Columbia University in the City of New York · Courses
POLS UN
31 courses with the subject POLS UN, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
POLS UN2101Political Theory I4.00
Political theory examines the ideas and institutions that shape political life. This course introduces key texts and arguments about the best way to organize political power, how it should be used, and for what purpose. We will address these larger questions by studying how major thinkers, ancient and modern, analyzed political diversity, division, and conflict. What are the sources of conflicting identities, interests, passions, and values in politics? How can partisanship and contestation avoid degenerating into open war and unjust domination? Which institutions, laws, and practices are best able to manage conflict consistent with other political goals, such as freedom, equality, justice? Course goals: Demonstrate broad knowledge of key texts, thinkers, concepts, and debates in the history of political thought; compare, contrast, and classify definitions of diversity and their political significance; interpret texts and reconstruct their core arguments and concepts; evaluate arguments, concepts, and theories in terms of consistency, plausibility, and desirability; develop persuasive interpretations and arguments through textual analysis; present and defend ideas and arguments clearly in writing and discussion
In this course, students will gain familiarity with some of the major questions and theoretical frameworks in the American Politics subfield of political science and learn how to think theoretically and empirically about politics
POLS UN2501Introduction to Comparative Politics4.00
The course provides a broad overview of the comparative politics subfield by focusing on important substantive questions about the world today. Particular attention will be paid to understanding differences between democracies and autocracies, on one hand, and between different forms of democracy, on the other. What influences whether countries become and/or stay democratic? On this basis, should we expect China to democratize? Why do we care if a country is democratic or not? Do democracies perform better (or worse) than non-democracies in policy areas of importance? What is “good representation” and how do political institutions affect the prospects for achieving it? How does the choice of democratic institutions influence the prospects for stable and successful democracy? Are there particular institutional forms that are appropriate in particular contexts (such as ethnically divided Iraq), or do cultural factors overwhelm institutional considerations? In addressing these broad questions, the course has three ancillary goals. The first is to teach students how to pose and evaluate falsifiable theoretical arguments about substantive questions of interest. The second is to introduce the quantitative, formal and qualitative methodologies that political scientists use to develop and evaluate arguments. Finally, the course will require students to develop knowledge of the political systems of a number of foreign countries
Why do countries go to war? What conditions foster international cooperation? How do alliances between countries function? How are countries affected by global trade and investment, and in turn how does the political economy of individual countries shape international conflict and cooperation? How do ideas and culture (including both positive ideas like human rights and negative ideas like racism) affect international politics? What role do individuals and groups play in shaping international politics? What explains the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why isn’t there significant cooperation on climate change, and can a new global cooperation emerge? What issues have garnered international attention, and how has that shaped the countries’ cooperation? What causes terrorism? Is the proliferation of nuclear (or cyber) weapons a threat to peace, and if so, how should the world response? Does UN peacekeeping work? In this course we will begin to grapple with these questions. We will use theories developed by philosophers, political scientists and policy analysts, and we will examine the historical roots of today’s problems, in order to explain and predict the patterns of international politics and the possibilities for change. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to choose and develop their own theories to explain events. Learning Objectives: By the end of the semester, students will accomplish the following: Demonstrate broad factual and causal knowledge of important current and historical issues in international relations. Apply contending theories from the political science literature and the policy world to analyze, compare, and evaluate events and trends in international relations. Assess the value of competing theories in explaining events. Synthesize facts and arguments across cases in order to reason critically and argue creatively, through both oral discussions in section and written essays
An inquiry into the nature and implications of justice in areas ranging from criminal justice to social justice to the circumstances of war and peace, considering issues such as abortion, the criminalization of behavior, the death penalty, climate change, global poverty, civil disobedience, and international conflict
What is sovereignty? What role do basic rights play in modern democracy? Should democracy be based in commonly shared values? Is there an essential difference between liberalism and democratic politics? And if so, how can modern liberal democracies function? The Weimar period gave rise to some of the most important and consequential debates in political theory and constitutional thought since the eighteenth century. Lawyers and political theorists such as Carl Schmitt, Hans Kelsen, Hermann Heller, Franz Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer tackled in particular the challenges that democracies face in an age of mass society, of unbounded capitalist dynamics, and of rising anti-democratic forces. This lecture course introduces students to key debates in political and constitutional theory of the Weimar period. It contextualises them in the social and political world of Germany’s first, failed, democratic state by looking at cultural and economic theory as well as political thought. Many of the texts discussed in this class have only recently become available in the English language. As such, they offer fresh perspectives on concrete political theoretical problems such as the function and legitimation of modern constitutional courts, of basic rights and the role of the party. At the same time this course offers a deep insight into the vagaries and complexities of European constitutionalism in the first half of the twentieth century, and the consequences of its failure for the political world which came after it
This course is intended to provide students with a detailed understanding of politics in the American states. The topics covered are divided into four broad sections. The first explores the role of the states in Americas federal system of government. Attention is given to the basic features of intergovernmental relations and the historical evolution of American federalism. The second part of the course focuses on state-level political institutions. The organization and processes associated with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches are discussed in depth. The third section examines state elections, political parties, and interest groups. Finally, the course concludes by looking closely at various policy areas. Budgeting, welfare, education, and morality policy are among those considered
This political science course provides an introduction to the politics of judges, courts, and law in the United States. We will evaluate law and courts as political institutions and judges as political actors and policy-makers. The topics we will study include what courts do; how different legal systems function; the operation of legal norms; the U.S. judicial system; the power of courts; constraints on judicial power; judicial review; the origin of judicial institutions; how and why Supreme Court justices make the decisions they do; case selection; conflict between the Court and the other branches of government; decision making and conflict within the judicial hierarchy; the place of courts in American political history; and judicial appointments. We will explore some common but not necessarily true claims about how judges make decisions and the role of courts. One set of myths sees judges as unbiased appliers of neutral law, finding law and never making it, with ideology, biography, and politics left at the courthouse door. Another set of myths sees the judiciary as the “least dangerous branch,” making law, not policy, without real power or influence. Our thematic questions will be: How much power and discretion do judges have in the U.S? What drives their decision-making?
Much of politics is about combining individual preferences into collective choices. Collective choice problems are faced by society as a whole and by the smallest group: bargaining within and between the branches of government, campus elections, allocation of relief funds among victims of natural disasters, scoring of Olympic events, even sharing common space in a dorm room. How can preferences be combined? Our primary theoretical approach is called social choice theory, which studies how we aggregate what individuals want into what the collective “wants.” We will also touch on game theory, studying how we aggregate what individuals want and do into what the group gets, given that social outcomes usually depend on the interaction of individual choices. Our themes include the rationality of individual and group preferences, the underpinnings and implications of using majority rule, tradeoffs between aggregation methods, the fairness of group choice, the effects of institutional constraints on choice (e.g., agenda control), and the implications for democratic choice. The aggregation of preferences or choices is usually governed by some set of institutional rules, formal or informal, and we will examine some of their effects. While what we learn will be useful for thinking about many real-world problems and institutions, this class is not concerned with actual institutions in full descriptive detail, but rather with abstractable features common to collective decision making and on the abstract logic of collective choice... and the paradoxes that arise. Students will learn how to formalize varying notions of fairness, equality, and rationality. Students will learn about tradeoffs between them—what is possible and what is not? Students will learn how different voting methods work. Students will learn how strategic anticipation helps or hurts in social choice
This Course is intended to look at key developments of American History through the prism of Supreme Court decisions and their aftermath. In essence, this Course will address three questions: 1. How did the Supreme Court reflect, and affect, historic patterns of U.S. development, and how did it impact the legal and economic framework of the United States? 2. How did the Supreme Court respond to, or worsen, crises in U.S. history? 3. How did the perception of individual and collective rights and liberties, and of the function and role of Governments -- both Federal and State -- evolve over time?
This course will focus on the mechanisms that drive political behavior in the United States. “Political behavior” is a broad concept, and can include many areas of engagement with civic life such as voting, donating, organizing, advocating, protesting, and more. As we consider “behavior,” we must therefore also take on its foundations: Public opinion, ideology, and partisanship. We will focus primarily (but not exclusively) on mass politics—beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of ordinary citizens—rather than on behaviors of activists or elites. We will also explore the connection between behavior and other factors such as race and place
This course will introduce students to research on the institutions of the US carceral system, including the police, courts, prisons, and immigration control. We will focus on two questions: how race relates to experiences with the institutions of the carceral state, and how those institutions in turn influence racial politics. The main objective is not the accumulation of factual knowledge about this system, but familiarity with theoretical frameworks with which to make and critically assess arguments about the functioning of carceral institutions as they relate to racialized people and the functioning of democracy
This course focuses on the political incorporation of Latinos into the American polity. Among the topics to be discussed are patterns of historical exclusion, the impact of the Voting Rights Act, organizational and electoral behavior, and the effects of immigration on the Latino national political agenda
Examines the constitutional right of freedom of speech and press in the United States. Examines, in depth, various areas of law, including extremist or seditious speech, obscenity, libel, fighting words, the public forum doctrine, and public access to the mass media. Follows the law school course model, with readings focused on actual judicial decisions
This course will explore the politics of ethnicity and ethnic identity using the frameworks, methodologies, and approaches of the political science subfield of comparative politics. Ethnicity—and identity politics more broadly—is enormously important in understanding domestic politics in most countries around the world. While most people would acknowledge that they themselves have an ethnic identity, few would say that they purposefully chose that identity. Compared to other identity categories, ethnicity is assigned at birth without consent or consultation, and is generally thought to be beyond any one individual’s capacity to change it. Yet almost no one would say that this somewhat random assignment procedure makes ethnicity irrelevant. Not only are many people very eager to organize the political world around ethnic identities, but people also derive a sense of meaning and attachment to others as a result of their ethnicity. With the global rise in ethnonationalist populism in many places, this influence is becoming even more pronounced. This class will explore how and why this specific type of identity has come to hold such enormous importance for the lives of so many people. At an individual level, we will ask where ethnic identities come from, and why ethnic identities at some times take on primary importance for an individual’s sense of self, while at others become less important than other identities such as religion, interest, class, social values, etc. At the group level, we will examine when ethnic identities become politicized, when ethnic communities organize politically into political parties or interest groups, and which groups get representation in the seats of political power and which do not. At the broadest societal level, we will examine how those ethnic identities influence regime type (whether democratic or authoritarian), political party systems, economic development, inequality, and stability. While it will be helpful to have completed Introduction to Comparative Politics (POLS UN2501), it is not absolutely required to take this class. Please also note that this class is not the same as Ethnic Conflict (POLS UN 3622). While there will inevitably be some overlap between this class and that, this course focuses much more on domestic politics, ethnicity and non-violent democratic processes, and ethnicity in the politics of regime change. 1
With longstanding democracies in Europe and the US faltering, autocratic regimes in Russia and China consolidating, and hybrid regimes that mix elements of democracy and autocracy on the rise, scholars, policymakers, and citizens are re-evaluating the causes and consequences of different forms of government. This course is designed to give students the tools to understand these trends in global politics. Among other topics, we will explore: How do democracies and autocracies differ in theory and in practice? Why are some countries autocratic? Why are some democratic? What are the roots of democratic erosion? How does economic inequality influence a country’s form of government? Is the current period of institutional foment different past periods of global instability? This course will help students keep up with rapidly unfolding events, but is designed primarily to help them develop tools for interpreting and understanding the current condition of democracy and autocracy in the world
Turkey’s (Türkiye’s) regional identity has always been ambiguous and multifaceted. While Turkey is sometimes located within the Middle East in academic writings, media reporting, and country analyses, at other times, it is listed among the countries of Europe. In fact, Turkish Republic has always been at the margins of Europe. Developments in Turkey had an impact on European societies while the political dynamics in Europe have always affected Turkey. This course not only reviews Turkey’s unique relationship with Europe but also the international and domestic political developments that preceded democratic and authoritarian practices in Turkey by highlighting critical themes such as westernization, liberalism, secularism, the role of the military, gender, minorities, migration, citizenship, electoral authoritarianism and autocratic legalism
This course is concerned with what policy the American government should adopt toward several foreign policy issues in the next decade or so, using materials from contradictory viewpoints. Students will be required to state fairly alternative positions and to use policy analysis (goals, alternatives, consequences, and choice) to reach conclusions. Spring 2026: POLS UN3631 Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment POLS 3631 001/12582 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm 428 Pupin Laboratories Elizabeth Saunders 4 46/90 Fall 2026: POLS UN3631 Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment POLS 3631 001/13320 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm 209 Havemeyer Hall Elizabeth Saunders 4 56/90
Who governs the world economy? Why do countries succeed or fail to cooperate in setting their economic policies? When and how do international institutions help countries cooperate? When and why do countries adopt good and bad economic policies? This course examines how domestic and international politics determine how the global economy is governed. We will study the politics of trade, international investment, monetary, immigration, and environmental policies to answer these questions. The course will approach each topic by examining alternative theoretical approaches and evaluate these theories using historical and contemporary evidence. There will be an emphasis on applying concepts through the analysis of policy-relevant case studies designed specifically for this course
POLS UN3685The Rise of the Modern World Economy4.00
Over the past thousand years, modern capitalism has expanded from its European starting point to the entire world. Modern economic activity started with a commercial revolution in the late Middle Ages, concentrated in European city states like Venice and Genoa. From the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, European colonialism spread this commercial revolution around the globe. The Industrial Revolution in northwestern Europe led to unprecedented and sustained economic growth, which allowed European nations to dominate the rest of the world economically, politically, and militarily, with mixed results for the rest of the world. Over the past hundred years, global capitalism has continued to present countries, and the people in them, with enormous opportunities, crushing constraints, and major political dilemmas. The course is an introductory overview of the economics and politics of international economic activity in historical and theoretical perspective
This course examines the basic methods data analysis and statistics that political scientists use in quantitative research that attempts to make causal inferences about how the political world works. The same methods apply to other kinds of problems about cause and effect relationships more generally. The course will provide students with extensive experience in analyzing data and in writing (and thus reading) research papers about testable theories and hypotheses. It will cover basic data analysis and statistical methods, from univariate and bivariate descriptive and inferential statistics through multivariate regression analysis. Computer applications will be emphasized. The course will focus largely on observational data used in cross-sectional statistical analysis, but it will consider issues of research design more broadly as well. It will assume that students have no mathematical background beyond high school algebra and no experience using computers for data analysis
This class aims to introduce students to the logic of social scientific inquiry and research design. Although it is a course in political science, our emphasis will be on the science part rather than the political part — we’ll be reading about interesting substantive topics, but only insofar as they can teach us something about ways we can do systematic research. This class will introduce students to a medley of different methods to conduct social scientific research
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and will discuss Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy in the reform era, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond. This lecture course will analyze the causes and consequences of Beijing’s foreign policies from 1949 to the present. Students must register for a mandatory discussion section
Fall 2026: POLS UN3901 Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment POLS 3901 001/20111 Clara Maier 1.00-6.00 1/1 POLS 3901 002/20112 Robert Amdur 1.00-6.00 2/2 POLS 3901 003/20216 Turkuler Isiksel 1.00-6.00 0/1 POLS 3901 004/20594 Justin Phillips 1.00-6.00 3/3 POLS 3901 005/20598 Andrew Nathan 1.00-6.00 1/1 POLS 3901 006/20693 Xiaobo Lu 1.00-6.00 1/1 POLS 3901 007/20699 Carlos Vargas-Ramos 1.00-6.00 1/1 POLS 3901 008/20816 Mark Schneider 1.00-6.00 1/2
Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Seminar in American Politics Seminar. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: POLS V1501 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Pre-registration is not permitted. Please see here for detailed seminar registration guidelines: http://polisci.columbia.edu/undergraduate-programs/seminar-registration-guidelines. Seminar in Comparative Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: admission to the departmental honors program. Prerequisites: admission to the departmental honors program. A two-term seminar for students writing the senior honors thesis
A two-term seminar for students writing the senior honors thesis. Spring 2026: POLS UN3999 Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment POLS 3999 001/12661 M 10:10am - 12:00pm 711 International Affairs Bldg Shigeo Hirano 4.00 15/18 Independent Reading and Research
