Global Politics & Policy

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Global Policy & Politics examines the influences and challenges actors face during the policymaking and governance processes in domestic and international settings. The course investigates how individual and collective actors make choices across varied settings and in different states. How do different cognitive, cultural, normative, and institutional structures shape the decision-making process? The course also examines variation in the attributes of states over time and across the globe, including their size, regime type, and internal cohesion. What kinds of constraints and opportunities do these differences produce for leaders and policymakers? Students compare a range of countries, including the United States, to understand the key actors and institutions in the governance and policymaking processes, including the executive and legislative branches, civil society actors, and external actors such as international institutions and foreign governments. The class combines broad global comparisons with focused case studies of particular places and themes. In addition to studying politics, policy, and governance, students will also learn how to consume, digest, and organize complex ideas and information across multiple related topics and communicate them coherently. The class values the ability to find the logical linkages and contradictions among arguments, to weigh and compare different options and perspectives, and to synthesize and present ideas in concise and informative written and spoken formats.