Riano

  Course Description Explores some of the main fields within the discipline of government (e.g., comparative politics, political theory) as well as some of the main approaches to the study of government (e.g., interpretivism, behavioralism, institutionalism). Various theories of integration for the…

• Modern Political Thought

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the great political thinkers of the modern age. We will cover Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mill, Nietzsche, and Pope John Paul II, and we will consider the analysis of Leo Strauss at both…

• Western Political Thought

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course provides an introduction to some of the basic problems of political life as examined in the work of the great political philosophers from ancient to modern times. We will read primary texts from Plato to Marx in an…

Course level: 200

• Enlightenment and Liberal Democracy

  by David C. Innes

  Course Description: This course examines the Enlightenment tradition of political philosophy in its relation to the biblical teaching, present political practice, and currently popular post-modern views. The course is largely a close and critical study of Machiavelli’s The Prince, selections from…

• Freedom's Foundations I

  by Mark Mitchell

  I. Description & Purpose This course traces the development of the concept of freedom from its roots in the ancient world up to the French Revolution. We will examine the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman roots of liberty, the expansion of liberty…

• Freedom's Foundations II

  by Mark Mitchell

  I. Description & Purpose A continuation of GOV 213 this course takes up the traditional concept of liberty as understood by the American Founders and contrasts it with various rival concepts of “liberty.” Students will study the claims of Marxism, nihilism…

• Law and Politics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course introduces students to the study of law and law’s relation to politics in both theoretical and practical terms. We will begin with a discussion on the nature of both law and politics, and proceed to investigate…

• Political Science 245: The American Presidency

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the Presidency of the United States in both design and practice. We will begin with the United States Constitution and The Federalist in an effort to understand the design features of the…

• US Government (General Education)

  by Kathleen Ferraiolo

  Course Description and Learning Objectives GPOSC 225 is a General Education course that satisfies the Cluster Four American Experience requirement. It introduces students to the main features of the American political system, including its constitutional foundations, primary institutions and actors, and…

Course level: 400

• Founding Principles and Contemporary Issues

  by Daniel Cullen

  The senior seminar is a capstone course that examines the current state of American politics and political culture. The course readings reflect on enduring questions of constitutional government and timely issues of politics and policy. The…

• Political Ethics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In a time in which the term “political ethics” has become an oxymoron of sorts, we will attempt to understand what is morally required of us in order to be both good people and good citizens. In order…

• The Crisis of Modernity

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the underlying assumptions of modernity through the writings of Hobbes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Nietzsche. These moderns will be considered in light of what is best understood as an ancient mode of…

• Topics in Political Philosophy, Machiavelli

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course will examine the thought of Niccolò Machiavelli through a consideration of both original source material and a few outstanding secondary treatments. By the end of the term a clear picture of both Machiavelli and Machiavellianism should…

Course level: 300

• Law and Politics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course introduces students to the study of law and its relation to politics in both theoretical and practical terms. We will begin with a discussion on the nature of both law and politics, and proceed to investigate…

• Political Philosophy

  by Glenn Moots

  Official Course Description: A philosophical examination of major social and political concepts such as freedom, authority, justice, law, obligation and rights. Emphasis on important philosophers and ideologies in the history of political philosophy     Required Texts: Plato: Republic (tr.…

• The Political and Social Thought of Rousseau

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course will examine the political and social thought of Rousseau through a consideration of both original source material and a few outstanding secondary treatments. By the end of the term a clear picture of Rousseau specifically, and…