This seminar will focus on various ways of interpreting and approaching the study of American political history from the nineteenth century to the present. It will explore topics such as the development of the American national state and governing capacities, the emergence of the historically-oriented field of American Political Development (APD) in the discipline of Political Science, the emergence of what is sometimes called the "new new political history," the expanding field of "policy history," and other developments. Hence, it will focus extensively on topics such as the development (and decay) of political institutions and regimes, the evolution of the American state, and changing conceptions of citizenship.