Political Science

Some information in this department has changed since the publication of the St. Olaf College 1996-1997 Academic Catalog. Current information can be found in print or online in The Catalog Supplement for 1997-98.

The Catalog Supplement for 1997-1998: Political Science

Overview

War and peace, taxing and spending, choice and constraint, dictatorship and democracy -- these and a hundred other realities of modern life are played out in the realm of domestic and international politics. In an increasingly complex and interdependent world, public decision making requires thoughtful discourse, broad-based participation, and intelligent, responsive leadership.

To that end, the Department of Political Science engages students in the systematic and critical analysis of government, politics, and public policy. We seek to acquaint students with their own political environment, to alert them to the global dimensions of politics and public policy, and to prepare them for informed and effective contribution to public life, whether as citizens or public officials. We also seek to develop a range of skills of our students; we want them to be able to frame thoughtful questions, conduct imaginative research, marshal convincing evidence, write with clarity, precision and conviction, and engage in lively conversation.

Political Science majors are equipped for a broad range of careers both in public life (as elected or appointed officials, lobbyists, educators, and administrators) and in the private sector (in non-profit agencies, public relations, law, and business). Many do volunteer work or internships and then go on to graduate school in political science, public policy, law, international relations, public administration, or communications.

General Education Credit

Political Science courses that fulfill General Education requirements are listed in the Class and Lab Schedule.

Distribution Credit

Only Political Science 111, 112, 113, 118, 121, and 215 fulfill the Area C distribution requirement. No other courses, including courses taken off-campus, will be counted toward distribution.

Requirements for the Major

The requirements for a major in Political Science are intended to provide broad exposure to the discipline as well as an opportunity to develop an area of specialization. Students majoring in Political Science must complete a minimum of eight courses in the discipline, including no more than three Level I courses and no fewer than two at Level III.

Majors must include at least one course from each of the five subfields:

American Politics (111, 235, 255, 372, 373, 374);

Comparative Politics (112, 251, 252, 256, 382, 385, 386);

International Relations (121, 257, 258, 381, 383);

Political Thought (113, 232, 259, 260, 384);

Political Analysis and Public Policy (118, 215, 246, 346, 371, 376).

Students may also complete work in each area through independent study and/or research under faculty supervision 298, 398).

Majors must develop a concentration within one of the above five subfields by taking a developmental sequence of at least three subfield courses (one Level I, one Level II, and one Level III).

Political Science 371 is recommended for majors considering graduate or professional school.

A social studies education major with an area of emphasis in political science is available (see Index).

Majors in Political Science may also choose from a rich assortment of domestic and international off-campus study opportunities (see Index). Further information on particular programs, especially internships, interim off-campus course offerings, and the Washington Semester, is available in the Department of Political Science or from the Office of International and Off-Campus Studies.

Courses

111 American Politics: The promise of American politics is the equal freedom of all. How does practice match principles? What roles do class and race play? Do interest groups and political parties foster democracy? This course is designed not only to help students understand American government and politics but also to motivate them to be active and informed participants.
112 Comparative Politics: Why do some societies have democratic political systems and others authoritarian ones? What is democracy? Is it the norm or the exception? The course provides a foundation for the understanding of contemporary political regimes. It applies the major concepts of comparative analysis to the political systems of Western and Non-western societies.
113 Introduction to Politics: Politics is about who gets what, how and why. Is all such getting fair? This course introduces students to the role religion and ethics play in evaluating political behavior.
118 Political Analysis: This course introduces major concepts, theories, and modes of inquiry in the discipline of Political Science. What is politics? What are the major questions people ask about politics? What are the basic tools scholars use in the "scientific" study of politics?
121 International Relations: War and peace, justice and power -- these are age-old topics of the politics among nations. This course examines them by emphasizing certain problem areas in the world and evaluating the principal theories for understanding international politics. Offered both semesters.
215 States and Social Divisions: Access to the benefits of political power is distributed unequally in all societies. The course examines how and why the benefits and penalties of state power unequally affect the life-chances of members of different social groups. The social divisions of class, caste, ethnicity, and gender in both advanced and developing societies will be considered.
232 American Political Thought: American politics is about ideas. The rule of the people is superior to the rule of the few. Free speech is good. Political power should be distributed, checked and balanced, and federalized. This course traces the origins of these and other important ruling ideas in the writings of America's most prominent thinkers.
235 Jurisprudence and the Judicial Process: Law is often overlooked as an important arena of American politics. This course attempts to correct that oversight by identifying the important legal theories and locating them in the practice of American courts.
246 Introduction to Public Policy: The product of the political process is public policy. This course surveys the major areas of domestic public policy in the United States: education, welfare, health, housing, the environment, and the economy with special attention to the impact of public policies on women and minorities.
251 Politics of Industrialized Societies: Industrial societies must continuously adjust their national economic policies to changing global conditions. The means by which governments marshal domestic social and economic forces for global competition differ greatly between interventionist and non-interventionist states. Through examination of other countries' adjustment mechanisms we can acquire a new understanding of America's place in the changing global economy.
252 Politics and Development: Some formerly developing countries have found the way to join the ranks of the industrialized nations, others have not. What explains the difference? By introducing students to theories of modernization, dependency, world systems, order, class, revolution, state and political economy, we attempt to provide the framework for answering this question.
255 Political Parties and Elections: Political parties have traditionally served to organize the American electoral process but not to govern. Is their role changing? This course examines party organization, candidate recruitment, campaign strategies, the role of the media, election financing, and citizen participation.
256 Central European Politics: Sandwiched between Germany and Russia, Central Europe exhibited distinctive political characteristics in its pre-communist, communist and now post-communist periods. The region could not sustain democracy in the 1930s. Does it have a better chance of doing so in the 1990s? In pursuit of an answer we look at the varying cultural, ethnic and economic contexts of the region's contemporary political problems.
257 U.S./Latin American Relations: Often controversial U.S.-Latin American relations has always occupied a special place in the foreign policy of the United States. We will compare differing views of political issues of importance to both regions and explore the emergence of U.S. power, interventionism, cooperation, revolution, collective security, the transition to democracy, and the influence of economic factors on the relationship between Latin America and the U.S.
258 World Politics: More and more, world politics, the politics among nations, controls domestic politics. With the fall of Communism an entirely new world regime is emerging. By examining the subjects of realism, globalism, power, levels of analysis, ideology, global inequality, non-state actors, political economy, transnational policy issues, war, peace, and international organization, students are challenged to come to grips with these changes.
259 History of Classical Political Thought: Socrates founded political philosophy by asking the question "What is justice?" Ancient political philosophers followed his lead offering different answers. This course consists of a study of the most famous works of classical political philosophy and their relation to larger themes in contemporary politics. The main texts assigned are Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, and selections from St. Augustine's City of God, and St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa.
260 History of Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli founded modern political philosophy by asking "How does the ruler acquire power?" This course explores how modern political thinkers answered this question by changing the grounds of authority from religious and philosophical foundations to rational ones. Texts include Machiavelli's Prince, and Hobbes's Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise, Rousseau's Social Contract, Marx's Communist Manifesto, and Nietzsche's Use and Abuse of History.
294 Internship: Internships in the major are available in a wide variety of public and private institutions including the state legislature, lobbying agencies, law firms, media organizations, corporate public affairs, and executive agencies.
298 Independent Study: After completion of three courses in political science, students may approach a member of the department faculty and propose a course of study not currently offered to be conducted in tutorial fashion.
346 Political Ethics and Public Policy: This course surveys the major traditions of ethical theory and their implications for public policy. Ethical theories will be interspersed with case material throughout the course. The major focus is on the ethics of policy and the development of tools for the ethical assessment of policy alternatives. Applications will range from health care, the environment, economic policy, welfare policy, education, affirmative action, and crime.
371 Political Research Methods: This course takes a close look at the principles and practices of empirical research design, data collection, and data analysis in political science, including opportunities for original research. No previous experience in statistics required. Prerequisite: one course in political science.
372 American Constitutional Law: Power: The Constitution is the sacred text of America's civic religion. The opinions of the Supreme Court, which form the assigned reading, are equivalent to sacred commentary. This course is the first half of a year long sequence on meaning of the Constitution as developed in the opinions of the Supreme Court. The subjects in this half of the sequence are judicial review, separation of powers, federalism, contract clause, and substantive due process. Prerequisite: Political Science 111, or permission of instructor.
373 American Constitutional Law: Limitations: This course is the second half of a year-long investigation into the meaning of the Constitution, the sacred text and commentary of America's civil religion. This course examines the topics of civil rights, civil liberties, criminal due process, and privacy. Prerequisite: Political Science 111, or permission of instructor.
374 Congress and the Presidency: Our Constitution establishes a tension between the Congress and the Presidency. This course present an analysis of institutional politics and policy making in the legislative and executive branches of American government designed to overcome this constitutional strain. We will examine elections, public and press relations, organization and staffing, relations with other governmental institutions, and theories of power. Prerequisite: Political Science 111, or permission of instructor.
376 Seminar in Public Policy: This is an advanced-level course dealing in depth with one or two different public policy topics. The course title as listed in the Class and Lab Schedule will indicate the policies to be emphasized. Analysis includes the politics of agenda setting, policy selection, and program implementation and the effects of program outcomes on policy clients. Prerequisite: one course in political science, or permission of instructor.
381 American Foreign Policy: American foreign policy continues to one of the chief activating forces of world politics. This course is designed to sharpen students' understanding of it by introducing them to theories of policy making, domestic and foreign sources of policy, and the impact of policy decisions upon the international environment. Prerequisite: Political Science 121, or permission of instructor.
382 Post-Soviet Politics: An examination of factors shaping Soviet and Post-Soviet political development. Themes include the impact of the Russian Empire on Soviet political development, Stalinism and its causes, political change under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, and changes occurring during and after Perestroika. Conceptual models of post-Soviet politics, current policies, and institutions are examined, as are political and economic changes in the former U.S.S.R.
383 Soviet and Russian Foreign Policy: A survey of Soviet foreign policy since 1945 identifying the role of strategic, economic, and diplomatic instruments of foreign policy. We will examine post-Soviet Russian foreign policy is examined in the context of a new international order in Eurasia. Prerequisites: Political Science 121, 253, 258, 382 or permission of the instructor.
384 Studies in Political Thought: This is an advanced course in the area of political thought. The topic, which will be either a detailed study of major works and/or themes in political philosophy, will vary as of each offering. Prerequisite: one course in political thought, or permission of instructor.
385 Post-Soviet Political Economy: This seminar is intended to provide an understanding of the structure of the Soviet political economy, the factors which produced its collapse and the forces and interests determining the nature and extent of post-Soviet economic transformation. Each component of the course will be examined in its global context.
386 Topics in Political Development: Political development is a complicated subject which includes discussions of dependency, institutionalization, mobilization, and revolution in developing nations. Prerequisite: Political Science 112, 252, or permission of instructor.
394 Internship: Students with ideas for internships are encouraged to approach instructors within the department in order to arrange supervision for credit. For Level III credit students must have successfully completed an internship in the same area.
398 Independent Research: Students who have taken five political science courses, one of which is in the area of the proposed research, may propose an independent research project to a member of the departmental faculty.
399 Seminar: Seminars are special topics courses offered periodically by the department. The specific title of the seminar will be listed in the Class and Lab Schedule when it is offered.

Interim

The following Interim courses were given in January 1996.

Political Science 117 The Politics of Human Rights
Political Science 122 Politics
Political Science 237 Public Policy and the Family

Paracollege Seminar

The following Paracollege seminars, open to general college students, were offered in 1995-96:

American Politics and Everyday Life
Media and Politics

Faculty

Charles Umbanhowar (Chair)
Associate Professor of Political Science, 1978-
B.A., Cornell; M.A., Ph.D., Chicago
American politics, constitutional law, American political thought

Jo Beld
Associate Professor of Political Science, Paracollege Tutor, 1984-
B.A., Bethel; M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Yale
American politics, public policy

Michael Chambers
Instructor in Political Science, 1996-
B.A., Williams; M.I.A, M.Phil., Columbia

J. Patrick Dale
Associate Professor of Political Science, 1988-
B.A., Keele; M.A., Ph.D., Essex
Comparative politics, European politics and economics

Steven Gerenscer
Instructor in Political Science, 1994-
B.A., North Park; M.A., Claremont Graduate School
Rod Grubb
Associate Professor of Political Science,1968-
B.A., Concordia (Moorhead); B.Th., Luther Seminary; M.A., Ph.D., Minnesota
International relations, political analysis

Daniel Hofrenning

Associate Professor of Political Science, 1988-
Minnesota
Public policy, American politics

Kris Thalhammer
Assistant Professor of Political Science, 1991-92, 1993-
B.A., St. Catherine; Ph.D., Minnesota
Comparative politics, Latin American politics, political analysis