The School of Mind & Society · the social sciences
Political Science & Government
Who rules, by what right, and what keeps them honest — from the city council to the treaty table.
States, rights, and the machinery of government — the working vocabulary of political life.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — The State
What states do · Legitimacy and authority · Constitutions, written and unwritten
Unit II — Democracy & Its Rivals
Direct and representative democracy · Authoritarian and hybrid regimes · The rule of law
Unit III — Citizens
Rights and civil liberties · Participation beyond the ballot · A free press and public argument
Why presidents here and parliaments there: comparing regimes to learn what institutions do.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~30 hours
Unit I — The Comparative Method
Cases, variables, and most-similar designs · Concept stretching and measurement
Unit II — Institutional Design
Presidential and parliamentary systems · Electoral rules and party systems · Federalism and decentralization
Unit III — Regimes & Transitions
Waves of democratization · Authoritarian durability · Coups, revolutions, and backsliding
Unit IV — States & Development
State capacity · Corruption and clientelism · Welfare states compared
The long argument over justice, liberty, and who should hold power — read from the sources.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~32 hours
Unit I — Ancients
Plato's Republic and rule by knowledge · Aristotle on constitutions and citizenship
Unit II — The Social Contract
Hobbes and the case for sovereignty · Locke on property and consent · Rousseau and the general will
Unit III — Liberty & Its Critics
Mill on liberty · Marx's critique of liberalism · Conservatism from Burke
Unit IV — The Twentieth Century
Rawls and justice as fairness · Nozick's reply · Feminist and postcolonial political thought
Anarchy among states: why nations fight, trade, ally, and occasionally keep their promises.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~30 hours
Unit I — Thinking About the System
Anarchy and the security dilemma · Realism, liberalism, constructivism · Levels of analysis
Unit II — War & Peace
Why wars happen: bargaining failures · Deterrence and nuclear weapons · Civil wars and intervention
Unit III — Cooperation
Trade and interdependence · International institutions and law · Climate as a collective-action problem
How votes become governments: electoral systems, campaigns, and the honest reading of polls.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — Electoral Systems
Plurality, runoff, and proportional rules · Duverger's law · Districting and its abuses
Unit II — Voters
Party identification · Economic voting · Turnout: who shows up and why
Unit III — Campaigns & Polls
What campaigns actually change · Sampling and margin of error · Forecasts, aggregates, and humility