Political Science

By placing Germany in a broader European context, this course provides an opportunity to develop a comparative perspective on political and socioeconomic features and trends in the Federal Republic. The course begins with a brief historical review, and then shifts to a consideration of such topics and issues as German society, the political system (including institutions, parties, and elections), welfare state features, and socioeconomic policies, with accompanying consideration of characteristics and developments in neighboring European countries. Special attention is also given to the consequences of Germany's reunification in 1990.

This course introduces to comparative politics. There are many different aspects of and approaches to comparative politics, but all agree that this involves comparing at least two - and often many more - units of political analysis (e.g. countries, types of political system, electoral systems, areas of policy). This course divides comparative politics by classical and contemporary approaches. Classical approaches to comparative politics examine the concept of authority and the rise of liberal, communist and fascist political ideologies and systems. Contemporary approaches to comparative politics explore institutional differences and voting systems between countries in addition to concepts of social capital, path dependency, political culture and economic development.

This course gives an overview of the history of European unity and enlargement and focuses on the elaboration of EU foreign policy. Attention is given to issues such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Common Security and Defence Policy, foreign aid, human rights, and terrorism.

In this course, students analyze the differing approaches to governance in Western Europe, particularly in France, Germany and Sweden. This analysis is structured around a comparative perspective that is primarily based upon several key theories of democracy. Students are introduced to key political science theories and models. The selected theories and models have been chosen precisely because they are excellent vehicles for introducing students to the study of comparative politics. Students are provided with the conceptual equipment for more advanced comparative politics.

This course focuses primarily on transnational politics, i.e. political relations involving non-state agents, structures, and processes, such as classes, NGOs, religious actors, diasporas, and social movements. Clearly, globalization has strengthened the transnational dimension of world politics, enabling people, goods, services, ideas, information etc. to cross and, to an extent, transcend boundaries at increasing speed. Yet it is less obvious what the political, social, cultural, economic, and normative implications of this development are and how it should be analyzed. The course begins by sketching the historical background to contemporary transnational politics, specifically the increasing interconnectedness of human societies over the past several hundred years, a trend that is referred to as historical globalization. The course then explores key concepts and ideas as well as the major theoretical approaches to understanding politics beyond the state, including Marxism and feminism. The final section of the course examines key issues in transnational politics, such as human rights, global economic inequality, religious difference and regional integration. Throughout the course, students consider how the transnational dimension of world politics relates to the inter-state dimension, and how globalization affects both of them. This includes examining how different transnational actors engage with the states system, which they variously conceive as a constraint on their activity, an opportunity structure to be exploited or as a relic to transcend.

This class focuses on the political processes involved in establishing U.S. trade policy since 1900. The course also looks at why trade politics have become so contentious over the past century, paying particular attention to the relationship between trade issues and the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Discussion topics include key events in the history of U.S. trade policy since 1900, political obstacles facing U.S. officials as they attempt to formulate trade policy, and the central role that trade has played and will continue to play in contemporary U.S. politics.

In this course, students explore and analyze the actors, issues, processes, and political conditions involved in the making of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. To this end, the course introduces students to core concepts, theories, and approaches to the study of foreign policy making in the United States, including the institutions and processes of policy-making, the broader societal and cultural contexts of policy-making, the international systemic environment, U.S. foreign relations with specific countries and regions, and foreign policy since September 11, 2001.

This seminar analyzes the different types of contestation in the context of the Sahara-Sahel region starting in 2000. The actors and their practices are at the heart of the discussions in order to understand their various relations toward the figure of the State. The sessions deal both theoretically and empirically with the political, social, and economic realities of war-torn or unstable environments, with a particular focus on Mali, Niger, and Libya. Security issues are approached from a ground perspective but also according to the attempted diplomatic and military responses given by national, regional, and foreign States. The main objective of this seminar is to illustrate as concretely as possible the entanglement of the logics and interests of both State and non-State actors in a region that seems to incorporate all the evolving aspects of current conflicts.

This course critically engages with the debates on nationalism, citizenship, and minority rights with special emphasis on Middle Eastern societies. Some of the issues that are discussed in this context include discourses of nationalism, multiculturalism, and minority rights, the politics of recognition, processes of nation- and state-building, exclusion, and diaspora. The course combines theoretical insights with particular case studies in the Middle East.