Provides an analysis of the founding of the United States through an investigation of the important philosophical, constitutional, and political questions surrounding the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, and the creation and development of the U.S. Constitution. Attention is given to federalism, and the Constitutional institutions of the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court.

Investigates such issues as political participation, public opinion and voting behavior, interest groups and political parties, and civil rights and liberties.

Continuation of GOVT 313. Students examine research topics and complete research projects according to American Psychological Association requirements. Students apply research and statistical principles, including the use of SPSS.

Prerequisites:GOVT 313

Investigates the political philosophy and political thought of such important thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, J.S. Mill, Rousseau, Kant, and Nietzsche through the reading and analysis of their works. Emphasis is given to understanding the foundations of modernity and the political writings composed therein.

Involves the preparation of a research prospectus and annotated bibliography outlining and defending a particular research question and problem. Course emphasizes integration of faith and disciplinary interest.

Prerequisites:GOVT 313, GOVT 321, Senior standing

Involves the writing and defense of an undergraduate thesis based on the research prospectus completed in GOVT 491.

Prerequisites:GOVT 491

Explores the political philosophy and political thought of important thinkers such as Sophocles, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas through the reading and analysis of their works. Emphasis is given to understanding the foundations of the ancient and medieval era and the political writings composed therein.

Offers a systematic exploration and comparison of the world's political systems. Investigates key trends, patterns, and relationships that may offer explanations regarding the similarities and differences of those systems. As such, emphasis is placed on such topics as political economy, ethnic conflict, democratization, political corruption, and state and nation building.

Evaluates the conduct of foreign affairs, policy, and relationships between nation-states in the international political community. Students are introduced to the history of the international order as well as to the leading international relations' theories of realism, liberal internationalism, neo-conservatism, human rights, and Marxism.

Considers the systematic process by which to conduct research as well as the various research methods that can be used to acquire and advance knowledge. Introduction to methodological concepts used in the study of society, to the formal steps of the scientific method, to various research processes, to quantitative and qualitative methods of investigation, and to the communication of research results via research reports.

Prerequisites:MATH 201

Considers the concepts of ideology (worldview or weltanschauung) and philosophy as applied to government and politics. Attention is given to such dominant political ideologies as communism, socialism, fascism, liberalism, and conservatism.

Explores some of the main fields within the discipline of government (e.g., comparative politics, political theory) as well as some of the main approaches to the study of government (e.g., interpretivism, behavioralism, institutionalism). Various theories of integration for the study and understanding of government are also introduced.

Evaluates the internal processes of the House and Senate as well as the place of Congress in the American political system. Some of the topics studied include the Congressional functions of representation, law-making, and policy-making as well as Constitutional and historical responsibilities.

Examines the Constitutional and historical responsibilities of the Presidency. Attention is given to the administrative, domestic, and diplomatic functions of the Presidency as well as to the growth of presidential power over time and the relationship of the Presidency to the other U.S. political institutions.

Analyzes the U.S. judicial system with a concentrated emphasis on the internal processes of the federal judiciary and the U.S. Supreme Court as well as the Constitutional and historical responsibilities of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Analyzes the basic principles and practices of American public administration and policy, with an emphasis on the politics of administration and the relationship between the bureaucracy, special interest groups, Congress, the President, and the public as related to the creation and implementation of public policy.

An approved independent study option, supervised by faculty, in a directed area of scholarship. Study is administered according to a learning contract between a chosen faculty member and the student.

An approved independent study option, supervised by faculty, in a directed area of scholarship. Study is administered according to a learning contract between a chosen faculty member and the student.

Approved internship in a field of the student's specialty. This guided learning experience is a culminating experience in which the student applies the principles and skills learned, demonstrating competency under the guidance of a specialist in the field

Analysis and investigation of the operations of U.S. state and local governments within the federal structure of American government with an additional emphasis on becoming active and knowledgeable citizens.

Examines the history of U.S. foreign policy up until the present era with special attention to topics such as U.S. military, economic, and human rights policy. Course also examines the changing concepts of power, the national interest, and grand strategy and learning in U.S. foreign policy as these relate to various world regions.

Investigates the global problems that influence and shape contemporary and future government decision-making. Attention is given to such important problems as terrorism, poverty, human trafficking, disease, the digital revolution, the global economy, immigration as well as to how governments are responding to such challenges.

Considers the economic and political behavior of states. Focuses on the relationship between political institutions, political culture, and economic arrangements and how the interaction of these fosters or inhibits the economic development and growth of states.

Provides a comparative analysis of foreign policy through the key concepts of power and national interest. Students analyze case studies of foreign policy making of various nation-states. Theories of war and international diplomacy are also addressed.

Examines key U.S. Supreme Court decisions in such areas as presidential and congressional power as well as civil rights and liberties.