In this course we will analyze politics in the contemporary United States. We focus on political culture in the United States; structural inequality and the shape of the political economy; and social movements and the political meanings of race, racialization, and persistent inequality. In examining contemporary American politics, we will pay particular attention to debates about the role, potentialities, and effectiveness of the federated state in governance, especially arrangements of the state that exacerbate or mitigate socioeconomic and political inequality. We will also take seriously questions of participation and what impacts the rise of authoritarian tendencies, polarization, and persistently unequal political voice plays in shaping possibilities of democratic governance in the Unites States. This course is open to Ph.D. and M.A. students in the Politics department. It helps to prepare Ph.D. students for the American Politics field exam.