POLS 509: Linear Model
Danielle Jung, Tuesday 1:00 – 4:00pm, MAX 12
Content: This course provides a thorough foundation for understanding and using regression
analysis for empirical research in political science, with a focus on causality and inference. After
a basic primer on rudimentary calculus and matrix algebra, and a discussion of the properties of
statistical estimators, the course builds the ordinary regression model and estimators from
ground up. It covers model assumptions and techniques for detecting and addressing violations
of those assumptions. The class will also incorporate variations on and extensions to the linear
model that are commonly used to help address problems of causal inference, including
randomized controlled trials, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, differences-indifferences, and matching. The emphasis throughout is on causality applied techniques
common in current political science research.
Texts:
Angrist, Joshua and Pischke, Jorn-Steffen. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics.
ISBN: 9780691120355
Princeton University Press.
Greene, William H. et al. 2011. Econometric Analysis.
ISBN: 9780131395381
Prentice Hall PTR, 7th Edition.
Gujarati, Damodar. 2008. Basic Econometrics.
ISBN: 9780073375779
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 5th Edition.
Lee, Myoung-Jae, 2005. Micro-Econometrics for Policy, Program, and Treatment Effects.
ISBN: 9780199267699
Oxford University Press.
Manski, Charles F. 2008. Identification for Prediction and Decision.
ISBN: 9780674026537
Harvard University Press.
Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. 2012. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach.
ISBN: 9781111531041
Cengage, 5th Edition.
POLS 510: Introduction to International Politics
Dan Reiter, Wednesday 9:00am – 12:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: This is the introductory course to international relations for political science graduate
students. The emphasis is theoretical, covering issues such as international conflict, decisionmaking, trade, and system structure. The class uses a discussion format.
Particulars: One exam; several short papers. All students other than political science graduate
students must receive permission from the instructor.
Texts:
Axelrod, Robert. 2006. Evolution of Cooperation.
ISBN: 9780465005642
Basic Books.
Mearsheiner, John. 2014. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.
ISBN: 9780393349276
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Russett, Bruce M. 2000. Triangulating Peace.
ISBN: 9780393976847
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Waltz, Kenneth N. 2001. Man, the State, and War.
ISBN: 9780231125376
Columbia University Press.
POLS 512: Conflict
Danielle Jung, Monday 1:00 – 4:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: This class, together with POLS 510 and POLS 585 "Security," is intended to prepare
political science graduate students for the comprehensive examination in conflict. The class
covers an array of topics related to conflict in the international system and politics, including:
alliances, war termination, the relationships between domestic politics and international
conflict, counterinsurgency, international institutions, the bargaining model of war, and others.
The course is permission-only for students other than political science graduate students.
Grading is based on class participation, short papers, and a long research paper.
Texts:
Lake, David. 2011. Hierarchy in International Relations.
ISBN: 9780801477157
Cornell University Press.
Lake, David. 2009. Entangling Relations
ISBN:
Princeton University Press.
Snyder, Jack. 2000. From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict..
ISBN: 9780393974812
W.W. Norton & Company.
Powell, Robert. 1999. In the Shadow of Power: States and Strategies in International Politics.
ISBN: 9780691004570
Princeton University Press.
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce et al. 2005. The Logic of Political Survival.
ISBN: 9780262524407
MIT Press.
POLS 513: Introduction to Game Theory
Jeff Staton, Monday 9:00am - 12:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: Introduction to game theory. The focus of the class will be on the basic tools and
solution concepts of game theory. We will also consider the usefulness of formal theory and its
appropriate/inappropriate application.
Particulars: Exams—Midterm and final exams
Grading—Midterm exam-30%; Final exam-30%; Problem sets-40%
Texts:
Osbore, Martin J. 2003. An Introduction to Game Theory.
ISBN: 9780195128956
Oxford University Press.
POLS 515: Applied Game Theory
Shawn Ramirez, Monday 9:00am – 12:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: This course hones prior training by examining how techniques are used in formal
science research. Topics may include voting and elections, political institutions, regime
transition/consolidation, principal agent models, bargaining, information/cheap talk, role of
third parties and committees, deterrence, mechanism design, and endogenous state formation.
Lectures and problem sets will emphasize solution concepts and modeling variations. Student
will complete exams and assignments independently. Mandatory prerequisites are POLS 513
and 514.
No textbooks required.
POLS 520: Comparative Politics
Jennifer Gandhi, Tuesday 8:30 – 11:30am, MAX: 12
Content: This course is an introduction to important concepts, themes, and approaches in the
comparative study of politics. The course is organized thematically with two goals in mind: first,
to enable students to understand the intellectual trajectory of the study of these topics and
second, to expose them to research frontiers in these areas. The expectation is that students
will complete the course not only with a better understanding of the comparative subfield as a
whole, but also with their own ideas for further research.
Texts:
To be announced.
Grading:
To be announced.
POLS 571: Longitudinal Data Analysis
Greg Martin, Tuesday 1:00 – 4:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: Data with a time dimension are ubiquitous in applied political science research. This
course covers quantitative methods for dealing with time series, panels, and event histories.
We will cover both theory and applications of these methods, with the goal of getting students
up to speed to be both producers and consumers of cutting-edge empirical research.
Texts:
Cameron, A. Colin and Trivedi, Pravin. 2005.
Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications.
Cambridge University Press.
POLS 572: Modeling Complex Systems
Courtney Brown, Tuesday & Thursday 5:30 – 6:45pm, MAX: 2
Content: This seminar approaches the study of politics and society from the perspective of the
new field of complex systems. This is a cutting edge area, and students gain an appreciation for
how a great many social and political phenomena are actually the result of underlying systems
that are both beautiful and sophisticated (including fractal systems). The course is ideal for
assisting students to develop unique and nontrivial theories of politics and society together
with model specifications that exactly match those theories. Helping students develop theories
and specifications useful for research is a key component of the course. The subject is taught
with an extremely user-friendly approach, and students should have little or no trouble
mastering the course content. High school algebra is all that is required to begin. Substantively,
the course focuses on a system's view of modeling, and students will learn a great many
practical tools that help to bridge the divide between a verbally-stated theory and its
mathematical representation. Check out the syllabus and other course materials at
www.courtneybrown.com. [Click on "Student Area (Emory)" in the navigation menu. Also see
the instructor's videos on the value of knowing mathematical modeling, statistics, and R for
today's graduates.]
Texts:
Brown, Courtney
Chaos & Catastrophe Theories
ISBN 9780803958470
Huckfeldt, R. Robert et. al
Dynamic Modeling: An Introduction
ISBN 9780803909465
Brown, Courtney
Graph Algebra: Mathematical Modeling with a Systems Approach
ISBN 9781412941099
Brown, Courtney
Differential Equations: A Modeling Approach
ISBN 9781412941082
Grading:
Bi-weekly writing assignments
Final Project Writing Assignment (All three drafts are required.)
Class Participation (Students will make presentations to the class)
Attendance (Two absences are permitted without penalty.)
40%
25%
25%
10%
POLS 585-00P: Electoral Politics
Greg Martin & Miguel Rueda, Thursday 8:30 – 11:30am, MAX: 12
Content: This graduate seminar will survey recent theoretical and empirical work on electoral politics.
We begin by examining models that study the role of elections as accountability and informationaggregation mechanisms. We then take a look at empirical applications to these ideas in the context of
industrialized democracies. The last part of the course explores electoral competition in developing
democracies. We will focus on electoral manipulation and on how such manipulation interferes with the
accountability-enhancing role of elections. Prerequisites: Regression Analysis (POLS 509) and
Introductory Game Theory (POLS 513).
No textbooks required for the course.
POLS 585-01P Advanced Qualitative Methods
Andra Gillespie, Wednesday 2:00 – 5:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: This course is designed to be an applied methods course for students interested in
using qualitative or interpretive methods in political science. Novices are welcome. In the
course, students will learn to use many types of qualitative methods (ethnography/participant
observation, individual and focus group interviews, content analysis, and archival work) by
completing a major research project that employs all of these methodological techniques. In
addition, students will learn the ethics of doing qualitative and human subjects esearch. Please
note that the reading list will be divided among students. Please wait until the first day of class
to purchase books.
Texts:
Morgan, David. 1996. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research.
ISBN: 9780761903437
Sage Publications.
Mears, Ashley. 2011. Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model.
ISBN: 9780520270763
University of California Press
Van Maanen, John. 2011. Tales from the Field: On Writing Ethnography.
ISBN: 9780226849645
University of Chicago Press.
Gillespie, Andra. 2012. The New Black Politician.
ISBN: 9780814732441
New York University Press.
Madison, D. Soyini. 2011. Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance,
ISBN: 9781412980241
Sage Publications.
Hochschild, Jennifer. 1986. What's Fair? American Beliefs about Distributive Justice.
ISBN: 9780674950870
Harvard University Press.
Fenno, Richard. 1990. Watching Politicians: Essays on Participant Observation.
ISBN: 9780877723233
University of California, Institute for Government Studies.
Fenno, Richard. 2002. Home Style: House Members in Their Districts.
ISBN: 9780321121837
Longman Publishing Group.
Fenno, Richard. 2003. Going Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents.
ISBN: 9780226241319
University of Chicago Press.
Anderson, Elijah. 2000. Code of the Streets: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner
City.
ISBN: 9780393947052
W.W. Norton.
Anderson, Elijah. 2004. Being Here and Being There: Fieldwork Encounters and Ethnographic
Discoveries.
ISBN: 9781412913959
Sage Publications.
Lacy, Karyn. 2007. Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class.
ISBN: 9780520251168
University of California Press.
Venkatesh, Sudhir. 2008. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets.
ISBN: 9780143114932
Penguin Group.
Pattillo, Mary. 2007. Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City.
ISBN: 9780226649313
University of Chicago Press.
Waters, Mary. 1990. Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America.
ISBN: 9780520070837
University of California Press.
Garcia Bedolla, Lisa. 2005. Fluid Borders: Latino Power, Identity, and Politics in Los Angeles.
ISBN: 9780520243699
University of California Press.
Michelson, Mellissa & Garcia Bedolla, Lisa. 2012. Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the
Electorate Through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns.
ISBN: 9780300166781
Yale University Press.
Humphreys, Laud. 1975. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places.
ISBN: 9780202302836
Aldine Transaction.
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2004. The Politics of Disgust: The Public Identity of the Welfare Queen.
ISBN: 9780814736708
New York University Press.
Jones, James H. 1992. Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
ISBN: 9780029166765
Free Press.
Glaser, Barney. & Strauss, Anselm. 1999. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for
Qualitative Research.
ISBN: 9780202302607
Aldine Transaction Press.
Klehr, Harvey, Haynes, John Earl, et. al. 2010. Spies The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America.
ISBN: 9780300164381
Yale University Press.
POLS 585-02P Political Monitoring
Thomas Lancaster, Thursday 2:00 – 5:00pm, MAX: 12
Content: Within the study of comparative political institutions, the term “monitoring” is
frequently used. The concept, however, it is not fully investigated within the social sciences—
especially its impact on political behavior. This graduate seminar will systematically ask “Do
people change their behavior if they are being watched, or believe they are?” We will probe as
to why this is and then, and in great detail, question “How can such ‘watching’ be best
institutionalized in order to achieve ‘good governance’? First, we will define political
monitoring as a concept, especially within the context of collective action problems. Second,
we will ask why monitoring matters and how it is utilized in other disciplines such as psychology
and economics. Third, seminar participants will question “What other factors such as
transparency, costs, collectivity size affect the monitoring-behavior relationship?” “Finally, the
seminar will consider a variety of political institutions and their effect on behavior and policy,
while looking at the related scholarly anew through an analytical lens dedicated to the concept
of political monitoring. Given the course’s seminar format, students should bring to class an
interest in political institutions and a willingness to look at them from a new analytical
perspective.
Texts:
Elinor Ostrom. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action.
ISBN: 9780521405997.
Cambridge University Press.
Georg Vanberg. 2009. The Politics of Constitutional Review in Germany.
ISBN: 9780521111683.
Cambridge University Press.
A variety of research articles on monitoring from scholarly journals.
Particulars:
Examinations: None
Papers:
Several 5-page review essays on the assigned books and several 3-4 page discussion papers on
different scholarly articles.
Grading:
Each book review (10%), discussion papers (10% total), initial draft of theory and
hypothesis/data section of research paper (5% each), term research paper (40%), class
attendance, participation, and commitment to group learning dynamic of seminar (20%).
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. Students from other disciplines are welcome. Advanced
undergraduates admitted only with permission of the instructor.
POLS 585-03P: Feminist Political Theory (Same as WGS 753)
Holloway Sparks, Tuesday 1:30-4:30, Max: 4
Content: This seminar focuses on contemporary feminist and queer political theory (post-1985)
that uses gender and sexuality as critical lenses both to re-read and critique the Western canon
in political philosophy and to develop new substantive theories of politics. The primary goal of
this course is to expose students to recent feminist efforts to think critically about politics, and
the intersections between politics, economics, and society. We will pay particular attention to
feminist theories of the state, democracy, and citizenship, but we will explore these concerns
via a broad range of feminist writings, including feminist legal theory, critical social theory,
queer theory, cultural theory, public policy, and political economy. We will also consider the
complexities of using politics and democracy as analytic categories in feminist and queer work.
Readings will be drawn from the following, and other readings on reserve:
Texts:
Carole Pateman. 1988. The Sexual Contract.
Stanford.
Catharine A. MacKinnon. 1989. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State.
Harvard.
Nancy Fraser. 1989. Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse, and Gender in Contemporary Social
Theory.
Minnesota.
Susan Miller Okin. 1989. Justice, Gender, and the Family.
Basic Books.
Iris Marion Young. 1990. Justice and the Politics of Difference.
Princeton
Patricia Williams. 1992. The Alchemy of Race and Rights.
Harvard.
Wendy Brown. 1995. States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity.
Princeton.
Judith Butler. 1997. Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative.
Routledge.
Lauren Berlant. 1997. The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and
Citizenship.
Duke.
Barbara Cruikshank. 1999. The Will to Empower: Democratic Citizens and Other Subjects.
Cornell.
Linda M. G. Zerilli. 2005. Feminism and the Abyss of Freedom.
Chicago.
Jasbir Puar. 2007. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times.
Duke.
Anna Marie Smith. 2007. Welfare Reform and Sexual Regulation.
Cambridge.
Samuel Chambers and Terrell Carver. 2008. Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics.
Routledge.
Kathy Ferguson. 2011. Emma Goldman: Political Thinking in the Streets.
Rowman & Littlefield.
Bonnie Honig. 2013. Antigone, Interrupted.
Cambridge
Eithne Luibheid. 2013. Pregnant on Arrival: Making the Illegal Immigrant.
Minnesota
Bonnie Mann. 2014. Sovereign Masculinity: Studies in Gender in the War on Terror.
Oxford.
Course Requirements: active and informed participation in seminar discussions, 7 short papers,
one final seminar paper.