Spring 2024  |  POL 5315 Section 001: State Governments: Laboratories of Democracy (68884)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Repeat Credit Limit:
4 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person
Enrollment Requirements:
Graduate Student
Meets With:
POL 4315W Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/16/2024 - 04/29/2024
Tue, Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 155
Enrollment Status:
Open (2 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
State governments are rarely at the forefront of the minds of the American public, but in recent years they have made critical decisions about issues like education, health care, climate change, and same-sex marriage. State governments perform a host of vital services, and they regulate and tax a wide array of business activities. Moreover, the states have adopted a very wide range of approaches in addressing these and other policy issues. This course examines the institutional and political changes that sparked the recent "resurgence of the states," and it investigates why state policies differ so dramatically from one another. In addition to playing a central and increasingly important role in the U.S. political system, the American states provide an unusually advantageous venue in which to conduct research about political behavior and policymaking. They are broadly similar in many ways, but they also offer significant variation across a range of social, political, economic, and institutional characteristics that are central to theories about politics. As a result, it becomes possible for scholars to evaluate hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships in a valid way. This course pursues two related objectives. Its first goal is to give students a better understanding of American state governments' substantive significance. Its second goal is to use the states as an analytical venue in which students can hone their research and writing skills. Students will design and complete an original research paper on an aspect of state politics of their choosing. They will develop a research question, gather and critically evaluate appropriate and relevant evidence, and discuss the implications of their research. prereq: grad student or instr consent
Class Description:
This course examines the recent revitalization of political institutions in the American states and the implications of this resurgence for the making of public policy. State governments regulate and tax a wide range of business activities and perform a host of vital services. Even though state governments affect our lives every day, however, they are rarely at the forefront of the minds of the American public. The goals of this course are to introduce you to these important arenas of government and to examine the Minnesota political system in a comparative perspective.
Grading:
Other Grading Information: First midterm (30%) Second midterm (30%) Final exam (40%)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/68884/1243
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 April 2011

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