POL463

Explain the historical foundations of America, focusing on its social, legal, and political inheritances from Great Britain and from Christianity.

Identify and assess the various views of human nature offered by philosophers commenting on the American experience.

Analyze critically the rights and responsibilities of American democratic government from the Founding to the present.

Explain the relationship between capitalism and American democracy from the Founding to the present; analyze how the American political and legal systems have addressed underlying problems in its economic system.

Explain historical views of America's role in the world. Synthesize these to offer a view of its role for the 21st century.