L8 - General Education

A comprehensive survey of the basic premises, permanent institutions and policy making processes of the American national government is presented.

A review of the institutions, functions and operations of state and local government, this class takes a comparative approach, examining the similarities and differences of political institutions in the 50 states.

This course will analyze the major Western European governments (Great Britain, France, Germany) along with Japan, Russia, China and several less developed countries. Students will comparatively analyze the institutional arrangements of the legislative and executive branches, political culture, and policy issues.

Students will examine the evolution of world political systems and the various methods of analysis used in international relations. In addition to examining the forces and actors that influence world politics, students will look at the prominent issues in international politics, such as national and international security, weapons proliferation, political economy, human rights, and the global environment.

This course investigates the Internet as a research tool for the study of political science. It seeks to teach students about the World Wide Web, showing them how to take advantage of the information available there. It also examines the Internet as a political resource used by interest groups, candidates and individuals to communicate messages and acquire political power.

This course examines the history of political thought from the ancient Greeks through Machiavelli. Students will learn various political theorists' understanding of the world and human behavior, the political crises they addressed, and their proposed solutions for these crises. This course fulfills the advanced writing requirement.

This course is a continuation of L8-361. Students will examine various political theorists from the modern Western period to the 21st century, such as Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Mill and John Rawls. This course fulfills the advanced writing requirement.

This course examines the ideas and people who have helped shape American political thought from colonial times to the present. Students will examine various writers who discuss the themes of democracy, liberty, equality, rights, and the role of government.

Students study the theory of constitutionalism, the federal system, judicial review, the nature of legislative power, the Commerce Clause, federal regulatory power, executive power and constitutional construction. This course fulfills the advanced writing requirement.

This course examines various civil liberties through a review of U.S. Supreme Court cases and the evolving interpretations of the freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly, and the right to privacy.