Political Science

POSC 5100. American Political Behavior. (3 Credits)

The nature and sources of mass political behavior, with a focus on questions of mass-elite linkages derived from democratic theory; political attitudes, their origin and measurement; mass participation—electoral and non-electoral—and its systemic consequences.

Attributes: AMST, ASHS, DATA, PMMA.

POSC 5130. Political Institutions and Processes. (3 Credits)

Legistlative, executive, and judicial powers. The formation and implementation of public policy. Institutional norms and behavior in American national government.

Attribute: DATA.

POSC 5140. Themes in Urban Public Policy and Power. (3 Credits)

This course surveys a series of issues and ideas in urban public policy in order to understand why urban actors compete, what power means to them, and what sorts of dynamic policy issues they confront.

Attributes: HECS, PMMA, PSIC, URSG.

POSC 5238. Strategies of Political Communication. (3 to 4 Credits)

How to build campaign messages based on an understanding of vote determinants, research tools, and candidate psychology.

Attribute: PMMA.

POSC 5240. Fundamentals of Political Campaign Management. (3 Credits)

Will introduce the basic elements of political campaign management, focusing on the role and the responsibilities of the modern campaign manager at all levels of campaigns; local, congressional, statewide, and national.

POSC 5243. Campaign Finance and Ethics. (3 or 4 Credits)

Designed to introduce students to the current campaign finance laws that regulate elections for federal and non-federal political candidates.

Attributes: CEED, CENS.

POSC 5244. Elections and Campaign Management Internship. (3 Credits)

A professional-level internship in a political consulting firm or campaign organization, which will give students direct, practical experience and where they can apply what they have learned in classes to a real world setting.

POSC 5245. Political Communications: Earned Media In the Age of Digital and Social Media Boom. (3 Credits)

This course will explore how campaigns develop strategies to attract media attention, publicity, and news coverage. Topics include speechwriting, press releases, press conferences, and social media communications.

Attribute: PMMA.

POSC 5246. Technology and Campaigns. (3 Credits)

This course will explore the use of modern technology in campaigns. Students will learn how to capitalize on developments in technology and new media for electioneering purposes to target, mobilize and persuade voters. Students will also learn how to use campaign management software, database management and GIS mapping technologies, to execute effective campaigns.

Attribute: PMMA.

POSC 5247. Data Analytics for Political Campaigns. (1 Credit)

This course will explore how campaigns can use data analytics to target and deliver voter appeals and mobilization efforts. Topics include: micro-targeting, data analysis, polling research and quantitative analysis.

Attribute: PMMA.

POSC 5250. Introduction to Quantitative Analysis. (3 Credits)

An introduction to the major theoretical frameworks of quantitative research. This course will give students first-hand experience at the fundamentals of research design and quantitative methodologies used in American political science.

POSC 5251. Political Survey Research. (3 Credits)

This class is designed to take students through the entire process of conducting both telephone and Internet public opinion surveys, with a specific look at political polling method. It applies academic and practical research to teach question writing and selection, survey construction, managing and fielding questionnaires, and analyzing and writing about data. Its goal is to provide students with a working knowledge of how to conduct and analyze their own surveys as well as how to evaluate others’ surveys.

Attributes: DATA, PMMA.

POSC 5255. Public Opinion Certificate Practicum. (3 Credits)

This course will take students through the process of designing, implementing, and analyzing an actual public opinion survey. Students will be responsible for managing every aspect of the Fordham American Faith (FAF) survey, gaining vital experience in hands-on survey work.

Attribute: PMMA.

Prerequisites: POSC 5251 and POSC 5250.

Corequisite: POSC 5257.

POSC 5257. Survey Research Data Analysis. (3 Credits)

This course will focus on topics in and application of survey data analysis, particularly on interpretation and presentation of survey results. Students will learn to construct and use survey weights, to employ scaling of survey items, to use static to makes conclusions regarding pre-state hypotheses. There will be an emphasis on visual presentation of descriptive statistics and the results of statistical models. Furthermore, the course will cover linear and logistic regression analysis.

Prerequisite: POSC 5250.

POSC 5299. Special Topics: Campaigns. (3 Credits)

This is the capstone course for the M.A. in Elections and Campaign Management. Students, in groups, design campaign plans from start to finish. It is restricted to students in the M.A. program.

POSC 5301. Modern Political Thought. (3 to 4 Credits)

This course considers the relationship between religion and politics by reading Euro-American political thinkers such as Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Hume, and Locke. We also consider how post-Enlightenment philosophers—such as Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Tariq Ramadan, and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na‘im—address the Islamic revival.

Attributes: CEED, CENS, PSIC.

POSC 5500. Comparative Pol Analysis. (3 Credits)

Problems of stability and change in the First, Second, and Third Worlds are examined with relation to socioeconomic factors that affect, and are affected by, institutions, processes, and policies.

Attributes: CENS, GSSC, INST, IPED, PSIC, URSG.

POSC 5550. International Migration Policy. (3 Credits)

This class examines the global flow of people and the responses of local communities, states, and international institutions to this movement. First, we examine the development of contemporary patterns of migration: Why do people move across international borders, and where do they go? Second, we examine how states attempt to control migration, either by facilitating or limiting it, and the consequences of these efforts. Third, we examine the interaction between immigrants and host populations around the world: How are immigrants received and integrated once they arrive? Fourth, what implications do migration have for economic development and security? Lastly, we consider the role of international institutions and the potential for greater global governance on migration.

Attribute: IPED.

POSC 5560. Conflict Resolution. (3 Credits)

This course will focus on the nature of international and regional conflict during the post-Cold War period in terms of both current theory and the reality of recent conflict situations. Topics will include: analysis of the causes of contemporary conflicts; assessment of current international, regional and national approaches to conflict resolution; psychological implications of civil and ethnic conflicts; challenges of multiparty international mediation; and consideration of the role played by international, regional and community level institutions in addressing conflict situations. Particular emphasis will be placed on what theories and ideas actually work when put in to practice.

Attributes: CEED, CENS, GSSE, INST, IPED, IRST, PSIC, PSJH.

POSC 5600. Analysis of Int'l Pol. (3 Credits)

Designed to stimulate and clarify our theorizing about foreign policy and global politics; also it presents a critical overview of many of the key perspectives and problems that characterize such analysis.

Attributes: GSSC, INST, IPED, PSIC.

POSC 6520. International Business and Governments. (3 Credits)

Overview of the major principles, theories and issues regarding the role of contemporary international business within an interdependent world political economy. Course topics include corporate strategy, identity, governmental policies, diplomacy, foreign policy, ethics, meida, entrepreneurship, and trade. Specific case-study materials will be used to supplement academic literature.

POSC 6530. Political Economy of Development. (3 Credits)

This course provides an introduction to the politics and comparative study of international development, both human and economic. A central question will help organize the course: why have some countries developed successfully, while others have not? Whereas much of Western Europe, North America and East Asia have experienced economic development, much of Africa has not. Latin America, Eastern Europe and Eurasia are hybrids, with both pockets of success and failure. While defining what success or failure may mean in light of globalization, our collective focus will be on how best to understand such differences.s.

Attributes: GSSE, HULI, IPED, PSIC, URSG.

POSC 6552. Political Economy of the Middle East. (3 Credits)

Comparative analysis of Middle Eastern actors, institutions, and processes since World War II, paying special attention to the role of international forces in shaping national development and to the role of the Middle East as a major international actor and arena.

Attributes: IPED, MEST, PSIC.

POSC 6640. Pol of Global Econ Rel. (3 Credits)

Implications of growing intertwinement of foreign and domestic policies, economic and political aspects of international relations. Special attention to the growth of dependency and interdependence, importance of transnational actors (such as multinational corporations), and distribution of benefits and influence between poor and rich areas in the international order.

Attributes: ABGS, CEED, CENS, GSSE, IPED, PSIC.

POSC 6991. Political Risk Analysis. (3 Credits)

This course is primarily a research/writing course that culminates in an original paper where you will be required to analyze the political risks associated with a country of your choosing. While there will be only a minimal number of lectures, the instructor will serve as your individual mentor as you develop and present your paper. As part of the process of writing this paper, you will study methods used to assess and manage the political risks associatedwith foreign investment and international business; learn how to assess the domestic political climate of a country by examining factors such as the levelsof political violence, the stability of the government, and the existence of political democracy, and make an overall assessment of a country's economic climate by evaluating key macroeconomic indicators. You will also learn the importance of studying foreign relations of a country in order to evaluate the likelihood of any conflict it might have with its neighbors.

POSC 8998. Gbvt and Pgl of North Africa. (3 Credits)

This course is an independent study for IUDC Consortium students from member schools. The course addresses the political systems of the North African Region.

POSC 8999. Independent Study. (1 to 4 Credits)