This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain the ability to work with network data and apply network theory to the analysis of critical societal issues.