Department of Political Science

Political Science
1414 Social Sciences Building
267 19th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: 612-624-4144
Fax: 612-626-7599
E-mail: polisci@umn.edu

John Freeman Recent Syllabi

 


UNDERGRADUATE COURSES


Government and Markets (Last taught Spring 2013)

DESCRIPTION:
This course asks the question of whether democracy and markets are compatible, whether democratic institutions enhance (undermine) the workings of markets institutions and vice versa. Competing theoretical perspectives in the field of political economy are critically evaluated. And the experiences of countries with different forms of democratic market systems are studied. Among the topics singled out for in-depth investigation are the economics of voting, politics of money management, political business cycles, and the politics of trade.

Available in PDF Format: Syllabus Text

 

Democracy and Markets, Honors Seminar (Spring 2009)

DESCRIPTION:
This course addresses the question of whether democracy and markets are compatible, whether democratic institutions enhance (undermine) the workings of markets institutions and vice versa. Competing theoretical perspectives in the field of political economy are critically evaluated. And the experiences of countries with different forms of democratic market systems are studied. Among the topics singled out for in-depth investigation are the economics of voting, politics of money management, political business cycles, and the politics of trade.

Available in PDF Format: Syllabus Text

 

The Politics of World Trade and Money, Honors Seminar (Spring 2007)

DESCRIPTION:
This seminar studies the compatibility of world markets and various forms of governance, including national democracy. After examining some current issues about the impact of world markets on society and governance we study the post WWII evolution of the global trading and monetary systems. This includes critically evaluating some contending theoretical perspectives about these systems. Next we analyze the politics of trade. Among the topics singled out for close examination are the distributional consequences of trade, particularly the emerging skill cleavage within democratic countries. Institutions for governing trade like the World Trade Organization (WTO) also are studied. Money flows--both of currency and capital--and their consequences then are examined. Topics in this part of the class include the welfare consequences of currency fluctuations and crises, the reasons why countries adopt the U.S. dollar as their currency, and the politics of international banking. In the final weeks of the semester we take a closer look at recent political-economic developments in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Available in PDF Format: Syllabus Text

 


GRADUATE COURSES


 

Core Course in Models and Methods (Last taught Spring 2013)

DESCRIPTION:
This course surveys applications of social science methods in the analysis of normatively significant political problems. Its unifying themes are the EITM (Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models) project of the National Science Foundation and the promise of policy relevant research on important topics like electoral law and conflict early warning. We begin with a study of mathematical reasoning in political science. We a review models of unitary, political decision making, strategic choice in two person and n-person settings. Agent-based, computational modeling also is reviewed. We then turn to empirics. Research design, measurement, human experimentation, modeling of micro and macro political processes, and cross-level inference are studied in this third part. In the conclusion, efforts to join mathematical, statistical, and computational approaches are studied. These efforts come from the fields of American, Comparative, and International Politics.

Available in PDF Format: SyllabusText

 

Comparative Political Economy, Graduate Seminar (Fall 2003)

DESCRIPTION:
The study of political economy has many branches. Among them are veins of political philosophy and theoretical, interdisciplinary inquiries into the interconnections between market and political processes. There are subfields of political economy in American politics and in international relations as well as in urban politics. Political economy is a subfield in other disciplines such as economics and law. And there are well-established communities of scholars engaged in political-economic research on several continents.

This term Political Science 8637 focuses on the compatibility of democracy and markets. We begin with some study of selected puzzles and problems about the experiences of advanced industrial democracies. We then evaluate some competing theoretical perspectives about this subject. From here we proceed to more focused investigations of the mass bases of political economy, producer group politics, and the institutional determinants of macroeconomic performance. Among the topics singled out for closer study are economic voting, wage bargaining politics, and political business cycles. In order to built bridges to the other branches of political economy, the course concludes with weeks on the economic dimensions of European political integration and domestic politics in open economies.

Available in PDF Format: Syllabus Text

 

Time Series Analysis (Spring 2010)

DESCRIPTION:
This course considers statistical techniques to evaluate social processes occurring through time. The course introduces students to time series methods and to the applications of these methods in political science. We begin by discussing social problems that are inherently dynamic in nature and also how time series are measured. We then review the calculus of finite differences and other estimation techniques. We move next to study stationary ARMA models. In the following section of the course, we examine a number of important topics in time series analysis including "reduced form" methods (granger causality and vector autogression), unit root tests, near-integration, fractional integration, cointegration, and error correction models. Time series regression is also discussed (including pooling cross-sectional and time series data). We learn not only how to construct these models but also how to use them in social science analyses.

Available in PDF Format: Syllabus Text

 

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