Undergraduate Summer Course Descriptions Summer 2026

POL317H1F L0101: Comparative Public Policy

This course serves as an introduction to public policy, with a focus on wealthy democracies. We will begin by looking at the questions that motivate many studies of policy: Who controls the actions of democratic states? Whose preferences are enacted? Why do policies differ across time and space? Why do they change? These questions cut to the heart of all democratic theories. They are also crucial to understanding your roles as a participant in a democratic society, whether as a voter, a policy-maker, a tax-payer, or a service user. We will then examine four clusters of policies. When we are finished, you will be able to describe policy variation on these issues. This description will enable you to analyze theories of policy formation, making a critical judgement about their explanatory power. Finally, you will also be able to communicate your description and analysis with others.

POL321H1F L5101: Modern Political Thought: Progress Through History

This course addresses fundamental questions in the history of political theory. We will explore philosophical questions concerning the nature of freedom and unfreedom, as well as whether modernity has helped move humanity closer to freedom and emancipation or whether it has predominantly led to forms of domination and exclusion. We consider these questions in the context of colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, and the enduring legacy of slavery and ask to what extent claims to freedom and liberty are challenged by the existence of these forms of domination. These concepts find new voice in the distinctive and increasingly complex political and economic conditions characteristic of ‘modernity’, conditions that continue to resonate with and shape our political lives. Sequel to POL320H1F

POL326H1F L0101: The Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy

This course explores the making of foreign policy in the U.S. through a detailed examination of the institutions of the U.S. government involved, as well as the forces acting upon them to shape policy. After exploring theoretical approaches to the subject, it examines the evolution of the constitutional context within which U.S. foreign policy has been articulated, the bureaucracies involved in shaping policy, the impact of elections, groups and the mass media.

POL340H1F L0101: International Law: Foundations

This course will introduce students to the primary sources of international law (treaties and customary international law) and the legal attributes of the core actors in the international system, including states, international organizations and individuals. Related topics will include governance of territory and the seas.

POL360H1S L0101: Topics in Latin American Politics: Indigenous Politics and Extractivism in the Andes

This course offers an in-depth analysis of key controversies in Latin American politics since the beginning of the twenty-first century, with particular emphasis on the Andean region of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. It explores how Indigenous movements have reshaped national politics, challenged extractive economies, and state-led coercion. Through case studies, students will analyze how community organization, Indigenous worldview and resistance to mining extractivism intersect with broader debates on democracy, development, and decolonization. The course situates these experiences within regional political dynamics shaped by historical struggles of Indigenous communities, while also addressing issues such as economic development policies, environmental challenges, violence, institutions, Indigenous political participation and its implications for rethinking power, sovereignty, and justice in Latin America. A background in Latin American politics and history is strongly encouraged.

Format and Requirements: Midterm paper, research paper, presentation on readings, and participation.
Prerequisites: 1.0 credit in POL/ JPA/ JPF/ JPI/ JPR/ JPS/ JRA courses
Area: CP/CD/D&I

POL361H1F L0101: Global Political Economy

This course explores key challenges to world economic order, resilience, and justice. Specific national and international frameworks that govern trade, capital flows, migration, development, production, and the environment are examined. Methods for analyzing the background, interaction, and implications of such policies are introduced.

Texts:: Thomas Oatley, International Political Economy
Prerequisites: 1.0 credit in POL/ JPA/ JPF/ JPI/ JPR/ JPS/ JRA courses; ( ECO101H1, ECO102H1)/ ECO105Y1
Exclusion:  POLC69H3
Area: CP/IR

POL377H1F L0101: Topics in Comparative Politics: Good Governance

Despite domestic pressures and global constraints, governments around the world consistently achieve remarkable things: eradicating disease, educating children, holding elections, and building infrastructure. What explains these successes, and what can we learn from them? Taking a political economy approach and focussing primarily on the Global South, this course investigates the conditions, constraints, and compromises required to bring policies to life.

POL379H1F L5101: Topics in Comparative Politics III: Race and Politics in America

This seminar draws from a variety of sources to understand contemporary politics of racial & ethnic identity. Much of the class will focus on how whites in the United States perceive Black-Americans, other minorities, and themselves, to:

• Understand how social identities & psychological perspectives influence how we view ourselves and others, and how these differences find political expression.
• Differentiate between individual-level theories of prejudice and structural theories of the impact of racism that may resist the best intended interventions;
• Gain insight into historical events like America’s founding, and recent political controversies, to delve into the debate over how to teach about race and racism in schools.

POL381H1S L5101: Topics in Political Theory: Capitalism and its Critics

The course provides students with an introduction to the main debates and arguments regarding the question of what the economy should look like. We will discuss capitalism, why it gained wide intellectual support, and what are the main criticisms levelled at it. We will start by reading some significant work by economists and philosophers about the advantages of markets, and then turn to review major, classic critiques of capitalism (Marx, Frankfurt School). Following that, we will move to survey newer, emerging concerns and the debates, which include the rise of economic inequality, freedom and work, AI and the future of the economy, “deaths of despair”, climate change, and the interactions of capitalism with gender and race.

Texts: (tentative, partial list) Selections from: Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations; Acemoglu, Daron, and Simon Johnson. Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.; Hayek, Friedrich. The Use of Knowledge in Society.Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom.; McCloskey, Deirdre. The Bourgeois Virtues : Ethics for an Age of Commerce.; Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Marx, Karl. Capital; Marcuse, Herbet. One-Dimensional Man.; Cohen, G.A. Why not socialism?; Nancy Fraser, Cannibal Capitalism.; Frank, Robert, The Darwin Economy; Case, Anne and Angus Deaton. Deaths of despair and the future of capitalism; Anderson, Elizabeth. Private Government; Hochschild, Arlie Russell. The Managed Heart; Parr, Tom. Empowering Workers in an Age of Automation.
Format and Requirements: Attendance and Participation: 15% of the final grade; Term paper proposal: 15%; Term paper: 30%; Final Exam: 40%
Prerequisites:  POL200Y1/ POL200Y5/( POLC70H3, POLC71H3)
Area: PT

POL417H1F L5101: Politics of North-South Relations

This course explores the complex relations between the developed world and Global South in historical and contemporary settings. It engages critical scholarship within International Politics and International Political Economy to examine salient factors in North-South relations such as dependency and interdependence, trade, development aid, global governance architecture, and South-South cooperation broadly defined.

POL418H1S L0101: Human Security and Intra-state Conflicts in the Global South

What are the underlying causes of insecurity and instability, and what factors support or undermine attainment of durable peace after episodes of violent conflict in the Global South? This course explores these questions using comparative case studies and theoretical perspectives from political science and other disciplines on the challenges and opportunities of ending conflicts and achieving sustainable peace.

Format and Requirements: Two weekly in person seminars. Attendance, presentations, a book review and a major essay on a civil war 
Prerequisites: POL201H1 or POL201Y1 or POL208H1 or POL208Y1 or POL209H5 or POLB80H3 or POLB90H3
Exclusions: POL417Y1
Area: IR/DS/CP/D&I

POL426H1S L0101: Democracy and Dictatorship

This course explores fundamental questions about the conditions that foster democratic systems, why democracy falters, and what explains the endurance of authoritarian governments. The course introduces theories rooted in leadership, economic development (including natural resources), polarization, regime type, and civil-military relations. We will examine the diverse landscape of political systems, from different types of autocracies (military juntas, personalist regimes) to hybrid regimes. The latter half of the course will focus on regime change dynamics, including the impact of the digital age on governance, policing politics in different types of regimes, the use of legal tools to undermine democracy from within, and contemporary challenges, like democratic backsliding and potential "democratic U-turns". By the end of the course, students will be equipped to critically analyze the stability and evolution of political regimes across the globe.

Texts: (excerpts and chapters from the following materials): Levitsky, Steven and Lucan Way, Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War; Singh, Naunihal, Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups; De Bruin, Erica, How to Prevent Coups d’Etat; Greitens, Sheena Chestnut, Dictators and Their Secret Police: Coercive Institutions and State Violence; Thomson, Henry, Watching the Watchers: Communist Elites, the Secret Police and Social Order in Cold War Europe; Dixon, Rosalind, and David Landau, Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: Legal Globalization and the Subversion of Liberal Democracy; Brownlee, Masoud, and Reynolds, The Arab Spring: Pathways of repression and reform.
Format and Requirements: Attendance and Participation (15%); Midterm Exam (20%); Deliberation Exercise (15%); Research Paper (25%); Final Exam (25%).
Prerequisites: 2.0 credits in POL/ JPA/ JPF/ JPI/ JPR/ JPS/ JRA courses
Area: CD/IR

POL431H1F L0101 Dynamics of Political Change in Contemporary China
Graduate Number: POL2431H1

Selective examination of issues and themes in China's post-Mao reform effort with particular emphasis on the challenges faced by China’s leadership in managing an increasingly complex market authoritarian state and society. contemporary social, political and economic developments. Emphasis is on the period since Xi Jinping’s assumption of power in 2012.

POL484H1F L0101: Topics in Political Thought I: Black Political Thought

This course explores key texts in African American political thought from the 19th century to the present. Emphasizing the historical and theoretical stakes of Black freedom struggles, we examine questions of subjectivity, democracy, citizenship, race, and unfreedom. Authors include Du Bois, Douglass, Cooper, King, Angela Davis, and others. We ask: What is the African American political community? Can full inclusion in American democracy be achieved? What does freedom mean in a society shaped by slavery and its afterlives? The course is transdisciplinary, critically engaging philosophy, sociology, and Black Studies to rethink the meaning of political life in the Black experience.

Prerequisites: POL200Y1/ POL200Y5/( POLC70H3, POLC71H3
Area: PT/D&I

POL486H1F L0101: Topics in International Politics I: Global Politics of Science Fiction 
Graduate Number: POL2205H1F

This course examines the intersection of science fiction and global politics. We will engage with classic and contemporary sci-fi works that touch upon key IR concepts like anarchy, empire, arms races, and hegemony.

POL487H1F L0101: Topics in International Politics II: The Soviet Collapse
Graduate Number: POL2206H1F

This course tries to understand the collapse of one of the most successful and powerful empires of modern times. Our time is short so we will get partial, confusing, and sometimes contradictory answers, using a small and inherently biased sample of the literature. Nevertheless, we will do our best to consider this historical event from a variety of perspectives, and perhaps even speculate about what it means for Russian politics today. Oh, and we’re also going to make a game.

Prerequisites:  POL208H1/ POL208Y1/ POL209H5/ POLB80H3
Area: IR

POL496H1F L0101: Independent Studies

Independent Study courses are arranged by senior undergraduate students who wish to pursue a detailed research project under individual supervision. Departmental registration is required.

Complete an Independent Studies application form, available from the Undergraduate Office or the Departmental website (www.politics.utoronto.ca), and return it to Room 3027 SSH by the first day of class.

Only students who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

1. You must have completed introductory courses in the area in which you wish to conduct your research;
2. None of the current Departmental course offerings should cover the materials you wish to study;
3. There must be a Faculty member from the Department of Political Science who has expertise in the area and who is willing to supervise your course of study;
4. You must not have previously completed an Independent Studies course through this Department.

Students are not entitled to take more than 1.0 FCE Independent Studies course in Political Science.

POL497H1S L0101: Independent Studies

Independent Study courses are arranged by senior undergraduate students who wish to pursue a detailed research project under individual supervision. Departmental registration is required.

Complete an Independent Studies application form, available from the Undergraduate Office or the Departmental website, and return it to Room 3027 SSH by the first day of class.

Only students who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

1. You must have completed introductory courses in the area in which you wish to conduct your research;
2. None of the current Departmental course offerings should cover the materials you wish to study;
3.  There must be a Faculty member from the Department of Political Science who has expertise in the area and who is willing to supervise your course of study;
4.  You must not have previously completed an Independent Studies course through this Department.

Students are not entitled to take more than 1.0 FCE Independent Studies course in Political Science.