POLS 342 American Political Thought Major works and important thinkers in the American political tradition and the historical development of political thought in the United States; fundamental tensions present in the American commitment to democratic government, individual liberty, equality, and the public good. POLS 346 Advanced Political Systems of Asia Political systems of Japan, China, the Koreas, and India. Evolution of political institutions, pluralistic pressures on policy, the nature of the state, the literature on political regimes, and recent attempts at reform and change. POLS 347 Jurisprudence Systematic treatment of the relation between human law and higher law in the secular (natural law) or sacral (revelation) context. Presuppositions of various schools of thought as they bear on enduring human problems grouped under six major themes of legal theory: legal rights of the individual; equality before the law; control of government by the people; the rule of law; peace and the world community of law; and law, justice, and order. Use of selected classics in Western and Islamic legal thought. POLS 350 Special Topics in Political Science Selected topics in American government, political history or theory, comparative government, or public policy. Topics chosen by instructors in consultation with student interests. One to three semester hours. May be repeated for different topics. POLS 400-401 Moot Court Development of student skills in legal research, reasoning, argumentation, and writing. Team preparation of an appellate brief on a moot court case and appellate argument before a panel of faculty and visiting attorneys. Political Science 400 prerequisites: 117 and 217. Three semester hours credit for Political Science 400. Political Science 401 prerequisite: 400. One semester hour credit for Political Science 401. POLS 410 Democracy, Civilizations, and World Order Alternative theories of governance as laid out in the classic work of Hobbes, Tocqueville, and authors of the Federalist Papers and their implications for the nature of conflict, world order, and civilization in the contemporary world. POLS 415 America’s Approach to the Middle East American foreign policy in the Middle East under two distinct geopolitical paradigms: (1) the older, realist, multilateral strategy based on containment of threats, reconstruction of economic infrastructure, and advancement of liberal political ideas; and (2) the post-9/11 American strategy based on a unilateral, power-based approach to dominating regions to impose order. Major case studies: Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. POLS 423 Seminar: Problems in American Politics (wc) Selected political issues associated with the institutions, processes, culture, and politics of the United States. May be re-taken for credit with departmental permission. Prerequisites: 103; junior or senior status. This course satisfies the proficiency requirement for Written Communication in the disciplines.
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