American Political Development

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course is a survey of American Political Development (APD), a subfield of political science, which endeavors to understand political change and continuity across time in the United States. APD examines how political culture, ideology, and the structures of government are both causes and effects of the development of political conflict and public policy. APD identifies discrete eras with distinguishing modes of political ordering and pinpoints critical turning points in history. The big questions of APD include: Are American ideas and institutions "exceptional"? What is the American state and how was it built? What has been the special significance of class and race in institutional development? This course will explore these questions alongside analyses of critical periods in American political history from the founding to the present.