How do different societies weigh civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights? Is there a "standard" approach to rights such as abortion access, non- discrimination, and free speech? Are the rights that many Americans consider "self-evident" seen as such in other societies, and what rights do other societies recognize that are curiously absent in the American legal context? This course invites you to step outside the American debate on rights to consider alternative approaches.

This course examines courts as political actors. Why do political actors create courts? Why do legislators, executives, and bureaucracies obey them? Do courts take political, economic, and social factors into account when determining how to rule? We will examine these topics through a broad-based comparative inquiry, drawing on materials from around the world: North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region.

This course begins with a brief historical review of the rise of Islam as a political structure and its impact on the region, as well as the development of the Ottoman Empire and its relationship to Europe and European foreign policies. This discussion will be followed by a focus on colonialism and its effects, in particular the development of nationalism, populism, Islamism and Zionism.

State governments are often overlooked, however, states wield tremendous power over the daily lives of citizens. A citizen’s life can look very different depending on what state she lives in. The course takes a comparative approach to understand this critical level of U.S. politics. Why is marijuana legal in some states and not others? Why are the systems of public education so different?

Students engage in a series of seminars on the Washington state legislative process learning from experts in the field and engage in simulations of some of the core conflictual processes. Students learn about the difficulties of budgeting, the rules of the state legislative chamber and how they impact outcomes, the role of political parties and legislative leaders and industry lobbyists, as well as how to conduct legislative research, create sample legislative proposals, and write about state politics for the general public.

Looking at the interaction between religion and politics in the United States, students explore various understandings of the relationship between church and state, the treatment of minority religious communities and the influence of religion on the formation of American identity, institutions and policies. Students investigate various theoretical approaches and U.S. political development to provide a foundation for evaluating how religion and politics influence each other in the current moment.

This course explores contemporary issues in political theory related to questions of citizenship, membership, and power. Students reflect on the structures and practices that determine who wields power, who holds citizenship status, who counts as a member of a political community. Students also explore the relationship between economic and political arrangements.

What is justice? How should society be governed? What is the good life? Questions like these, while abstract and philosophical, underpin all international political disputes, and understanding them is a first step towards resolving the conflicts inherent in international relations. This course seeks to draw connections between the problems of international politics and the world of political philosophy.

This seminar explores recent trends in the field of political theory. Contemporary political theory focuses predominantly on new thinking related to justice, identity and democracy. Theories of distributive justice (developed by John Rawls) or communicative action (offered by Jürgen Habermas) often serve as a starting point the reconsideration of political community central to contemporary political theory.

What is the relationship between sex and the state? When--and to what ends--does the state regulate sexuality and gender? In this course, students will explore feminist, trans, and queer critiques of the state and consider how those critiques align or misalign with white supremacist, abolitionist, and anti-capitalist critiques of the state. Together, we will learn about U.S. values, laws, economic relations, and technologies, and we will ask how, both historically and currently, the regulation of sex (both as sexuality and as biological sex) is used to preserve the power of the U.S.