PLSC 302: Public Policy, Interest Groups, and the American Welfare State

(1 Unit)
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, PLSC 100 and PLSC 101.
This seminar analyzes the United States and the development of a robust middle-class welfare state: i.e., the “hidden” welfare state. While US centric, the seminar does not ignore a comparative analysis of other types of welfare states. The seminar analyzes key scholarship on contemporary state theory and American political development (APD) and engages broad questions about public policy, state formation, bureaucratic development, and the rise and fall of the New Deal/Administrative State (1932-1980). Emphasis will be on the fundamental role that interest group liberalism (IGL) has on the public policy arenas of: race relations, civil rights & civil liberties, healthcare, education, urban affairs, rural politics, and the way that IGL has configured law, legislation, and liberal democratic structures in the USA are the primary areas for analysis. The seminar will provide an opportunity for students that wish to in a purposely cross-disciplinary approach: an approach that draws heavily on scholarship in politics, history, and political sociology. Staff