American Politics Seminar · Political Science
Through the lens of seminal works in political science, I learned about the U.S. bureaucracy (especially its organization and how it responds to different policy issues), how policymakers prioritize certain items on the U.S. agenda, and the various actors involved in shaping U.S. policy.
Learned how to discuss important issues through the framework of democracy.
Learned about the different myths of judicial politics. Analyzed the role of precedent in judicial decision making. Analyzed the role of politics in Supreme Court decision (judicial independence theory)
Priority given to senior majors, followed by junior majors, then all other students. Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Pre-registration is not permitted.Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Psychological foundations for partisanship, prejudice, voting choice, media intake and analysis, polarization, etc. Very interesting class!
I learned a lot about the Bureaucracy and the American government. It was an inside look into virtually all aspects of the Bureaucracy, one that I had not been taught before
How to critically think about public opinion surveys and experiments. I gained an appreciation for the complexity of the survey process.
This class was focused largely on current events and how we can perceive them through using contemporary political science on elections, voting, and looking at the contours of the electorate's demographics. We were given the opportunity to give multiple presentations on books, work with partners, and write an in depth research paper on a topic of our choice related to contemporary electoral politics.
I learned about the media effects and the different actors in media research.
Workload: One in class presentation of your preliminary paper outline, and a final ad hoc exam The 35 page paper is the main requirement. the reading material is engaging and well chosen.