POL S 405 B: Advanced Seminar in American Politics

Economic, social, and political inequalities have increased significantly in recent decades. In this course, we explore the impact of social policies and programs on the distribution of wealth, opportunity, and legal rights in the United States with a particular focus on inequalities across gender, race, and ethnicity. The course begins with an introduction to key concepts in the measurement of inequality and how historically policies intervene in addressing these problems. We then turn to systematically analyze how public policy shapes inequality across a range of topical areas including labor markets, education, welfare, gender-based violence, health, housing, and criminal justice. In doing so, we consider when policies act as “equalizers” and when they reinforce the same forms of inequality they are meant to address. The final assignment in this course is a policy brief that gives you an opportunity to propose your own policy to address an issue you care about using the tools you learn in this class.