U.S. State and Local Politics

Undergraduate

In the U.S.’s federal system, the fifty distinct state governments are often referred to as “laboratories of democracy.” This phrase implies two interconnected meanings. First, different state governments innovate and experiment with various policy solutions that are tailored to their geography, specific workforce needs, and particular state cultures. This can provide policymakers at both the state and national levels to learn from states about what approaches to policy solutions may work better than others. Secondly, fifty different states (some such as California, Texas, and New York have gross state products bigger than most countries–in fact the CA economy ranks 5th in the world behind Germany and India, and Texas ranks 8th in the world) comprise a natural laboratory in which to observe and test questions about political institutions, representation, political behavior, policymaking, and public opinion, among other topics. In this class, we take a comparative approach to studying state politics, using an analytical approach to understand the variety and variability of issues facing states and different approaches to solving societal problems. This course addresses both how the states themselves are substantively interesting, as well as how they are used to understand broader issues in political science and governance. SO HTBA