a cross-national study of policy and policy change with respect to state regulation of the body

Each member of the class will choose, from a selected list, a political system to investigate the politics of divorce, contraception and abortion, homosexualiuty and gay marriage, recreational drug use, and assisted suicide.Through individual and collaborative research, we seek to determine whether there are general trends in liberalization across political systems (and the frequency with which liberalizing changes are reversed), why some political systems move more speedily toward liberalization than do others, the processes of policy changes in these areas, and key constellation of factors that support changes in body politics. The systems available for study are those for which there are at least three waves of data in the World Values Survey.

The course involves a limited amount of assigned reading. The primary work of students involves enterprising research using web sources, books, scholarly journals, newspaper archives, and blogs.

Text: Mooney, C.Z., ed.  2001.  The Public Clash of Private Values.  CQ Press.

Rules

Schedule

Lively topics, sexy stuff, dead issues

Editorial marks