Political Science

A chronicle providing a rare window into international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab World's most popular news outlet.

Created by The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in partnership with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Video includes "Creating a constitution: One man changes the constitution, Gideon v. Wainwright--Checks and balances, Youngstown v. Sawyer

Follows the journey of a filmmaker who travels in and around Jerusalem, from a Palestinian refugee camp to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, where he meets seven Palestinian and Israeli children who exist in separate worlds, divided by physical, historical, and emotional boundaries although they live only 20 minutes apart. Explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of these children and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.

Seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti's long career was dogged by persistent accusations of conspiracy, Mafia connections and state-sponsored terror. This compelling film explores the shocking political machinations and shady criminal underworld surrounding this fascinating and controversial figure.

Episode of Cable in the Classroom discussing Staten Island secession from New York City.

Store Wars follows the one-year conflict that polarizes Ashland, Virginia, population 7,200, when Wal-Mart decides it wants to build a megastore there. The ensuing debate pits neighbor against neighbor in a battle as protracted and bitter as those fought in the Old West between ranchers and farmers over land-use issues. The struggle between conflicting versions of the American dream has on one side those who want to preserve their seemingly idyllic small-town way of life versus those who believe in the positive economic benefits Wal-Mart promises. This truly American story is about the right of a community to determine its own future: Which values are most important? Who gets to decide?

Recording of the case Straniere against Silver (Robert Straniere against Sheldon SIlver) in the New York Court of Appeals on November 16 1996. The case delt with secession of Staten Island from the City of New York, specifically with the isse of "home rule."

Chronological history of women in the New York State Senate and Assembly. Copy of a videotape made by Communications and Information Services of New York State Assembly in 1996.

This program features six landmark speeches: John F. Kennedy's inaugural address; Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech; Adolf Hitler's address to the Nazi Party; Douglas MacArthur's farewell address; Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1942 State of the Union address; and Barack Obama's first inaugural address. Printable transcripts and critical essays are included on DVD only.

Who should lead the world’s only superpower? When is it acceptable to topple another country’s leader? Are personal freedom and national security mutually incompatible? The answers to urgent political questions such as these are informed by 23 centuries of discourse that started with The Republic. This program focuses successively on the pivotal ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, Mill, John Rawls, and Robert Nozick to elucidate the thinking that underpins the West’s conceptions of good and bad government. Commentary by Ronald Dworkin, of New York University, and Kwame Anthony Appiah, of Princeton University, is featured. Part of the series Great Ideas of Philosophy II. (46 minutes)

Throughout the week BBC World Service offers a wide range of documentaries and other factual programmes. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from the BBC archive.

NPR station KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This weekly "love-hate relationship of the air" features three of the most insightful news analysts anywhere.

This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life are examined throughout the course.