America's Constitutional Democracy America’s constitutional democracy rests on a foundation of political theory, constitutional law, and historical experience. By examining the writings of John Locke, James Madison, Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and many others, and by reading a series of key Supreme Court rulings, we will explore how Americans have grappled with key questions involving liberty, equality, representation, and commerce.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 Anthropology, Biology, Classics, Political Science, and Statistics. This course will use the R programming language. No prior experience with programming is necessary. (Not open to students who have taken STAT 0118, STAT 0201, ANTH 1230, BIOL 1230, CLAS 1230, ECON 1230, ECSC 1230, ENVS 1230, FMMC 1230, GEOG 1230, HARC 1230, HIST 1230, JAPN 1230, LNGT 1230, MATH 1230, NSCI 1230, PSCI 1230, SOCI 1230, STAT 1230, or WRPR 1230.)  ANTH/LNGT 1230: In this section we will explore indigenous political voice in unexpected places. The data we will analyze will consist of bilingual Apache-English and Maidu-English stories, songs and speeches originally recorded by anthropological linguists in the early twentieth century as examples of traditional culture. Students will use R to search this corpora for how indigenous contributors were also making claims on the future in their address to the researcher and to wider anticipated audiences.  BIOL/ECSC 1230: In this section we will work with data collected by elephant seals equipped with oceanographic instruments in the Southern Ocean. Depending on your interests, you can approach the project from different angles: students focusing on biology will explore where the seals travel and what drives their movements, while those interested in earth science will investigate the temperature and salinity profiles gathered during their dives. Working in teams, you’ll combine these perspectives to build a fuller picture of both seal ecology and the oceanographic processes that shape their environment. Along the way, you’ll practice manipulating and visualizing different types of data including maps of seal tracks, temperature and salinity profiles, and cross-sections of ocean properties. We will also bring in satellite  and autonomous float data to place seal activity and the data they collect in a broader context. By the end, you’ll have a sense of how these different data sources fit together and what unique insights we gain from using seals as oceanographers.  CLAS 1230: In this section students will gain hands-on experience with a variety of natural language processing and text mining techniques by exploring the writings of the ancient historian Plutarch, who lived during the first and second centuries AD.  We will focus on the biographies of "great men" in Plutarch’s Lives, which chronicles the history, morals, and virtues of major figures who played parallel roles in ancient Greek and Roman society. The public domain English translation from Project Gutenberg will serve as our main corpus; however, students with a background or interest in Ancient Greek can work with the text in the original language. Using the R programming language, students will transform unstructured text into quantitative data for statistical analysis and morphosyntactic parsing. We will also apply machine learning models to our data to reveal underlying patterns in large amounts of text. No prior experience with R is necessary.  PSCI 1230: Who votes in elections? Who attends protests? Why? In this section we will use the tools of data science to explore these and other questions about political participation in the Americas. We will examine engagement in different forms of participation and the demographic, economic, social, and other factors that shape participation. The class will introduce students to the basics of survey research and the study of political participation.  Students will complete a final group project showcasing the concepts and tools learned in class.   STAT 1230: In this section students will dive into the world of data science by focusing on invasive species monitoring data. Early detection is crucial to controlling many invasive species; however, there is a knowledge gap regarding the sampling effort needed to detect the invader early. In this course, we will work with decades of invasive species monitoring data collected across the United States to better understand how environmental variables play a role in the sampling effort required to detect invasive species. Students will gain experience in the entire data science pipeline, but the primary focus will be on data scraping, data visualization, and communication of data-based results to scientists and policymakers.

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.

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 US Constitutional Democracy, Intro to American Politics, Frontiers in Political Science and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Bert Johnson good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This class is extremely reading-heavy, and very dense readings at that. Lots of philosophical thought and readings from earlier thinkers in constitutional democracy. It is interesting material, but often hard to get through during a busy week. 

I had trouble understanding his lectures because it would often just have nothing to do with our readings. What he taught was valuable, but it was just difficult for me to understand and take notes. The exams are relatively easy (only midterms and final) and he is very helpful in office hours. Participation is required but if you prefer to participate online on the readings that's also an option and you won't be required to verbalize your thoughts during the big lecture. Discussions are often split into small groups about readings/opinions and are also just in one large group (but this is half the class). 

Professor Bert was very enthusiastic about the material and was super accommodating to everyone's needs. Grades are heavily based on participation, and there are a lot of readings. Overall, an interesting course, but the focus is heavily on philosophical thought around the U.S. Constitution rather than more current-day issues involving the Constitution. 