Politics affect virtually all aspects of our cultural, economic, religious and social lives, and almost all public decisions are made through collective political activity.

Political Science Major Requirements

Political Science Major

(11 courses)

  • POLI 130 / AMER 130 United States Politics and Government 
  • POLI 150 / INTL 150 Introduction to International Studies or POLI 160 / INTL 160 Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • POLI 200 Research Methodology and Techniques 
  • SSCI 224 Basic Statistics 
  • POLI 314 Classical and Medieval Political Thought or POLI 316 Modern Political Thought or POLI 317 American Political Thought or PHIL 346 Philosophy of Human Rights
  • POLI 231 State and Local Politics or POLI 332 Political Parties and Elections or POLI 335 Congress and Legislatures or POLI 336 / LEAD 336 Executive Leadership or POLI 337 Judicial Process and Behavior 
  • POLI 338 Introduction to Public Administration or POLI 343 Administrative Law or POLI 346 Policy Analysis or POLI 348 Environmental Politics 
  • 3 POLI courses numbered 200 or above 
  • POLI 350 International Relations or POLI 353 United States Foreign Policy or POLI 355 International Organizations or POLI 362 North-South Relations or POLI 365 European Politics or POLI 368 Politics and Governments of Latin America

Students are advised to take POLI 130 and POLI 150 / POLI 160 as freshmen, SSCI 224 and POLI 200 as sophomores and one course in each of the four content areas (political thought, U.S. politics, policy administration and international/comparative politics) during the sophomore, junior and senior years.


Political Science Teaching Major

The teaching major for secondary certification requires the same courses as the political science major.