American Government and Politics

This course is a critical examination of the contemporary and historical struggle for the development of democratic political institutions in the United States at the state, local, and national levels. Particular emphasis is given to the conflict between disparate socioeconomic groups in the conduct of U.S. political life (e.g. traditional elites versus the historically (and currently) disenfranchised-- women, people of color, workers, immigrants, etc.) and the interrelationship among social equity, democracy, and sustainable environmental conditions.