POL 205. American National Government & Politics (3; F, S)
Three hours per week. An examination of the American political process with emphasis on the structure and functioning of the American system and its responses to past and current challenges.

POL 208. International Politics (3; F, S)
Three hours per week. An examination of the ways nation-states interact in the world community. International cooperation, conflict, and conflict resolution are studied. Diplomacy; economic-political interrelationships; the development and role of power in interstate and transnational relations; changing patterns of interdependence and dependence; and war are among topics studied. Lectures and discussions include the examination of theories of international politics and of contemporary challenges to world peace.

POL 211. Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences (3; F and S)
Three hours per week. Prerequisite MATH 104 or higher. Cross-listed as GEOG 211, PSYC 211 and SOC 211. An introductory course for social science majors providing brief coverage of the research methods commonly used in the social sciences along with the most common quantitative analyses used by social scientists. This includes coverage of data organization, descriptive statistics, correlational and regression analyses, and an introduction to hypothesis testing and inferential statistics.

POL 301. International Organizations (3)
Three hours per week. The emphasis of this course will be conflict resolution and international political processes focusing upon interactions within the United Nations, its specialized agencies and principal regional organizations, such as the European Union.

POL 302. Comparative Political Systems (3; F)
Three hours per week. Study of several national political systems including the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia. Latin American and African systems are also examined. Political and social processes, parties, executive, legislative and administrative practices are compared.

POL 303. Political Parties & Politics (3)
Three hours per week. Examination of both the theory and practice of party politics. Particular attention is paid to the changing role of political parties in their accommodations to innovations in the areas of computers, mass media, market research and new techniques of party finance.

POL 306. Political Modernization (3; AR)
Offered every other year in the Fall. Three hours per week. This course examines the major theoretical perspectives that are used to explain the evolution of the state and nation from their formative years to the present. The course is focused on, but not limited to, the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

POL 309. Courts & the Constitution in American Politics (3)
Three hours per week. Examination of the contemporary role of the Supreme Court and of significant trends in Supreme Court decisions. Use of the case method of analysis is employed.

POL 310. Public Policy (3)
Three hours per week. An analysis of public policy issues. Emphasizes examination, discussion and alternate solutions to contemporary public policy problems.

POL 312. Public Administration (3)
Three hours per week. Emerging trends in public administration and policy implementation. Emphasis on organization theory, executive leadership, personnel management, budgeting, planning, communications, and decision-making. Consideration is given to such problems as the responsiveness and accountability of the bureaucracy.

POL 314. National Security Policy (3)
Three hours per week. This course deals with the formulation and implementation of American security policy. The goals, patterns, and structures of national security policy are studied, as is the role of each governmental component concerned with security affairs. The elements of national power are reviewed.

POL 320. Modern China (3)
Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ENGL 103 and HIST 150. Cross-listed as IS 320. This is a country study of the most populated nation in the world. Topics to be covered include Confucian ideology in traditional China, Western imperialism in the Nineteenth Century, the Communist revolution of 1949, the period of Communist rule from 1949 to 1976, and the effort to make the transition to a market economy since 1979.

POL 325. Southeast Asia (3; AR)
Not offered every year. This course and IS 325 may not both be taken for credit. Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ENGL 103 and HIST 150. This is a survey of Southeast Asian politics, society and history with a primary focus on the national development of Thailand and Cambodia. Other selected Southeast Asian nations will be included as appropriate.

POL 326. Vietnam (3; AR)
Not offered every year. This course and IS 326 may not both be taken for credit. Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ENGL 103 and HIST 150.This course examines the emergence of the Vietnamese nation, the effects of French conquest and colonial rule and the effects of the wars for independence and unification. It also looks at the efforts of Vietnamese leaders to create a socialist economy after 1975 and their subsequent effort to integrate into the global market economy since 1989.  The effects of these recent policies on the Vietnamese people are examined.

POL 327. The Philippines (3; AR)
Not offered every year. This course and IS 327 may not both be taken for credit. Three hours per week. Prerequisites: ENGL 103 and HIST 150. This course provides a historical survey of Philippine society, polity and economy. It begins in the pre-colonial period and traces the combination of change and continuity that took place under Spanish and American colonial rule.  It concludes with an examination of the struggles of the contemporary Philippine nation to provide political, economic and social justice for all Filipinos.

POL 375. Special Topics in Political Science (var. 1-3)
One to three hours per week. May be repeated for credit so long as the topic is different. Examination of innovative areas of political science inquiry or of course content which does not fall within the standard curriculum of political science courses presently described in the Catalog. Presented by regular faculty and/or qualified special faculty members.

POL 401. Political Theory (3)
Three hours per week. Examines the history of political theory from ancient times, emphasizing the ideas of major political philosophers from Plato to the present.

POL 403. American Foreign Policy (3)
Three hours per week. The formation and substance of American foreign policy. Major themes include domestic and international pressures on policy. Regional geographic patterns and policy machinery are examined and evaluated.

POL 405. International Law (3)
Three hours per week. The major principles of international law are examined from their historic origins to applications in contemporary relations among states and other members of the international community. Case studies illustrating matters of jurisdiction, human rights, and laws of war and peace are part of the method of study.
 
POL 420WI. Methods of Social Research (3; S)
Three hours per week. Cross-listed as GEOG 420 and SOC 320. The application of research methods within political science. A study of research design and methods including survey research, experiments, observation and secondary data analysis. As part of the course, students will write and present their own research proposal.

POL 425. Public Opinion & Survey Research Methods (3; F)
Three hours per week. Cross-listed as GEOG 425 and SOC 325. This course will familiarize the student with the major components of survey research including sampling, questionnaire design, data collection and data processing. The students will conduct an actual public opinion survey and analyze the data they collect.

POL 490. Internship (var. 1-12)
Prerequisites: junior or senior status; 2.5 cumulative average and at least 2.5 in the major; approval of the Division of Social Sciences chair and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A maximum of six hours credit will be allowed toward the major. The student will work a minimum of three hours per week for each hour of credit. An opportunity for students to apply what they have learned in political science courses through work in public agencies. The work experience will be evaluated by a member of the political science department.

POL 503. Modern American Politics (3)
Three hours per week. A survey of modern American politics with an emphasis on the role of presidential leadership, policy development and changes in voter behavior. Public opinion polling data will be extensively utilized and students will develop basic skills of data analysis. Designed for public school history and social science teachers under the Teaching American History grant.