uwloo

Political Science (PSCI)

54 graduate courses in Waterloo’s course catalog for Spring 2022, from UW Open Data. uwloo can’t read that term’s Graduate Calendar, so this stands in for it; the calendar itself is in Waterloo’s archive.

PSCI 600 Political Science Methods

This team-taught course examines different approaches to the study of political science, with units focusing on quantitative methods, qualitative methods, and an exploration of the epistemology of social science.

SEM · Course ID 011481Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 600 today

PSCI 604 Advanced Topics in Global Environmental Governance

This course examines the ways in which environmental challenges are being addressed by means of 'global governance' - that is, international organizations and institutions intended to deal with these environmental challenges. Concepts are investigated both to help analyze the relative strengths and weaknesses of existing structures and to suggest ways in which alternative forms of global governance might advance sustainability. Specific organizations and other actors presently active in global environmental governance are given particular attention, as is the management of selected global environmental challenges.

SEM · Course ID 001205Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 604 today

PSCI 606 Governing Global Food and Agriculture Systems

This course examines the international rules and organizations that have emerged to govern the increasingly global system of food and agriculture. Specific themes to be covered include governance issues related to the rise of global food corporations, agricultural trade liberalization and the WTO, food aid distribution, international agricultural assistance, the global agro-chemical industry, and agricultural biotechnology.

Antireq: ERS 675

SEM · Course ID 012738Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 606 today

PSCI 610 Globalization and Global Governance

This course provides an overview of current scholarly debates relating to the interdiciplinary study of global governance in the context of globalization. It examines competing perspectives on globalization and global governance, and explores the sources and consequences of global power and authority, as well as the key actors, institutions, regimes, and norms of global governance.

Prereq: Global Governance graduate students only. All others require permission of department.

SEM · Course ID 012552Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 610 today

PSCI 611 Theories and Methods of Psci 1

RDG · Course ID 002418Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 611 today

PSCI 614 Global Business and Development

This course examines the impact of international business on development in the context of economic globalization. It explores contending perspectives on how international business, particularly multinational corporations, has affected the economic, social and political development in the host countries, the home countries, as well as the world in general.

SEM · Course ID 013687Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 614 today

PSCI 615 Global Poverty

This course analyzes the extent and character of worldwide poverty today by adopting both a global and an historical perspective. The course examines the impact of industrialization and colonialism on poverty and the social and political economy of poverty in the contemporary world. The course examines the relationships between poverty and slums, poverty and underdevelopment, poverty and inequality, as well as poverty and hunger. The course considers various theories about causes of poverty and those public and private actions that seem most likely to reduce the extent of poverty.

SEM · Course ID 013688Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 615 today

PSCI 616 Global Health Governance

Health policy-making is changing to reflect a need for more coordination among nation-states and a rising number of international non-governmental organizations, leading to a more polycentric form of global governance. It begins with a review of theoretical texts on globalization and global public policy that assist in understanding changes in scale for policy-making and for policy coordination. It then looks at the historical development of global institutions, including the World Health Organization. Finally, it examines case studies of global health policy making, noting how these actions interface with nation-states' sovereignty and autonomy, and with other sites of global authority.

SEM · Course ID 013689Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 616 today

PSCI 617 Unconventional Diplomacy

This course stretches the definition of who are the actors that conduct the practice of diplomacy, where the sites of diplomacy are located, and what aims are privileged. Conventional diplomacy showcases state-centric activity with an emphasis on hierarchy, protocol, and closed negotiations. Unconventional diplomacy in contrast is open-ended with a focus on transparency, inclusiveness and the pursuit of global governance. The course begins with an overview of the pressures for change in diplomacy, and then moves to a detailed examination of specific areas where unconventional diplomacy has become prominent including think tank diplomacy, humanitarian diplomacy, 'pandemic' diplomacy, and celebrity diplomacy.

SEM · Course ID 013684Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 617 today

PSCI 618 Non-State Actors in Global Governance

Non-state actors (NHOs, corporations, networks, etc.) play increasingly important roles in global governance, This course examines different theoretical arguments about their roles. Overarching questions include the extent to which they support or undermine states' purposes in global governance, what and how much they can contribute to global problem solving, and possible limits or critiques of their participation. It will draw on studies of non-state actors in many issue areas, venues, and parts of the world in an effort to understand what these have in common with each other, as well as possible lines of differentiation among them.

SEM · Course ID 013685Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 618 today

PSCI 619 China and Global Governance

This course examines the evolution of Chinese involvement in global governance across different issue areas. We discuss Chinese perspectives on the existing governance mechanisms, and China's role in preserving or changing these mechanisms. We will also explore how China's involvement in global governance has shaped its domestic institutions.

SEM · Course ID 014301Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 619 today

PSCI 620 Gender and Global Politics

Does looking at the world through the lens of gender change how we see the state, sovereignty, diplomacy, security, trade, migration, globalization, governance, and other foundational concepts in global politics? We review feminist theories of politics, with a particular focus on international relations and global governance; examine how gender shapes the roles and experiences of women and men in global politics; and discuss how to do feminist research.

SEM · Course ID 014363Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 620 today

PSCI 621 Political Theory 1

Problems in classical and contemporary political theory.

SEM · Course ID 002420Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 621 today

PSCI 623 Democratic Theory and Practice

An examination of the justification and limitations of democratic government, as well as more practical applications of democratic theory to the workplace, judicial review, legal obligations, etc. The focus will be on problems of democratic theory and practice.

SEM · Course ID 002422Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 623 today

PSCI 624 Justice and Gender

Theories of justice are concerned with the distribution of the basic goods of society - money, power, status, leisure, and so on. One would expect that they would be of particular interest to feminist theory, which is also concerned with the distribution of these goods. This course will consider how the gender system fares from the standpoint of liberal justice, and to what extent the promises of liberal justice can be used to overturn the unequal treatment of women. The issues of equality and difference will also be explored.

LEC · Course ID 002423Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 624 today

PSCI 625 Directed Readings in Political Theory

RDG · Course ID 002424Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 625 today

PSCI 626 Normative Political Theory

An examination of how different political theorists use and understand key political concepts - such as equality, liberty, democracry, identity, and rights - to develop the ability to assess theories of justice from a libertarian, liberal, communitarian, democratic and feminist perspective. We will examine works of contemporary political theorists, including Rawls, Nozick, Cohen, Gutmann, Dworkin, Sandel, Okin and Young.

SEM · Course ID 002425Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 626 today

PSCI 630A Public Administration and Policy 1

An in-depth analysis of selected theories of public administration and public policy (e.g.) organization, behaviour, motivation, responsibility, policy making and implementation.

SEM · Course ID 002428Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 630A today

PSCI 631 The State and Economic Life

An analytical and comparative study of the growth of government intervention in the economic process, and of the development of the welfare state in selected western liberal-democratic societies.

SEM · Course ID 002430Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 631 today

PSCI 632 The Politics of Canadian Resource Development

An examination of various public policies designed to promote the exploitation and export of Canada's natural resources with an emphasis on the economic, political, social and environmental implications of these developmental strategies.

SEM · Course ID 002431Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 632 today

PSCI 633 Canadian Public Policy

In this course, we examine some of the conceptual frameworks that have been used by policy analysts in the past, in order to assess the possibilities as well as the limitations of such frameworks. We then develop our own approaches to examining some recent policy developments in Canada, using the insights of the authors we have examined. We will examine federal economic policy, provincial health policy, and municipal zoning policies, in order to assess (among other factors) the relative significance of policy focus, the situation of the policy-makers in the political system and ideological preferences.

SEM · Course ID 002432Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 633 today

PSCI 634 Comparative Public Administration

A comparative survey of public administration in both developed and developing areas. The focus is on the rise of the administrative state in a variety of cultural and political contexts, and on the study of general concepts which can then be applied in a variety of settings. Among the topics to be discussed are: comparison in the study of public administration; bureaucracy as a focus for comparison; the concept of the administrative state; the evolution of national administrative systems; the politics-administration interface and the senior civil service; bureaucracy and democracy; representative bureaucracy; bureaucratic ethics and morality; and the ombudsman and government secrecy.

SEM · Course ID 002433Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 634 today

PSCI 635 Directed Readings in Public Policy and Administration

RDG · Course ID 002434Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 635 today

PSCI 639 Global Social Governance

This course examines the prospects for the supranational governance of social issues including the political and philosophical underpinnings of transnational social policy cooperation as well as examining specific issue areas such as global health policy and cross-national migration.

SEM · Course ID 012553Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 639 today

PSCI 643 Directed Readings in Provincial and Local Politics

RDG · Course ID 010617Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 643 today

PSCI 650 Approaches to the Study of Comparative Politics

This course focuses on some of the methodological and theoretical problems involved in the conduct of comparative political inquiry.

SEM · Course ID 002440Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 650 today

PSCI 652 Advanced Topics in Third World Politics and Development II

SEM · Course ID 002442Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 652 today

PSCI 654 Post-War Reconstruction and State Building

Rebuilding states in the aftermath of conflict and state failure represents one of the foremost challenges facing the international community. The post-Cold War era has shown that weak states represent as great a threat to international security and stability as strong ones. The transition from war to peace and state failure to stability in these states can be conceptualized as encompassing three separate but interrelated transitions, in the economic, political and security spheres. The course will deconstruct and analyze this triple transition, examine both its theoretical roots and practical application with reference to a number of recent case studies.

SEM · Course ID 002444Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 654 today

PSCI 655 Ethnic Conflict and Conflict Resolution I

This course examines the causes of ethnic conflict but focuses in particular on the strategies which states use to manage or resolve such conflicts. The review of state strategies is comprehensive in nature, and includes approaches which are morally unacceptable as well as approaches which many consider morally desirable.

SEM · Course ID 002445Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 655 today

PSCI 656 The Politics of Inequality

This course studies the relationship between politics and socioeconomic inequality from a wide range of perspectives, such as inequality relating to income and debt, ethnicity, sex, consumers and producers, and regions

SEM · Course ID 015942Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 656 today

PSCI 657 International Organizations and Global Governance

This course serves as a survey of the international relations (IR) subfield of international organizations (IO) but focuses principally on formal, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs). We examine the growing literature on international organizations and discuss their impact on global governance, considering their formation, design, relevance, impact and agency. We apply this knowledge to the study of several highly institutionalized issue areas.

SEM · Course ID 002447Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 657 today

PSCI 658 Human Rights in the Globalized World

The course is a study of international and local responses to human rights abuses in the contexts of economic globalization and proliferation of armed violence. It examines major debates on international human rights. It also deals with specific human rights situations in the developing/transitional countries. Topics include: universalism and cultural relativism, global economic justice, rights to food and health, women's and children's rights, the rights of displaced civilians, human rights and R2P, prospects for transitional justice.

SEM · Course ID 002448Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 658 today

PSCI 659 Conflict and Conflict Resolution

A graduate level survey of theories of conflict resolution drawn from the international relations, comparative politics, and peace studies. Why do we have violent political conflict, and how can it be resolved? How and why do wars begin and end? This course focuses on political violence and conflict resolution between groups, including but not limited to states.

SEM · Course ID 002449Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 659 today

PSCI 661 Canadian Political Institutions

This course examines the structure and operation of central institutions in government, including dominant theories and approaches to their study. Topics may include the constitution, Parliament, the executive, courts, federalism and intergovernmental relations, political parties, provincial and municipal governance, and the bureaucracy.

SEM · Course ID 002450Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 661 today

PSCI 662 Canadian Political Process

This course examines the political process and societal cleavages in Canada, with a focus on new directions and debates in research. Topics may include elections and voting behaviour, social policy, gender, regionalism and nationalism, Indigenous politics, political culture, interest groups and social movements, and rights.

SEM · Course ID 002451Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 662 today

PSCI 663 Directed Readings in Canadian Politics

RDG · Course ID 010618Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 663 today

PSCI 664 Canada in the World: Foreign Policy

Studies of post 1945 Canadian foreign policy in comparative perspective.

SEM · Course ID 002452Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 664 today

PSCI 666 Rights and Public Policy

An exploration of the role that rights and rights discourse plays in public policy development and policy change. Examines Canadian public policy in relation to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights legislation, as well as cases in comparative context.

SEM · Course ID 014925Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 666 today

PSCI 668 The Politics of National Innovation Systems

This course examines the global effort to develop new economies built around the commercialization of science and technology. This class, while covering Canadian developments in some detail, examines the broad international, theoretical and conceptual questions surrounding national innovation strategies and implementations and considers the role of national cultures and political environments in promoting new economies.

RDG · Course ID 002454Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 668 today

PSCI 671 Women and Public Policy

Public policy in a variety of areas significant for women (including sport, employment equity, violence) sometimes fails to take into account women's experiences and needs. In this course, we will review policy developments, and reflect on the significance of feminist perspectives for policy analysis. The course will focus on Canadian examples, with comparative material included where useful.

SEM · Course ID 002455Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 671 today

PSCI 672 Special Topics in Political Science

A course on a specialized topic offered at different times as announced by the Department.

SEM · Course ID 016465Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 672 today

PSCI 678 Security Ontology-Theory

This is a seminar in the ontology of security. Security is a contested concept, and in this course we ask what it is and how best to pursue it. What do we mean by security? What are we trying to protect? From what? Why? How do we do it? We begin by considering the concept of security in the abstract, and we then proceed to explore various specific conceptions. Along the way we encounter both traditional and non-traditional approaches to security.

RDG · Course ID 002461Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 678 today

PSCI 679 Security Governance: Actors, Institutions, and Issues

In this course we examine a range of "security" issues on the global agenda - both traditional and non-traditional - and examine recent and possible future institutional and policy responses. Issues examined include nuclear proliferation, terrorism, intrastate conflict, resource and territorial disputes, climate change, drugs, disease, and migration. Students will have an opportunity to research in depth a specific security issue of their choice.

SEM · Course ID 013686Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 679 today

PSCI 680 Critical Security Studies

This course reviews critical analytical models for the study of security and covers a range of non-traditional issues including environmental security, public safety, cyber security, and counter-terrorism.

SEM · Course ID 013377Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 680 today

PSCI 683 Topics in International Political Economy

Contemporary perspectives and issues in international political economy, with particular attention to advanced industrial countries. Topics include political/economic cooperation, the politics of trade, and the politics of adjustment.

SEM · Course ID 002464Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 683 today

PSCI 684 Special Topics in International Diplomacy

Diplomacy and foreign policy are usually discussed as though they are synonymous. From a more nuanced perspective, diplomacy is about the set of instruments used in international affairs via techniques of representation, information, communication and negotiation. This course highlights the work of diplomats and the machinery of diplomacy.

SEM · Course ID 009393Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 684 today

PSCI 685 Directed Readings in International Politics

RDG · Course ID 002465Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 685 today

PSCI 686 Emerging Economies in Global Governance

Large developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China stand at the centre of much of current international political economy. Their national development efforts profoundly shape their international participation and vice versa. This course will cover theoretical and conceptual debates about the roles of these "middle range" or "emerging" powers, then examine their national economies, before turning to see how they individually and collectively (with the other emerging powers) fit into current global governance.

SEM · Course ID 002466Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 686 today

PSCI 687 Explaining Interstate War

An examination of explanation of interstate war found in classic texts and current empirical studies. (Heldwith PSCI 481).

SEM · Course ID 002467Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 687 today

PSCI 688 Governance of Global Economy

A survey of the theoretical and public policy debates relating to regulation of the global economy, examined through case studies ranging from international banking an intellectual property rights, to labour and environmental standards and the control of illicit economic activity.

SEM · Course ID 002468Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 688 today

PSCI 689 International Political Economy

Topics in international political economy-such as trade, finance, corporations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, regionalism (EU, NAFTA/FTAA, and APEC)-with a focus on resistance and accommodation to the forces of "globalization".

LEC · Course ID 011482Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 689 today

PSCI 690 Theories of Political Economy

An advanced examination of theoretical approaches to the study of political economy. The course explores both historical and contemporary approaches and how they inform political economy research.

SEM · Course ID 016367Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 690 today

PSCI 691 Developments in Political Economy

A survey of recent developments in the field of political economy that combines local, national, comparative, and international perspectives on states and markets, politics and business, wealth and power.

SEM · Course ID 016368Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 691 today

PSCI 692 Ecological Political Economy: Canada in Comparative

This course examines major current issues and debates in the field of political economy as it relates to the environment. The focus is on Canadian cases with comparative insights drawn from international cases.

SEM · Course ID 015943Graduate Calendar, Spring 2022PSCI 692 today