POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Iowa Caucus Politics

4 credits (Fall)

This course will explore presidential nomination politics, with a special focus on the Iowa caucuses, which play a central role in the selection of major-party presidential nominees. The course, offered during the campaign for the 2020 caucuses, will be fueled by real-time politics, including politics playing out in the state and even in the community. Still, it will explore the perennial questions posed by scholars of nomination politics, drawing heavily from the discipline of political science, but also introducing an interdisciplinary lens to unpack caucus politics. At the heart of this all is a pressing normative question: Who should be selecting a party’s nominee?

Prerequisite: POL 101.
Instructor: Trish