Political Strategy

Catalog description

The objective of this course is to provide a general overview of strategic behavior in politics. The course links practical issues in modern politics to theoretical concepts in Political Science based on the rational actor model. The goal is to understand why events happen the way they do by understanding why strategic actors make the choices they do, constrained by events, institutions, and each other. Particular attention will be paid to strategy in American politics, but the general concepts and methods will be applicable to a wide range of situations. Also note that the approach of this course is completely divorced from all normative concerns: for the purposes of this course, "good" and "evil" do not exist -- only success or failure. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.