POLI2441 · Political Science
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
This is a course about power, politics, and global development. Why are some countries rich and others poor? Why do some communities have few resources while their neighbors have plenty? To answer these questions, we will start by critically examining what development is and how it can be measured. Then we will examine theories linking politics to development. We will explore the effects of colonialism, geography, natural resource wealth, regime types, and foreign aid, among others. The readings from this course draw from political science, economics, anthropology, and history. During this semester we will examine both the deep roots of global inequality and engage with active policy debates about development.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.8 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.6 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.8 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.7 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
Ratings below reflect the evaluations connected to this course.
Across time
Available section-level results across semesters.
Spring 2025
1 sectionFall 2022
1 sectionFall 2021
1 section