Government (GOVT)

An exploration of significant questions and concepts, beliefs and creative visions, theories and discoveries in Government for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students' communication skills beyond the written word.

An exploration of a specific topic in Governement. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.

An introduction to the American political system, its institutions and processes.

An introduction to some of the key themes, ideas, and canonical texts within the field of political theory. The course is organized around a central theme, chosen by the instructor (e.g., ‘Democracy and its Critics,’ ‘Authoritarianism,’ ‘Justice,’ or ‘Power’). Readings will be both historical and contemporary in focus, with at least one main thinker from each of the three main historical periods in the field (ancient and medieval, modern, and contemporary).

An introduction to the comparative analysis of political systems. Attention will focus on political processes, such as political socialization, participation, and elite recruitment, and on political institutions, such as party systems, legislatures and bureaucracies. Examples will be drawn from developing systems, as well as from the more familiar Western countries.

A study of the theory and practice of international politics. The course will consider the international system of states and the bases of national power.

Survey of qualitative and quantitative methods commonly used in empirical political analysis. Emphasis on building skills such as hypothesis testing, inference and causal reasoning. This course satisfies the Major Computing Requirement in Government. It is highly recommended that students plan on taking it before junior year.

Introduces students to basic statistical theory and advanced quantitative methods.  Examples come from sub-fields across political science. Emphasizes how to apply methods and interpret results to make informed inferences.  Provides opportunities to use datasets commonly used in political science research.

This course centers on the political works of Plato and Aristotle, as the standards of the classical tradition. Selected works of medieval Christian writers are also included.

This course deals with Renaissance and Enlightenment era political theory, including the works of thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Burke.

An examination of various approaches to political theory from the late 19th century to the present.

An examination of the electoral, organizational and governmental activities of political parties in the American context. Emphasis will be placed on the transformation of parties and the consequences of this change for American democracy.

Introduction to formulation, implementation and analysis of political and public policy surveys. Topics include the psychology of survey response, sampling, interviewing, focus groups, experimental design, hypothesis testing and data analysis. Students will conduct individual and group survey projects.

This course addresses choices and consequences of major electoral systems. It discusses various kinds of plurality and proportional representation systems, and several intriguing hybrids. It also examines quasi-electoral systems in the United Nations, China and the Vatican.

An interdisciplinary, nontechnical introduction to game theory – the science of strategic decision making – emphasizing applications to politics, international relations, business, social philosophy, and the law.

A comparative study of institutions and processes of government in several Western European parliamentary democracies.

A comparative study of institutions and processes of government in several non-Western countries. The cultural and historical foundations of government, and the economic circumstances of Third World nations will be emphasized.

Despite the urgency and importance of extreme weather, governments and markets are struggling to develop coherent and effective solutions. This course explores how extreme weather is disrupting our society and examines various political and economic factors that make climate action controversial at both domestic and international levels. The course is divided into three modules. In the first module, we will study and apply key concepts of political economy, including collective action problems and distributional conflicts. The second module will focus on various attempts to address extreme weather, such as carbon pricing and green industrial policies. The third module will examine how political and economic institutions both affect and are affected by extreme weather.

This course will explore the foundations, evolution, and global politics of human rights, with a rotating substantive focus (e.g., women's rights, children's rights, disability rights). In part one, we will study the philosophical and political foundations of the international human rights regime. We will also investigate human rights treaties and institutions, analyzing their goals, approaches, and effectiveness. In part two, we will consider critical views of/approaches to human rights. This will help us evaluate the extent to which existing human rights treaties and institutions safeguard rights. In part three, we will produce case studies examining different countries’ compliance with their obligations within the United Nations human rights treaty regime.

This course explores key global environmental challenges and ways to address them in a world of diverse, changing, and often conflicting preferences and practices. Students will critically examine the international responses to issues such as climate change, ozone depletion, and biodiversity using concepts and methodologies from the fast-growing literatures on international institutions, transnational activism, multi-level governance, and science-policy linkages.

This course examines the concept of citizenship and its relation to global mobility within modern and contemporary political theory. Topics include competing conceptions of citizenship's meanings and dimensions, transformations in ideas and practices of citizenship, past and present, and the ethics and justice of membership and migration policies, among other topics.

A study of American foreign policy with emphasis on the process of policy formulation. Selected foreign policy problems will be considered.

A study of the development of structures and procedures of international organization, and of methods of pacific settlement of international disputes. Special attention will be given the League of Nations and the United Nations and the successes and failures of these organizations.

A study of international law governing relations among nation-states in peace and war. Considered are the nature and development of international law, and the relevance of international law to contemporary issues such as recognition, intervention, human rights, diplomatic privileges and immunities, use of force, terrorism, environmental problems and international adjudication.

A survey of the leading theories and main theoretical debates in the study of international relations with attention to their implications for the study of war and peace.

An analysis of the politics and economics of a selected international policy problem or issue, e.g., international trade and protectionism; the domestic management of inflation and unemployment; the relation between economic organization and political power.

Examines traditional concerns about the use and management of force in the nuclear age, as well as new security problems, such as the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, environmental issues and the political economy of national security.

The course covers the evolution of the European Community/Union, its basic institutions, and its current policies, including those on trade, currency and security. Major current events and controversies will also be discussed.

This course examines the politics of inequality, asking why some societies thrive while others remain disadvantaged and why barriers persist even in democracies. Students will explore how wealth, power, and policy intersect across issues such as taxation, gender, race, infrastructure, and technology. Through scholarship and policy analysis, the course highlights how institutions and norms shape inequality, identifying who gains, who loses, and why. By the end, students will develop the tools to analyze data, evaluate policies, and craft evidence-based arguments about the causes and consequences of inequality.

This course offers a survey of key thinkers and texts in the history of Chinese political thought from Confucius until the present day.  Topics will include the relationship between ethics and politics, political authority and obligation, and reform and revolution, amongst others.

This course examines the collapse of the Soviet Union and political change in the post-Soviet states. While the focus in the post-communist period is on Russia, the course also includes a brief discussion of the divergent trajectories taken by other post- Soviet states, including those in the Baltics and Central Asia. Major topics include democratization, the construction of new political and economic institutions, and the development of civil society.

This course will focus on political change in Eastern Europe. Using a comparative approach, we will analyze how different states are meeting the specific challenges of post-communist transformation: building new political, economic and social institutions.

A study of political institutions and political behavior in China and Japan. Emphasis will be placed on dynamic factors of socio-economic and political development in both countries.

This course highlights changes in the state structures from pre-colonial indigenous state systems, colonial administration and economy and the rise of the modern African state.

A comparative analysis of the types of government of selected Latin American nations. Appropriate consideration will be given to current conditions and to such problems of general political development as recruitment and socialization, communication and articulation, interest aggregation and decision-making.

A course on the domestic politics of Middle Eastern countries, including the Arab world plus, Iran, Israel, and Turkey. Topics include colonial legacies and the impact of the Israel/Palestine conflict, nationalism and identity, political economy of states with and without oil resources, the dynamics of authoritarian rule, religion and politics, gender, media, and grassroots pressure for reform and revolution.

This course is a comparative analysis of the modern South Asian states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, & Sri Lanka. It highlights the pre-colonial and colonial legacies in the formation of these states, as well as the current challenges of political development. The course is structured around the following 7 themes: Colonialism & Its Lingering Impact; Independence & State Formation; Democracy & Authoritarianism; State Institutions; Sustainable Development; Inter- & Intra-State Conflict; and South Asia & the World.

An introduction to the policy making process in American national government, focusing on the impact on policy of public opinion, the media, interest groups, and governing institutions. Appropriate for freshmen and sophomores.

An analysis of the institutional, human, and political factors that affect how government bureaucracies implement public policy and influence its content.  Considers the connections between government bureaucracy, other institutions of government, and the private and non-profit sectors.

An examination of the institutions and processes of government and politics in American states and localities. Relationships among national, state and local governments will be analyzed in the context of a federal system.

An examination of the influence of historic and demographic trends on contemporary Southern politics. Special attention will be paid to the political distinctiveness of the South, political variations among the southern states, and the relationships between Southern and national politics.

The politics of US social policy in historical perspective. We will examine how a number of factors--including race, class, and gender--have shaped the development of social programs. Topics vary by year but usually include retirement pensions, health care, and "welfare."

We will examine how ideological and partisan differences are shaping U.S. social policy in the 21st century. Topics vary by year but could include affordable housing, the cost of medical care, and the solvency of Social Security.

It has long been argued that woman’s role in reproducing the nation has been used to justify her exclusion from the public sphere in order to protect her morals, which were necessary to educate her children in moral citizenship. This tension – women make the citizens, and thus cannot be citizens, of course only describes the experience of a certain class of women during a particular historical time: white, heterosexual, able-bodied, and economically preferred. The actual experience of the political controversies surrounding reproduction for women in the United States shows a much more variable and convoluted picture. Which subjects were reproductively valued, yet politically reviled? How did notions of racial hygiene in the 20th century play out and why did reproduction become its central mode of expression in the United States? What did the transformations in medical technology mean for reproduction and its place in politics? As a COLL 200 course, the class is designed to integrate multiple methods and fields of knowledge to create new ways of approaching the issue of reproductive politics. The course is centrally concerned with developing methods of political theory (close reading and analysis) to investigate political phenomena connected with reproduction. Central to developing that theoretical lens is reading the work of philosophers, political theorists, and sociologists to construct frameworks that are historically grounded. But we also engage with fiction and documentary film to consider the work of narrative in conniving and transforming thinking about reproductive politics. We investigate how American political culture becomes invested in legislating and adjudicating matters of reproduction through questions of gender, race, and disability. To aid in these investigations, the course introduces ideology critique, legal analysis, and questions of identity formation. Success in the course is demonstrated through the ability to analyze the dynamics of identity, American culture, and political debate in constructing our understanding of the controversies around reproduction, including birth control, abortion, assistive reproductive technologies, and welfare politics. As a COLL 350 course, the class is designed to focus on how power and inequality are manifested in, are exacerbated by, and could be addressed through reproductive politics in the United States. Namely, we will investigate how the history of regulating women’s bodies for the purpose of reproducing a healthy nation produced special attention to race and disability such that reproductive lives are stratified in ways that mean that certain women are compelled to give birth while others are denied that opportunity. In addition, we will examine how politics ties reproduction to the very meaning of being a woman, such that sexual minorities and racialized women become disqualified as reproductive subjects. Our end goal is to think about how a more just reproductive politics could transform the experiences of conception, pregnancy, birth, and parenting. In discussing such complex and sensitive issues, students will learn how to have respectful dialogue that connects to some of the most central aspects of personal, familial, and political life.

How does race intersect with the politics and policy of urban communities? As historical and contemporary events show, urban policy and political reform in law enforcement, the environment, education, housing, economic development, and provision of social services have important racial dimensions. This course explores those issues by focusing on race and urban politics in the United States, while also occasionally incorporating comparisons to urban settings across the globe.

An investigation of the legislative process in the United States with emphasis on the United States Congress. Internal and external forces influencing legislative behavior will be examined.

An examination of the politics and policy influence of the American presidency and other executives. Emphasis will be placed upon the legal and political forces which determine and limit the use of executive power.

This course is intended to provide an introduction to the American legal system. We will examine court functions, the roles of various legal actors, including citizens in their role as jurors, and the manner in which the judicial system affects, and is affected by, other branches of government. A primary focus of the course will be structural inequality that is baked into the legal system. Biases in the legal system are especially prominent in the criminal justice system but structural inequalities exist throughout it. A study of the U.S. legal system is incomplete without significant focus on these structures. The course is not designed to be a primer on any area of law; but we will examine some case law as we analyze the prominence of politics in the legal process. COLL 350 courses are designed to “enhance your knowledge and facilitate critical analysis of the workings of power, privilege, and inequity in U.S. society and globally, past and present.” In this course, we will engage the goals of COLL 350, by examining race and racism as a topic that has been enmeshed in our legal system throughout U.S. history and continuing today. We will also consider race as it interacts with other characteristics such as sex, class, and ethnicity. These topics can be difficult ones to consider and discuss. However, we cannot fully understand our legal system without doing so. As a class we will develop a set of guidelines by which we will conduct our discussions. In addition to our class discussions, I also ask that you to talk to me individually about any concerns or questions you have related to the material and/or our discussions.

An examination of how legal and political processes have shaped the protections given to individual rights in the American constitutional system. The focus is on Supreme Court decision making and processes of constitutional interpretation.

A survey of the major areas of research in political behavior, including public opinion, ideology, partisanship, political knowledge, participation, campaigns, the media, and polarization. Although many fruitful cross-national comparisons could be made, we will focus on the American political system.

A survey of the content of human geography including population, culture realms, world views, the distribution of agriculture and industry, settlements and human environmental impact.

Foreign Economic Policy: Theory Meets Practice How well do theories about the politics of trade, finance, foreign aid, development and immigration hold up when compared to the real-world of policy? What do academics miss when they theorize about policy-making in the area of the global economy? What do policymakers miss about their own work that researchers can better see with some distance? How do these ideas carry across cultural contexts? This class bridges this gap by pairing some of the major theories from the academic world with the experiences and observations of policymakers. Students will read a number of classic and cutting-edge academic work and then compare the theory, data, and findings to conversations with people engaged with the issues in the Washington D.C. area and look to other cultural contexts internationally.

Examination of the physical environment, resources, population and economic activities in the region together with studies of selected countries.

Examination of the physical environment, resources, population and economic activities in the region together with studies of selected countries.

This course prepares volunteers for The Bosnia Project to participate in a 4-week international community engagement and research experience in Sarajevo during the summer. It critically analyzes literature explaining political and social problems in post-war Bosnia, and assesses efforts by international and non-governmental organizations to promote inter-cultural communication skills and reconciliation. Instructor permission required.

This course is associated with William and Mary’s Project on International Peace and Security, an undergraduate international security-focused think tank. The course is restricted to PIPS research interns. To learn more about PIPS, including how to apply to the program, visit: www.wm.edu/pips

Selected topics in government. The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester.

Selected topics in Government. The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester.

Selected topics in political theory. The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester.

This course focuses on the historical development of ancient democracy and the principles and institutions central to its practice. The course thus uses the study of ancient politics as a way of investigating some of the key theoretical issues (both normative and conceptual) surrounding the practice of democracy in both the ancient and contemporary worlds.

Students will work individually or in teams as directed by a faculty member.  They will develop important research skills that are difficult to acquire in a traditional classroom setting.  Examples include coding data, creating and modifying databases, reviewing manuscripts for publication, writing grant proposals, and conducting experiments. 

The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester. 

The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester. 

The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester. 

The topic to be considered will be announced prior to the beginning of the semester. 

An examination of a particular theme or problem such as community, authority, justice, freedom and utopia.

An examination of the work and significance of a particular great political theorist, group of theorists, or major movements, such as Marxism, Utilitarian Reformism, Conservatism.

A study of systematic approaches and their application to the traditional concerns of international relations theory and practice power, conflict, order and justice.

This seminar examines major issues of economic development in Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs). It addresses the interaction between government policies and market forces, between regime dynamics and economic change, and discusses problems in different economic sectors. Course normally focuses on East Asia but may examine other regions.

Focuses on evolution of the Mexican Political system from dictatorial rule to single-party authoritarianism to growing pluralism. A good reading knowledge of Spanish is highly desirable for this course.

An examination of Arab foreign policy, focusing on regional responses to the US-led wars against Iraq.  This course begins with a theoretical grounding in major approaches to foreign policy analysis, then examines specific cases such as Egypt, Jordan, Libya, the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.  It is recommended that students take GOVT 204 and GOVT 339 before enrolling in this seminar.

This seminar focuses on the political rebuilding of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, current policy options for state-rebuilding, and the drivers of relations between Afghanistan and other countries in the region and beyond. Using Afghanistan as a case study, it also illuminates choices and decisions in state-rebuilding faced by post-conflict countries. Students write a draft and a finalized 25-page original research paper and interact with Afghanistan experts through video conferencing and a day trip to Washington DC.

An examination of the American political system’s capacity to confront and solve problems of the nation’s urban areas. Historical, economic and sociological factors affecting the political process in urban areas will be considered.

This research seminar explores the policy and politics of K-12 education in the United States. Topics covered include, first, the government institutions and organized groups outside government that influence how the nation governs education at the national, state, and local levels; second, the implications those governing arrangements have on the balance of political power and on the content of policy that affects teaching and learning; and third, the forces that influence educational opportunities and outcomes for students with various backgrounds (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, economic status) and learning needs (i.e., students with disabilities, students learning English as a second language). Course requirements include high expectations for class participation and the completion of an original research paper that follows the format of a social science journal article.

A study of the relationship between opinions and political policymaking, including the characteristics of political opinions, patterns of voting behavior and the importance of leadership.

An examination of the strategic interaction between the Congress and the Presidency. Major themes include the balance of power between the two branches, how and why the relative influence of each has shifted during American history, and the constitutional legitimacy of the powers exercised by the Congress and the President.

The course examines the way western commentators have seen the world from a global strategic perspective over the last century. The works of major theorists from Mahan to Kissinger will be examined.

This course is associated with William and Mary’s Project on International Peace and Security, an undergraduate international security-focused think tank. The course is restricted to PIPS research fellows. To learn more about PIPS, including how to apply to the program, visit: www.wm.edu/pips

Selected topics in government, the topic to be announced prior to the beginning of the semester. Special emphasis will be given to the active involvement of members of the seminar in individual research projects and the preparation of research papers.

This course provides opportunities for advanced study of substantive topics in politics and government, and also in advanced research methods. Topics addressed will vary by instructor and semester. Students may not take this course to fulfill the upper-level seminar requirement for the Government major.

A program of independent study which usually involves extensive reading and the writing of one or more essays. Students must obtain permission from a) the faculty member under whom they are to work and b) the Department before registering for this course. Government 494 cannot be used to satisfy the 400-level requirement for majors in government and may only be taken twice for credit. Students may not receive more than 6 credits combined for Government 494, 498 and 499 May not count more than 6 credits combined for Government 494,498 and 499 toward the Government major.

Students admitted to Senior Honors in Government will be responsible for (a) readings and discussion of selected materials; (b) satisfactory completion by April 15 (or November 15 for those on a Spring/Fall Honors schedule) of an original scholarly essay. Government 495 and 496 cannot be used to satisfy the 400-level requirement for majors. Students enrolled in Honors will also attend a required periodic seminar in both the Fall and Spring semesters.

Students admitted to Senior Honors in Government will be responsible for (a) readings and discussion of selected materials; (b) satisfactory completion by April 15 (or November 15 for those on a Spring/Fall Honors schedule) of an original scholarly essay. Government 495 and 496 cannot be used to satisfy the 400-level requirement for majors. Students enrolled in Honors will also attend a required periodic seminar in both the Fall and Spring semesters.

Students may receive a limited number of credit on a pass/ fail basis for faculty-supervised research and written work conducted in conjunction with an Internship; advanced approval required. Students may not receive more than 6 credits combined toward the Government major for Government 494 and 498.