Surveys the founding principles of the American political system, the American political culture, and the decision-making processes and institutions of American government. Examines contending theories of American democracy.

American state and local government in a federal system of government. Structure, function, problems and federal-state relations are considered.

Comparative analysis of leading governments of other nations contrasted with each other and the government of the United States. Political institutions, political parties, and electoral processes will be examined.

This course provides a hands-on introduction to the structure and function of the United Nations. The focus of the course is preparation and participation as a delegate for an assigned country in the Model United Nations. The course is offered each spring and may be repeated for up to six credits(applied to the political science major). This course is for students intending to participate in the Model United Nations.

Course covers geographic, economic, demographic, strategic and ideological factors of world politics. Also considers problems attending the development of a new international political system.

Introduction to important themes and ideas in the history of Western political thought through an examination of key texts in that tradition. Authors selected from a list that includes: Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, and Marx. Writing-intensive course.

This course provides students with a basic understanding of the public policy process. Models of policy agenda settings, adoption, evaluation, and implementation are considered with reference to substantive policy areas such as economic, environmental, social welfare, health, and civil rights. Students will also examine public policy from the Christian perspective with an emphasis on social and restorative justice.

This course explores the intersections between ethics and the activity of public policy making, examining the morality of both the processes and the outcomes of political decisions.

This course uses both biblical and philosophical frameworks to examine the complexities of social justice in a pluralistic society. The focus is on the United States, with connections to the global community. Principles of social justice are used to explore issues of race, gender and class. Emphasis is placed on the student understanding her/his own identity and life situation, including what values, attitudes and knowledge have shaped her/his own worldview. Attention is given to students developing skills in interacting with people from diverse groups and in bringing about social justice in the larger society.

This course is an introduction to the role of administration and bureaucracy in the government process, considering principles of administrative organization, methods of administrative control, personnel and fiscal management as it relates to making and executing public policy.

Explores the history of the suffrage movement. Examines how feminism has affected women's entry into politics and how women have participated in legislative, executive and judicial branches. Topics in public policy issues related to women also included.

This course includes an analysis of contemporary life and politics in cities. Studies of development, theories, and problems of urban life are addressed as they relate to the political process and public policy.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in the research methodology of modern political science. This course explores the philosophy and theory behind qualitative research methodology and quantitative research in the fields of Political Theory, Comparative Politics, International Affairs, and American Politics. The course also explores the inclusion of themes of faith and justice in social science research.

Introduction to the role of law in our society. This course examines our judicial process, Civil Rights, the 14th Amendment, and the development of constitutional rights and liberties. Specific cases focus on abortion, assisted suicide, segregation and desegregation, affirmative action, and other contemporary constitutional issues.

Political violence is intensely dramatic, poignantly tragic, and quite complex, a phenomenon that has prompted soldiers, poets, historians, strategists, theorists, theologians and ethicists to spill much ink for millennia. In this course, we will explore the experience, meaning, causes, and morality of war with an eye toward how Christians might properly respond to it.

This course is designed to help deepen and broaden students' knowledge and understanding of the politics of the contemporary Middle East. Topics include the legacy of colonialism, varieties of Islamic politics, the politics of nationalism and state building, the political effects of oil wealth, and the prospects for civil society and democracy in the region. We will also survey the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, assessing Christian perspectives on these critical issues.

This course explores the political history, institutions, processes, behaviors and challenges characteristic of Africa. It begins with a brief introduction to the continent, covering its geography, demographics and an overview of African culture. Most of the course, however, will focus on the political structures and processes, the political economy, international relations and future political challenges for Africa. The course considers Africa as a whole and from the perspective of five regions: North, West, East, Central and Southern.

This course is designed to help deepen and broaden students knowledge and understanding of contemporary Latin America. Topics include the legacy of colonialism, Latin American politics, Rights of the Indigenous, Societal Conciliation, Catholicism and Democracy, the Rights of Women, and various others. We will also survey the changing socio-political landscape of Latin America and US Foreign Policy towards the region.

This course undertakes a study of how Orthodox Christianity, through its approach to the law, effected essential changes in society throughout the world and throughout history, focusing on the development, and differences, of Christian law in the Eastern (Byzantine) and Western (Roman) Empires in antiquity, and a discussion of the effect of those differences on modern legal systems. The focal point of the course is intended to be the critical distinction between the Byzantine view of the "symphony" between Church and State, as visually apparent in the double headed eagle symbol, and the Western experience leading up to and certainly after the Great Schism in the original notion of the assumed primacy of the church eventually lead to the prevailing view of "separation of church and state" of the Enlightenment that continues and gains more traction year by year.

This course will examine the historical, philosophical, and political relationship between power and wealth. We will study major thinkers and texts of political economy and seek to understand how capitalism, socialism, and other economic systems inform and are informed by politics and political structures. We will also situate theories of political economy within a Christian context, discussing and debating different understandings of the relationship between Christianity and political economy.

This course will examine the historical, economic, and political relationship between power and wealth by studying models of traditional and contemporary capitalism, socialism, and other political-economic systems. Priority is given to political-economies not typically explored in contemporary media reports. We will assess these political economies from Christian perspectives, discussing and debating different understandings of the relationship between Christianity and wealth and power.

This course is an introduction to contemporary political theory. It is designed to familiarize students with the genealogy of ideas in political and social life in western societies from late modernity up through today. We will read primary texts of thinkers who have shaped, and continue to shape, the political and social frameworks and narratives that give meaning to contemporary social and political life today. We will consider how these ideas and their significance should inform what it means to be good citizens and good Christians, with an emphasis on questions of justice.

This course will examine the relationship between politics and film. We will consider how film speaks to politics and to our concepts of political life. We will explore themes such as society & societal dissolution; capitalism; the American dream; racism, imperialism & resistance; identity & liberation; and reality & possibility. What can these films tell us about human nature, society, freedom, and politics?

In our increasingly interconnected society, it is argued that we are all "global citizens." Paradoxically, this recognition of our interconnectedness has brought increased attention to the elements of our identities that make us different, leading to an increase in populist, nationalist, and ethnically-centered sentiments around the world. This course examines the concepts of nationalism, populism, and ethnicity as political, cultural, and social movements in the United States and across the globe. Using theoretical texts, case studies, and a variety of media, students will learn the historical foundations and modern illustrations of these concepts.

Examines historical ideas of the office, its historical development and its present setting in American politics. Topics include the presidency and the Constitution, the President and Congress, the President as chief executive and campaigning for the modern presidency.

This course explores the fundamental factors that influence voting behavior and campaigns in the United States. While we will primarily focus on general elections for the presidency, we will also consider primaries and caucuses as well as Congressional elections. The course will place an emphasis on the role of elections in a democracy, voting from a Christian perspective, and greater questions of democratic and representative theory.

This course explores the history and development of the United States Congress and examines the fundamentals of the legislative process. Special attention is paid to Congress in the Constitutional system, Legislative leadership, and Legislative decision-making.

A study of the U.S. Supreme Court and its special role in American government and society. This course examines First Amendment rights, Bill of Rights protections, and the separation of powers. Specific areas focus on separation of church and state, free speech and censorship, freedom of association, and the relationship between the states and the national government.

This course will examine the process of foreign policy making in the United States. Such an examination will include analysis of the roles of major institutions such as the President, the Congress, the National Security Council, State and Defense Departments, the intelligence community, the media, interest groups and the public. The course also examines the substance of American foreign policy since World War II, looking in particular at the Vietnam and Iraq wars.

This course is designed to explore the issue of human rights in the context of international relations and law. We will examine the origins of the idea of human rights, their legal conception, related mechanisms of accountability, and the political, legal and moral challenges of protecting them. We will read human rights theory, law, and practice using a real case study. Christian perspectives and human rights-related emphases will also be considered.

Explores historical and contemporary perspectives on such key American ideas and ideals as constitutionalism, equality, freedom, individualism, relationship between state and economy and relationship between state and religion.

In-depth study of selected texts from the history of modern political thought in the Western tradition. Themes include: attempts to reconcile individual liberty and political authority, the conflict between aristocracy and democracy, the relationship between self-interest and the common good, the rise of instrumental rationality, the role of Christianity in modernity, and others. Authors from a list that includes Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Smith, Rousseau, Kant, Hagel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.

Examines major ideologies that shape debates about politics, such as liberalism, conservatism, socialism, anarchism, and feminism.

This course will focus on how thinkers in the Roman Catholic and various Protestant traditions think about politics, as well as economic and cultural life. It will explore theological perspectives on public life and examine how theology shapes the way thinkers in each tradition view specific foreign and domestic policy issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, education policy, abortion, homosexuality, capital punishment, public policies of redistribution.

A supervised field experience in an organization, association, corporation or office that relates to the student's career objective and is relevant to the field of political science. Supervised readings may be required, and 35 hours work per semester is required in the field for each hour's credit. The student is responsible for travel; the instructor for supervision and evaluation. Maximum of six credits may be used in the major.