Lehrman American Studies Center

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Course level: Unknown

• Administrative Law

  by an anonymous contributor

  Introduction This course introduces students to various aspects of administrative law by examining the interaction between public administration and the law. The main subject matter will focus on rulemaking, adjudication, judicial review, discretion, responsibility, and how public employees relate to…

• American Foreign Policy

  by David C. Innes

    Course Description: The purpose of this course is to give students an introduction to American foreign policy, its historical context, and present day debates. To help frame these issues for students, the class makes extensive use…

• American Foreign Policy

  by Sean Mattie

  American Foreign Policy POL 314 Fall 2005 George Washington famously recommended that the United States conduct its foreign policy as "our interest, guided by justice" directs. Such a remark has been descriptive as well as prescriptive. This course seeks to…

• 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 Leadership

  by Randall Strahan

  Introduction This course will explore the politics of political leadership in the United States. First, we will consider the different perspectives on political leadership offered by traditional political science, and by modern political science and the other social sciences. Second…

• 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 Susan McWilliams

  "Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy." - Margaret Thatcher Synopsis: The American political system is made up of certain rules, habits, and institutions. But those apparent political forms do not tell the whole story of American…

• 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…

• Congress and the Presidency

  by Ben Kleinerman

    Course Overview Congress and the Presidency examines two of the three federal institutions created by the American Constitution. While the course aims to teach you something about these institutions themselves, we will also attempt to use our examination of these…

• Constitutional Rights and Liberties

  by Joseph Fornieri

  Constitutional Rights & Liberties: :*"They that can give up essential liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin :*"The choice is not between order and liberty. It is between liberty without order…

• Introduction to American Government

  by Jason Casellas

  Course Description: This course will examine the foundations, principles, institutions, and processes of American government. Through the examination of the Constitution, federalism, and the American creed, we will gain an appreciation for the political institutions that have sustained the United States…

• Introduction to American Government

  by Joseph S. Devaney

  Course Objective This course is intended as an intensive introduction to the basic institutions and principles of American government, with particular attention to historical and constitutional foundations, political theory of the American Founding, federalism, separation of powers, civil rights and civil…

• Introduction to American Politics

  by George Thomas

  Overview ::::"A new political science is needed for a world altogether new." :::::-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America The American Constitution is said to be the oldest constitution continually functioning since its inception. Yet it has undergone significant change over…

• Introduction to Political Thought

  by L. Joseph Hebert, Jr.

  Introduction This course is designed to provide students inside or outside the political science major with an introductory grasp of the field of political thought. Together we will explore fundamental political concepts including justice, citizenship, law, constitutional design, democracy, and…

• 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…

• Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift

  by Paul Rahe

  This is an advanced course on the modern liberal, commercial republic as it is represented in the thinking of Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Tocqueville. It assumes your familiarity with the general outlines of the history of political…

• 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 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 U.S. Policy Process

  by an anonymous contributor

  Introduction Affirmative action, low taxes, immigration issues, the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, and No Child Left Behind are all aspects of public policy. This course introduces students to the intricacies of public policy by examining various policy…

• Tocqueville and American Democracy

  by Randall Strahan

  Introduction This seminar will be devoted to an in-depth exploration of Alexis de Tocqueville's classic two volume work, Democracy in America. This may be the best book ever written on American politics and it is among the most important books…

Course level: 300

• American Government and Politics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives In this course we will examine the theoretical underpinnings of American government and the unique brand of democracy which that thought has brought about. We will examine the role of government in America in several different time periods…

• American Political Thought

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course examines American political thought from the period immediately prior to the Civil War to the present. America has undergone tremendous changes over the course of its history and many contend that there is precious little left…

• Contemporary Legal Issues

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course has two objectives. First, we will attempt to examine in detail a number of contemporary legal issues which have captivated the national attention. Second, we will attempt to ascertain the proper relationship between…

• Domestic Public Policy

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course is an introduction to the doctrines of public administration vital to the domestic public policy process within the context of the American political tradition. Through theoretical readings and case studies, students will be in a position to…

• 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…

• The Legislative Process

  by Jim Harrigan

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

Course level: 100

• American National Politics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the theoretical underpinnings of American government and the unique brand of democracy which that thought has brought about. We will do this by first examining the foundations of American government, then the…

• Political Science 100-03 : Principles of American Politics

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives In this course we will examine the principles of American politics through a careful consideration of the American Founding. We will consider both the abstract principles which animated the creation of the American regime and the regime itself…

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…

• The Roots Of American Order: What Is Public Policy?

  by Gordon Lloyd

  The Two Dimensions of Public Policy Public Policy is a field of theoretical inquiry with its own language and standards of judgment as well as a practical activity directed ultimately toward the preservation and alteration of the polity. This first-semester core course…

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…

• The American Founding

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: Historians have long disagreed on the nature of the America Founding. The facts are easily accessible, but no definitive interpretation of the Founding has yet emerged. In this course we will examine a good number of the…

Course level: 200

• Institutions

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the institutions of American government in the order that they are presented in the United States Constitution. The Constitution itself will thus be our guide. We will read the relevant numbers…

• Introduction to American Government

  by Glenn Moots

  Course Description Development of the American political system with emphasis on decision-making in the legislative, executive, and judicial departments; Constitutional interpretation and Federalism; and the inputs of political parties, interest groups, and the federal bureaucracy.     Course Goals and Objectives By the end of…

• 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: 500

• Law and Policy

  by Jim Harrigan

  Course Objectives: This course will analyze the relationship between law and the policy making process in the United States. We begin with two fictional treatments of the problem, one ancient, one modern, then move on to…