POL 111 - Introduction to Politics (1)

Although you may not realize it, every one of us is involved in politics on a daily basis. We each have experienced parents and children haggling over the rules governing curfew or use of the car, employees and bosses negotiating behaviors at work, and organized crime families disputing turf wars (ok, maybe not that last one). Yet, in one way or another, politics is a part of our lives regardless of whether we are interested in Congress, political parties, or international negotiations. Politics is the process by which individuals and groups reach agreements on a course of joint action–even if they disagree on the intended goals of that action. This class discusses the problems that groups need to overcome to reach agreements on a joint course of action, and looks at the political institutions and other political processes and incentives that enable groups to overcome those barriers here in the United States and internationally.
(Social Science)