POL 151: PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT (F, S)

3 credits/ Core: Frameworks of Scientific Understanding

This course provides an overview of the principles, institutions, and decision-making processes of American government. The course focuses on the foundations of the American constitutional order and the development of contemporary American government at the national level. Topics are approached in a critical and analytical way, seeking to understand the trade-offs inherent in particular democratic choices. Historical, comparative, and analytical methods are employed. This course is required of all political science majors and minors. The course requirements include a minimum of 10 to 12 pages of academic writing.