Political Science

This course analyzes corruption in the United States. It highlights how abuse of position for personal gain has long been a political and social issue with minimal impact because of significant economic growth. It focuses on scandals throughout United States history that have exposed official venality and the U.S. political authorities that have passed laws and regulations to respond to corruption.

The course provides students with tools for evaluating policy impact and effectiveness. Students learn about the tradeoffs involved in the design of policies and institutions, and the influence of factors like partisanship, lobbying, and globalization. They also examine the effectiveness of reforms that attempt to improve government efficiency and representation, accelerate transitions to sustainability, and govern rapidly emerging technologies. 

This course addresses the historical depth and most recent cases of terrorism in Europe and in other regions of the world with a combined traditional and critical view. It offers a complete overview of terrorism, the diversity of its direct and indirect use, as well as its most contemporary trends.

The course provides basic knowledge of Chinese political system and political developments after 1978. It analyses several key issues and challenges that characterize contemporary Chinese society such as environmental issues, socio-economic development, and issues related to regional differences and gaps in society. The course also focuses on developments in civil society and the human rights situation. Freedom of expression, the role of the media and digital developments, as well as the emergence of a surveillance society, are also studied. Domestic issues are viewed from a global perspective. The course discusses and analyses China's global ambitions and foreign and security policy.

This course addresses a number of questions on the causes and consequences of terrorism. The course examines terrorism conceptualizations, the role of religion and ideology, participant profiles and recruitment tactics, organization dynamics, government counterterrorism, and other consequences of terrorism. Course topics will address common social science conceptualizations of terrorism; the challenges with conducting research on terrorism; major theoretical explanations for terrorism dynamics; the effectiveness of state counterterrorism activity: and, relevant case studies. The course analyzes such questions as: Are terrorism and terrorist organizations analytically useful categories? Is terrorism an effective tactic? What makes someone travel abroad to join a terrorist organization? What causes organizations to choose different forms of terrorism? When do states support terrorist organizations? When are state counterterrorism activities effective against terrorist organizations? Causality verses correlation, endogeneity, and theoretical logic are also examined.