This course will explore policing in a comparative and historical context. Issues to be covered include the following: the maintenance of law and order before police forces; development of police forces in continental Europe and the English-speaking world; structure and function of national police forces around the world today; the role of political and secret police forces; and contemporary debates on the mission and regulation of the police in contemporary North America including issues such as police-community relations, private policing, and counter-terrorism.