Search Results
Your search for courses · during 25FA, 26WI, 26SP · taught by rdawkins · returned 6 results
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POSC 122 Politics in America: Liberty and Equality 6 credits
An introduction to American government and politics. Focus on the Congress, Presidency, political parties and interest groups, the courts and the Constitution. Particular attention will be given to the public policy debates that divide liberals and conservatives and how these divisions are rooted in American political culture.
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POSC 122.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:30
- M, WLanguage & Dining Center 104 11:10am-12:20pm
- FLanguage & Dining Center 104 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 228 Power and the American Presidency 6 credits
The power of the executive branch is loosely defined in the second article of the U.S. Constitution. While the presidency was designed to be clearly subordinated to Congress, presidential has exploded over time and has reshaped American politics around presidential prerogatives. Today, the other branches of the government defer to the president, while voters look to the president to solve a snowballing set of public problems. However, citizen expectations of the president have outpaced even the growth in executive power, which has simultaneously upended the constitutional order while still leaving the average American chronically dissatisfied with government in Washington. This course is designed to explore the dynamics, the drama, and the intrigue associated with the rise of the imperial presidency in America.
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POSC 228.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WHasenstab 105 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 105 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 229 The U.S. Congress: Coordination and Conflict 6 credits
How does Congress make public policy? What factors inhibit or enhance legislative productivity? Is the policymaking process too partisan? This course provides a comprehensive introduction to congressional organization and procedures, the policy process, and the core debates and theories surrounding legislative politics in the United States Congress. The path of policy within Congress is an incredibly complex and conflict-ridden coordination problem. As a class, we will explore how the underlying motivations to win office, produce policy, and gain prestige drive congressional member behaviors. We will also carefully consider the institutional details of the House and Senate that constrain these legislative actors and influence legislative outcomes.
- Spring 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 229.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:25
- M, WLanguage & Dining Center 104 9:50am-11:00am
- FLanguage & Dining Center 104 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 230 Methods of Political Research 6 credits
An introduction to research method, research design, and the analysis of political data. The course is intended to introduce students to the fundamentals of scientific inquiry as they are employed in the discipline. The course will consider the philosophy of scientific research generally, the philosophy of social science research, theory building and theory testing, the components of applied (quantitative and qualitative) research across the major sub-fields of political science, and basic methodological tools. Intended for majors only.
- Fall 2025, Spring 2026
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): STAT 120 or STAT 230 or STAT 250 or PSYC 200 or SOAN 239 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 4 or better on the Statistics AP exam.
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POSC 230.01 Fall 2025
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:18
- M, WHasenstab 109 11:10am-12:20pm
- FHasenstab 109 12:00pm-1:00pm
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POSC 230.01 Spring 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:18
- T, THWeitz Center 235 10:10am-11:55am
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POSC 312 The Rural-Urban Divide 6 credits
The rural-urban divide is a prominent fixture of partisan and political conflict in the United States. It is a source of profound social, cultural, and economic differences in how people think about the world and a major driver of political polarization. Yet, few people understand how fundamental geographic space is to understanding American politics today. This course is a research seminar designed to explore the yawning perceptual gap between how rural and urban Americans think about their communities and their politics. The course addresses critical questions related to partisan polarization, race and ethnicity, political and economic inequality, and the quality of representation.
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POSC 312.01 Winter 2026
- Faculty:Ryan Dawkins 🏫 👤
- Size:15
- M, WHasenstab 109 9:50am-11:00am
- FHasenstab 109 9:40am-10:40am
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POSC 400 Integrative Exercise
The comprehensive exercise is a substantial (approximately 25-30 page) research paper on a topic within American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, and Public Policy. The student should have completed a 300-level POSC course. The usual comps process starts with a research paper from an already-completed advanced seminar, which is revised or used as an anchor to write the senior thesis, with approval and guidance from the instructor, who becomes the comps adviser. The students must also prepare a poster based on their comps paper for presentation in a group forum.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- No Exploration
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Student is a Political Science and International Relations major AND has Senior Priority.