Scholars and politicians have argued about the extent of inequality and the intractability of poverty in the United States. This course will address the phenomena of inequality and poverty. The issues we will explore include: What is poverty and who are the poor? What economic, historical, and sociological theories have been advanced to explain poverty? Why has the United States government adopted certain kinds of policies to address poverty but not others? We will discuss the validity of these theories and policies from an empirical as well as a normative perspective. Format: discussion/lecture. Requirements: class participation, multiple short papers, peer review and revision of written work. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). Preference given to Political Science,Women and Gender Studies, and Political Economy majors. Open to first-year students with Advanced Placement credit in American Politics. American Politics Subfield