This course will focus on the evolution of Ukraine as a state from its failed struggle for independence after World War I, its existence as a Soviet Ukrainian state, to its full independence after the collapse of Communist rule and the Soviet Union.

News media have long played an enormous role in democratic politics by shaping the behaviour of citizens and political elites alike. Technological changes over the past several decades have radically transformed the way politics is reported by journalists and discussed by citizens. This course will introduce students to important debates at the intersection of media and politics in Canada and other Western democracies. Topics include the historical development of news media, framing and priming effects, agenda setting, the rise of social media and the changing media landscape, echo chambers and partisan media, media bias, and problems of misinformation.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Public Policy. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Comparative Politics. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Comparative Politics. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

This course surveys two of the key themes related to the process of innovation in a knowledge-based economy: the process by which new knowledge is generated and effectively transferred to those organizations with the potential to commercialize it; and secondly, the paradoxical relationship between knowledge creation and proximity in a modern global economy. Increasingly the global economy is seen as a knowledge-based one, hence the critical importance of understanding how new knowledge is generated and deployed in the form of new products and processes. At the same time, the more global the economy becomes, the greater the value of proximity, hence the fascination with how to foster the growth of new regional concentrations of knowledge and innovation, such as Silicon Valley. This course surveys the state of current knowledge about both these processes and explores the implications of this understanding for public policies designed to stimulate knowledge transfer and promote the growth of dynamic and innovative city-regions.

This course provides a selective overview of some of the theoretical and conceptual issues and debates that have dominated the study of the politics of the global south. The course is designed to prepare PhD students for the field examination in the development studies area by encouraging critical thinking about political science, comparative politics, and development studies.

The course will serve as the second half of the PhD core course requirements in Development Studies. More specifically, it is designed to complement POL2400H Theories and Issues in the Politics of Development. This course will focus on regional, methodological, and empirical perspectives in development. Its pedagogical goal is three-fold: 1) To provide students with grounding on core development issues in select regions of the world; 2) To survey select methodological approaches to the study of the Global South; 3) To focus on key empirical issues that complement the theoretical focus of POL 2400H. This will be a team taught course, led by a scholar who will both coordinate and provide overarching intellectual leadership in the course throughout the term. The bulk of the course, however, will be built around a series of modules led the department’s numerous scholars that will introduce students to core literature related on select regions, empirical, and methodological perspectives. Regions covered will include Africa, Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Asia, with additional foci on comparative indigenous perspectives.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Latin American Politics. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

This course explores the political economy of development strategies within the context of neoliberal globalization. It focuses on both the evolving market-oriented approaches and alternative development strategies. Case studies drawn from Latin America, Asia, and Africa examine the design, implementation, and performance of the various development models. This course, offered jointly by the Departments of Geography and Political Science, is restricted to graduate students.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Asian Politics. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

The course examines the contemporary politics of the Middle East and North Africa. It seeks to examine the relative importance of political, socio-economic, and ideological factors in the context of such issues as the resilience of authoritarianism, the rise of civil society, and the resurgence of Islamic activism. Theoretical discussion is followed by case studies.

Selective examination of issues and themes in China's post-Mao reform effort with particular emphasis on the challenges faced by China's leadership in managing an increasingly complex market authoritarian state and society. contemporary social, political, and economic developments. Emphasis is on the period since Xi Jinping's assumption of power in 2012.

This course provides an introduction to the logic of research design and an overview of a range of research strategies commonly used in quantitative and qualitative research. The course is primarily intended for M.A students and it does not assume any formal background in research methods or research design.

This course is a graduate-level introductory course on the theory and application of statistical methods in empirical research in political science. It primarily targets PhD students who wish to use statistical methods in their future research. The objective of the course is to provide these students with opportunities to acquire the foundational knowledge of statistics needed for further sophisticated statistical methods taught in more advanced courses and eventually self-taught in the future. Coverage includes: probability theory, descriptive statistics, descriptive, associational, and causal inference, and linear regression model.

This course surveys qualitative methods used in political research. The course will be divided into three parts. The first part will explore the broad questions of research ethics, interpretive, and positive approaches to the work of researching politics and critical issues in the philosophy of science. The second part will deal with specific issues in political research including research design, case selection, interviewing, ethnography, focus group discussions, and archival research. The final segment of the course will cover the cross-cutting issues of lies and deception in the "field" and research in challenging terrains and during difficult times.

The course seeks to transform participants into more literate, capable, and humble researchers. It will provide seminar participants with skills and competences that will allow them to better understand and critically engage work in Politics and other social sciences. These skills and competences should also enable them to undertake high quality social scientific research. An effort will be made throughout the course to alert participants to the strengths and promise as well as the weaknesses and limits of various methods and the trade-offs involved in the methodological choices scholars make in diverse contexts.

This course provides graduate students with an advanced training in quantitative methods focusing on two families of models commonly used in applied political research: 1) models for categorical dependent variables, and 2) models for panel data analysis. The course takes place in a computer lab. It comprises lectures presenting the theory behind each statistical model, discussions of concrete examples based on published articles, as well as interactive sessions using the R programming language. This year's course is adapted for PhD students who already completed POL2504H (or have the equivalent background), and represents a natural continuation for students looking to use statistical methods in their own research. This course may also be suitable for MA students who received an extended training in quantitative methods at the undergraduate level and are looking for an advanced course going beyond linear regression.

Social science data are inherently network data. Individuals are embedded within networks of friendships and professional relations; administrative units influence and are influenced by the nearby units; countries are nested within complex alliance and trade networks. The course introduces the inferential tools for analyzing such data, including the Exponential Random Graph models (ERGMS), actor-oriented model of network dynamics (SIENA), Latent Space Models (LSMs), and Local Structure Graph Models (LSGMs). For each model, we work through the mathematical and theoretical foundations, discuss published social science applications of them, and utilize the models on example datasets.

This course will provide an in-depth introduction into the core concepts and approaches in Comparative Politics. What is Comparative Politics? What are the different ways of approaching questions in Comparative Politics? What are the key concepts and ways of understanding these concepts? We will provide an overview of different approaches — including idiographic and nomothetic approaches and then explore different ways of understanding key concepts in the field, including the state, power, class, society, and regime.

This course is designed as the second part of the introduction to the study of comparative politics for PhD students. It builds on and complements the material covered in POL2700H. The topics in this course include (but are not limited to) political regimes, parties, electoral behaviour, clientelism, populism, political economy, and courts. The main objective of the course is to introduce students to key questions, concepts, debates, explanations, and different approaches in comparative politics on these topics as well as to trace the intellectual evolution of these subfields. Students will be introduced to diverse substantive and methodological approaches in the study of these topics.

This course examines dimensions of Comparative Politics that are largely "beyond" or "below" the state. Asking how social and political power interact, it considers how preferences, identities, and subjectivities are formed, 2) how they are mobilized through contentious politics, and 3) how they relate to state power across a wide range of historical and contemporary contexts.

This course introduces students to key debates and/or new research in Political Science. The specific focus will vary each year based on the instructor’s area of experience. Assigned readings will deepen students’ understanding of theories and methods. Students will meet with a small group of peers to work through the assigned material. They will also develop their writing and analytic skills through a series of biweekly papers. Whereas core courses provide a broad overview of a subfield, workshops offer an opportunity for in-depth study of a specific topic. Students will meet with the professor in small groups and receive individual feedback on their work.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Political Science. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

Specialty courses taught by rotating instructors on topics in Political Science. Consult the departmental website for details on annual offerings.

The Political Science Practicum is an immersive experiential learning opportunity designed for students to apply theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world work contexts. Through a blend of internships, fieldwork, and practical projects, students engage in hands-on experiences within various professional settings. Each week, a guest speaker will lead a workshop connected to essential skills relevant in every professional setting that go beyond traditional research and policy analysis. This course equips students with practical skills, critical thinking abilities, and professional networks essential for success in careers related to political science and public affairs.

This course is intended for MA students to meet the research requirements of the program. The primary purpose of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for students to design and conduct an independent research project on a topic of their choice. Topics chosen may fit within the major themes of the course in the broader fields of Canadian or Comparative Politics, or Public Policy, but equally students are free to define their own topics outside of those parameters.

This course is intended for MA students to meet the research requirements of the program. The primary purpose of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for students to design and conduct an independent research project on a topic of their choice. Topics chosen may fit within the major themes of the course in the broader fields of Canadian or Comparative Politics, or Public Policy, but equally students are free to define their own topics outside of those parameters.

The purpose of the dissertation seminar is to enable third-year PhD students to prepare and successfully defend a dissertation proposal.