This is a course in political theory. We will address a set of topics situated at the intersection of democracy and political economy. The central focus will be on the entanglement of justification and analysis in political science. Readings will be drawn from both classical texts and contemporary sources. This course is required of all PhD students in political science. Others wishing to enroll should speak to the instructor before doing so.

This seminar addresses different topics in different years. This year (Fall 2014) the topic will be Democratic Theory. We will read a range of classic and contemporary works on a variety of topics in this domain. The primary focus will be on the role of democratic decision-making mechanisms in the design and re-design of political-economic institutions.

This seminar addresses different topics in different years. This year (Fall 2014) the topic will be Democratic Theory. We will read a range of classic and contemporary works on a variety of topics in this domain. The primary focus will be on the role of democratic decision-making mechanisms in the design and re-design of political-economic institutions.

This seminar addresses different topics in different years. This year (2012) the topic will be Democratic Theory. We will read a range of classic and contemporary works on a variety of topics. The primary focus will be on the role of democratic decision-making mechanisms in the design and re-design of political-economic institutions.

This seminar addresses different topics in different years. This year (2011) the topic will be Democratic Theory. We will read a range of classic and contemporary works on a variety of topics. The primary focus will be on the role of democratic decision-making mechanisms in the design and re-design of political-economic institutions.

This seminar addresses different topics in different years. This year (2007) the broad focus is on the role of vision and representation in politics. We will start be reading the debate between John Dewey and Walter Lippmann in order to identify why vision and representation are central to democratic politics. We then will explore a wide variety of efforts to represent broadly political phenomena and events such as famine, epidemics, torture, migration and so forth across a broad spectrum of media. The aim of our explorations will be to cultivate a broadly instrumental view of how vision and representation figure in the "art" of politics.