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 99 ab. Political Science Research Seminar. 9 units (3-0-6). Prerequisite: political science major; completion of a required PS course for major. Development and presentation of a major research paper on a topic of interest in political science or political economy. The project will be one that the student has initiated in a political science course he or she has already taken from the PS courses required for the PS option, numbered above 101. This course will be devoted to understanding research in political science, and basic political science methodology. Students will be exposed to current research journals, work to understand a research literature of interest, and work to formulate a research project. Fulfills the Institute scientific writing requirement.

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); first term. 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 2006–07.

PS 122. Political Representation. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. Prerequisite: PS 12. Theory, practice, and consequence of political representation in the electoral context. Topics include the concept of representation; how the degree of representation of various groups and interests (such as ethnic and racial) is affected by different electoral rules; and the impact of representation of minorities on public policies. The primary focus is on the empirical literature pertaining to the United States, but examples from other countries are also examined for comparative purposes. Instructor: Ueda.

PS 123. Regulation and Politics. 9 units (3-0-6); first term. Prerequisite: PS 12. This course will examine the historical origins of several regulatory agencies and trace their development over the past century or so. It will also investigate a number of current issues in regulatory politics, including the great discrepancies that exist in the cost-effectiveness of different regulations, and the advent of more market-based approaches to regulations instead of traditional “command-and-control.” Not offered on a pass/fail basis. Instructor: Kiewiet.

PS 124. Political Economy. 9 units (3-0-6); second term. The aim of this course is to introduce students to theoretical and applied research in political economy. The focus will be on formal analysis of the strategic interaction between rational individuals, political institutions, and economic outcomes. Some of the questions will be: Why do people vote? What are the incentives of elected politicians, and what is the effect of these incentives on the policies they will implement? To what extent do differences in political institutions account for differences in redistributive policies? Topics may include the theory of voting, models of direct democracy, models of electoral competition, the political economy of redistribution, and comparative political institutions. Instructor: Mattozzi.

PS 126. Political Corruption. 9 units (3-0-6); third 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); third 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. Instructor: Alvarez.

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. Instructor: Ordeshook.

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. Instructor: Katz.

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. Not offered 2006–07.

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.

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

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. Not offered 2006–07.

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