Quick information

Fall 2008 courses:
• Special Topics in American Politics- Washington Ethics
• The Washington Seminar
• Independently arranged directed study and/or internship courses
• UGA Bulletin

Academics

Overview
Each semester, students will be required to take the two scheduled courses in DC and also arrange directed study and internship courses through their majors.

Fall 2008 Courses

WASH 3400 – The Washington Seminar
Taught by Various Guest Speakers
3 credit hours

Using the expertise of UGA faculty and staff and leaders who live and work in the nation’s capital, this seminar will introduce students to various aspects of life, work and culture in Washington, DC. Specific subjects and speakers will be announced in the course syllabus.

POLS 4790- Special Topics in American Politics
Taught by Dr. Joel Clark, Director of the UNC in Washington Program
3 credit hours

"Washington Ethics: Crisis, Reform and Reaction"

Is the term, “Washington ethics,” an oxymoron? Clearly, there are ethics in Washington, including personal, political, and governmental ethics, but people disagree over whether these are the ‘right’ ethics to guide our behaviors and actions regarding government and politics in Washington. Often, reforms are adopted in an attempt to promote a particular set of values. This course explores the history, theory and practice of public attempts to reform electoral and political processes at the national level. Several assertions will be analyzed. First, while government reforms are often initiated in “crisis” periods, actual reforms are usually evaluated in non-crisis times. Reform assessments, therefore, often fail to fully account for the original motivations of reformers. Second, major reforms are usually followed by serious efforts to evade the original intent of the reforms. This suggests there may be a “life cycle” of reform that includes short-term compliance and long-term evasion. Finally, the question of what is good reform leads directly to the question of what is good government. Political reforms should be evaluated in terms of political ideals, current problems, and theories about how reform will provide a remedy. Actual practice, however, often falls short of this standard because people disagree over how government should work in the first place. Thus, a more complete reform assessment must acknowledge that “improvements” are initiated and evaluated in the name of various political values that are frequently at odds.

This survey course is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing from political science and theory, ethics, history, and contemporary journalistic accounts of politics, government, and people. In particular, topics for the fall 2008 semester will include:

--Lobbying reforms in the wake of the Abramoff scandals and similar cases

--Campaign finance and advertising changes adopted in 2002

--Presidential campaign tactics including public attacks and counterattacks by candidate surrogates, including issues of race, gender, and personal histories

--Changing standards regarding presidential confidentiality and executive privilege

--Conflict of interest rules governing political appointees and civil servants

--Ongoing debates over whether the so-called mainstream media are too liberal or conservative, and over the proper ‘role’ of the media in covering politics and government in a republican democracy

Spring 2008 Courses

POLS 4790 – Special Topics in American Politics
Taught by Dr. Susan Haire, Associate Professor of Political Science
3 credit hours

“Politics and Public Policy in the U.S.”
Interning in Washington, DC presents a unique opportunity to learn about public policy making in the U.S. Designed to compliment the internship, this course provides an introduction to the study of American political institutions and policy. We will initially examine the policy process, addressing several questions. For example, how do issues make it onto the government’s agenda? What happens to issues once they reach the agenda? What leads some policies to be adopted? Our course will then explore the political institutions which shape policy in our nation’s capital. We will focus on the connections between the structure of the legislative branch and policy making. For example, what is the relative power of committees, parties, and chamber majorities in the policy process? The last several years have evidenced the expansion of presidential power. Our class will examine the implications of this expansion for policy making processes. In addition, we will discuss issues surrounding oversight of executive agencies. Our attention will then turn to the study of courts as policy makers. Led by the US Supreme Court, federal judges play a prominent role in the policy making process, and, on occasion must determine whether the actions of the legislative or executive branch are constitutional. In this respect, are courts counter-majoritarian? Finally, we will highlight two areas where national institutions, and politics, have shaped the policy process and outcomes: civil rights and environmental policy.

Deficits, Debt and Balancing the Federal Budget
The Court System and Litigation
An Introduction to Research at the Library of Congress
CIA 101
Intelligence Analysis in the 21st Century