LEAD 321
Interest Groups and US Foreign Policy Spring 2018
Division II Writing Skills
Cross-listed PSCI 321
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course explores the role of interest groups in US foreign policy, with an emphasis on national security. The conventional wisdom says that special interests use campaign donations to buy policy decisions from elected and appointed officials (think “no blood for oil”), but the political science research shows that the story is not nearly so simple. The course has three sections. The first is an introduction to interest groups more generally. We ask what is at stake, how we define interest groups, and what kinds of access do they have to policy-makers. In the second, we look at theories of interest group influence in foreign policy. What is different about foreign policy that affects how interest groups operate? How much does money matter, and in what specific ways? What other sources of influence do they have? Third, we look at specific types of interest groups and explore the ways in they participate in the politics of foreign policy, domestically and also abroad on behalf of the US. These include diaspora groups, business and labor interests, the military-(academic)-industrial-complex, pressure groups, and others.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 14
Expected: 14
Class#: 3984
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: participation, 3 x 2-3 pp. response papers, 5-6 pp. midterm draft, 9-12 pp. final term paper (same topic as midterm draft)
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the fifth course option
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: PSCI majors and LEAD concentrators
Distributions: Division II Writing Skills
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
PSCI 321 Division II LEAD 321 Division II
Attributes: LEAD American Foreign Policy Leadership
PSCI American Politics Courses
PSCI International Relations Courses

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