This is a course I designed and teach as an affiliate instructor at Loyola University Maryland.

The internet and mobile technologies have transformed everything from the structure and behavior of the systems that organize our world to our individual daily habits. How, then, has it affected how we create social and political change? Is it easier or harder now to effect change as an individual citizen? What sort of change is possible? In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which digital technologies have shaped who holds (what kind of) power and the prospects for grassroots-born change. In the process, we will explore theories of social movements and organizing, while touching on topics in political economy and varying definitions of power. We will also focus, however, not just on the theories but on their application: Students will be asked to participate in real-world trainings in power-building strategies and to use these as a window into learning about the grassroots political process and its evolution over time. Ultimately, students will come away with a critical understanding of the changing landscape of the exercise of power and their own role as participants in the democratic process. Focus will primarily be on the U.S. political system in the 20th and 21st centuries, but discussions can also apply to the international context.

Instructor of Record: Robert C. Lieberman

Role: Teaching Assistant

This course provides an introduction to American politics and government. For decades, the United States was considered the most stable and robust democracy in the world, anchored by the world’s oldest constitution and longstanding practices of self-government and the rule of law. American democracy is implicated in many important features of American life: a strong economy and relative prosperity and the broad protection of human freedoms. At the same time, American politics and society have, from the beginning, been shaped by racial segregation and inequality in ways that still resonate deeply in American life.

Moreover, in recent years, numerous forces have combined to undermine American democracy. Americans disagree more and more about politics and policy and are increasingly retreating into conflicting political communities and identities. Economic inequality and partisan polarization have made consensus elusive, and growing mistrust of public officials and institution has fueled cynicism about whether government can be responsive to the needs of ordinary citizens. The election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 brought many of these trends into sharp relief, and Trump’s presidency and its aftermath, especially the attempt to undermine the 2020 election that culminated in armed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, suggest that many of the features of the American political system that we have long taken for granted—the protection of civil rights and civil liberties, the freedom of the press, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and democratic governance itself—may be vulnerable.

In this course, we will examine both the fundamental principles, structures, and processes that define the American political system and the ways in which these features of American politics have changed in recent decades to produce the current predicament of anxiety, dysfunction, and the potential for democratic deterioration.

Instructor of Record: Adam Sheingate

Role: Teaching Assistant

This course is an introduction to the study of American politics. It is organized around three broad themes: ideas, interests, and institutions of American democracy. In the first part of the course, we will explore some of the ideas that have informed the American political tradition, paying particular attention to how various thinkers have defined the scope and limits of political community. In the second part of the course, we examine the role of parties, groups, and other organized interests in an attempt to understand where power resides in the American political system. This section will also consider some of the recent social science research on political behavior, including work that tries to uncover the sources of partisan polarization. The third part of the course focuses on the institutions of American government. This includes the three branches of the federal government as well as the way authority is diffused across national, state, and local jurisdictions.

Throughout the semester, we will grapple with the enduring conflict between the forces of white supremacy and the efforts to create a multi-racial democracy in the United States. These competing visions have shaped our politics since the first European settlers arrived in the 17th century, informed the design and development of our institutions, and constitutes a central line of political cleavage to this day. How the United States responds to the challenges of the 21st century will depend on the outcome of this ongoing struggle over inclusion and exclusion.

Instructor of Record: Peter Pomerantsev

Role: Teaching Assistant

We live in an era of disinformation. Mass persuasion and media manipulation run amok. More information was meant to improve democracy and undermine authoritarian regimes — instead the opposite seems to be happening. This course will take you from Russia to South Asia, Europe to the US, to analyse how our information environment has been transformed, why our old formulae for resisting manipulation are failing, and what needs to be done to create a model where deliberative democracy can flourish. 

This course will give you insights into how mass persuasion and media manipulation has changed across the world, reveal both the technological and cultural changes that make it possible, and challenge you to join the search for solutions — one of the most important projects in politics and media today.