Lecture, three or four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Comparison of major institutional structures such as presidentialism versus parliamentarism, unicameralism versus bicameralism, two-party versus multiparty systems, federal versus unitary systems, plurality versus proportional electoral systems, etc. Method of analysis is rational choice (political actors are assumed to optimize their results given institutional constraints and action of other actors). Result is that institutions affect political outcomes in systematic ways. P/NP or letter grading.