Summer 2013

This course considers some fundamental puzzles about the nature of law. Legal philosophers, judges, academic lawyers, and political scientists give very different answers to the following key questions: What is law? What kind of question is "what is law?"? Does law have a function and if so what is it? Is there a relationship between law and ideas of morality or social justice? Does law impose upon citizens an obligation to obey it and if so what is the nature of that obligation and how does it arise? Do we have an obligation to obey unjust laws? How should we interpret laws that are vague, ambiguous, or contradictory? How should judges in a democratic society decide legal disputes? How in fact do judges in our society decide legal disputes? Our goal is to wrestle with these problems and, with some luck, form our own ideas about whether and how they might be resolved. We will consider a variety of recent contributions from within legal, political, and moral philosophy, sociology, judicial political science, economics, the philosophy of language, and ,even literary interpretation. Our focus will be on the most important scholarly contributions in Anglophone legal philosophy, along with several landmark American court cases which raise important theoretical questions.

All political philosophical thought rests on an implicit or explicit understanding of human nature. What is more, public media such as the New York Times and the Economist are filled with reports and positions about the latest scientific and social scientific discoveries in how human beings behave because of how they are, rather than because of how their nature or culture is. This advanced-level survey course aims to illuminate some of these understandings across time, comparing and contrasting pre-modem, modem and contemporary approaches. It is an interdisciplinary survey that fuses intellectual history, interpretive reading, and analytical philosophy. Centrally, we ask: what do these understandings tell us about the political arrangements these authors prescribe? Every class will follow this format: an introductory lecture by the instructor or an invited guest, followed by a student presentation, followed by class discussion led by the instructor.

The course provides a broad overview of modern European politics and an introduction to the issues and methods of the comparative politiCS subfield. Using the lens of the European Union, the course will examine both the domestic politics of key member states as well as the hybrid political system at the supranational level. Topics to be covered include theories of European integration and federalism, economics and monetary policy, an overview of EU political institutions, the democratic deficit, political bargaining and lobbying, the EU as a global actor, and the transatlantic relationship. The latter part of the course will also feature a bargaining simulation designed to teach students about consensus-based decision-making. Students will leave the course with an understanding ofthe quantitative, formal and qualitative methodologies that political scientists use to develop and evaluate arguments, as well as a deeper regional understanding of European politics.

This course examines the politics of transnational relations, or the interactions of non-state actors and states in international politics. To this end, this course will examine the historical role of nonstate actors in international politics, the causes of the recent "rise" of non-state actors, how non-state actors affect state policy and outcomes of interests in world politics, the implications of the apparently growing role of non-state actors for the state as an institution, and finally, the normative implications of the "rise" of non-state actors. We will consider these issues both generally' and with respect to specific non-state actors, including transnational human rights and environmental activist networks, religious groups, humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations, multinational companies, private military companies, and transnational terrorist networks.

Introduction to national political institutions and processes. The presidency, Congress, the courts, political parties and elections, interest groups, and public opinion.

Patterns of government and politics in America's large cities and suburbs: the urban socioeconomic environment; the influence of party leaders, local officials, social and economic notables, and racial, ethnic, and other interest groups; mass media, the general public, and the state and federal governments; and the impact of urban governments on ghetto and other urban conditions.

The growth of presidential power, the creation and use of the institutionalized presidency, presidential-congressional and presidential-bureaucratic relationships, and the presidency and the national security apparatus.

Constitutional, legal, and political issues and ideas in several broad areas, including popular sovereignty, republicanism, and constitutionalism; Native-American sovereignty and federalism; wealth and democracy; America in the world. Readings reflect continuity and change in each of these areas from 1787 to the present.

A survey of major concepts and issues in international relations. Issues include anarchy, power, foreign policy decision-making, domestic politics and foreign policy, theories of cooperation and conflict, international security and arms control, nationalism, international law and organizations, and international economic relations.

A survey of major concepts and issues in international relations. Issues include anarchy, power, foreign policy decision-making, domestic politics and foreign policy, theories of cooperation and conflict, international security and arms control, nationalism, international law and organizations, and international economic relations.

Why do human rights, which are assumed to be universal and indivisible, remain so controversial in world politics and international organizations? What are the political and economic constraints that stand in the way of the full realization of human rights? To address these questions, this course explores the interplay between politics and human rights. The course covers four broad topics: the role of human rights in international security cooperation and in international political economy, domestic responses to an international norm, and new challenges to the international order by nonstate actors.

The nexus between energy and security as revealed in the policies of leading energy producers and consumers worldwide. Hydrocarbons and search for stability and security in the Persian Gulf, Caspian basin, Africa and Latin America. Russia as a global energy player. Its impact on the construction of a new European security architecture, the EU politics and transatlantic relations. Global energy governance. International energy politics in the upstream and midstream. Energy trading, investment and marine transportation. Cartels, sanctions and embargoes. Role and evolution of the OPEC. Asia�s growing energy needs: its business and political implications. Nuclear energy and challenges to non-proliferation regime. Energy and climate change. Transnational threats to environment and attempts of environmental regulation. The Kyoto process and post-Copenhagen dialogue. Alternative and renewable sources of energy. Emerging international carbon regimes. Search for optimal models of sustainable development. Global energy and US national security.

The interaction of intelligence and political decision-making in the U.S., other Western democracies, Russia and China. Peculiarities of intelligence in the Middle East (Israel, Iran, Pakistan). Intelligence analyzed both as a governmental institution and as a form of activity, with an emphasis on complex relations within the triangle of intelligence communities, national security organizations, and high-level political leadership. Stages and disciplines of intelligence process. Intelligence products and political decision-making. The function of intelligence considered against the backdrop of rapid evolution of information technologies, changing meaning of homeland security, and globalization. Particular emphasis on the role of intelligence in the prevention of terrorism and WMD proliferation.