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Law made by administrative agencies dominates the modern legal system and modern legal practice. This course examines the legal and practical foundations of the modern administrative state. Topics include rationales for delegation to administrative agencies; the legal framework (both constitutional and statutory) that governs agency decision-making; the proper role of...

Artificial intelligence is more than a technological shift - t is a political and organizational one. This course examines how AI is reshaping power in business, government, and society. Each week we take up a big question about AI and power: How will people and firms actually use AI, and...

Theories of American politics, focusing on Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts.

This course offers a thematic approach to the study of authoritarian politics. We will cover the major areas of political science research on authoritarian politics and governance while simultaneously building empirical knowledge about the politics of particular authoritarian regimes. The course will also discuss transitions to democracy as well as...

This course examines the theory and practice of American campaigns and elections. First, we will attempt to explain the behavior of the key players -- candidates, parties, journalists, and voters -- in terms of the institutional arrangements and political incentives that confront them. Second, we will use current and recent...

ETHICSOC 10 is designed to provide students enrolled in COLLEGE 102 the opportunity to see the themes of the course in action through structured, field visits in the Bay Area region. The course is organized by the Haas Center for Public Service and limited to students currently enrolled in COLLEGE...

Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

Social, cultural, political, economic, and international factors affecting the development and consolidation of democracy in historical and comparative perspective. Individual country experiences with democracy, democratization, and regime performance. Emphasis is on global third wave of democratization beginning in the mid-1970s, the recent global recession of democracy (including the rise of...

In this introductory course to the field of comparative law, we will consider a broad range of sociolegal challenges faced by democratic nations today, focusing most especially on Western Europe and the United States, and to a lesser extent on Latin America. How do different countries address the same core...

Required of Political Science Ph.D. students with comparative politics as a first or second concentration; others by consent of the instructor. The origins of political and economic institutions and their impact on long run outcomes for growth and democracy. Emphasis is on the analysis of causal models, hypothesis testing, and...

This seminar focuses on the contributions people of color, women, and queer artists have made to Minimalism, a popular and influential style of art defined by sleek geometric forms. Students will critically engage canonical texts, which often privileged the work of white male artists, and consider how race, gender, and...

This course explores the complex legal and policy challenges posed by false and misleading information online. Students will examine how such content affects election integrity, public health, climate security, and the spread of inflammatory rumors during armed conflict and widespread human rights violations. The class will analyze a range of...

This course is part of the required first-year JD curriculum. This course offers an introduction to American constitutional law. In addition to examining questions of interpretive method, the course focuses on the powers of the federal government and the allocation of decision making authority among government institutions, including both federalism...

The Fourteenth Amendment is the focal point for many of the most contentious issues in contemporary constitutional law, from abortion to affirmative action to voting rights to criminal justice. This course will begin by paying attention to the origins of the Amendment: to what did it respond and how did...

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to...

Deep disagreement pervades our democracy, from arguments over issues ranging from foreign policy, free speech, and reparations to college admissions policy and the professionalization of college athletics. Loud voices drown out discussion. Open-mindedness, humility, and critical thinking seem in short supply among politicians, citizens, and other residents alike. Yet constructive...

This seminar/practicum will invite students to roll up our sleeves and deliver concrete recommendations for making ethical decision-making accessible to ordinary citizens rather than just determined by corporate giants, law makers or academic experts. We will explore practical approaches to the following questions: How can we make ethical decision-making accessible...

The success and fate of democracies around the world rely on citizens¿ engagement and participation during elections of government officials: presidents, members of parliaments or councils, governors, attorneys general, judges, sheriffs, etc. Since direct democracies where everyone gathers to discuss and make decisions are costly, inefficient and often simply impossible...

Examination of recent developments in computing technology and platforms through the lenses of philosophy, public policy, social science, and engineering. Course is organized around four main units: algorithmic decision-making and bias; data privacy and civil liberties; the power of private computing platforms; and the impact of generative AI. Each unit...

This course addresses the role of the federal courts in the American system of federalism and separation of powers, as well as their role in the development of substantive federal law and constitutional rights. A central premise of the course is that the institutional, political, and constitutional features of federal...

An introduction to noncooperative game theory through applications in political science. Topics will include the Hotelling-Downs model, the probabilistic voting model, contests, the tragedy of the commons and possible solution, electoral accountability, and political bargaining models, among others.

This is a civics course about the ideas that comprise a modern implementation of liberal democracy: freedom, democracy, capitalism, and a rules-based international order. Our principal focus will be on the post-WWII American implementation of these ideas. We will explore these ideas from the midpoint of theory and real-world implementation.

This course unpacks the important role of gender in politics. Structured in two parts, in the first half of the quarter we will situate the study of gender and politics within the broader study of identity politics and set out to understand the different political implications of gender at the...

This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of the political and social theory of Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the twentieth century. Through close readings of major works - including The Human Condition, The Origins of Totalitarianism, On Revolution, Between Past and Future, and The...

This survey course provides a foundation in the constitutional principles and statutory framework governing the regulation and rights of noncitizens and the immigration admission and removal process. The course also explores selected contemporary issues related to immigrants' rights and immigration reform. These may include topics such as asylum and refugee...

In part as a result of the rise of international human rights mechanisms in the twentieth century, conflicts over resources, privileges and power are now increasingly mediated through the lens of human rights, in terms of the protection of individual or group rights. Given that many of the most significant...

What can imagined futures teach us about the political dynamics of the real world? This seminar explores foundational questions in international relations theory - power, anarchy, cooperation, perception, and systemic change - through the lens of contemporary science fiction. Students will examine how science fiction authors envision political life under...

International Security in a Changing World examines some of the most pressing international security problems facing the world today: nuclear weapons, the rise of China, the war in Ukraine, terrorism, and climate change. Alternative perspectives - from political science, history, and STS (Science, Technology, and Society) studies - are used...

Students from different schools meet in a year-long seminar to discuss, analyze, and conduct research on issues pertaining to Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (DDRL). This combines research methods and policy evaluations in preparation for an honors thesis to be submitted by each student. All students must submit...

Liberty, tyranny, and resistance feature as prominent concepts in our political lexicon, but their definitions and meanings were redefined and contested in different historical contexts by past political thinkers seeking to either enforce or challenge prevailing orthodoxies. This course will allow students to uncover the genealogies of these prominent concepts...

This course offers an introduction to the history of modern Europe with special attention to the connections between Europe and the rest of the world. We will discuss major landmarks in modern Europe cultural, political, social, economic, and intellectual history and situate these developments within a global context. Key topics...

(Same as HISTORY 50B. 150B is 5 units; 50B is 3 units.) This course is a survey of nineteenth-century American history. Topics include: the legacy of the American Revolution; the invention of political parties; capitalist transformation and urbanization; the spread of evangelical Christianity; antebellum reform; changing conceptions of gender, sex...

Pathways of Public Service is a 1-2 unit course connected to the Otero Public Service and Civic Engagement (PSCE) Theme Dorm, sponsored by the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. Students will grapple with expanding their conception of PSCE, understanding how their position as Stanford affiliates shapes their...

This policy practicum partners with the Office of the County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara. Students in the lab will work with the leadership and deputies of the office on both litigation and policy matters related to urgent local challenges. Each student conducts independent research (and writes sole-authored...

This year -- 2026 -- will be a fascinating backdrop for national as well as state and local politics. Implications of the current polarized electorate, the economic climate and an uneven but recovering economy, Inflation fears, wars in Ukraine and Gaza will continue to complicate the political landscape. At the...

This colloquium offers an introduction to the political and social history of modern Iran from the early twentieth century to the present. We will examine how Iran transformed from a dynastic society rooted in kinship and religious authority into a modern nation-state shaped by competing ideologies, mass political movements, and...

Recent events have taught us that God is alive and well in the political imagination of modern people. But the entanglement of theology and politics has been there from the very beginning: it was Plato, after all, who first coined the term "theology," and that too in the most famous...

State politics and policy making, including the roles of the legislature, legislative leadership, governor, special interests, campaign finance, advocacy groups, ballot initiatives, state and federal laws, media, and research organizations. Case studies involving budgets, education, pensions, health care, political reform, environmental reforms, water, transportation and more. Evaluation of political actions...

Modern Iran has been a smithy for political movements, ideologies, and types of states. Movements include nationalism, constitutionalism, Marxism, Islamic fundamentalism, social democracy, Islamic liberalism, and fascism. Forms of government include Oriental despotism, authoritarianism, Islamic theocracy, and liberal democracy. These varieties have appeared in Iran in an iteration shaped by...

This course will explore the changes to the Constitution made after the Civil War and their enforcement statutes. Materials will primarily be original source texts, supplemented by selected secondary literature. The majority of class time will be devoted to discussion, based on close reading of the materials. Students will be...

In this course we will examine issues that arise at various pretrial stages of different types of complex federal litigation, including patent, antitrust, and civil rights cases. We will explore techniques courts have devised for handling these issues and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each. The course materials consist...

From the vantage point of Silicon Valley, it has long seemed that innovation would solve all our problems. Yet our societal crises, from climate change to increasing inequality to mental well-being, are deepening. This course problematizes how we have conceptualized and practiced innovation, with the objectives of reimagining what alternative...

Techniques of news reporting and writing. The value and role of news in democratic societies. Gateway class to journalism. Prerequisite for all COMM 177/277 classes. For permission to enroll, please contact the instructor. Preference to COMM majors.

U.S. policies for science, technology, and innovation; political institutions that create and carry out these policies; government programs that support scientific research and the development and the use of new technologies; political controversies surrounding some science and technologies and the regulation of research and technology; international aspects of science and...

Security Issues in the Middle East introduces political science students to the main geopolitical and security issues facing the contemporary Middle East. We survey some of the main actors in the region today, the challenges to external and internal political stability they encounter, and the role of political Islam in...

How did colonial empires, revolutionary movements, and military regimes shape modern Southeast Asia? This course approaches the region as a place where global ideas of capitalism, nationalism, and governance were continually negotiated through local struggles. Spanning from the late nineteenth century to the end of the Cold War, students will...

This Sustainable Societies Lab (SSL) examines selected models of Israeli-Arab cooperation and pathways to peace in the Middle East. Students explore whether and how governments, businesses, and civil society actors and innovators can work together toward sustainable prosperity in a region marked by historic conflict. The course focuses on practical...

This seminar will chart the genealogical roots that led to the making of the Leviathan, the modern sovereign body politic. Political Theology seeks to provide an irresistible answer to the quandaries of political legitimacy - the source of authority of the supreme authority. The seventeenth-century classics of political thinking -...

England and its former colonies, including the United States, are usually said to share the "common law tradition" - a set of legal institutions and practices that differ in important ways from the "civil law tradition" of Europe and Latin America. Among other things, the common law tradition is associated...

Course aims: This course focuses on how democracies erode - and how they rebuild.We will focus on how populist parties, authoritarian politicians, and aggrieved social forces can undermine liberal democracy, and why that matters. We examine historical authoritarian systems, and how modern autocrats differ, emphasizing that modern erosion of democracy...

250 years ago, for almost the first time in history, a few societies rejected kings who claimed to know what the gods wanted and began moving toward democracy. Only once before had this happened--in ancient Greece. This course asks how the Greeks did this, and what they can teach us...

This course provides a deep dive into the historical development and comparative politics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It seeks to answer the following three interrelated questions: how did the modern MENA emerge over the past century? What kinds of states and regimes exist in the region...

This seminar will explore some of the workings of the United States Supreme Court, with reference to some of the larger constitutional questions, such as free speech, racial discrimination, privacy, affirmative action, administrative power, and abortion, as well as the role of the Court in American democracy. Elements used in...

Why do countries go to war? How do social identities - including race, ethnicity, and gender - shape individuals' political behavior? How can we explain variation in rates of poverty and inequality? How does political representation differ across different electoral systems? How do attitudes towards immigrants influence immigration policy? We...

Recent advances in Generative AI are rapidly transforming how we live and work. This lecture course offers a non-technical exploration of its foundational principles, inherent strengths and limitations, and a comprehensive overview of its profound impact on our society and economy. We will delve into critical questions: How will AI...

Where do people's political attitudes and behaviors come from, and how can they be changed? Social and psychological factors powerfully influence political views, and research in this area can help to understand our often confusing political landscape. Understanding the causal architecture of political attitudes and behavior is essential for taking...

This course traces the development of legislatures from their medieval European origins to the present, with primary emphasis on the case of the U.S. Congress. Students will learn about the early role played by assemblies in placing limits on royal power, especially via the power of the purse. About half...

This seminar will examine the history of the weaponization of the presidency from the 1790s to contemporary times. We will examine how the growth of the state and of executive power more generally fostered weaponization; how weaponization was constrained in various periods in American history, especially in post-Watergate reforms; the...

In 2022 Germans elected a new coalition government that promised to transform the country. Less than 100 days later, the Russian invasion in Ukraine forced their hand. This course explores the different dimensions of Germany's transformation after Chancellor Scholz called this a "Turning Point" (Zeitenwende). Starting from an overview of...

What forces have driven the dramatic shifts in U.S. politics and society over the past half-century? This course explores the significant political developments of this era, one notable for declining faith in government, new rights claims by marginalized communities, growing partisan polarization, and widening inequality. We will trace the transformation...

From the medieval period onward, universities have enjoyed some degree of independence from the state. Focusing on the U.S. example, this course examines, on the one hand, the ways in which universities' mechanisms of self-governance form a kind of constitutionalism. It looks, on the other hand, at how the U.S...

This seminar will examine women and their gendered experience of activism, organizing, living, and leading in the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

PWR 2 courses focus on developing strategies for presenting research-based arguments in both written and oral/multimedia genres. In this course, we will explore a variety of movements from marriage equality and civil rights to climate change. A full course description and video can be found here: pwrcourses.stanford.edu/pwr2/pwr2kta For the PWR...

The Youth and Education Advocacy Clinic offers students the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of educational rights and reform work, including direct representation of youth and families in special education and school discipline matters, community outreach and education, school reform litigation, and/or strategic policy research and consulting. All...