This is an archive. See the current website at www.extension.harvard.edu.

  

Skip to nav

Government

GOVT E-110/W The World Today (22169)
(Website) (Print View)
Vincenzo Bollettino, PhD, Affiliate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.
Writing-intensive course. 4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Monday, Jan. 30, 7:35-9:35 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 101. Spring term

This writing-intensive course is designed to give students the basic knowledge that is required to understand and analyze contemporary international politics. The course examines the empirical, theoretical, and normative foundations for understanding contemporary global politics; critically reviews recent social science approaches, perspectives, and policy explanations in the field of international relations; and assesses selected contemporary challenges to peaceful international relations.
Top of page

GOVT E-1039 Constitutional Law (22464)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Cindy Skach, DPhil, Associate Professor of Government, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,575. Limited enrollment.
Monday, Jan. 30, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 111. Spring term

This advanced seminar explores the construction, deliberation, and interpretation of "higher law" in contemporary democracies around the world.
Top of page

GOVT E-1045 Justice
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.

Fall term (12634) (Website) (Print View): Michael J. Sandel, PhD, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government, Harvard University. Online only, beginning Sept. 20. See the Distance Education website. Optional sections to be arranged. Lecture 1 video. Lecture 2 video.

Spring term (22503) (Website) (Print View): Michael J. Sandel, PhD, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government, Harvard University. Online only, beginning Jan. 30. See the Distance Education website. Optional sections to be arranged. Lecture 1 video. Lecture 2 video.

A critical analysis of selected classical and contemporary theories of justice, with discussion of present-day practical applications. Topics include affirmative action, income distribution, same-sex marriage, free speech versus hate speech, debates about rights (human rights and property rights), arguments for and against equality, debates about political obligation and the claims of community. Readings include Aristotle, Locke, Kant, Mill, and Rawls. The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Moral Reasoning 22. Prerequisite: students must view sample online lectures before they register.
Top of page

GOVT E-1061 Introduction to Political Theory (22397)
(Print View)

4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Spring term

*** GOVT E-1061 has been CANCELLED.***

This course is not a study of political institutions but of various ways of understanding how and why we have politics. Why, given human nature and our situation, is politics possible yet fraught with difficulties? Is there a science or theory of politics that enlarges political possibilities? Principal readings from Plato, Aristotle, More, Locke, and Huxley.
Top of page

GOVT E-1062 Theories of Citizenship (22072)
(Website) (Print View)
Jan L. Feldman, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vermont.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Monday, Jan. 30, 5:30-7:30 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 108. Spring term
Online and on-campus options. See the Distance Education website. Lecture 1 video.

Citizenship is one of the few devices for countering the centrifugal forces of pluralism. Can it succeed in the face of competing demands on our loyalty and competing sources of identity? This course explores the concept of citizenship, traces its historical evolution, and discusses the special challenges of citizenship in the face of multiculturalism, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, and globalization.
Top of page

GOVT E-1063 Democracy (12590)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Delba Winthrop, PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 5:30-7:30 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 101. Fall term

How did democracy become the only legitimate political order, as it seems to be today? What was it meant to be in theory, and what is it? Emphasis is on American democracy. Principal readings from Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and contemporary Supreme Court cases.
Top of page

GOVT E-1064 Religion, Liberalism, and Democracy (12256)
(Website) (Print View)
Jan L. Feldman, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vermont.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Monday, Sept. 19, 5:30-7:30 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 101. Fall term
Online and on-campus options. See the Distance Education website. Lecture 1 video. Lecture 2 video.

Religion can threaten or support a democratic polity. What is the proper role of religious conviction and discourse in the public realm? Does the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion entail the creation of a thoroughly secular civil order, or should religious as well as secular citizens bring their concerns into the public square on an equal footing?
Top of page

GOVT E-1155 Irish Politics (12448)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Richard B. Finnegan, PhD, Professor of Political Science and Director of Irish and International Studies Programs, Stonehill College.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 310. Fall term

An examination of the process of state building after 1922: constitutional and institutional development, party competition, church-state relations, economic growth and the policy process in the context of democratic participation. The North is examined as an unresolved question of state building and democracy.
Top of page

GOVT E-1298 Comparative Politics of Latin America (12473)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Steven Levitsky, PhD, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,575. Limited enrollment.
Monday, Sept. 19, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 211. Fall term

This seminar examines political and economic change in Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. It explores the rise of populism (1930s and 1940s), democratic breakdown and military rule (1960s and 1970s), and democratization and market-oriented reform (1980s and 1990s). It then analyzes contemporary issues of civil-military relations, new social movements, and democratic institutions such as presidentialism, electoral systems, and party systems.
Top of page

GOVT E-1340 American Constitutional Law (22022)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
David R. Manwaring, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston College.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Feb. 2, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 102. Spring term

Development of constitutional principles through Supreme Court decisions. Principal focus is on judicial power and limits and the special role of American courts in preserving and vindicating individual rights. Topics include the rights of property, racial and nonracial equal protection, and the fundamental right of privacy. Prerequisite: some coursework in American politics desirable.
Top of page

GOVT E-1345 American Legal System (12329)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
David R. Manwaring, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston College.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Sept. 22, 7:35-9:35 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 108. Fall term

Topics include historical origins and basic philosophy; American courts and legal procedure; lawyers and the legal profession; legal reasoning (common law precedent, statutory interpretation); and current weaknesses and unsolved problems (congestion and delay, legal ethics).
Top of page

GOVT E-1731 The Future of War: Conflict and Order in the Twenty-First Century (22463)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Thomas M. Nichols, PhD, Professor and Forrest Sherman Chair of Public Diplomacy, Naval War College.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 202. Spring term

This course is about the future of war, and considers how both the reasons and the ways states go to war are changing. The course considers questions such as: How and why have states gone to war in the past? What were considered legitimate reasons for going to war? How will violence in the international system be governed in a world where norms about the use of force have changed? Specific topics to be addressed include the problem of military force for humanitarian intervention, the future of nuclear deterrence, the dilemma of preventive war, coercive approaches to nuclear nonproliferation, and ethical issues related to military conflicts in failed states or with nonstate actors.
Top of page

GOVT E-1733 Globalization and Terrorism (22262)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Joan Johnson-Freese, PhD, Professor and Chair, National Security Decision Making, Naval War College.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 5:30-7:30 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 210. Spring term

This course examines the contemporary globalization phenomenon, its links to terrorism, and potential US responses. Globalization is simultaneously an integrating force and a fragmenting one. Globalization can widen economic gaps, fueling anger and frustration among already disparate groups. Further, it has resulted in what some call the democratization of information, opening the floodgates of access and linkages to those with both positive and negative intent. The relationship between globalization and terrorism is explored, focusing on US national security strategy.
Top of page

GOVT E-1734 Violence and the Nation-State (12611)
(Print View)

4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Fall term

*** GOVT E-1734 has been CANCELLED.***

How can we make sense of violence? What are the conditions that generate it? Does the state play a role in fomenting violence? We begin by exploring violence as a social phenomenon that takes place not only in times of war but also in times of peace. Through readings on drug addiction and the US inner city, infant mortality in Brazil, and the death of elderly African Americans during the 1995 Chicago heat wave, we consider violence as a routine that is embedded in the fabric of daily life. We then examine the intricate connections among everyday violence, collective violence, and the nation-state and explore the conditions that have made mass violence possible in Rwanda, Cambodia, Guatemala, Northern Ireland, the Gaza Strip, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
Top of page

GOVT E-1735 The Geneva Conventions (12482)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Jens Meierhenrich, PhD, Assistant Professor of Government and of Social Studies, Harvard University.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,575. Limited enrollment.
Monday, Sept. 19, 5:30-7:30 pm, Sever Hall, Room 105. Fall term

This seminar examines the Geneva Conventions, introducing students to one of the most frequently invoked--and least understood--notions of international law. By analyzing cases ranging from the military rape of civilians in the former Yugoslavia to the detention of unlawful combatants in the war on terrorism, the course reflects on the theory and practice of international humanitarian law.
Top of page

GOVT E-1750 International Organization (20927)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Don Babai, PhD, Associate in Research, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7:35-9:35 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 101. Spring term

Can states work out cooperative solutions to problems of human injustice and environmental degradation? What is the record of the United Nations in conflict management? What has been the impact of World Bank programs on the alleviation of poverty? Why are the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization regarded as necessities by some and as obstacles by others? These are some of the questions addressed in an exploration of the potentials and limitations of international organizations in the world system.
Top of page

GOVT E-1800 Introduction to International Relations (12296)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
David A. Rezvani, PhD, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7:35-9:35 pm, Harvard Hall, Room 202. Optional sections to be arranged. Fall term

This course provides an introduction to the framework, patterns, and practice of international relations. We critically examine the modern state system, warfare, international political economy, nationalism, international ethics, terrorism, international institutions, and sub-state regions in conflict. The course also explores enduring theories in international relations such as realism and liberalism.
Top of page

GOVT E-1830 Introduction to Public International Law (22387)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Houchang E. Chehabi, PhD, Professor of International Relations and History, Boston University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7:35-9:35 pm, Emerson Hall, Room 210. Spring term

This course introduces students of international relations to the main concepts of public international law. Topics include the state, treaties, peaceful conflict resolution, the law of the sea, human rights, and the law of international organizations.
Top of page

GOVT E-2000 Quantitative Methods for Political Science (12632)
(Syllabus) (Print View)
Kevin Quinn, PhD, Assistant Professor of Government, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Fall term
Online only, beginning Sept. 20. See the Distance Education website. Required sections to be arranged. Lecture 1 video. Lecture 2 video.

This course is designed to deepen students' understanding of quantitative political methodology. The primary focus of the course is on regression models with special attention paid to least squares linear regression. Applications to American politics, comparative politics, and international relations are covered during the course. The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Government 2000. Prerequisites: linear algebra and calculus or equivalent; math placement test recommended. Students must view sample online lectures before they register.
Top of page

GOVT E-2001 Advanced Quantitative Research Methodology (22403)
(Website) (Print View)
Gary King, PhD, David Florence Professor of Government, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Spring term
Online only, beginning Feb. 7. See the Distance Education website. Required sections to be arranged. Lecture 1 video. See course website for all other lectures.

This course introduces the theories of inference underlying most statistical methods. It covers how new approaches to research methods, data analysis, and statistical theory are developed. With this foundation, we introduce (and reinvent) a wide variety of known statistical solutions to a wide range of social science data problems. We also show how it is easy to conceive original approaches and new statistical estimators when required. The specific models introduced are chosen based on students' research topics. In past years they have included models for event counts, ecological inference, time-series cross-sectional analysis, compositional data, causal inference, and case-control designs. The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Government 2001. Prerequisites: a course on linear regression or the equivalent; GOVT E-2000 recommended. Students must view sample online lectures before they register.
Top of page

Related Courses

  • ANTH E-169 Anthropology and Human Rights
  • ENVR E-130 Global Climate Change: The Science, Social Impact, and Diplomacy of a World Environmental Crisis
  • RELI E-1510 The Bible and Politics

Related Subject