Political Science Courses |
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First Year Seminars The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details here.
Not all courses are offered every year. Please check the Department’s website for the list of courses offered in 2010-11. Almost all upper-level
POL courses have Prerequisites. Students without course
Prerequisites will be removed at any time they are discovered. 100-Series Courses Note: Students may enrol in only one of the following courses: POL101Y1, POL103Y1, POL105Y1, POL108Y1.
ALL 100-series POL courses are mutually exclusive. Students enrolled in
more than one of these courses (or completed one of these courses or a previous
POL 100-series course with a mark of at least 50%) will be removed at any
time they are discovered. POL101Y1 This course is an introductory survey of the main currents and important themes in political science, emphasizing the subdisiplines of international relations, comparative politics, and political theory. POL103Y1 This course introduces students to politics using a comparative approach; it examines the variety of political regimes thatexist around the world, with particular attention to Canada.Emphasis is placed on how distinctive regimes reflect the differentpast and present social and economic settings of countries. POL105Y1 An introduction to fundamental questions about the relation between ethics and politics. Do the constraints of political life entail a different set of ethical standards for individuals and groups than in other domains of life? How do various kinds of ethical issues become political ones? How should ethical disagreements be handled politically? POL108Y1 This course introduces students to the theory and practice of global networks and how networks differ from states and markets. The course begins with an overview of the differences between states, markets and networks in global politics. It then turns to several cases of contemporary networks, including terrorist, civil society, ethnic, and financial networks. The course concludes with an examination of the many challenges of regulating, hacking and holding accountable global networks in the 21st century. POL200Y1 A selective presentation of critical encounters between philosophy and politics, dedicated to the quest for articulation and founding of the just/good society. Among the theorists examined are Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Locke. POL201Y1 A survey of the developmental challenges facing societies in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and the efficacy of various development strategies and policies in meeting these challenges. POL203Y1 An introduction to U.S. government and politics within an analytical framework that helps us understand how institutions structure incentives and decisions in the U.S. system. This class examines the political forces that forged contemporary American institutions to understand how these political institutions continue to provide stability while allowing opportunities for political change. We investigate whether these forces make American institutions different and why. Special attention is paid to current events and contemporary policy dilemmas. POL207Y1 An introduction to comparative politics with a focus on Western Europe: types of democracy, changing economic and social governance, organized interests in Europe, party landscape, social movements. Special attention to Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and the European Union. POL208Y1 The course analyzes the impact of the individual, the nation-state, and the international and transnational systems on international conflict and conflict resolution, and examines the major problems the international community confronts in a rapidly changing international environment. POL214Y1 Canada’s political system including the Constitution and institutional pillars of governance: cabinet and parliament, federalism, the Charter of Rights. Topics include: political parties, the electoral system, policymaking and public administration. Issues include identity, citizenship, ideology and political culture, regionalism, language politics, aboriginals, multiculturalism, gender, media, and interest groups. POL215Y1 This course provides a comparative analysis of selected countries of East and Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on changing views of citizenship as they have been shaped by political, socio-economic and cultural transformations in the region. The first term deals with the idea of the developmental state, inequality, democratization and nationalism. The second term takes up questions related to governance and corruption, culture, demographic changes and nascent forms of regionalism and globalization. POL242Y1 This course is aimed at helping Political Science students to understand and use the quantitative methods and research designs now widely employed throughout the discipline. POL299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details here.
Note: Enrolment in POL 300-series courses is limited. See Registration Handbook
and Timetable for details. POL300H1 POL300Y1 An introduction to the field of comparative politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. JMC301Y1 This course explores China’s efforts to construct a modern and effective political order in the face of powerful demographic and revolutionary challenges. The clash between competing ideologies, political and social movements and institutional alternatives in the context of rapid social and economic change are analyzed. (Given by the Departments of East Asian Studies and Political Science) POL301Y1 The continuing relevance of pre-colonial Africa; the nature and legacy of colonial rule; African nationalism and the consolidation of power in the newly-independent states; government, party and the people; the role of the military; national integration; dependency and neo-colonialism; socialism and development; democracy and human rights. JHP304Y1 The history of Ukraine from earliest times to the present. Economic, political, and cultural movements; Kievan Rus’, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Cossack state, national revival, twentieth century statehood, and unification. As this course is designed as an introductory course, the professor welcomes first- and second-year students to enroll, as well as upper-level students. (Given by the Departments of History and Political Science) POL305Y1 The colonial heritage, the failure of nation-states to develop as integrated and autonomous power structures, dependent capitalism and political order, contrasting types of domination, rigid monopolization and the flexible use of the state by the ruling sectors, national revolution and the socialist alternative. POL311Y1 A study of the ideas that underlie Canadian politics emphasizing the similarities and differences between political parties. The sources and nature of liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism, and multiculturalism in Canada. POL312Y1 Canada’s response to the challenges of globalization and the post-cold war world. The major alternative theoretical approaches, the changing doctrines and patterns of Canadian foreign policy fROM 1945 to the present, the making of Canadian foreign policy, relations with the United States, within NAFTA, and with other global regions. POL313Y1 Psychological implications of political theories. Attention to alternative approaches to research and theorizing. The bearing of psychological perspectives on political issues. POL315H1 An interdisciplinary examination of the development of political visibility by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered in the contemporary period; and an analysis of public policy on and state regulation of sexual diversity in Canada, the U.S., Europe, with additional attention paid to developments in Latin America, East Asia, and Africa. POL316Y1 Constitutional, political, administrative, and financial aspects of federal-provincial relations, regionalism, and cultural dualism. POL317Y1 Draws from the major theoretical traditions in public policy and policymaking of the advanced industrial world, and applies these theories in understanding the developing world context and the new challenges of global change. POL318H1 Deals with the political economy of Canada’s position in North America. Starting with Harold Innis’s theory of staple growth and the debate about the role of foreign investment in its economic (mis)development, we examine how Canada, having long resisted continental economic integration, turned to free trade as a panacea in THE 1980s. The course ends with a detailed investigation of NAFTA’s significance for Canadian public policy options in the light of the US war on terrorism. POL319Y1 The American Constitution and the Supreme Court’s role in its exposition and development. The fundamental principles of the constitution, judicial power, federalism, civil rights, freedom of speech and religion, criminal procedure. Discussion of Supreme Court cases. Comparisons with Canadian constitutional law throughout. POL320Y1 The development of political thought from the Enlightenment and through the 19th century; implications for political thought in the 20th century. Democratic and anti-democratic tendencies. POL321H1 Theoretical approaches to ethnic conflict and accommodation. Case studies drawn from: West Europe: conflict (Northern Ireland, Spain), consociation (Switzerland), and treatment of immigrant minorities; Israel and South Africa; East European disintegration: Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia; collapse of former Soviet Union and conflict / state-building in post-Soviet space. POL323H1 An exploration of the issue of justice among nations. Is such justice genuine or is it largely spurious? What are the prospects for a just international order? Careful examination and thorough discussion of texts by Thucydides, Rousseau, Kant, and other first-rate thinkers on these issues. POL324H1 Integration in Europe: examines the forces that have historically divided and united the European continent. Particular attention is paid to the politics of regional disparities, the European Union and its institutions, and the dilemmas of including Europe’s peripheries into broader economic and security structures of the continent. POL326Y1 The foreign policy of the United States: tradition and context of American decision-making, the process by which it is formulated, application to a number of specific regions and problems in the world. POL330H1 The relationship between the individual’s quest for the good life and the political order. The role of the wise person in civil society. Study of a small number of texts. POL332Y1 A study of the role, autonomy, and power of courts in countries with different political regimes (USA, France, Russia), and of the problem of legal transition in formerly authoritarian, especially post-communist states. POL334H1 Study and analysis of the major events and issues in Quebec society and politics. Concentrates on recent years and on the political implications of post-war economic and social change. POL335H1 The course is designed to trace Japan’s rise to global prominence in the 20th century. Why has globalization in recent years prompted such extraordinary political and economic difficulties in Japan? The areas of discussion include also social and cultural aspects of modern public life. POL336H1 Government and politics in Canada’s most populous province. Topics include the historical, socio-economic, and comparative settings of provincial politics. Attention is devoted to institutions, parties and elections, intergovernmental relations and the policy continuities and discontinuities of recent years. POL337Y1 The moral foundations, historical events, political forces and legal ideas that have shaped the Canadian constitution; the roots, legacies, and judicial interpretation of the Constitution ACT 1867, the Constitution ACT 1982, and in particular the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the politics of constitutional change; “differentiated citizenship”, “rights talk”, and the judicialization of politics. POL340Y1 International law as an instrument of conflict resolution. Recognition, sovereign immunity, subjects of international law, jurisdiction. POL341H1 Political economy of Canada’s position in the world trading system. Starting with globalization (understood as the economic and technological forces driving the integration of capital, production, and distribution markets across national borders) and global governance (institutional structures and rules established to manage countries’ international economic behaviour), we focus on how, in the new security context of the US war on terrorism, the World Trade Organization affects Canada’s capacity to develop policies for cultural, economic and environmental development. JPP343Y1 An examination of selected texts in ancient and modern political theory focusing on the conceptual division between private and public spheres of activity and the theorization of sexual difference and sexual equality. Examines contemporary feminist perspectives in political theory. (Given by the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science) POL343Y1 The history and politics of international governance, with particular emphasis on the League of Nations and its 19th century antecedents, the United Nations and the emergence of nongovernmental organizations; informal institutions and structures; and specific issue areas such as development, trade, finance, human rights and the POL344H1 A comparative examination of the development of a variety of social movements, and their engagement with state institutions. Among the activist movements being examined are those dealing with gender, the environment, and labour. POL345Y1 An introduction to Israeli politics, society, institutions and political practice from the perspective of the development of Israeli identity (identities). Particular attention will be given to the sources of Israeli identity, to the main players involved in its politics, and to the role of regional war and the peace process in its development and inner conflicts. POL349H1 Cities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are rapidly reconstituted in a globalized world. This course introduces basic ideas of urbanization to then focus on the diversity and connections in the way city politics happens. Both in a ‘ground-up’ way, and also influenced by larger forces and interests. POL351Y1 An introduction to gender and politics that examines women as political actors and their activities in formal and grassroots politics. The course also explores the impact of gender in public policy and how public policies shape gender relations. Cases to be drawn on include Canada, other countries in North America and Europe, and the developing world. POL354Y1 Explores tensions between democracy and authoritarianism after communist rule. Topics include: legacy of Soviet Union; political leadership; presidential power and executive - legislative conflict; federalism; elections and parties; civil society; ethnonationalism; corruption and organized crime. POL356Y1 The evolution and setting of Canada’s federal and provincial party systems. Topics include historical and theoretical perspectives, ideology, leadership selection, elections, financing, media, and representing interests. POL357H1 Selected issues in South Asian politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL359Y1 The course provides an overview of the salient issues in the past enlargement rounds, furnishing the context for the study of current and future integration efforts. Readings will cover the current round of enlargement to the Central and East European countries, efforts related to South-Eastern Europe, as well as Turkey. Issues between the EU and Ukraine and Russia will also be studied, as will the relationship between the Union and its Southern Rim. Security issues related to NATO integration and operations will also be covered. JPR364H1 This course examines the evolving role of religions in contemporary public, political contexts. Themes include: democracy and secularism; religion, human rights, law and justice; party politics, identity-formation and citizenship; gender and sexuality; interreligious conflict. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion) POL366Y0 This course examines the politics and societies of Central Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. It deals with the key issues in the post-communist period including minority-majority relations, the profound social, political and economic changes since the fall of communism, and the “return to Europe”. POL367Y0 This course focuses on the dynamic changes that have been taking place in Australia siNCE 1901. It examines Australia’s rich indigenous and non-indigenous history; the complexity and challenges of Australia’s migration and multiculturalism; key issues and practices in contemporary Australian politics; the complex interplay between institutional processes, political interest and the media; and the dynamics of Australia’s engagement with the region and the rest of the world. POL368Y0 From empires to modern states, ethnic wars and peace building to European Union integration, Southeastern Europe provides a fascinating case study for students in areas of politics, history, and conflict resolution. Through coursework and field trips to the major regional cities, students can witness first-hand the transformation of this critical area. POL370H1 Organized around important topics in the study of international political economy. It explores the political underinnings of the global economy and the economic forces reshaping contemporary political environments. Specific policy issues are treated in a context that evaluates the explanatory power of various theoretical approaches. POL371H1 This course applies a relational perspective of economic action which emphasizes context, path-dependence and contingency. It explores the intentions, opportunities and constraints of economic agency by analyzing the interdependencies between institutions at different levels and industrial organization, interaction, innovation and evolution, thus exploring the spatial construction of the political economy. POL372H1 The goal of this course is to explore the structure of the German political economy in the context of EU integration and economic globalisation. Drawing upon the varieties-of-capitalism approach, the main themes in the course will analyse the institutional conditions for growth. In a comparative perspective, the course explores the role of collective agents, corporate governance, collective bargaining, social security systems, population structure, immigration, reunification and their regional manifestations. POL373H1 The emotions have become a new focus in political theory. We will explore some of these debates with particular attention to competing understandings of the emotions and of their place in politics in the history of political thought. JPR374Y1 This course examines the role of a variety of religious forms and spiritual practices in the politics of postcolonial societies, tracing their genealogies from the colonial period to the present. Cases taken principally from Africa and Asia. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion) POL375H1 An introduction to the political implications of the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. We will read one major book of the Bible in the Fall term (usually Genesis or Exodus), and expand our focus in the second. POL376Y1 Set against the backdrop of the rise of China, this course examines the dynamics of global change from comparative and Chinese perspectives. Themes include international security, political economy, political development and democracy, global climate change, economic development, poverty and inequality, corruption, technology innovation, among others. POL377H1 Political economy as a tool for understanding and evaluating the political world. The course introduces students to the use of microeconomic reasoning to understand political phenomena. Combines theory, methods, and insights derived from economics and political science and applies them to a range of substantive issues. POL380H1 POL380Y1 Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL381H1 POL381Y1 A detailed examination of particular authors or topics in political theory. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL395H1 POL396H1 POL397Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in a faculty research project. Offered only when a faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Interested faculty review plans with the Undergraduate Director, and then make the opportunity known to students as appropriate. Check with Undergraduate Office for more details and faculty proposal form. POL398H0 POL399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details here.
Note Enrolment is limited in all Political Science and Joint Political ScieNCE
400-series courses. See Registration Handbook and Timetable for details. POL401H1 This course addresses the global trading system by examining the political, economic, legal, and institutional forces that shape today’s contemporary international system. It focuses particularly on the tension that have been generated between these globalizing technological and economic factors and the continuing efforts to protect national autonomy. At the top of the global trade regime sits the World Trade Organization which has emerged as the adjudicator of global trade law. Canada is equally affected by the North American Free Trade Agreement which, with the WTO, has reconstructed the governance of North America. POL402H1 Study of a small number of texts illuminating the origins and/or legacy of Socratic political philosophy. POL403H1 The course examines the late colonial state with examples drawn mostly from South Asia and Africa. The theoretical material used is from the field of colonialism postcolonial studies. Amongst the themes that may be examined are colonial governmentality and the production of identities. POL405Y1 A study of Marxism as political economy and philosophy with emphasis upon dialectics. Begins with Aristotle, Smith, Kant, Hegel and Marx. Includes Lenin, Trotsky, Bukharin, Preobrazhensky, Pashukanis, Hilferding, Bernstein, Kautsky, Luxemburg, Korsch, Gramsci, Marcuse, Lukacs, Althusser, Habermas. Theme: relations between science, economics, politics, law and philosophy. POL407Y1 What are the implications of accounts of human beginnings for our understanding of political life? We compare the book of Genesis with such appropriate counterparts from the classical and modern western traditions as Hesiod’s Theogony, Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, and Rousseau’s Second Discourse. POL408H1 This course explores technological change, its socio-economic consequences, spatial implications and aspects of economic policies. As future growth in the knowledge-based economy will be increasingly associated with new products, services and processes, questions of innovation performance and support policy are decisive at the firm, regional and national levels. POL409H1 The course explores the centrality of science and technology in political affairs generally and its current significance for public policy in particular. It applies the conceptual tools of political economy to analyze the nature of technological change in industrial democracies. It assesses the social and political consequences of the current wave of technological innovation and alternative responses of industrial democracies. (Offered in alternate years) JPA410H1 The course explores the ways in which identity has been empowered, represented, and institutionalized in Asia’s emerging democracies; how identity claims challenge historically notions of state and nation; various ways in which democracy is being shaped and challenged by demands for identity recognition. Thematic, cross-regional approach; pan-Asian (East, Southeast, South Asia). (Given by the Department of Political Science and the Dr. David Chu Program is Asia Pacific Studies). POL410H1 POL410Y1 Selected issues in comparative politics. Varies from year to year. POL411H1 The course explains why financial markets exist, and their evolution, by looking at the agents, actors, and institutions that generate demand for them. We also consider the consequences of increasingly integrated markets, the causes of systemic financial crises, as well as the implications and feasibility of regulation. POL412Y1 Human rights have become dominant in international politics since the end of World War II. The process of creating and implementing human rights is political. We explore historical, philosophical, and empirical explanations of the roots, effects, and implications of human rights today through a variety of topics. POL413H1 Examines the challenges faced by humanity in dealing with global environmental problems and the politics of addressing them. Focuses on both the underlying factors that shape the politics of global environmental problems – such as scientific uncertainty, North-South conflict, and globalization – and explores attempts at the governance of specific environmental issues. POL414H1 Enlargement of NATO and the EU into the former communist states of central and eastern Europe. Ukraine and some other post-communist states will be used as case studies to explain why some countries were successful in integration into NATO and the EU and the factors that blocked the integration of other states. POL415H1 The role of nationalism, myths and identity in the transitions within post-communist states. Ukraine and other former Soviet states will be used as case studies to investigate the role of regionalism, nation-building, inter-ethnic relations, historical myths and language in their state building processes. POL416Y1 This course explores the nature and evolution of the international system, from both theoretical and historical perspectives. The primary concern of the course is with the maintenance of order in any international system, as it has been created and maintained historically, and how theory suggests it might be attained. We will examine, using contending theoretical perspectives, such questions as how systemic characteristics evolve, what creates equilibrium within a particular system, which forces cause upheaval or destruction, and what impacts such changes have on the units within the system. POL417Y1 The countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East; their impact on the international system, and the external and internal factors that influence their international behaviour, with particular focus on civil wars. POL418H1 The social and economic problems faced by large third world cities; relationship between urban politics and the kinds of solutions that are advanced. Settlement issues and low-cost housing policies, unemployment and marginal populations, the dynamics of urban government, and the politics of planning. POL419Y1 The use of advanced data analysis techniques in the social sciences, management and analysis of large datasets, techniques of multivariate analysis, problems of causal inference and interpretation of data. POL420Y1 Seminar on the tradition, process, and implementation of American foreign policy. JPA420H1 Course explores the rise of Asia and its integration into the new global economy (labour, capitalism, knowledge economy, economic nationalism, inequality, gender, the meaning of capitalism, democracy, among others), exposing students to different disciplinary perspectives. Geographical coverage is pan-Asian, including East, Southeast and South Asia. . (Given by the Department of Political Science and the Dr. David Chu Program is Asia Pacific Studies) JPJ421H1 The seminar explores the global expansion of judicial power, the constitutionalization of rights and the fortification of judicial review. The international migration of constitutional ideas; comparative analysis of constitutional courts and rights jurisprudence; theories of judicial behaviour; the judicialization of politics worldwide; and the impact of constitutional jurisprudence on social change. POL421H1 The course offers an introduction to the seminal work of Jewish philosophy, ‘The Guide of the Perplexed’ by Moses Maimonides. We will delve into some of the basic themes of Jewish philosophical theology and religion as they are treated by Maimonides. POL422H1 We will explore nationalities issues. We examine interpretations of the development and role of ethnic politics and ethnonationalism in the Soviet Union, especially its role in the disintegration of the Soviet state. We then explore the role of ethnonationalism in state building and interstate relations in the successor states. POL423H1 The course examines government finance at the sub-national and national level across developed democracies. It investigates how economic, political and institutional factors are transformed into budgetary policy especially during times of fiscal constraint. Comparative analysis, budgeting theory, and case studies inform this seminar. POL425Y1 An examination of the basic ideas underlying Canada’s multicultural policies, especially as explained by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and some interpretations of Canadian practice by political theorists, especially Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka. POL426H1 This course provides an in-depth introduction to theories of the origins of democracy and dictatorship. In the first part of the course, we examine and compare theories rooted in economic development, voluntarism, institutional design, and historical institutionalism. The latter half of the course applies these different approaches to debates over the origins of Nazi rule in Germany in THE 1930s, military dictatorship in Chile in THE 1970s, and non-democratic rule in contemporary Russia. POL427H1 This course examines the theoretical presuppositions orienting the construction of the behaviour and skills of democratic citizenship; simultaneously, students consider what is involved. The course consists of three parts: No One Truth, Evoking the Other, and the Spirit of Equality. POL429H1 The main theories of ethnic conflict, ethnic violence and nationalism. Focus on the challenges of multiethnic diversity and nationalism for democracy. Origins of nations; construction of ethnic identities; nationalism in the 21st century; causes of ethnic conflict, ethnic riots, and ethnic violence; democracy and ethnic diversity; multination states and democracy. POL430Y1 A comparative examination of major texts of the Jewish tradition, ranging from the Torah to modernity, and texts of the classical or Western traditions raising similar questions. Close reading of a small number of capital works, with special attention to the problem of reason and revelation. POL431Y1 Issues and themes in China’s modernization effort with emphasis on 20th century social, political and economic developments. POL432H1 Feminist theory offers basic challenges to the foundations of modern political and legal thought. It suggests a different conception of human nature and a different model of epistemology and of appropriate forms of argument about the traditional issues of legal and political theory: justice, power, equality and freedom. Introduction to the foundations of feminist theory, an analysis of its implications for traditional liberal theory, and an application of feminist theory to law. POL433H1 Selected issues and topics in U.S. politics. Varies from year to year. POL434Y1 This course explores, through the writings of its foremost advocates and adversaries, the Enlightenment, the movement to found political life on the principles of scientific reason, universally applicable and accessible to human beings. POL436Y1 Explores a range of questions about political community in the modern world with attention to the relationship between claims about what political communities ought to be and empirical evidence of actual political arrangements. Focus varies from year to year. POL437H1 Law in the governance of Russia, in the Soviet and post Soviet periods, including constitutional development, courts, business disputes, crime and criminal justice, corruption, cultural obstacles to legal order, and legal transition in comparative perspective. POL438H1 POL438Y1 Selected issues in comparative politics. Varies from year to year. JPD439Y1 The development of post-modern thought, particularly in French social philosophy is examined. Topics such as the nature of exchange, the impact of technology, virtual reality, the digital class are explored. Authors include Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Gilles Deleuze, Arthur Kroker, Fracois Lyotard. POL439H1 This course examines contemporary Canadian social policy in light of the scholarly literature on the welfare states of advanced industrial societies. Topics include the variety of welfare state regimes in rich nations, and their comparative performance in reducing inequality and poverty, in labour market and economic outcomes, and in JHP440Y1 The seminar explores the use of gender as a category of analysis in the study of international relations. Topics include gendered imagery and language in foreign policymaking; beliefs about women’s relationship to war and peace; issues of gender, sexuality, and the military; and contributions of feminist theory to international relations theory. (Given by the Departments of History and Political Science) POL440Y1 Comparative analysis of the former Communist states of Eastern Europe and the post-Communist successor states. This course also focuses on the dilemmas of transition and the problems of democratic consolidation in the region. POL441H1 Selected issues in Asian politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL442H1 This seminar starts with a brief consideration of democratic transitions in Latin America in the last 25 years. It then concentrates on the prospects and challenges of democratic consolidation in the region, while exploring the capacity/potential of institutional reform to address the fault-lines of democracy. POL443H1 POL443Y1 Selected issues in comparative politics. Varies from year to year. POL444Y1 An examination of the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Philosophy of Right. POL446H1 The goal of this course is to introduce students to some of the themes and approaches of critical theory (power, subjectivity, ideology, and hegemony). POL447Y1 This course explores the rise, evolution, and performance of the dominant neoliberal approach to development and poverty reduction. It also assesses the feasibility and efficacy of alternative development strategies. Case studies are drawn from Latin America, Asia, and Africa. POL448H1 One of the central purposes of the course will be to envision ways in which religious and spiritual beliefs could become respectable dimensions of legal, political, and academic discourse while sustaining a deep respect for pluralism and attending to the dangers that require the separation of church and state. POL449H1 This course surveys qualitative methods used in political science research. After briefly reviewing positivist and interpretivist research traditions, the course covers the ideal-typical and practical use of specific qualitative methods such as fieldwork, interviewing, archival research, participant observation, ethnography, counterfactuals, discourse analysis, and multiple-methods approaches. POL450H1 This course uses theories of representation as well as gender and politics analyses of elected women as starting points to evaluate appointed women elites at the international level, notably with reference to linkages between those decision-makers and feminist perspectives on domestic and global politics. POL452Y1 What is multilevel governance? Sources, structure, actors, processes, challenges. Focus on organizing redistributive policies, participation and accountability. The European Union compared with federal and semi-federal systems (e.g. Canada, U.S.A., Germany) and the European Union compared with regional and global regimes (NAFTA, WTO...). POL453Y1 By intensively analyzing the theoretical literature on post-communism we explore the determinants of political and economic change. How did the 28 post-communist countries, having started from basically the same point, end up politically and economically so different? JHP454Y1 World War I and the Russian Revolution: the Ukrainian independence movement; the Soviet Ukraine and west Ukrainian lands during the interwar period; World War II and the German occupation; the Soviet Ukraine before and after the death of Stalin. Socio-economic, cultural, and political developments. (Given by the Departments of History and Political Science) (Offered every three years) JPF455Y1 Examines disciplinary and developmental boundaries relating to cities. By bringing together a cross-disciplinary faculty who focus on cities within Political Science, History, Philosophy, Literature, Design, Environment and Health, Geography or Social Work, the course explores inter-disciplinary city issues: global change; environment; economic adjustment; state reform and city politics; citizenship; community development; economic development; physical form, territory and political-economy of cities. (Given by the Departments of Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Urban Studies, Faculty of Social Work and Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design) POL455Y1 Political Science is defined by the content of its investigations, not its methods. In this class, we will explore the conceptual, analytic and practical issues arising in the conduct of research in Political Science. With illustrations provided by guest speakers sharing their own research, the class contrasts and compares the diverse approaches taken by Political Scientists when they conduct their research to understand common dilemmas faced by researchers. The class culminates with a research design proposal incorporating knowledge of the approaches covered during the class. POL456Y1 The development, operation, and participants of the Group of Eight (G8) and Group of Twenty (G20) of institutions, their growth and performance as centres of global governance, and their relationship with the United Nations (UN) and Bretton Woods galaxy in providing public goods in economic, social, environmental and security realms. JPR457H1 What is the philosophical relationship between modern democracy and the secular? How can critical political thought respond to attempts to re-found politics along religious or theo-political lines? What would a project of rethinking the secular ‘all the way down’ entail? This seminar in theory will explore these questions through an examination of dilemmas of sovereignty, community, justice and violence as developed in continental political philosophy - Schmitt, Benjamin, Lefort, Agamben, Derrida, Nancy, Zizek, Badiou. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion). Registration in this course is through the Department of Religion. POL458H1 The course explains why countries trade by looking at historical and contemporary trends in international trade. The course places particular emphasis on the interaction between political and economic processes in advancing trade. An important theme throughout the course is how the distribution of gains is connected to system stability. POL459Y1 The relationship of military force to politics: Nuclear war and deterrence, conventional war, revolutionary war, terrorism and counter-insurgency are examined from the perspectives of the U.S., Russia and other contemporary military powers. POL460H1 Studies on a modern political thinker or thinkers since Machiavelli. JPA461H1 This course explores the intersections of globalization and indigenous politics and introduces students to critical considerations of globalization from the perspective of indigenous peoples. It investigates the dominant economic paradigm as the historical outcome of colonization and examines political and economic alternatives and challenges that various indigenous struggles embody and embrace. Issues explored in the course include indigenous epistemologies, impacts of globalization on indigenous peoples, international indigenous organizing, democratization and political participation, human rights, indigenous economies, contested sovereignties and indigenous social movements. It examines indigenous communities as heterogeneous locations where not only impacts of globalization but forms of engagement and resistance take various forms. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Aboriginal Studies Program.) POL462Y1 Political parties and party systems in Canada, United States and selected European countries. Electoral systems, problems of representation, voting and elections and processes of political change in western democracies. POL463Y1 Lectures relate economic organization to philosophical interpretations of community and citizenship. Philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, Calvin, Smith, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Habermas, Rawls and Hayek. Seminars interpret critical moments of 20th century economic history from the standpoint of philosophy. Does philosophy clarify or obscure the meaning of economic history? POL466H1 For advanced students of international relations. Various topics are taken up each year, the content of which depends on the instructor. POL469H1 The course aims to explore the requirements of justice and fairness in international affairs. It is common to theorize international relations in terms of interests and power. But even the most cursory look at what important actors actually do in their international interactions reveals that they use normative language all the time. This has not gone unnoticed, with investigations of ethics in the international arena multiplying in recent years. Drawing on readings from political philosophy, legal theory, and normative international relations theory, the course will take up practical ethical dilemmas encountered in world affairs. The main focus of the course will be on institutions. Examples will be drawn from the issue areas of trade, health, and the environment, among others. POL470Y1 This senior seminar involves a critical assessment of current foreign policy issues and contemporary world problems. Issues and case studies to be analyzed include: 1. International military interventions to respond to imminent threats or humanitarian crises, issues of legitimacy and effectiveness. e.g., Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Haiti. 2. Canada-US relations in international crisis management, the track record and the way ahead. 3. Globalization, international terrorism, and their effects on sovereignty, diplomacy and international institutions. POL471H1 George Grant’s political, philosophical, and religious thought as found in his six short books and some supplementary readings. Liberalism, modernity, and technology from the stand point of political philosophy and Christian revelation. POL472H1 Topics discussed in this seminar course will include the historical origins of advanced capitalist political economies, the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ debate, current trajectories of different political economies, labour politics and regulation, the politics of macro-economic policy, the political economy of growth, and Canada’s political economy. POL474H1 Major theories of public policy-making and related approaches to policy analysis are examined from the perspective of political science. Key contributions to the theoretical literature pertaining to leading models are read and discussed. Models of public policy-making are successively applied to analysis of cases of Canadian and comparative policy development. POL477H1 This course is designed for advanced students with serious interests in the subfield of international political economy. Specific topics covered will vary, but all involve the deep interplay between politics and economics in the contemporary world. POL479H1 This course examines the contemporary politics of the Middle East and North Africa. It seeks to examine the relative importance of political, socio-economic and ideological factors in the context of such issues as the resilience of authoritarism, the rise of civil society, and the resurgence of Islamic activism. Theoretical discussion is followed by case studies. POL480Y1 Historically, liberalism has coped with the fact of social difference through doctrines of colour - or difference - blindness. Recent feminist and other critics of liberalism have argued that liberal conceptions of justice and impartiality fail to treat members of marginalized groups as equals. This course explores both sides of these debates. POL481Y1 The Geopolitics of ICTs course is an intensive examination of the ways in which states and non-state actors are contesting the newly evolving terrain of global digital-electronic-telecommunications. Topics covered include Internet censorship and surveillance, information warfare, computer network attacks, hacktivism, and governance of global communications. The course is organized as a series of intensive modules. One feature of the class will be a “hands-on” analysis of censorship circumvention and network interrogation techniques at the Citizen Lab (http://www.citizenlab.org/). POL482H1 Considers how disease and epidemics intersect with broader processes of development. Introduces health issues in the developing world. Traces major advances - and setbacks – in improving the health of developing country populations; comparatively considers a number of modern-day and historic epidemics including HIV/AIDS and the Black Death. POL483H1 This course covers growing debates in political theory on the issue of cosmopolitanism. Themes include the basis of universal obligation, its compatibility with nationalism and its implications for global justice. These themes will be explored historically, transculturally and through the lens of post-colonial theory. POL484H1 POL484Y1 A seminar on a central problem in political thought. It proceeds through the reading of a small number of major texts. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL485H1 POL485Y1 A seminar on a central problem in political thought. It proceeds through the reading of a small number of major texts. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL486H1 POL486Y1 For advanced students of international relations. Various topics are taken up each year, the content of which depends on the instructor. POL487H1 POL487Y1 For advanced students of international relations. Various topics are taken up each year, the content of which depends on the instructor. POL488H1 POL488Y1 In depth examination of specific themes relating to contemporary African politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL489H1 POL489Y1 In depth examination of specific themes relating to contemporary African politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL490H1 POL490Y1 Examines in depth enduring and emerging issues in Canadian politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL491H1 POL491Y1 Examines in depth enduring and emerging issues in Canadian politics. Content in any given year depends on instructor. POL492H1 POL492Y1 Selected issues in comparative politics. Varies from year to year. JPJ494H1 This course surveys two of the key themes related to the process of innovation in a knowledge-based economy: the process by which new knowledge is generated and effectively transferred to those organizations with the potential to commercialize it; and secondly, the paradoxical relationship between knowledge creation and proximity in a modern global economy. (Offered in alternate years) POL495Y1 Open only when a Political Science full-time faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Students must find an appropriate supervisor in the Department of Political Science and obtain the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies before enrolling. Obtain details and an application form from the Department Undergraduate Office. POL496H1 POL497H1 Open only when a Political Science full-time faculty member is willing and available to supervise. Students must find an appropriate supervisor in the Department of Political Science and obtain the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies before enrolling. Obtain details and an application form from the Department Undergraduate Office. POL498H1 POL498Y1 Content in any given year depends on instructor. Intensive courses are offered by distinguished visitors from around the world. Students in their 4th year are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this unique opportunity to study with one or more outstanding visiting international scholars that the Department brings from time to time. The intensive course usually runs for approximately 3-4 weeks. POL499Y1 A 40 to 60 page (15,000 to 20,000 word) research paper (75% of final mark) written under the supervision of one faculty member and a companion thesis seminar (25% of final mark). The seminar provides a forum for students to periodically present and discuss their on-going research and to examine issues and approaches related to the structure, organization and presentation of the thesis. |