POLS 1300 B (CRN: 15240)
Political Science: US Political System
3 Credit Hours—Seats Available!
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About POLS 1300 B
Institutions, processes, and problems of American government. Credit not awarded for both POLS 1300 and POLS 1013.
Notes
Open to Degree and PACE students
Section Description
Expanded Section Description, POLS 1300 Spring 2026 - Prof. Alec Ewald Americans today demonstrate an extraordinary level of discontent, anger, and concern about our governments and our public life. Some of these worries relate to the economy, others to foreign policy, and others to the performance of specific institutions. Many people think our ongoing political crisis means the U.S. political system has actually failed. And in significant respects, the U.S. political system that we have known for about the last 75 years may no longer exist. All this calls to mind that famous old mixed blessing – “May you live in interesting times” – and brings energy, even urgency, to the study of American politics. This course surveys ideas, institutions, and behavior in American politics, guided by four main thematic questions. First, what are the different forms and types of power that structure American politics and government? Second, to what degree do American political ideals and realities align, or fail to align? Third, what are the key paradoxes in American politics, and are such paradoxes strengths or weaknesses of our political life? Fourth, what have been the essential changes in American government – and is our political history essentially a story of change, or resistance to change? The course also includes extended consideration of the nature of political rationality in our intensely partisan times. In addition to a conventional textbook, we’ll use an instructor-designed set of readings drawn from history, law, and current affairs, as well as the discipline of political science.
Section Expectation
Required attendance, and completion of readings assigned for each day; completion of informal reading-response writing, quizzes, and exams.
Evaluation
Frequent informal writing in response to homework; small in-class quizzes; in-class exams; and a cumulative final exam.
Important Dates
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