Applied Politics Archive 2019-2020

3

This internship option is recommended for students seeking careers in professional politics or international relations. Typically, an internship will involve supervised work at a professional level in a political campaign, on a legislative staff, in an international non-governmental organization, or in a legislative relations for a governmental agency or private organization. Internship placement must be approved by the student's advisor, and will typically require at least 20 hours of work per week for the duration of a semester and the completion of a research paper based on the internship experience. The research paper must be approved by a departmental committee.

3

This course examines the politics of making public policy. How is policy made? Who is involved? What kinds of information do policy-makers rely on to make their decisions? How do political opportunities shape potential for policy change, shifts or stasis? We will examine how policy decisions are made and how policy makers cope and adapt to a diverse set of constraints. We will also focus on what political strategies can be used to improve policy-making processes and outcomes. Students will be required to interview policy makers about a specific policy and write a comprehensive policy analysis. The course is intended to have both theoretical and practical value.

3

Core course for the Professional Politics Concentration. Students will read and discuss current research on legislative politics and organization, including committees, interest groups and lobbying, legislative voting and decision making, and other topics. Students will conduct their own research and present it to the seminar.

3

Core course for the Professional Politics Concentration. Students will read and discuss current research on campaigns and elections, voting behavior, and political parties, and will conduct their own research and present it to the seminar.

Open to graduate students only;

3

The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the major written formats of the policy-making process including background memos, literature reviews, white-papers, policy analyses, one-pagers, talking points memos, op-eds, and legislative histories. This writing-intensive course focuses on public policy writing techniques and methods, and helps students to develop writing skills applicable to the private, nonprofit, and government sectors.

Open to graduate students only; previous course in political science research methods or comparable course in another discipline or instructor's consent.

3

The primary goal of this class is to review and analyze in a systematic way the design, implementation, and evaluation of global public policies. After exploring and discussing global policy debates and examine what kinds of values and ideas shape these debates, the student will develop the skills necessary to critically analyze policy issues and problems and learn about the constraints with which policy makers must cope in an environment of imperfect information. This course will also focus on dissecting indicators and databases often used by professional analysts to produce policy reports and recommendations from policy makers.

Instructor Consent Required

0

This intensive and fun class combines in-depth training on creating and running winning campaigns, including candidate campaigns and issue-oriented campaigns. The class includes site visits to campaign offices and leading political strategy firms. Students will broaden their networks, meeting guest speakers from government, public policy, and nonprofits and participate in hands-on activities that help students learn fundraising, media and messaging, campaign strategy, field operations, and technology. The class fee includes food, transportation and special materials.

3

This course introduces the concept and practices of transitional justice, which addresses current and past human rights violations. We review the various mechanisms of transitional justice, including: criminal prosecution; lustrations; truth and reconciliation commissions; reparations; and apologies. Our focus will be on understanding the nature of the political and moral dilemmas encountered by countries that consider and apply these mechanisms. We will consider broad theoretical questions as well as specific examples (e.g., Germany after the Holocaust; The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission; The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda). The course will also emphasize the practical implications of transitional justice: how do we empirically measure the effects of transitional justice; what is the role of traditional mechanisms of justice; how does one balance between the global human rights regime and local realities; what is the relationship between gender and religion and transitional justice; and, what is the role of transitional justice mechanisms in conflict resolution.

3

Everything needed to design, carry out, and interpret a political survey. Topics covered include questionnaire design, sampling, interviewing, coding data, and univariate and bivariate analysis of the results. Multivariate analysis will be discussed but not studied in depth. An actual survey will be conducted as a class project. Prerequisites: Open to graduate students, seniors, and juniors; previous course in political science research methods, or comparable course in another discipline and consent of instructor.

3

From Rio to the Boston Harbor Project, this course examines the polices and politics of the environment. It examines the origins of the environmental movement in the United States focusing on the development and present function of government and non-government organizations responsible for the development and implementation of global, national, state and local environmental policies.

1

Designed to introduce students to the nuts and bolts of preparing to run for office or guiding a candidate through the process. Students learn how to file nomination papers, develop a field team, and create a general branding strategy.

1

Students learn the basics of how candidates successfully introduce their candidacy to the public. From announcing the campaign to conducting meet and greets to producing candidate photos, this course guides you through the process of effectively defining the candidate.

1

Students learn the fundamentals of how to maximize positive media coverage with attention paid to generating endorsements, developing non-paid media, and persuading voters.

3

This course provides an introduction to the study of the role of the United Nations System in the globalization era. The course is divided in two main sections. The first is based on a series of readings, lectures and discussion on the rules, principles and norms which govern the relationship among states and the UN system; it also covers traditional topics such as the sources and subjects of international law, the jurisdiction of states, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the use of force and the legal personality of international actors, human rights, humanitarian intervention, global environment, use of armed force, as well as economic relations. the second part of the course is based on a required study trip to the UN headquarters in order to experience a direct contact with policy-makers within the UN system in a diversity of areas such as security, aid and peacekeeping areas.

3

This course explains the main components of the international legal system. It begins by exploring the rules, principles and norms that govern the relationship among states, the different cultural and philosophical legal perspectives and the history of the international legal system. The second part of the course covers the study of the sources and subjects of international law, the jurisdiction of states, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the use of force, and the legal personality of international actors. The third part of the course addresses a number of significant topics derived from the process of globalization legal norms: human rights, humanitarian intervention, law of the sea, environmental law, and economic relations.

3

This course explores the institutional structures, political processes, and impact of international governmental and nongovernmental organizations. It analyses their increasingly prominent role in efforts to resolve a wide range of global problems and contribution to strengthen the current system of global governance. While the course covers the problems of international security, global distribution of wealth, deterioration of the environmental system and threats to social welfare, it focuses on the interaction between the United Nations System and regional organizations, on the one hand, and the role of non-governmental organizations in cooperating or something to solve specific problems in the area of international relations.

3

This course examines the intertwined nature of the globalization and regionalization processes from the perspective of global political economy. The first part of the course provides the basic elements and indicators to understand the main challenges the international economy is facing such as crisis, protectionism, and underdevelopment, inter alia. The second part presents the evolution of globalization and regionalism in the past decades. The third and final section compares how the distinct regions in the world are dealing with local and global problems; particularly attention is paid to the European Union, NAFTA, Mercosur and APEC.

3

How do we explain the appearance or absence of social movements? What social or individual factors explain their development and decline? Who joins social movements? Who does not? Why? What ideas or ideals animate those who do participate? What is it like to be part of a social movement? What effect do they or have they had on politics, power and efforts at social change? These are some of the questions that have traditionally shaped debates over social movements, both domestically and internationally. They will form the analytical core of the work in this course. By critically evaluating several competing schools of thought in social movement theory and history we will attempt to highlight the social forces that have, at varying points in times, facilitated, maintained, as well as blocked the development of social movements in the US and beyond.

3

In this course, students will have an opportunity to examine the basic foundations of the democratic theory and practice. Specifically, the course focuses on the building blocks of a democratic relationship between people and government, including transparency, accountability, accessibility, and opportunities for effective advocacy and participation. Both classical and modern authors who weighed in on these issues will be discussed.

3

Why did 17 European countries surrender the sovereign control of their currency and create the Euro? Will Turkey become a member of the European Union? Will Europeans continue free riding the security protection of the United States? Is the integration process another layer of bureaucracy or an institutional instrument to deal with the permanent crises in Europe? These are some of the questions guiding the discussions in this class.

3

Interlocking themes making the contemporary Middle East an area of chronic conflict: Big Power rivalries; social and political change within individual countries; unity and rivalry involved in Arab nationalism; the Palestinian-Israeli-Arab dispute.

3

After participating in the community service experience in Myanmar or Cambodia (Alternative Winter Break), students will study the main transformations and challenges Southeast Asia is facing in the areas of development and political reconciliation. Students interested in this course must submit an application to the Center for Community Engagement during the previous fall before the course start in the Spring term. Only students who participated in the AWB are allowed to enroll in this course.

3

Introduction to the government and politics of contemporary Mexico, with special attention to social and economic institutions, parties and social movements, and the influence of Mexico's revolutionary heritage. There will be some analysis of the interaction of US/Mexico relations and the impact of NAFTA on Mexican workers and the economy.

3

This internship option is recommended for students seeking careers in professional politics or international relations. Typically, an internship will involve supervised work at a professional level in a political campaign, on a legislative staff, in an international non-governmental organization, or in a legislative relations for a governmental agency or private organization. Internship placement must be approved by the student's advisor, and will typically require at least 20 hours of work per week for the duration of a semester and the completion of a research paper based on the internship experience. The research paper must be approved by a departmental committee.

3

This course examines the politics of making public policy. How is policy made? Who is involved? What kinds of information do policy-makers rely on to make their decisions? How do political opportunities shape potential for policy change, shifts or stasis? We will examine how policy decisions are made and how policy makers cope and adapt to a diverse set of constraints. We will also focus on what political strategies can be used to improve policy-making processes and outcomes. Students will be required to interview policy makers about a specific policy and write a comprehensive policy analysis. The course is intended to have both theoretical and practical value.

3

Drug policy encompasses complex and multi-faceted issues. In comprehending these issues, students will examine the complexity of America's drug policy through a lens of sociology, law, history, economics, geography, and cultural norms. Further, students will explore subjects of class, race, and gender of America's drug policies to gain a more comprehensive grasp the intended and unintended consequences of those policies both nationally and globally. We will evaluate the historical path that these policies have taken from addressing the drug problem from the demand side of providing treatment and preventative programs to the supply side of investing resources in limiting the supply of drugs available in the country.

3

Core course for the Professional Politics Concentration. Students will read and discuss current research on legislative politics and organization, including committees, interest groups and lobbying, legislative voting and decision making, and other topics. Students will conduct their own research and present it to the seminar.

3

Core course for the Professional Politics Concentration. Students will read and discuss current research on campaigns and elections, voting behavior, and political parties, and will conduct their own research and present it to the seminar.

OPEN TO GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY

3

Core course for the concentration in North American Politics. This course will examine the key concepts of an approaches to world politics. Special attention will be given the application of these concepts and approaches to the relations among the nation-states of North America.

3

Introduces the study of international political economy. Addresses the interactive relationship between politics and economics at international and domestic levels in the historical and contemporary international system. Basic understanding of macroeconomics is not required but helpful.

3

In this course, students are exposed to the policy dilemmas at various levels of government, from the local, to the state, to the international arena. The class examines concepts such as systems regulation, institutions, legitimacy and governance. The class will take a selection of themes (i.e. inequity, energy, climate) and investigate them from the perspective of policy challenges and solutions at each level of government.

Open to graduate students only;

3

The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the major written formats of the policy-making process including background memos, literature reviews, white-papers, policy analyses, one-pagers, talking points memos, op-eds, and legislative histories. This writing-intensive course focuses on public policy writing techniques and methods, and helps students to develop writing skills applicable to the private, nonprofit, and government sectors.

Open to graduate students only; previous course in political science research methods or comparable course in another discipline or instructor's consent.

3

The primary goal of this class is to review and analyze in a systematic way the design, implementation, and evaluation of global public policies. After exploring and discussing global policy debates and examine what kinds of values and ideas shape these debates, the student will develop the skills necessary to critically analyze policy issues and problems and learn about the constraints with which policy makers must cope in an environment of imperfect information. This course will also focus on dissecting indicators and databases often used by professional analysts to produce policy reports and recommendations from policy makers.

Instructor permission required

3

An intensive off-campus experience, normally of two-week's duration, arranged through a The Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Topics vary. Students will be graded by both an on-site evaluator and an assigned Government Department faculty member. In addition, students are normally required to meet three times during the semester of registration, keep a journal of the off-campus experience and to write a significant research paper based on the topic of the academic seminar.

3

This class will examine the ways in which political marketing is conducted across the globe. It will look at a variety of political systems and cultures in an effort to discern which techniques work best with which political systems and political cultures. The cases will be drawn from all 7 continents and a wide diversity of socio-political cultures. Cases are likely to include Canada, New Zealand, India, Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Russia and many others. By the end of the class, students should have a strong sense of how political marketing is done globally and which techniques work best with which systems.

3

A two-week intensive seminar in Washington DC; the first week will focus on a look inside the defense and intelligence community in the US government; the second week will examine issues, threats, and challenges in global society. The seminar, carried out in partnership with The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, will include briefing sessions, with security officials, site visits, small group meetings, keeping a journal, and academic papers. There will also be some further academic work after you return to Suffolk. Prerequisites: Registration in this course requires advance application. The seminar is offered in Mar, and applications are due by March 1. Interested students should consult the instructor for further details.

3

This course examines how American governmental institutions, political actors, and processes have both shaped and responded to one of the most significant and complex issues of public policy facing the nation: immigration to the United States. This class will explore a number of intriguing and difficult policy topics related to the almost unprecedented level of immigration that the U.S. has been experiencing. The focus of the class will include the following: admissions, citizenship, deportation and detention (including that of suspected terrorists), refugee/asylum law, and highly contested issues of today, such as definitions of citizenship, immigrant rights, and border enforcement. A major objective of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to conduct their own original research in American politics by delving into some aspect of immigration as a public policy issue.

Students must see the professor to get required Washington Center Application

3.00- 6.00

An opportunity to do an internship through the Washington Center at either the Republican National Convention or the Democratic National convention. Graduate students will learn what goes on behind the scenes and interact with important public figures that are influential in setting public policy at various levels of government. They will spend a week prior to the convention studying the electoral process, familiarizing themselves with convention operations and preparing for their convention fieldwork assignments. In addition they will hear from a wide variety of speakers, including members of the media, party officials, and other political personalities. Students are then assigned as volunteers to assist with the work of the convention the second week. Normally offered every four years.

Instructor's consent and approval of the Director of Graduate studies required.

3

Individual program of reading, research and writing on an approved topic, under the supervision of a member of the department. Topic and assignments are to be determined by the faculty member and student.

Instructor consent required

6

Students must also complete academic work designed to enhance experiential learning and professional development in their internship abroad that is supervised by a Suffolk instructor. Course work will include developing individualized learning goals and objectives for their internships, journaling, mid-term self-evaluation and a final research paper.

Instructor Consent Required

3

This intensive and fun class combines in-depth training on creating and running winning campaigns, including candidate campaigns and issue-oriented campaigns. The class includes site visits to campaign offices and leading political strategy firms. Students will broaden their networks, meeting guest speakers from government, public policy, and nonprofits and participate in hands-on activities that help students learn fundraising, media and messaging, campaign strategy, field operations, and technology. The class fee includes food, transportation and special materials.

GVT 907

6

Completion of a Master's thesis. Students interested in writing a thesis should consult the department about requirements of the thesis option Government 957 can only be taken on a pass/fail basis.