Department of Political Science Graduate s Fall 2018 PSC 600 m001 Ideas & Identity in World Politics Instructor: Gavan Duffy Class #: 20659 Offered: T/Th 5:00 pm-6:20 pm Meets with PSC 400 m301 Description to follow PSC 691 m001 Logic of Political Inquiry Instructor: Colin Elman Class #: 20671 Offered: M 9:30 am-12:15 pm *Registration is restricted to students in the Political Science Ph.D. Program. This seminar introduces students to the principles of research design in mainstream political science. We will begin with some questions in the philosophy of science as they apply to the social sciences. We will review the purpose of theories, as well as different approaches to generating and evaluating them. We will investigate concept formation and operationalization. We will discuss how different research designs (including the construction of counterfactuals, comparative case studies, large-n regression analysis, and experiments) may be used to help researchers make valid causal inferences. PSC 693 m001 Intro to Quantitative Political Analysis Instructor: Seth Jolly Class #: 11910 Offered: T 12:30 pm-2:30 pm; F 10:35 am-11:30 am Lab
This course introduces students to the basic statistical methods used in the study of political science. In the seminars and labs, you will learn to describe and analyze social science data, such as national election surveys. Throughout the course, you will also learn to understand the importance of randomness in statistical research, conduct statistical tests, present your results, and evaluate the implications of quantitative analysis. You will learn to compute most of the techniques both by hand and with Stata, a statistical software program commonly used in political science. Contemporary political science research in all subfields utilizes statistical techniques and, consequently, a basic understanding of these methods is crucial. The goal is this course to provide students with the statistical tools necessary to become a sophisticated consumer and producer of quantitative research. PSC 700 m001 Comparative Institutions Instructor: Dimitar Gueorguiev Class #: 20673 Offered: Th 12:30 pm-3:15 pm This seminar is designed to help students prepare for the comprehensive examination and for research in comparative politics, including doctoral dissertations. We will explore different approaches to studying institutions and survey the literature on core political institutions, from electoral systems to bureaucracy. Along the way, we will discuss questions related to institutional change, measurement, as well as the link between institutions and consequential outcomes in social policy and economic development. PSC 703 m001 Governance & Global Civil Society Instructor: Tosca Bruno-VanVijfeijken Class #: 12536 Offered: M 3:45 pm-6:30 pm Cross-listed with PAI 713 m001 Across virtually all areas of global concern formal and informal networks of social movements, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), epistemic communities, faith based organizations, social movements and other unofficial agents operate alongside of states and international organizations in an attempt to influence the way that policy makers, citizens, and corporations understand and address global public goods challenges. Many suggest they now play an indispensable role in the management of transnational problems and have become an important part of the organizational infrastructure of a globalizing world (Anheier and Themudo 2002:183). Governance and Global Civil Society is a survey
course intended to introduce students to the wide range of perspectives and literatures on global civil society organizations (CSOs) - including transnational NGOs - and to begin the process of integrating these literatures through critical analysis. The course is designed to familiarize students with the organizational challenges facing these actors (governance, effectiveness, leadership, coordination, accountability, evaluation, organizational change processes, capacity building issues, etc.) as well as with the functions they perform. The most recent challenges to CSO effectiveness, relevance and credibility as well as legitimacy are a particular focus of this course. PSC 712 m001 Public Opinion & Communication Instructor: Emily Thorson Class #: 20675 Offered: W 12:45 pm-3:30 pm This course explores the processes by which citizens form their opinions, attitudes, and beliefs and the extent to which those opinions do (or do not) affect policymaking. We will examine a wide range of factors that shape public opinion, including (but not limited to) social identity, the mass media, new technology, and self-interest. The course will also include discussion of some of the major methodological components involved in the construction of surveys as well as approaches to drawing inferences about how individuals form opinions (including experiemnts). In the end, students will understand the challenges citizens face in forming public opinions and the hurdles to accurately measuring and understanding those opinions. PSC 716 m001 Foundations of American Political Thought Instructor: Mark Schmeller Class #: 20676 Offered: T 9:30 am-12:15 pm Cross-listed with HST 682 m001 The seminar is based on primary source readings in American political thought before 1860. Thorough attention is given to Puritan political ideas, the ideologies of the American Revolution, the debate over the Constitution of 1787, the expansion of democracy, women's rights, slavery, and the origins of the Civil War. The focus is on understanding the political ideas that undergird the fundamental, still-in-force documents of the American polity, especially the United States Constitution.
PSC 719 m001 Fundamentals of Post-Conflict Reconstruction Instructor: Renée de Nevers Class #: 12090 Offered: T/Th 9:30 am-12:15 pm Cross-listed with PAI 719 m001 The goal of this class is to familiarize students with the main concepts of post conflict reconstruction, the various dimensions and goals of post-conflict work, the types of actors that conduct it, the tradeoffs and dilemmas they face, and the lessons learned from its application across various settings. The course will devote considerable attention to the applied side of post-conflict reconstruction; that is, the techniques and tools used by international intermediaries (states, IOs and NGOs) as well as local stakeholders to transition societies from violence to sustainable peace. It will also address many of the key issues that frame the debate in post-conflict reconstruction work: the tension between externally and internally generated recovery efforts; the possibilities and weaknesses of formal peace and reconciliation commissions; the challenges of civilian-military cooperation in post-conflict zones; the trade-offs between stability and liberty; and the quest for viable exit strategies for international actors. PSC 753 m001 International Political Economy Instructor: Daniel McDowell Class #: 20677 Offered: T 9:30 am-12:15 pm From the rise of Donald Trump s economic populism to Great Britain s Brexit from the European Union, it is impossible to deny the tenuous political underpinnings of economic globalization today. To borrow from Jeffry Frieden, globalization is a choice, not a fact. That is, the global economic integration we observe today is the product of governments policy decisions over a period of many decades. This seminar introduces the student to the IR subfield of International Political Economy (IPE). At its core, IPE aims to answer one big question: What explains the international economic policy choices that governments make? To put it differently, why do states choose to integrate (or, disintegrate) their economies with each other? Existing scholarship provides us with a range of theoretical and empirical answers to these questions across a variety of issue areas. While some work explains policy outcomes by focusing on international structure, other work emphasizes domestic politics and institutions. Though much of the work in the subfield is unequivocally materialist, we will also engage with a growing body of scholarship that explores how ideas also shape policy. Finally, we will continue to debate these diverse analytical approaches as we explore the major issue areas in the subfield including trade, foreign direct investment, capital account liberalization, exchange rates, international currencies, and sovereign debt.
PSC 768 m001 Law, Courts, & Human Rights Instructor: Yüksel Sezgin Class #20678 Offered: M 3:45 pm-6:30pm The interaction between law, courts and politics is gaining increasing interest among scholars in recent years. This renewed interest in comparative study of judicial institutions, human rights and socio-legal change in non-american contexts have given rise to emergence of new schools of thought as well as theoretical, methodological innovations and challenges. This course aims to introduce graduate students to inner workings of judicial institutions in a comparative perspective, and familiarize them with various theories and methodologies employed by scholars, professionals and practitioners for conducting research on comparative legal systems and institutions. Drawing from comparative politics, comparative law, socio-legal studies, legal anthropology, and international relations literatures, the course will analyze dispute-resolution, policymaking, social control and regime legitimation functions of courts (state courts and non-state tribunals alike i.e., tribal courts, religious tribunals, international courts etc.) and examine the question of which of these core functions courts in different societies choose to emphasize, and why. In other words, in respect to the function and role that courts have come to play in their respective social and political systems, there is a considerable variation across time and space, why that is the case; and what intrinsic or extrinsic factors determine the specific role and function a court plays at a given point in time and place. PSC 788 m001 Political Leadership Instructor: Margaret Hermann Class #: 12250 Offered: W 12:45 pm-3:30 pm This class will focus on answering the question: What is the relationship between what political leaders are like and the political behavior of the institutions or governments that they lead? In responding to this question, we will seek to understand the kinds of leaders that are recruited and selected in various types of political systems and the effects of cultural variables on who becomes a political leader and what political leaders can do. We will also explore the links between leadership style and political decision making as well as between leaders' individual characteristics and the ingredients of leadership. And we will consider the conditions under which political leaders' personalities and experiences are likely to shape what their political units do. In the course of the class, students will work with several techniques for studying the effects of leaders and leadership on politics by examining the activities and leadership style of one particular leader.
Course requirements will include completing three projects and mini-papers focused around a political leader of interest to the student and an oral presentation on that leader. The projects and mini-papers will focus on (1) doing a social background study on the leader of choice, (2) ascertaining the leader's leadership style using assessment at a distance techniques, and (3) completing a case study of a decision in which the leader was involved to link leadership style and experience to political behavior. PSC 792 m001 Research Design Instructor: Brian Taylor Class #: 13582 Offered: M 12:45 pm-3:30 pm PSC 792 is required for Ph.D. students and should ideally be taken at the beginning of your third year, the same semester you are taking qualifying examinations. The primary goal of this course is to have each student produce a working draft of a dissertation proposal. Topics to be covered include: what makes for a good dissertation, what a prospectus should look like, how to situate your project in the existing literature, field research, funding, writing tips, and professional development. Each student will write and present several drafts of their proposal, and provide feedback to their colleagues. The course also will include discussions with junior faculty and current ABDs about their experiences, and meetings with university experts on human subjects research and external funding. In addition to the proposal, students will complete short assignments about different aspects of the dissertation process and professional development. Another important goal of the course is to develop the skills of providing feedback to your peers, and accepting constructive criticism from them. You should prepare to submit a 5-page description of your research area and the problem(s) you intend to address in your dissertation at the beginning of the semester. (Instructor consent required.) PSC 797 m001 Contemporary Political Philosophy Instructor: Elizabeth Cohen Class #: 20679 Offered: T 3:30 pm-6:15 pm This course explores the major normative debates of contemporary political philosophy. Liberal political theory provides a touchstone for contemporary political theorists. Yet the liberal tradition and its critics have evolved in important ways during the last century. The meaning and import of basic institutions such as property, citizenship, and the state itself have shifted to accommodate the realities of post-industrial society. Can the norms driving classical liberalism be resurrected on the terrain of this new landscape? In answering this question, we will cover topics including (but not limited to) justice, civil society, democratic theory, and communitarianism. The coursework will be divided between
seminar style discussions of assigned readings and student presentations of works-in-progress that bridge individual research interests with the themes of the course. Participants can therefore expect to leave the course with a draft of a publishable paper. PSC 800 m001 Justice & Equality Instructor: Kenneth Baynes Class #: 20960 Offered: Th 3:30 pm-6:15 pm Meets with PHI 880 m001 Description to follow PSC 804 m001 Advanced Topics in Qualitative Methods Instructor: Steven White Class #: 20680 Offered: M 3:45 pm-6:30 pm This class covers a range of theoretical and practical issues related to conducting qualitative historical research in political science. Topics will include differences between historical research in political science and political history; historiography and selection bias when working with secondary sources; and planning and conducting archival research. We will also look at examples of different types of historical research to see best practices in action, including process tracing and the use of historical narratives to develop new concepts or hypotheses. Other topics might include using historical research as part of a mixed methods approach; points of tension and overlap with quantitative historical work; and debates about what transparency should look like for qualitative researchers. PSC 997 m001 Master s Thesis Register for class # 20681, PSC 997 m001, 6 credit hours or- Register for class # 20682, PSC 997 m002, 0 credit hours PSC 999 Dissertation Credits Register for class # 10620 for 1 to 15 credits
GRD 998 Degree in Progress (Zero Hour Registration) Register for class number 16879, GRD 998.001 or 16880, GRD 998.002 When you have completed all of your coursework and your dissertation credits, you should be registered each fall and spring semester for Degree in Progress, GRD 998. Please see Candy Brooks if you have any questions about your credits. Remember to complete a Certification of Full-Time Status form each time you register for zero credit hours to continue your full time status. A copy is attached for your convenience.
Certification of Full-Time Status for Graduate Students Syracuse University considers you a full-time student, and the Registrar can confirm your full-time status directly, if you are matriculated in a graduate degree program and meet one of the following criteria for the semester in which verification of full-time status is requested: 1. You are registered for 9 credits, or 2. You hold an appointment as an assistant or associate (teaching, research, or graduate) or fellow and are registered for the given semester. If you do not meet either of the above criteria, your academic unit can certify you as full-time if you are registered for the semester specified below and are engaged in one of the following activities appropriate to your degree: 1. studying for preliminary, qualifying or comprehensive examinations, or 2. studying for a language or tool requirement, or 3. actively working on a thesis or dissertation, or 4. undertaking an internship the equivalent of at least 9 academic credits, or 5. other special circumstances as specified and justified by the academic unit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: (Last) (First) (M.I.) SUID: Semester/Year: Address: Degree Program: Doctoral Master's Other: Department and Address: Political Science, 100 Eggers Hall The academic department certifies this student is full-time, by virtue of the following activities: Study for preliminary, qualifying or comprehensive examinations Study for language or tool requirements Work on thesis or dissertation Internship equivalent to 9 credits Other special circumstances as specified and justified by the academic unit Departmental Certification: (Date) (Chairperson Name) (Signature) I verify that the above information is accurate: (Student signature) Certification of Full-Time Status forms with student and departmental signatures should be sent to the Office of the Registrar, 106 Steele Hall.