Political Science
Political Science Courses
POL SCI 1100 Introduction to American Politics (MOTR POSC 101): 3 semester hours
This course is an introduction to basic concepts of government and politics with special reference to the United States, but also includes comparative material from other systems. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
POL SCI 1200 Foundations of Law: An Introduction to Legal Studies: 3 semester hours
Same as CRIMIN 1200. As a broad liberal-arts approach to the study of law, this course is designed to familiarize students with legal ideas, legal reasoning, and legal processes. It also provides comparative and historical perspectives on law that will help explain legal diversity and legal change. Finally, it offers opportunities to explore some of the persistent issues in law and legal theory: for example, issues about the sources of law, the responsibilities of the legal profession, or the relative merits of the adversary system.
POL SCI 1500 Introduction to Comparative Politics (MOTR POSC 202): 3 semester hours
This course introduces students to western and non-western systems. It examines similarities and differences in the basic political ideologies, structures, economies, social institutions and governmental processes of developed and developing countries. It also provides frameworks for understanding the cultures of the world that are the basis for formal economic and political institutions. In addition, the course examines the role of non-state institutions, including trans-national ones, in shaping national policies. It uses case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, as well as Europe, to enhance student understanding of comparative politics. This course fulfills the cultural diversity requirement.
POL SCI 1800 Introduction to International Politics (MOTR POSC 201): 3 semester hours
An introduction to the field of international relations, covering such topics as nationalism, power, foreign policymaking, diplomacy, war, terrorism, arms control and disarmament, economic interdependence, the regulation of conflict, and other aspects of politics among nations.
POL SCI 1820 Global Issues: 3 semester hours
A freshman and sophomore level course designed to introduce students to a range of global concerns, including population, hunger, trade, energy, and the environment. The worldwide implications of these and other problems will be considered, as well as their effects on local communities such as St. Louis.
POL SCI 2102 Introduction to Gender Studies: 3 semester hours
Same as SOC WK 2102, SOC 2102, GS 2102, HIST 2102. This core class is required for all Gender Studies Certificate earners. This class introduces students to cultural, political and historical issues that shape gender. Through a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course familiarizes students with diverse female and male experiences and gendered power relationships.
POL SCI 2260 Law, Politics and Society: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1200 or consent of instructor. This course examines the ways in which law in America connects with politics and society. The course will cover the litigation process, access to the courts, how and why individuals and groups bring litigation to pursue political and policy goals, and how lawyers, judges and other political actors use law to solve policy problems. Attention will be placed on current legal policy issues facing American society. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
POL SCI 2280 Judicial Politics: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1200 or consent of instructor. This course is an examination of the American state and federal legal systems. Topics examined in this course include an analysis of the structure, organization and foundation of courts. Emphasis will be placed on the role of juries, judges, attorneys, litigants, and interest groups in the judicial system. The objective of the course is to evaluate courts as political institutions and analyze the policy-making role of judges. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
POL SCI 2290 Gender and the Law: 3 semester hours
Same as GS 2290. Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100, or POL SCI 1200, or consent of instructor. This course examines the ways in which law has created, reinforced or transformed gender roles over time. It surveys the legal status of American women from the adoption of the U.S. Constitution to the present through court cases, statutes and other legal materials. The course will also focus on relevant legal issues in areas such as marriage and the family, reproductive freedom, voting rights, employment, education, the criminal justice system, women in the legal profession and the intersection of gender, race and class in the legal system. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
POL SCI 2300 State Politics: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. This course is an examination of contemporary state politics in the U.S. It convers topics such as, social, economic and political determinants of policies; federal-state-local relations, elections, interest groups and participation; executive legislative and judicial institutions and processes, policies and their impact. This course fulfills the American History and Government general education requirement.
POL SCI 2320 African Americans and the Political System: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. This course is an examination of the status of African Americans in the context of the American political system. It will focus on a number of issues, which may include attitudes of various publics toward racial concerns; nature of problems in specific policy areas (e.g., unemployment, school desegregation, housing, poverty); representation of African Americans in governmental institutions and the private sector; and the role of African American leadership and civil rights groups in the political process. The course fulfills the state requirement. This course fulfills the American History and Government general education requirement.
POL SCI 2330 The American Presidency: 3 semester hours
This course studies the constitutional, political, legislative, and administrative roles played by the American chief executive in the development of public policy.
POL SCI 2331 Congressional Politics: 3 semester hours
This course examines the Congress of the United States, its history and evolution, its contemporary politics, and its role in the national policy-making process. Topics may include candidate recruitment, campaigns and elections, representation, committees, legislative leadership, roles and norms, voting alignments, lobbyists and interest groups, oversight of administration, and House-Senate comparisons. The course may also introduce students to the role of Congress in foreign policy, economic policy, and social-welfare policy.
POL SCI 2350 Introduction to Urban Politics: 3 semester hours
This course examines the structure and process of politics in the urban community, with emphasis on their relationships to community power structures.
POL SCI 2370 The Politics of Identity and Social Justice: 3 semester hours
Examines the meaning of social justice at the intersections of identities linked to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, religion, and citizenship in the United States. We will dissect how the social construction of "difference" within systems of power has resulted in social policies that marginalize some groups more than others. We will also discuss how oppression linked to delineations of difference can be challenged and socially reconstructed, and ultimately used as a source of political empowerment.
POL SCI 2380 The Politics of Gender in the United States: 3 semester hours
Same as GS 2380. This course examines the role of gender in political institutions, practices and policy in the United States, past for political equality, the relationship between gender and political participation, vote choice, and public opinion, and how legislative, executive, and judicial offices are gendered at the national, state, and local levels.
POL SCI 2400 Public Administration: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. Survey of Public Administration, with reference to organization, financial administration, personnel management, judicial control of the administrative process.
POL SCI 2420 Introduction to Public Policy: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. Study of differing approaches to understanding the public policy process. Course surveys the application of social science to public issues and problems.
POL SCI 2430 Public and Nonprofit Organizational Behavior: 3 semester hours
This course examines behavior in public and nonprofit organizations, including theory about how organizations work and how groups and individuals behave within organizations. Theories will be applied in an attempt to explain and predict behavior in an organizational context. Topics include motivation, leadership, goal complexity and ambiguity, organizational structure, culture, and communication in public and nonprofit organizations, as well as the relationship between public and private organizations.
POL SCI 2450 Labor, Work, Society, and Politics: 3 semester hours
This course explores the evolution of work in the United States, and how labor unions shaped and influenced society, politics, and the workplace. It examines the role of workers, (past present and future) unions' organizational structure, the role of collective bargaining, labor and the media, and labors' political and social campaigns.
POL SCI 2500 Comparing Different Worlds: 3 semester hours
This course focuses on the role of political institutions, economic structures and social groups in explaining differences in forms of government and levels of socio-economic development. It explores in detail one or more of these themes in cases drawn from developing and developed nations.
POL SCI 2510 The Politics of European Union: 3 semester hours
The European Union has become the driving force in European economic and social development. This course assesses the changing nature of national identity and national sovereignty in Europe. It compares and contrasts key public policies, (single market, welfare, migration, gender mainstreaming, "democratic deficits"), along with core EU actors and institutions, and includes participation in the annual Midwest Model EU.
POL SCI 2530 Political Systems of South America: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500 or consent of instructor. An introduction to the study of the political systems of South America. Examination of the cultural context that has shaped the political, economic, and social development of states in the region. This course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
POL SCI 2540 Political Systems of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500 or consent of instructor. An introduction to the study of the political systems of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Examination of the cultural context that has shaped the political, economic, and social development of these countries. This course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
POL SCI 2580 African Politics: 3 semester hours
This course introduces the nature of societies, governments, and international relations in Africa. It deals with forms of governance on the continent, regional groupings of states, and persistent conflicts within and among states. Problems of economic underdevelopment, food supplies, health and population trends, and cultural change are analyzed, along with the role of outside major power intervention. This course fulfills the Cultural Diversity requirement.
POL SCI 2585 Aiding Africa: 3 semester hours
Same as HIST 2068. This course examines the history of economic development on the African continent. Students will learn about the local and the international encounters that development has fostered; they will explore how Africans have experienced and reformulated development in different contexts and time periods; and they will study the changing international policies on development, which have shaped the lives of Africans. This course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
POL SCI 2590 Globalization: Prospects and Problems: 3 semester hours
Globalization is a multidimensional construct, which calls for its study from a multidisciplinary perspective: i.e., economics, political science, history, and anthropology. The course will explore the forces undergirding economic globalization, as well as the factors that are giving rise to a global democratic dispensation. It will also examine previous forms of globalization including archaic globalization, proto-globalization, and modern globalization as well as so-called deviant globalization - the trade in illicit goods and services, which are also highly lucrative: e.g., human trafficking, prostitution, endangered species, narcotics, organ transplants, small arms, etc. Finally, the course will explore cultural globalization and the rise of a global 'pop culture.' The course will include a comparative analysis of the impacts of globalization in all of its manifestations on social groups (e.g., men and women, ethnic and racial minorities, young and old, classes), countries, and regions.
POL SCI 2600 The Geography of Governance: 3 semester hours
This course investigates the impacts of geography on the formation and performance of political, economic, and social institutions at the domestic and international level. Questions addressed include how geography impacts economic development, democratization, state capacity, and public goods provision. Students will become familiar with spatial terminology and learn the basics of spatial analysis and maps in ArcGIS, demonstrating skill development through written and oral presentations.
POL SCI 2800 International Relations Theories: 3 semester hours
This course provides a foundational understanding of how International Relations (IR) theories shape policymaking at the national, regional and global levels. Using real-world events, this course applies realist, liberal and constructivist theories to examine 21st-century global challenges, such as terrorism, ethnonationalism, cybersecurity, migration, refugees, health, development and the environment.
POL SCI 2820 United States Foreign Policy: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1800. This course examines the factors influencing the formation and the execution of American foreign policy, with a focus on specific contemporary foreign policy issues.
POL SCI 2900 Studies in Political Science: 1-6 semester hours
Selected topics in political science.
POL SCI 3000 Political Analysis: 3 semester hours
This course provides an introduction to political analysis, emphasizing both the logic of inquiry and practical methods. Students will learn about the construction and evaluation of theories that relate to real-world politics. Students will also have an opportunity for hands-on experience with qualitative and quantitative methods including graphics, descriptive statistics, cross-tabular and correlational analysis, hypothesis testing, and computer applications.
POL SCI 3041 Topics in American Constitutional History: 3 semester hours
Same as HIST 3041. Prerequisites: Junior standing or consent of instructor. This course examines the origins and development of the principal institutions and ideas of the American constitutional systems. More specifically, topics may include, the role of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in the growth of the nation, important Supreme Court decisions, great American jurists and their impact upon the law, and historical background to current constitutional issues.
POL SCI 3200 Constitutional Law: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1200 or consent of the instructor. This course examines major U.S. Supreme Court cases on the constitutional structure of American government. Topics covered may include judicial review, separation of powers, federal-state relations commerce clause, and economic liberties. The course explores how the Supreme Court has interpreted these constitutional conflicts in light of changing times and emerging issues.
POL SCI 3210 Civil Liberties: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1200 or consent of instructor. This course examines major U.S. Supreme Court cases in the areas of civil liberties and civil rights. Topics covered may include the incorporation of the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, the right to protest, discrimination in the contexts of race, gender and sexual orientation, and the right to privacy. The course explores how the Supreme Court has interpreted these fundamental rights in light of changing times and emerging issues.
POL SCI 3220 Labor and Employment Law: 3 semester hours
This course examines the primary labor and employment laws that govern employment relationships in the United States. Topics may include laws that govern private-sector employment relationships, including the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family, and Medical Leave Act, and parallel issues found in state and other federal laws.
POL SCI 3260 The Supreme Court: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100, or POL SCI 1200 or consent of the instructor. An examination of the role, function and assertion of power by the U.S. Supreme Court in our constitutional democracy. Topics include an historical overview of the Supreme court, the process of selecting Supreme Court Justices, life in the Court, Supreme Court decision making, Supreme Court policymaking, implementation and impact of Court decisions and the role of the Supreme Court as a national policymaker.
POL SCI 3330 Public Opinion and Political Participation: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. This course links Americans' political attitudes to their political participation (defined broadly) and explores how governmental institutions, the media, and social group affiliations affect political behavior. It also connects trends in public opinion and participation to the state of American democracy.
POL SCI 3350 Political Parties and Elections: 3 semester hours
This course examines the development, organization, functions, activities of major and minor political parties, pressure groups, and election administration, especially in the United States.
POL SCI 3390 Studies in American Politics: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. Selected topics in American politics. May be repeated.
POL SCI 3420 Public and Nonprofit Personnel Management: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 2400 or consent of instructor. This course examines personnel practices in the public and nonprofit sectors, including recruitment, job development, labor relations, and administration of equal employment/ affirmative action programs.
POL SCI 3430 Labor and Community Leadership: 3 semester hours
This course examines leadership development principles through the lens of labor and social action leadership. Topics may include a variety of leadership theories as well as the intersection of race, gender, and multiculturalism with leadership and the resultant challenges and opportunities within social organizations and labor unions.
POL SCI 3440 Public and Nonprofit Budgeting: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 2400 or consent of instructor. This course studies budgeting, namely, "who gets what" and who pays for it. It examines the administration and politics of federal, state, and local government budgets. Students will gain experience in interpreting budget documents and making budget choices, using electronic and other resources.
POL SCI 3450 Urban Administration: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. Study of administrative machinery and practices of metropolitan government, how metropolitan areas organize themselves to provide services, how urban policies are made and implemented, how budgeting and personnel recruitment processes operate, and how these relate to urban policies.
POL SCI 3460 The Politics of Poverty and Welfare: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. An examination of the structure of income inequality in the U.S. and public policies designed to redistribute wealth and to treat poverty. The history of welfare programs, the growth of the welfare state, and attempts to cut social spending are closely examined.
POL SCI 3470 Negotiation, Collective Bargaining, and Dispute Resolution: 3 semester hours
This course explores the process of collective bargaining (contract negotiations). Topics include the origins of the laws that govern the process, terminology, and basic strategies. In this course, students will take a close look at the legal constraints on the process, the economic factors influencing the power dynamics, the strategies and techniques of bargaining, and the dispute resolution processes.
POL SCI 3480 Environmental Policy: 3 semester hours
This course examines the process of environmental policy-making and key environmental issues. Topics may include national and international policies toward land, air, and water pollution; energy use; solid and toxic waste disposal; climate change; population; biodiversity; conservation; and sustainability.
POL SCI 3700 Nonprofit Organizations and Social Equity: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100. This course examines the increasing involvement of nonprofit organizations in addressing social equity issues. The course focuses on how nonprofit organizations are managed, as well as challenges and opportunities facing these organizations when tackling equity issues. Additionally, it examines several types of nonprofit activism, including advocacy, lobbying, and political participation, in several policy areas.
POL SCI 3710 Nonprofits, Civil Society and Volunteerism: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100. This course introduces basic concepts and theories about the role of voluntary action by nonprofit organizations in democratic society. Students will gain practical skill development in the recruitment and training of volunteers.
POL SCI 3810 The Politics of the Middle East: International and National Dynamics: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500, POL SCI 1800, or consent of instructor. This seminar engages students in the complex discussions and analyses of the ways in which the national and regional dynamics of the geostrategic region of the Middle East impact international relations in the twenty-first century.
POL SCI 3830 International Political Economy: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1500, or consent of instructor. This course provides an introduction to international political economy. In particular, it will focus on the politics of international trade, finance, and investment. It will analyze the relationships between developed and developing countries and it will assess the relative usefulness of alternative frameworks for studying international political economy.
POL SCI 3850 International Organizations and Global Problem-Solving: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500 or POL SCI 1800. This course is an introduction to the study of international organizations. It will focus on global intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations, as well as non-governmental organizations, such as multinational corporations. Course topics may focus on the creation, existence, and evolution of international organizations, their relationships with nation-states, and their roles in economic development, resource management, and control of violence across national boundaries.
POL SCI 3860 Political Violence: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500, POL SCI 1800, or consent of instructor. This course examines the way actors in the international system use, promote, or allow violence to achieve political goals. Students will learn about interstate war, terrorism, armed rebellion, state repression, riots, and election related violence.
POL SCI 3890 Workers and Globalization: 3 semester hours
This course investigates the effects of globalization on the working class at the local and individual level through the lens of economic and political neo-liberalism. Historical and personal narratives as well as political and economic critiques are offered.
POL SCI 3900 Special Readings: 1-10 semester hours
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study through readings, reports, and conferences. May be repeated.
POL SCI 3901 Capitalism in American History: 3 semester hours
Same as HIST 3901. This course offers students the opportunity to approach America's political economy with tools different from those offered by more quantitative economic constructs. Students will analyze market processes through a three dimensional approach that focuses not just on market competition but also on relationships of command; the exercise of power in firms, among nations, and between social groups; and on processes of historical change from the late colonial era through the twentieth century.
POL SCI 3940 Public Affairs Internship: 1-6 semester hours
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. This course is an independent study involving work with an appropriate public or private agency. A maximum of six credit hours may be earned.
POL SCI 4040 Survey Research Practicum in Political Science: 3 semester hours
This course involves the execution of a sample survey, including establishing study objectives, sampling, questionnaire construction, interviewing, coding, data analysis, and presentation of results.
POL SCI 4090 American Government for the Secondary Classroom: 3 semester hours
Same as: SEC ED 4090. Prerequisites: Admission to the Teacher Education Program. TCH ED 3310 or the consent of the instructor. Adapts the themes and subject matter of American Government to the secondary classroom and trains teachers in techniques particularly designed to maximize the use of primary sources, foster critical inquiry, and encourage knowledge of subject matter. Particular emphasis will be placed on defining the broad and connecting methods of inquiry for use in an interactive classroom. Can be counted towards the Political Science major requirement, but not the American Politics subgroup. Counts towards Social Studies certification. Not available for graduate credit.
POL SCI 4345 War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice in the 20th and 21st Centuries: 3 semester hours
Same as SOC 4345, CRIMIN 4345, and MVS 4345. Prerequisite: ENGL 3100. This course provides advanced undergraduate and Master’s level students a comprehensive overview of the subject of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and legal responses to these crimes in the modern era. The goal of this course is to engage students in sustained, critical thought about these issues and to foster a deeper understanding of both the causes and consequences—legal, social and human—of these egregious crimes.
POL SCI 4810 Human Rights: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1500, POL SCI 1800, or consent of instructor. This course provides students with a greater understanding of the concept of human rights, including their importance in international politics and the various means by which these rights might be either violated or protected. Further, it may focus on many of the methods used to study and evaluate respect for human rights cross-nationally. This course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
POL SCI 4850 International Law: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or POL SCI 1500 or POL SCI 1800. This course studies the international legal system. Topics may include the content and operation of the laws of war and peace, how laws are created and enforced with regard to the oceans and other parts of the globe, and the relationship between international law and international politics.
POL SCI 4900 Topics in Political Science: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 1100 or consent of instructor. Selected topics in Political Science.
POL SCI 4901 Designing Surveys to Study Human Behavior and Attitudes: 1-3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 3000 or POL SCI 6401 or P P ADM 6010 or consent of instructor. The course allows students to apply research methods to designing a survey to study people's attitudes and behaviors with a focus on developing online surveys. The course may count toward an elective in the Policy Research and Analysis, Local Government Management, Non-Profit Management and Leadership, or Individualized Emphasis Areas for a Master of Public Policy Administration.
POL SCI 4950 Senior Seminar in Political Science: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: POL SCI 3000 and senior standing. This course provides the integrative capstone experience required of all political science majors in their last year of coursework. It emphasizes student-faculty interaction in a seminar format designed to engage upper-level students in a critical examination of a broad theme in political science, leading to the production of a major research paper. This course is not available for graduate student credit.
POL SCI 6300 Leadership and Management in NonProfit Organizations: 3 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6300 and SOC WK 6300. Prerequisites: Graduate standing required. Addresses the role and scope of the independent sector in the United States, as well as the leadership and management of nonprofit organizations within that sector. Topics include the economic and political scope of the independent sector, the role of volunteerism in a democratic society, and the role and scope of philanthropy. Topics in voluntary organization management and leadership include the dynamics, functions and membership structure of NPOs, especially staff-board and other volunteer relations; governance and management of NPOs; resource mobilization; and program development management and evaluation.
POL SCI 6401 Introduction to Policy Research: 3 semester hours
Procedures for testing explanations, including research design, principles of measurement, probability sampling, methods of data collection, and techniques for analyzing data.
POL SCI 6402 Intermediate Techniques in Policy Research: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and POL SCI 6401. Elementary distribution theory, statistical inference, and introduction to multiple regression. Emphasis on practical applications.
POL SCI 6403 Advanced Techniques in Policy Research: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and POL SCI 6402. Selected topics in policy research emphasizing forecasting, modeling and estimation.
POL SCI 6404 Multi-Method Research Design: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course develops policy research skills that combine qualitative and quantitative social science tools and applies an appropriate mix of these tools to specific policy problems. Topics may include alternative approaches to causal analysis, levels of analysis, triangulation from a variety of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, building contextual effects into multiple research projects, techniques for assessing alternative program theories and clarifying implicit assumptions, and meta-analysis of secondary data sources.
POL SCI 6405 Directed Readings in Research Methods: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6410 Introduction to Policy Analysis: 3 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6000. Systematic development of a critical/analytic base for dealing with public policy.
POL SCI 6415 Directed Readings and Research in Public Policy: 1-10 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6150. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences. May be repeated for credit, provided the subject matter is different.
POL SCI 6418 Social and Economic Development Policy: 3 semester hours
Same as SOC WK 6250. Prerequisites: SOC WK 5200 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. This course examines the economic and political urban processes that planners, policy makers, service organizations and advocates seek to influence. In this course students will develop skills in policy analysis and development. The course provides an introduction to three models of modern political economy, then seeks to deepen these broad analytic approaches by examining more recent policy developments in cities like St. Louis. This course also focuses on recent strategies to address issues such as employment, wages, housing, education, taxes and social services.
POL SCI 6420 Proseminar in Public Law: 3 semester hours
Study of judicial systems and processes (judges, courts, litigants, and juries) and evaluation of legal policies (Compliance, impact and deterrence).
POL SCI 6425 Directed Readings and Research in Public Law: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6430 Proseminar in American Politics: 3 semester hours
Study of individual and group political behavior including socialization, participation, consensus formation, representation, legislative and judicial behavior.
POL SCI 6435 Directed Readings and Research in American Politics: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6440 Public Administration: Theory & Practice: 3 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6400. The course examines major approaches to analyzing public policies and their administration with emphasis on the effects of administrative organization and procedures on policy decisions and their impact. Specific topics may include administrative accountability, inter-governmental relations, public private interaction, implementation processes, bureaucratic expertise, the legal environment of public administration, and public service and merit issue.
POL SCI 6442 The Policy Process: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Graduate standing. This course will examine how public policies are made in the United States. It will cover different theories of the policy process, including how political actors get the government to focus on certain problems, form coalitions to enact policies, and generate support for their implementation. Finally, the course will examine how well various policy models apply to different policy domains.
POL SCI 6443 Health Care Policy: 3 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6430, GERON 6443, and SOC WK 6443. Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor. Survey course examining current issues in health policy that face the nation. Policies are placed in a historical context to show how issues have been influenced by different political and economic conditions. Secondary consequences and limitations of current trends in health policy are explored.
POL SCI 6445 Directed Readings and Research in Public Administration: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6448 Political Economy and Public Policy: 3 semester hours
Prerequisite: Graduate standing. This course examines political economy in its contemporary manifestations as public choise and as the study of the ways in which institutional power shapes economic policies and performance. The course explores the origins and major concepts of political economy, the institutions of economic policymaking and economic policies in the U. S. It emphasizes the consequences of budget constraints inflation, unemployment and sectoral decline on the design and administration of public programs at all levels of government.
POL SCI 6449 Human Resources in the Public Sector: 3 semester hours
Same as SOC WK 6449 and P P ADM 6490. This course presents an overview of personnel and labor relations in the public sector. It places particular emphasis on issues which are unique to the public sector, such as the merit system, the questions of representative bureaucracy, and the constraints of personnel in the nonprofit sector. Course topics may include personnel reforms in the federal sector, equal employment and affirmative action policies, testing, selection, hiring, comparable worth, job evaluation and labor relations, including grievance arbitration and collective bargaining.
POL SCI 6452 Public Policy of Conservation and Sustainable Development: 3 semester hours
Same as BIOL 6250. Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Political Science or Biology. This course introduced concepts and techniques for formulating, implementing, and analyzing public policy with an emphasis on environmental concerns, conservation, and sustainable development. The course will be team-taught by faculty representing the departments of political science and biology. Course materials will include case studies that demonstrate the special problems of environmental policymaking in developing and developed economies.
POL SCI 6455 Directed Readings and Research in Comparative Politics: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6465 Directed Readings and Research in Political Theory: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6470 Proseminar in Urban Politics: 3 semester hours
Same as: P P ADM 6470. Examination of the relationship between the social, economic and political systems of urban areas. Urban political structure, patterns of influence, political participation and communication and political change. Special attention to problems of access to and control of urban political systems.
POL SCI 6475 Directed Readings and Research in Urban Politics: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports and conferences.
POL SCI 6480 Proseminar in International Relations: 3 semester hours
Examination of various approaches to the study of international politics and foreign policy, focusing on studies of conflict, decision-making, international political economy, and related topics. Included are realist, idealist, and Marxist perspectives.
POL SCI 6481 Seminar in International Relations: 3 semester hours
Research problems and design in international politics. May be repeated for credit when the subject matter is different.
POL SCI 6485 Directed Readings and Research in International Relations: 1-10 semester hours
Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences.
POL SCI 6488 Studies in International Relations: 1-6 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or permission of instructor. Selected topics in international studies. May be repeated for credit provided the topic of the course is different each time.
POL SCI 6490 Strategic and Program Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: 3 semester hours
Same as P P ADM 6550 and SOC WK 6491. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course covers strategic and program planning and its ability to enable an organization to concentrate on efforts and set priorities guided by a mission, vision, and an understanding of its environment. The course focus is on preparing a strategic plan and a program plan for a nonprofit organization and analyzing an organization's ability to deliver goods and/or services to its constituents in today's economic, social, and political climate.
POL SCI 6494 Thesis Research: 1-10 semester hours
.
POL SCI 6495 Internship: 1-6 semester hours
Independent study involving work with an appropriate public or private agency.
POL SCI 6499 Directed Dissertation Proposal Research: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Supervised study through readings and research leading to the preparation of a dissertation proposal plan. Open to doctoral students who have completed at least 42 hours of course work. The proposal plan will indicate the following: statement of research question, importance of the problem, literature review and research design.
POL SCI 7499 Dissertation Research: 1-10 semester hours
.
Public Policy Administration Courses
P P ADM 6000 Introduction to Policy Analysis: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6410. Systematic development of a critical/analytic base for dealing with public policy.
P P ADM 6010 Introduction to Policy Research: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6401. Procedures for testing explanations, including research design, principles of measurement, probability sampling, methods of data collection, and techniques for analyzing data.
P P ADM 6150 Directed Readings and Research in Public Policy: 1-10 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6415. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study through readings, reports, research projects, and conferences. May be repeated for credit, provided the subject matter is different.
P P ADM 6180 Governmental Budgeting and Financial Control: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course is a study of municipal and federal financial control and budgeting procedures with emphasis on public policy. It covers the impact of financial control on top management decisions and the effect of budget strategies on the allocations of public funds.
P P ADM 6300 Leadership and Management in Nonprofit Organizations: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6300 and SOC WK 6300. Prerequisites: Graduate standing required. Addresses the role and scope of the independent sector in the United States, as well as the leadership and management of nonprofit organizations within that sector. Topics include the economic and political scope of the independent sector, the role of volunteerism in a democratic society, and the role and scope of philanthropy. Topics in voluntary organization management and leadership include the dynamics, functions and membership structure of NPOs, especially staff-board and other volunteer relations; governance and management of NPOs; resource mobilization; and program development management and evaluation.
P P ADM 6310 American Philanthropy and Nonprofit Resources Development: 3 semester hours
Same as SOC WK 6310. Prerequisites: Graduate standing required. This course addresses the history, philosophy, roles and scope of philanthropy in the United States, including its role in the nonprofit, voluntary sector. It further examines the contemporary forces which impact philanthropy and charitable giving, both by institutions and individuals. The course examines the effective planning and management of development programs (e.g., annual giving), fundraising vehicles (e.g., mail solicitations) and the fund raising process, from planning through donor relations.
P P ADM 6311 Staff Management Issues in Nonprofit Organizations: 1 semester hour
Same as SOC WK 6311. Prerequisites: Graduate standing required. This course addresses issues involved in managing staff in nonprofit organizations. The course will cover the following topics: fundamentals of staff supervision; balancing supervisory processes with counseling and coaching; selecting, hiring, evaluating, and terminating staff; legal issues that affect these processes.
P P ADM 6312 Legal Issues in Managing Nonprofit Organizations: 1 semester hour
Same as SOC WK 6312. Prerequisites: Graduate standing required. This course addresses legal issues involved in managing and governing nonprofit organizations. The course will cover the following topics: The Board as steward of the organization; Director and officer liability; tax laws concerning charitable giving; legal issues in managing staff and volunteers (e.g., hiring, evaluating, and terminating employees); Missouri nonprofit law.
P P ADM 6313 Financial Issues in Managing Nonprofit Organizations: 1 semester hour
Same as SOC WK 6313. Prerequisite: Graduate standing required. This course addresses financial issues involved in governing and managing nonprofit organizations. The course will cover the following topics: Cash flow analysis; budgeting; fund accounting; cost accounting (determining costs for programs and services); understanding and using standard financial statements, including balance sheets, cash flow statements, statements of activity, and operating and capital budgets.
P P ADM 6340 Seminar in City Administration: 3 semester hours
This course provides an overview of the working environment of a city administrator and is jointly sponsored by the local city managers association. Professional city personnel make presentations to the students on six major topics: political structure, organizational structure, service delivery, finance, personnel policies and practices, and leadership. The course provides direct observation of city council meetings, visits to various city facilities, exposure to different philosophies and styles of city management, and provides students a chance to assemble facts, evaluate options, and present policy recommendations for real problems that local administrators face.
P P ADM 6350 Issues in Urban Management: 3 semester hours
Designed to evaluate management issues that confront managers in local government from a political perspective. The format will include an intense review and discussion of original case studies from actual local government situations. The specific focus of this course will vary. Course may be repeated.
P P ADM 6400 Public Administration: Theory & Practice: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6440. The course examines major approaches to analyzing public policies and their administration with emphasis on the effects of administrative organization and procedures on policy decisions and their impact. Specific topics may include administrative accountability, inter-governmental relations, public private interaction, implementation processes, bureaucratic expertise, the legal environment of public administration, and public service and merit issue.
P P ADM 6430 Health Care Policy: 3 semester hours
Same as GERON 6443, POL SCI 6443, and SOC WK 6443. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Survey course examining current issues in health policy that face the nation. Policies are placed in a historical context to show how issues have been influenced by different political and economic conditions. Secondary consequences and limitations of current trends in health policy are explored.
P P ADM 6470 Proseminar in Urban Politics: 3 semester hours
Same as: POL SCI 6470. Examination of the relationship between the social, economic and political systems of urban areas. Urban political structure, patterns of influence, political participation and communication and political change. Special attention to problems of access to and control of urban political systems.
P P ADM 6490 Human Resources in the Public Sector: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6449 and SOC WK 6449. This course presents an overview of personnel and labor relations in the public sector. It places particular emphasis on issues which are unique to the public sector, such as the merit system, the questions of representative bureaucracy, and the constraints of personnel in the nonprofit sector. Course topics may include personnel reforms in the federal sector, equal employment and affirmative action policies, testing, selection, hiring, comparable worth, job evaluation and labor relations, including grievance arbitration and collective bargaining.
P P ADM 6500 Selected Topics in Public Policy Administration: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course is a seminar of selected issues and methods relating to public policy administration. It may be repeated for credit, provided the subject matter is different.
P P ADM 6501 Selected Topics in Nonprofit Management and Leadership: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. Permission of instructor may be required. A seminar of selected issues and methods relating to nonprofit management and leadership. May be repeated for credit, provided the subject matter is different.
P P ADM 6550 Strategic and Program Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: 3 semester hours
Same as POL SCI 6490 and SOC WK 6491. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course covers strategic and program planning and its ability to enable an organization to concentrate on efforts and set priorities guided by a mission, vision, and an understanding of its environment. The course focus is on preparing a strategic plan and a program plan for a nonprofit organization and analyzing an organization's ability to deliver goods and/or services to its constituents in today's economic, social, and political climate.
P P ADM 6600 Managing and Leading in Organizations: 3 semester hours
Same as MGMT 5600. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. The theoretical and research contribution of the behavioral sciences to management and administration are examined and applied to selected organizational situations. Areas to be considered from the standpoint of both individual and organizational performance are communication, motivation, conflict, decision-making, goal setting, leadership, organizational design, climate, development and control. Utilizing a systems perspective, the course attempts to develop in each student an ability to analyze and solve organizational problems.
P P ADM 6750 Applied Research Design: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. The course offers a comparative study of research strategies with regard to data sources, data collection, and modes of analysis that are appropriate for program evaluation research. Attention is given to observational, survey, and quasi-experimental methodologies.
P P ADM 6751 Applied Evaluation Project: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: P P ADM 6000 or P P ADM 6010 or P P ADM 6750. This course is an independent study involving an evaluation project with an appropriate public or private or nonprofit agency.
P P ADM 6800 Management Information Systems: 3 semester hours
Same as INFSYS 5800. Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This course provides an overview of issues related to the management of information systems within organizations. Course topics may include the role of the Chief Information Officer, business value from emergent information technologies (IT), enterprise systems, the impact of IT on organizational competitiveness, managing IT-enabled projects, extracting business intelligence from big data, sourcing IT, cybersecurity, ethics, intellectual property rights, and societal impacts of IT.
P P ADM 6850 E-Governance in the Public Sector: 1 semester hour
Prerequisite: Graduate standing. This course addresses information technology in the public sector from a managerial perspective. Students will examine basic hardware, software, data, and information management issues from a managerial perspective. These topics may include web portal design, geographic information systems, database management, e-government, strategic design, and the use of information technology to address public policy questions.
P P ADM 6900 Cases in Public Policy Administration: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. This capstone course intensively analyzes public policy administration cases drawn from a variety of issues and settings.
P P ADM 6950 Internship: 3 semester hours
Independent study involving work with an appropriate public or private or nonprofit agency.
David C. Kimball
Curators' Distinguished Professor and Chair
Ph.D., Ohio State University
Todd Swanstrom
E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor in Community Collaboration & Public Policy
Ph.D., Princeton University
Jean-Germain Gros
Professor
Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley
Richard T. Middleton IV
Professor
Ph.D., University of Missouri - Columbia
Ruth Iyob
Professor
Ph.D., University of Califorina-Santa Barbara
Yuguo Liao
Associate Professor
Ph.D., Rutgers University-Newark
Adriano Udani
Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Stephen Bagwell
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Georgia
Anita Manion
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., St. Louis University
Elizabeth Sale
Adjunct Associate Professor and MIMH Research Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Missouri-St. Louis
Lisa DeLorenzo
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Missouri-St. Louis
E. Terrence Jones
Dean Emeritus and Dean Emeritus
Ph.D., Georgetown University
Joyce Mushaben
Curator's Professor Emerita
Ph.D., Indiana University
Lana Stein
Professor Emerita
Ph.D., Michigan University
Carol W. Kohfeld
Professor Emerita
Ph.D., Washington University
Dennis R. Judd
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Lyman Tower Sargent
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
J. Martin Rochester
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Syracuse University
G. Eduardo Silva
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of California-San Diego
J. Fred Springer
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of California-Davis
Kenneth P. Thomas
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Andrew Glassberg
Associate Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Yale University
Joel Glassman
Associate Professor Emeritus and and Associate Provost Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Nancy Kinney
Associate Professor Emerita
Ph.D., University of Colorado at Denver