Political Science

What is justice? Can humanity agree on a definition? And even if so, can we build a society that is truly just? At the end of our quest, the answer may still elude us, but perhaps the real justice is all the friends — philosophers, statesmen, novelists and classmates around the seminar table — we made along the way. “Quest changed my life,” said a recent student, “simple as that. It made me think more seriously about my life in a way that I was not able to before.”

How does public opinion impact government policies? Focusing on real-time elections, we will examine the influence American citizens have on their government through political parties and elections. Learning takes place not only in the classroom, but through assisting officials with the Knox County Board of Elections — loading voting machines, directing people during early voting, and getting a behind-the-scenes look at vote processing after the election.

“Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous analysis of Democracy in America. This course examines how the principles and institutions of the American political system have evolved since the nation’s founding.

Consider some of the most pressing political problems and challenges today — the origins of war and peace; the challenges of the new global economy; security and terrorism — while being equipped with the analytical tools and concepts necessary to understand and explain the interactions of states and other actors in the international system.