If politics can be defined as the often uneven and unequal distribution of resources, rights and power, political science represents the systematic analysis of that distributive process through either normative or empirical questions. Normative political scientists examine politics through the lens of ethics; they use reason and logic to ask, ?what should be?" Empirical political scientists are concerned not with ideal forms, but with ?the way things are." Employing the methods of science, empirical political scientists seek to develop probabilistic generalizations about how politics works. This course will engage with both normative and empirical questions about politics and will include discussion of: terminology, theory, and method; political philosophy and ideology; governmental systems; democratic and non-democratic regimes; comparative analysis; the interactions between politics and people; public policy; international relations; and revolutions and state breakdowns