Political Science

This course introduces the analysis of political processes in well-established democracies. It focuses particularly on the topics of mass political behavior in contemporary democracies (such as voting participation, protest, and vote choice) and the impact of electoral, legislative, and executive institutions on policy outcomes. One of the central goals in the course is to evaluate whether the quality of political representation in contemporary democracies is as high as it could/should be and to come up with ways to improve it. Students are expected to become familiar with important theoretical arguments in the study of mass behavior, political institutions, and representation in advanced democracies; to be able to assess whether these arguments are supported by systematic empirical evidence; and to apply knowledge learned in the course to understand current political events and trends in democratic nations across the world. 

Economic inequalities are prevalent and persistent around the world. In this seminar, we will tackle the question of how economic inequality intersects with the political realm. In the first half of the seminar, students will gain an overview of the national and global structure of inequality along indicators like income and wealth. We will analyze, what perceptions of inequality people have and which beliefs accompany them. Furthermore, we will engage with theories on how one’s economic circumstances might impact political preferences and behavior.  In the second half, we will look at studies connecting people’s economic realities and their policy preferences, policy responsiveness, political participation and voting behavior. We will especially focus on redistributive and economic policy priorities as well as radical voting patterns.

This course introduces students to the study of how states make foreign policy decisions. It considers the social, material, institutional, and political contexts for decision-making, and how individual leaders' cognitive and psychological traits influence the choices they make. It thus forms a bridge between the study of leadership, domestic politics, and international relations.

Topics in this Methodology of Political Science course include: the logic of research in political science; problem of causality in political science; case and variable studies; the comparative method in political science; theories and hypotheses; research design; data collection techniques; data analysis; visualization, preparation, and report of research papers.

This political geography course covers the following five themes: space and power; the hegemonic political space of modernity-- state and nation; the space of interstate disorder-- geopolitics; the space of legitimacy-- electoral geography; place and social movements.

This course discusses international relations of Thailand in different eras by examining factors and processes in policy making, policy planning and foreign policy implementation,

This course explores key topics in moral and political philosophy. Students consider some of the key questions at the center of these disciplines. 

This course introduces game theory and its application to political science. Students study game theory through the concepts of Nash Equilibrium, Subgame Perfect Equilibrium, and Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium, as well as strategic-form, extensive-form, and repeated games. Sessions involve presenting (and practicing) game-theoretic techniques before applying them to specific political science questions.

Although there is no prerequisite knowledge for this class, it may be helpful to have taken at least a course in statistics or probability theory.

This course examines the Spanish political system and its evolution, and compares and contrasts it to other systems of the world. It is divided into three parts: institutional framework, elections, and political culture.