Political Science

PS 12. Introduction to Political Science. 9 units (3-0-6); first, second, third terms. Introduction to the tools and concepts of analytical political science. Subject matter is primarily American political processes and institutions. Topics: spatial models of voting, redistributive voting, games, presidential campaign strategy, Congress, congressional-bureaucratic relations, and coverage of political issues by the mass media. Instructors: Kiewiet, Ordeshook.

PS 101. Selected Topics in Political Science. Units to be determined by arrangement with the instructor. Offered by announcement. Instructor: Staff.

PS 120. American Electoral Behavior and Party Strategy. 9 units (3-0-6). A consideration of existing literature on the voting behavior of the citizen, and an examination of theoretical and empirical views of the strategies followed by the parties. Instructor: Alvarez.

PS 121. Congressional Policy Formation and Legislative Process. 9 units (3-0-6). Decision making in legislative bodies, with emphasis on the United States Congress. An investigation into the impact of congressional structure and practices on the policies adopted by the federal government. Not offered 2005–06.

PS 122. Problems of Representation. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: PS 12. Considers the theoretical foundations of democratic governments and modern problems of representation, including alternative approaches and solutions to representing minorities. Not offered 2005–06.

PS 123. Fiscal Federalism. 9 units (3-0-6). In the United States, as in many other countries, taxes are collected and benefits are provided by federal, state, and local governments. Because politicians like to take credit for benefits but avoid blame for taxes, fiscal relations between levels of government are an ongoing source of controversy and confusion. Course covers the major budgetary problems that currently face state, local, and federal governments. Specific topics will include intergovernmental revenue flows, the municipal bond market, and policy mandates. Not offered on a pass/fail basis. Not offered 2005–06.

PS/SS 125. Political Economy of Development. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: PS 12 or SS 13. The role of political institutions in economic development and the interplay between economic development and political change. The course applies tools drawn from economics and political science to examples from history and from current-day developing countries. Not offered 2005–06.

PS 126. Political Corruption. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. This course explores fundamental questions related to the scientific study of corruption. Political corruption will first be defined and then how one might go about measuring it will be discussed. The following questions will be asked: What are the stylized facts about the common determinants of corruption across countries? Do certain political institutions constrain corruption, and if so, what are the constraining mechanisms? How is political corruption related to bureaucratic corruption? The course builds on the latest literature in economics and political science; hence, some background in economics and/or political science is desirable. Instructor: Kunicova.

PS 130. Introduction to Social Science Surveys: Methods and Practice. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. In this course, students will learn the basic methodologies behind social science survey analysis: self-completion and interview-assisted surveying, sampling theory, questionnaire design, theories of survey response, and the basic analysis and presentation of survey results will be covered, as well as contemporary research in survey methodology and public opinion analysis. Students will be involved in the active collection and analysis of survey data and the presentation of survey results; students will be required to complete an independent project involving some aspect of survey methodology. Not offered 2005–06.

PS 132. Formal Theories in Political Science. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: PS 12 or equivalent. Axiomatic structure and behavioral interpretations of game theoretic and social choice models and models of political processes based on them. Instructors: Ordeshook, Yariv.

PS 135. Analyzing Legislative Elections. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. The purpose of this course is to understand legislative elections. The course will study, for example, what role money plays in elections and why incumbents do better at the polls. It will also examine how electoral rules impact the behavior both of candidates and voters, and will explore some of the consequences of legislative elections, such as divided government. Not offered 2005–06.

PS/SS 139. Comparative Politics. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: PS 12 or SS 13. The politics of non-American political systems. Areas of study: the politics of nondemocratic states, including the Communist nations; the politics of developing societies; the politics of the Western European democracies. Emphasis on the effect of distinctive institutions on the performance of government and the content of public policy. Instructor: Ordeshook.

PS 141. A History of Budgetary Politics in the United States. 9 units (3-0-6). Offered by announcement. This class will examine budgetary conflict at key junctures in U.S. history. Topics include the struggle to establish a viable fiscal system in the early days of the Republic, the ante bellum tariff, the “pension politics” of the post–Civil War era, the growth of the American welfare state, and the battle over tax and entitlement reform in the 1980s and 1990s. Instructor: Kiewiet.

H/PS/Law 148 ab. The Supreme Court in U.S. History. 9 units (3-0-6). For course description, see History.

Ec/PS 160 abc. Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences. 9 units (3-3-3). For course description, see Economics.

PS/Ec 172. Noncooperative Games in the Social Sciences. 9 units (3-0-6); first term. Prerequisite: PS 12 or equivalent. Axiomatic structure and behavioral interpretations of game theory models in social science. Axiomatic utility theory and general noncooperative games. Instructor: Echenique.

PS/Ec 173. Cooperation and Social Behavior. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: PS/Ec 172 or instructor’s permission. Game theoretic and evolutionary approaches to modeling various types of cooperative, altruistic, and social behavior. Emphasis on economic and political applications. Instructor: Chambers.

Ec/PS 190. Undergraduate Research. Units to be arranged. For course description, see Economics.