Governance and Society

This free online course explores the origins of U.S. political culture, how that culture informed the Constitution, and how that framework continues to influence the country’s politics and policies. We will examine the Constitution’s provisions for limited government, the division of power between the federal and state governments, and the forces that have made federalism a source of political conflict and change.

Public opinion has a powerful yet inexact influence on elected officials. Politicians risk their careers if they ignore it, yet its power is not easy to capture nor quantify. This course will look at how political parties, campaigns, social movements, special interests, and the news media all play a role in influencing public opinion.

The course examines specific strategies for community organizing for social justice in a diverse, democratic society.

Conditions of Democracy is the first course in a two-part series intended as a broad survey of the political, social, cultural, economic, institutional, and international factors that foster and obstruct the development and consolidation of democracy.

Led by expert faculty from Georgetown University, How the Government Works & How to Get Involved offers a refresher on the fundamentals of American government in the context of what’s happening right now.