Politics (POL-GA)

Major political thinkers of past and present. Special reference to enduring problems in political theory.

Covers basic topics of mathematics?calculus, analytic geometry, matrix algebra, etc.?with wide application in political science.

Introduces elementary statistical analysis and prepares the student for G53.2127. Topics include probability theory, distribution theory, estimation of simple statistical models, and hypothesis testing.

Introduces elementary statistical analysis and prepares the Ph.D. student for POL-GA 1251. Topics include probability theory, distribution theory, estimation of simple statistical models, and hypothesis testing

Provides working knowledge of some of the quantitative methods used in political science research. Emphasis is on using and critiquing the general linear model. Introduction to categorical data analysis and research methodology

Survey of the main concepts and findings of game theory that are relevant to the study of politics.

Overview of public policymaking process; political participation, organization, and structure; governmental institutions.

This course examines the role that media has played in the politics of the past - examines its ever-expanding influence on the present - and projects a future for its use in political campaigns. In this course we begin with an examination of how the electorate thinks and behaves in our heavily mediated society – and how at the intersection of ‘old’ media, ‘new’ media, and the ‘news’ media - new opportunities exist for combining classic propaganda techniques with contemporary campaign strategies. We will also look at the ‘real time’ campaign strategies being employed by various candidates, so that we may come to our own conclusions as to the success or failure of their approach.

Focuses on the specialized forms of communication options available to political managers to win public support. Emphasis is on implementation of a coordinated communications strategy, message development, persuasion tactics, advertising, and use of media.

Broad overview of important topics in the study of the domestic politics in the United States. Examines in depth the analysis and merits of a selection of contemporary research on political participation, mass opinion, elections, legislative politics, interbranch relations, bureaucratic politics, judicial politics, federalism, inequality, and the role of money in politics. Course goals are to (1) introduce students to important controversies in the study of American domestic politics and (2) encourage students to think rigorously about the process of conducting political research.

A more focused exploration of important topics in the study of the domestic politics of the United States. Examines in depth the analysis and merits of a selection of contemporary research on political participation, mass opinion, elections, legislative politics, interbranch relations, bureaucratic politics, judicial politics, federalism, inequality, and the role of money in politics.

Overview of the emerging field of political economy. Surveys three broad intellectual traditions prominent in the political economy literature: (1) the application of microeconomic, game theoretic, and public choice theory to politics, (2) a focus on institutions and the behavior of their related politics, and (3) Marxian and neo-Marxian approaches. The course requires an understanding of basic microeconomics.

Overview of fundamental contributions to the field of political economy. Covers topics in (1) social choice and collective aggregation of preferences; (2) electoral competition; the spatial model and theories of turnout; and (3) public choice, public economics, and comparative electoral systems. The course requires an understanding of mathematical background at the level of POL-GA 1110 or above.

Basic approaches to comparative political inquiry and the application of these approaches to specific problems of political analysis. Understanding of political phenomena in a comparative perspective.

Introduction to the comparative study of politics in different institutional and cultural settings. Themes covered include the role of institutional ?veto players?; presidential and parliamentary government; bicameral and unicameral legislatures; the institutional structuring of legislative decision making; electoral systems; social capital/civic culture; social and political cleavages; dimensions of policy and ideology; voting; party competition; and the making and breaking of governments.

Introduction to the methodology and to some of the main themes in comparative politics of developing countries. Prepares students to do comparative research through an in-depth coverage of current debate in comparative politics of developing countries and an introduction to the main methodological approaches.

What values guide us as we make choices about using force, ending conflict, protecting human rights, promoting social justice, preserving the environment, and participating in international organizations? This course is designed to provide analytical rigor to the perennial question: What role does ethics play in the conduct of foreign affairs? Principles of realism, liberalism, cosmopolitanism, communitarianism, and supranationalism are considered in light of specific case studies.

Introduction to the practice of policymaking in the United Introduction to the practice of policymaking in the United Nations system. Taught by practitioners from the United Nations, its affiliated agencies, and regional subgroups, and, in some cases, related nongovernmental organizations. Topics change depending on the expertise of the practitioner teaching the course. Note: Ph.D. students may not take this course.

Introduction to the practice of policymaking in the United Nations system. Taught by practitioners from the United Nations, its affiliated agencies, and regional subgroups, and, in some cases, related nongovernmental organizations. Topics change depending on the expertise of the practitioner teaching the course. Note: Ph.D. students may not take this course.

Introduction to the practice of policymaking in the United Nations system. Taught by practitioners from the United Nations, its affiliated agencies, and regional subgroups, and, in some cases, related nongovernmental organizations. Topics change depending on the expertise of the practitioner teaching the course. Note: Ph.D. students may not take this course.

Introduction to the practice of policymaking in the United Nations system. Taught by practitioners from the United Nations, its affiliated agencies, and regional subgroups, and, in some cases, related nongovernmental organizations. Topics change depending on the expertise of the practitioner teaching the course. Note: Ph.D. students may not take this course.

Core course that covers two crucial areas in international relations: cooperation and political economy. Covers general theories of cooperation that are useful for understanding cooperation across issue areas including human rights, peacekeeping, and international trade and finance in international politics.

Survey of modern approaches to the study on international conflict. Emphasis is placed on rigorous scientific approaches that use models to derive testable implication as to conflict relations.

Introduction to formal modeling and deductive theorizing. Main tools of analysis used are decision theory, game theory, andIntroduction to formal modeling and deductive theorizing. Main tools of analysis used are decision theory, game theory, and social choice theory.

Nature and functions of theory, particularly Marxist dialectic, that attempt to analyze political phenomena systematically; historical, sociological, psychological, and phenomenological research; classical and current works.

Survey of the main concepts and findings of game theory that are relevant to the study of politics.

Builds on G53.1120. Provides working knowledge of some of the quantitative methods used in political science research. Emphasis is on using and critiquing the general linear model. IntroduBuilds on G53.1120. Provides working knowledge of some of the quantitative methods used in political science research. Emphasis is on using and critiquing the general linear model. Introduction to categorical data analysis and research methodology.

Builds on G53.1120 and G53.2127. Concentrates more specifically on political science research methods. Emphasis is on problems of research design and data collection; statistical solutions; new approaches to research methods, data analysis, theories of data, and statistical theory.

Covers statistical models of discrete and limited dependent variables leading to the problem of nonrandom selection and appropriate ways of handling it. Focuses on selection models, using probit, logit, and tobit analysis and applying them to the origins of democracy and the impact of political regimes and institutions.

Fundamentals of modern communist thought; writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and their major critics. Emphasis is on communism as the unrealized potential of capitalism and therefore more on what in capitalism suggests this potential and less on the precapitalist societies that called themselves ?communist.?

Analysis of democratic procedures, or rules of play, that (1) reflect the interests of the citizens in elections and (2) respect due process and rule of law in the fair division of public and private goods. By making precise the properties of these procedures and clarifying trade-offs among them, mathematics strengthens the intellectual foundations of democratic institutions. While mathematical training is helpful in understanding some topics in the course, more important is the ability to think carefully and rigorously about the nature of democracy and its institutions.

The focus of this course is on two essential features of democracy: (1) how individual preferences can be aggregated to give a social choice or election outcome that reflects as accurately as possible the preferences of the electorate; (2) how public and private goods can be divided in a way that is fair, respects due process, and is consonant with the rule of law. Democracy is taken to mean representative democracy, in which citizens vote for representatives, from a president on down, who represent different constituencies. But referendums, in which citizens vote directly for leaders or in support or opposition to propositions—just as they did in assemblies in ancient Greece—will also be analyzed. So will special institutions, like the Electoral College, and practices like gerrymandering.  Emphasis will be given to procedures or algorithms—the rules of play of games—that produce outcomes. By making precise properties that one wishes a voting or fair-division procedures to satisfy and clarifying relationships among these properties, mathematical analysis can strengthen the intellectual foundations on which democratic institutions are built. But because there may be no procedure or institution that satisfies all the properties one might desire, tradeoffs among the properties will be studied. In the case of procedures that have actually been used, practical problems of implementation will be discussed.

Builds on POL-GA 1250 and 1251. Concentrates more specifically on political science research methods. Emphasis is on problems of research design, data collection, statistical solutions, data analysis, and statistical theory.

Builds on POL-GA 2127. Provides students the skills necessary to conduct their own independent quantitative research, with a focus on understanding the causal implications of their analyses. By the end of course, students should be comfortable conducting their own independent research using observational or experimental data.

Advanced analysis of the concepts and findings of game theory as relevant to the study of politics.

The topics will vary from year to year, but may include strategic models of communication, conflict, and elections.

Survey research and other important methodological approaches to empirical analysis in political science. Students are exposed to important political data sources and major computer programs used by social scientists.

Major and minor American parties; varieties of state and local systems; leadership patterns, structural characteristics, roles, functions, and behavior of electorate.

Analysis of U.S. election processes through theoretical and practical approaches to the study of voting, campaigns, and elections. Studies role of parties, pressure groups, media, polls, etc.

Focuses on the current state of research in public opinion and in media. The course?s analytical focus is divided between psychological and rational choice-based explanations. Students also explore the role of experimental research methods.

This course considers the basic questions of policy analysis, as applied to crime: What is the nature and extent of the problem? What are the options for dealing with it? What are the likely consequences of pursuing each possible mix of crime control activities? Of those bundles of outcomes, which is the most attractive? Crime control policy also provides a window into the practice of policy analysis, and an intellectually challenging opportunity to apply social science concepts to real-world problems.

Criminal justice; environmental health; drug policy; rapid urbanization; mobility; job creation; fiscal sustainability: these are a few of the pressing challenges faced by cities around the globe. This course, led by the principal scholars at the Marron Institute of Urban Management, will enable students to develop informed opinions about urban policy, to defend those opinions with good analysis, and to understand the logic behind differing perspectives.

This course examines the role of transportation technologies on the changing shape of cities. With each new mode, from streetcars to private automobiles, the city has undergone a dramatic reordering by enabling people to access new swaths of undeveloped land on the periphery and fill in vacant sites in existing cities. By tracing these transportation revolutions, we can see new settlement patterns and behaviors emerge.

Advanced-level study of policymaking process in federal politics and research issues raised by it. Emphasis is on interaction of policy analysis and political institutions. Some prior knowledge of public policy is assumed.

Policy analysis is the discipline of thought that considers how to make and implement policy choices in the public interest. Policy analysis is a pragmatic discipline: it uses the social and natural sciences as inputs, but its principal output is advice to decision-makers (including citizens) rather than new theoretical or empirical knowledge. Led by one of America's foremost public policy scholars, Professor Mark Kleiman, this course will focus on techniques for comparing the advantages and disadvantages of policy options: benefit-cost analysis, cost/effectiveness analysis, discounting (choice over time), and decision analysis (choice under uncertainty). In each case, we will be measuring achievable outcomes against one another, rather than against some imagined ideal, asking always the policy analyst's stock question: "Compared to what?"

Conducts a systematic analysis of the ways through which preferences of individuals and groups are transformed into policies in democratic societies. Surveys models of politics and illuminates paradoxes and puzzles from a rational choice perspective. Focuses on the incentives and constraints faced by political actors when choosing public policies.

Introduction to growth economics, the impact of intracountry inequality on growth, the effects of voter preferences and government policies on economic growth. Knowledge of some economics (microeconomics with calculus), game-theory (perfect Bayesian equilibrium), and statistics (OLS) is assumed.

Emphasis is on political institutions, beliefs, and behavior in their social and cultural setting. Longevity of centralization, myth of the public good, and the quest for accountable and stable government are among the subjects examined.

Assesses the issues and debates in the current literature on the political economy of development; analyzes principal characteristics of the contemporary world economy, especially patterns of inequality and the varying explanations for their emergence.

Comparative analysis of selected aspects of state formation, political identity, development, and political discourse in the countries of Arab North Africa.

The aim of this course is to provide students with an international perspective on urbanization and to introduce them to the theory, the evidence, and the practical tools necessary to formulate and put into practice effective policies that can respond to rapid urbanization in countries the world over, policies that can ensure that cities grow in a productive, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient manner in the decades to come

Political analysis of the Middle East, covering such issues as class and state formation, political economy of oil, problems of development, rural and urban politics, regional conflict, politics of gender, and religious identity.

Specific subject matter varies from semester to semester. Topics may include politics of the Andean region, urban politics in Latin America, Brazilian politics, and redemocratization of Latin America.

Major forces affecting political development of Latin America; different approaches to comparative politics as applied to this area, with focused case studies pursued in detail.

Introductory course that examines the historical roots of strategic doctrine in the 20th century and contemporary nuclear and conventional defense. Also covers arms control and disarmament problems.

Analysis of negotiation and diplomatic processes based on an examination of different approaches (e.g., game-theoretic and cultural); application to specific cases.

American foreign policy and the major international problems facing the United States today.

U.S. corporate and governmental policy toward Latin America; trends in Latin American and Caribbean migration to the United States; strategies of resource-rich Latin American nations toward technology-rich United States.

Evaluates recent trends in East Asian and Pacific economic and political developments. The character of economic growth, the nature of the political systems, and implications of recent dynamism. Overall trends are analyzed with discussion focused on three distinct regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

A general introduction to the field: evolution of the international political economy, international cooperation, international institutions, international trade and finance policy, macroeconomic policy coordination

Functions, operation, structurFunctions, operation, structure, and accomplishments of the United Nations and the specialized organizations. Emphasis is on international organization as an approach to peace.

Rules that govern in the legal relationship and current development of law among nations, based on the study of cases. The use of the law for the regulation of international behavior and environment.

General seminar in political philosophy. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar that assumes extensive background.

General seminar in political philosophy. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar that assumes extensive background.

This subfield workshop is a 2-credit (pass/fail) subfield workshop, intended to aid students in developing presentation and workshop participation skills that are crucial for scholarly participation in political theory, a subfield of political science focused on the normative and philosophical analysis of politics. The course consists of weekly research presentations in the field of political theory and political philosophy. Some weeks are research presentations by outside, invited speakers who are doing cutting edge work in the subfield. Other weeks are research presentations by NYU Politics PhD students and visiting PhD students (the latter when space permits). The course is open to Ph.D. students in the Politics Department in years 2 through 4 for enrollment, and to students in year 1 and year 5 for auditing. Visiting PhD students and PhD students in other departments may audit with permission of the instructor.

The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background.

The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background

Presentations and extended discussions of current cutting research projects in the subfield by internal students in the program and a mix of internal and external faculty.

Focuses on the issues in philosophy of science, ethics of research, and methodology to lay the foundation for how to do effective social science research.

General seminar in American government. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background.

General seminar in American government. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background.

Presentations and extended discussions of current cutting research projects in the subfield by internal students in the program and a mix of internal and external faculty.

General seminar in political economy. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar that assumes extensive background.

General seminar in comparative politics. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background.

General seminar in comparative politics. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced seminar requiring extensive background.

Presentations and extended discussions of current cutting research projects in the subfield by internal students in the program and a mix of internal and external faculty.

General seminar in international politics. The specific topic of the seminar varies, but this is an advanced course requiring extensive background.

Presentations and extended discussions of current cutting research projects in the subfield by internal students in the program and a mix of internal and external faculty

Individual research related to the doctoral dissertation.

Continues the student?s education in how to do political research and is seen as a key aspect in helping students to complete in a timely manner, and improve the quality of, their dissertation (and related) research.

Tutorial for students whose individual needs are not met by formal courses. A substantial research paper or final examination is required.

Tutorial for students whose individual needs are not met by formal courses. A substantial research paper or final examination is required.

Tutorial for students whose individual needs are not met by formal courses. A substantial research paper or final examination is required.

Required course for students in the M.A. and M.A. international affairs programs completing their internship requirement.

Required capstone course for students in the M.A. and M.A in international affairs programs. Support for thesis-writing process.