Schedule of Courses
Political Science

The Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science offers a variety of courses across the entire spectrum of the field.

All courses have the prefex PolS.

110 Introduction to PoliticalScience (CCN) 3
Problems of political science as a discipline, political systems, and political behavior. Includes causes and consequences of individual and group political behavior. (ND:SS)

115 American Government (CCN) 3
Principles of American government, political behavior, and institutions. (ND:SS)

120 Terrorism (CCN) 3
Examination of problems of terrorism. Includes its historical perspectives; terrorist motivations, organizations, tactics, strategies; role of media; government responses; future trends, prospects.

210 Current Politics (CCN) 3
Study of current national and state political issues.

215 Problems and Policies in American Government (CCN) 3
Study of the functioning of American government focusing on the policy process.

216 Campaigns and Elections 3
Examination of political campaigns and elections with special emphasis for voting behavior, history and theory of political advertising, and effectiveness/ethics of negative advertising.
Prereq: Pols 115.

220 International Politics (CCN) 3
Concepts, theories, and issues in international relations. (ND:SS)

225 Comparative Politics 3
Comparative analysis of contemporary political systems, practices, institutions, and actors.

230 Judicial Process (CCN) 3
Role of lawyers, judges, and courts in the political system. Special emphasis on judicial decisionmaking and the ideas behind law.

240 Political Ideologies (CCN) 3
Study of ideas, belief systems, and basic principles of idealogies.

325 Applied Research Methods 4
This course provides an overview of the scientific method, the philosophy and goals of science, and a detailed study of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. It is a four (4) credit course including both lecture and lab sections.

350 Gender Issues and the Law 3
This course examines gender differentiations reflected in the U.S. law from both the historical and contemporary perspectives and the impact of that differentiation, particularly on women, in the areas of employment, education and family law.

351 Women and Politics 3
Study of women leaders; their roles and perspectives within a national and international framework.

360 Principles of Public Administration 3
Empirical study of public administrators in their diverse roles and functions.

420/620 Political Behavior—Executive-Legislative Process 3
Behavioral study of executives and legislators with emphasis on examination of empirical data.

421/621 Political Behavior—Political Parties 3
Behavioral study of political leaders with emphasis on examination of empirical data.

422/622 State and Local Politics 3
This course is designed to guide students through a discovery of American politics at the sub-national level. From a comparative perspective, students examine differences between states in terms of their political structures, behavior, and environments. Prereq: Junior or senior standing.

425/625 Environmental Policy and Politics
(this course is temporarily approved as POLS499/699)
Examines how the policy process addresses environmental problems and provides an overview of environmental policy-making in the U.S., focusing on its conceptual basis as well as its substantive dimension.

430/630 Constitutional Law—Civil Liberties 3
Examination of First Amendment rights including freedom of speech, press, religion, association, and assembly. Due process and equal protection concerns are also addressed.

431/631 Constitutional Law—Criminal Justice 3
Study of Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. Emphasis on the law of arrest, search and seizure, self-incrimination, and right to counsel.

442/642 Global Policy Issues 3
Analysis of the impact of planetary limits to growth, increasing globalization of the world economy, and changing control over resource systems on global politics.

444/644 International Law 3
Examines the history and foundation of the international legal system, including custom, treaties, jurisdiction, and the relationship between international and municipal law. Prereq: Pols 220.

445/645 Ethnic Conflicts 3
Explores numerous topics and cases related to ethnic conflicts, including the nature of ethnic identity, the causes of ethnic conflicts, and ethnic conflict prevention/resolution.

450/650 Politics of the Developing Countries 3
Comparative examination of the government and politics of developing countries. Attention is given to special economic and cultural circumstances facing the political systems of these countries.

451/651 Politics of the Industrialized Countries 3
Comparative study of government and politics in the industrialized countries including the analysis of legislative and executive branches, parties, bureaucracies, constitutions, policies, and voting behavior.

452/652 Comparative Political Economy 3
Comparative study of the relationship between politics and the economy in industrialized and developing countries. Topics include elections, trade, development, investment, redistribution, and the political business cycle.

489 Senior Seminar 3
Capstone experience. Emphasis on integrative skills needed to interrelate the concepts of the discipline.

720 Theoretical Perspectives to the Study of Political Science 3
Designed to guide beginning graduate students through the dominant paradigms and emerging subject areas of political science scholarship.