Introduction to American Politics This course introduces the institutions and practices of American government and politics. The aim is to give students a firm understanding of the workings of and the balance of power among the American Congress, President, bureaucracy, and court system. We begin with the Constitution, which provides the set of founding principles upon which the American government is based. We then look at how American citizens make decisions about politics. Finally, we examine how political institutions, interest groups, parties, elections, and legislative bodies and rules aggregate diverse, often conflicting preferences and how they resolve or exacerbate problems.

The Future of U.S. Democracy Pessimism abounds among analysts of 21st Century U.S. politics. What is the nature of the nation’s problems? Are they rooted mostly in social divides – of identity, ideology, geography, and inequality? Are they mostly the result of dysfunctional institutions – such as Congress, the presidency, and the courts? Do we face policy problems that are more profound and dire than previous generations? Is there any cause for optimism? In this seminar we engage with these debates and try to answer some of these questions about the volatile contemporary American political environment.

Frontiers in Political Science Research Nothing is more controversial among political scientists than the topic of how to study politics. In this course, we consider a variety of advanced techniques for studying political phenomena, including statistical methods, game theory, institutional analysis, case study techniques, experiments, and agent-based modeling. We will work with concrete examples (drawn from major political science journals) of how scholars have used these techniques, and consider the ongoing philosophical controversies associated with each approach. Students will have the opportunity to conduct original research using a method and subject of their choosing.

Data Science Across Disciplines In this course, we will gain exposure to the entire data science pipeline—obtaining and cleaning large and messy data sets, exploring these data and creating engaging visualizations, and communicating insights from the data in a meaningful manner. During morning sessions, we will learn the tools and techniques required to explore new and exciting data sets. During afternoon sessions, students will work in small groups with one of several faculty members on domain-specific research projects in Geography, Political Science, Restorative Justice, or Healthcare. This course will use the R programming language. No prior experience with R is necessary.  PSCI 1230: How do candidates for U.S. national office raise money? From whom do they raise it? In this section we will explore these questions using Federal Election Commission data on individual campaign contributions to federal candidates. Our analysis using R will help us identify geographic patterns in the data, as well as variations in funds raised across types of candidates. We will discuss what implications these patterns may have for the health and functioning of democracy in the U.S.     INTD 1230A: Data is a powerful tool for improving health outcomes by making programmatic choices to support justice. In this afternoon section of Data Across the Disciplines, students will be working with Addison County Restorative Justice (ACRJ) on understanding patterns in the occurrence of driving under the influence. ACRJ has over 1,000 cases and would like to better understand their data and come up with ways to access information. We will explore how identity, geography, and support impact outcomes from DUI cases. Using statistical analysis and data visualizations, along with learning about ethical data practices, we will report our findings.     INTD 1230B: Let’s dive into the minutes and reports of local towns to develop an accessible news and history resource. Could this be a tool for small newspapers to track local news more easily? Can we map this fresh data for a new look across geographies? Do you want to help volunteer town officials make decisions and better wrangle with their town’s history and data?  In this course we will develop a focused database of documents produced by several municipal boards and commissions. We will engage in conversation with local officials, researchers, and journalists. This course aims to introduce students to making data from real world documents and the people that make them to generate useful information that is often open but frequently difficult to sift through.  GEOG 1230: In this section, students will use data science tools to explore the ways migration systems in the United States changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will draw on data collected from mobile phones recording each phone’s monthly place of residence at the census tract level. The dataset includes monthly observations from January 2019 through December 2021 allowing the analysis to compare migration systems pre-pandemic with those during the pandemic.   MATH/STAT 1230: Students will explore pediatric healthcare data to better understand the risks correlated with various childhood illnesses through an emphasis on the intuition behind statistical and machine learning techniques. We will practice making informed decisions from noisy data and the steps to go from messy data to a final report. Students will become proficient in R and gain an understanding of various statistical techniques.

City Politics Cities have always been central to political life in the United States, but scholars disagree over how power is distributed in cities, which groups exercise the most authority, how cities relate to their economic and political environments, and whether it is legitimate to view cities as microcosms of state or national politics.  We will consider these general debates as we read major works on U.S. urban politics, addressing issues such as racial and ethnic politics, immigration, suburbanization, and cities' positions in the global economy.

Federalism, State and Local Politics What are the unique political opportunities and constraints facing state and local governments?  How have these changed over time?  In this course we examine the relationships between different levels of government in the U.S. federal system, considering the particular tasks and dilemmas facing states and cities, and scrutinizing the complex interactions between governments that characterize federalism in the United States.  Topics include local political culture, intergovernmental grants, state parties, and state political economy. Vermont, New York, and California will receive special scrutiny.

The U.S. Politics of Race, Gender, and Class Race, gender, and class have long shaped American politics. They have formed the basis for social movements, have structured institutions, and have affected the way political actors–from voters to activists to elected officials–have made their day-to-day decisions. What do political scientists know about the roles that race, gender, and class play in politics, separately and together, and what do we yet have to learn?

Bert Johnson

Reviews and ratings for Bert Johnson at Middlebury College.Bert Johnson teaches Intro to American Politics, Future of U.S. Democracy, Frontiers in Political Science and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Bert Johnson good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Professor Bert is great. He cares about his student and is a really funny guy. The class is boring at times and challenging at others, but it is a great course overall. You cover everything from political polling to supreme court cases. 

Relatively easy methods coures, definitely recommend it over qualitative as you also learn much more useful skills, R especially. Weekly readings that aren't that long/aren't really required in reality. 2 big homework sets and a final project.

Bert is an incredibly nice professor and he really likes the material. The class is a bit boring just because of the content, but if you're a major it's one of the best methods classes you can take. He's a fair grader, and while there are readings weekly you can get away with not doing them every time. The most challenging part of this class are the problem sets, but Prof. Johnson is willing to help any time you need it. Other than those the other work is very straightforward and pretty easy.