Political Science

The faculty in the Department of Political Science offer graduate programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science. Concentrations are available in American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory.

Students admitted to the Master of Education degree with a major in Secondary Education may also elect political science as the subject matter field.

See Master’s Degrees, for general requirements.

Admission. The M.A. degree provides advanced education for those students preparing for teaching, research, or applied careers in political science. It may be taken as a terminal program or as a step toward eventual fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. Students may apply directly to the doctoral program or master’s program.

In addition to the materials sent to the Graduate College, the following items should be submitted to the director of graduate studies of the Department of Political Science by April 15 in order to ensure recommendations for admission to the M.A. program beginning the following fall:

Applicants for financial aid should submit these items and complete the application form for graduate assistantships by February 15. The department also has an early admission deadline in early November. Candidates who have submitted a complete application by that date will be notified of their status by the end of the calendar year.

Undergraduate course work in political science is not a prerequisite for admission.

It is assumed, however, that M.A. students have a basic understanding of elementary statistics and the undergraduate content of the political science fields of concentration that they wish to study. Students without such a background should allow sufficient time to acquire it.

Program of Study. A minimum of 30 semester hours is required for the Master of Arts degree. All candidates must take POS 503 and the core course in the student’s major and minor fields. Additional hours must be taken in graduate-level courses and seminars. Each student is expected to take seminars each semester in his/her major field, minor field, and an elective until course work is completed. If the thesis option is followed, the program must include a combination of at least six semester hours of research (POS 592) and thesis (POS 599) credit. A maximum of six semester hours in approved courses taken outside the department or six hours of reading and conference (POS 590) courses may count toward the 30-hour requirement.

Foreign Language Requirement. None.

Thesis Option Requirements. M.A. students seeking admission to the Ph.D. program are expected to complete the thesis early in their fourth semester. A copy of the Format Manual is available in the Graduate College. A careful review of this document well in advance of preparation for the final copy of the thesis is recommended. An oral examination in defense of the thesis is required.

Non-Thesis Option Requirements. The program of study must include 27-hours of approved course work and at least one three-hour reading and conference course (POS 590) in the fourth semester to enhance the student’s research capabilities. A research paper must be defended by the end of the third semester before a faculty committee appointed by the director of Graduate Studies.

See Doctor of Philosophy, for general requirements.

Admission. In addition to meeting Graduate College requirements, an applicant for the Ph.D. program must take the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the GRE; supply a career overview statement that describes the applicant’s educational objectives; submit three letters of recommendation from persons who can evaluate the applicant’s undergraduate and graduate work; and provide a sample of writing. These items should be submitted to the director of graduate studies of the Department of Political Science by February 15. Applicants for financial aid should also complete and submit the application form for graduate assistantships by February 15. The department also has an early admission deadline in late November. Candidates who have submitted a complete application by that date will be notified of their status by the end of the calendar year.

It is assumed that Ph.D. students have a basic understanding of elementary statistics and the content of the areas of concentration that they wish to study. Students without such a background should allow sufficient time to acquire it.

Program of Study. A minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate courses beyond the baccalaureate degree and approved by the student’s supervisory committee shall constitute the formal course preparation, followed by a minimum of 24 semester hours of research and dissertation work. The supervisory committee has three members, including the committee chair from the student’s major field, and two members from a minor field. As part of the 60 semester hours, the student must take POS 503 and 603. A maximum of 12 semester hours of approved course work outside the department and 12 semester hours of approved reading and conference courses (POS 590 and 790) may count toward the 60 semester hours. Grades of “A” (4.00), “B” (3.00), or “Y,” must be obtained in all course work counted for the Ph.D. degree.

Master’s in Passing. For students without an M.A. who are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program, the department offers a Master’s in Passing. Students opting for the Master’s in Passing must, in the third semester of residence, pass an oral examination of their work. The examination is conducted by a committee composed of members of the Graduate Committee who represent each student’s primary and secondary subfields. Students who pass the oral examination and have completed 30 semester hours of course work toward the Ph.D. are then awarded the M.A.

Research Skills/Foreign Language Requirements. All Ph.D. students must show proficiency in research and methodological skills. This requirement may be met by showing proficiency in one or more of the following areas: foreign language, quantitative, or qualitative methods. Supervisory committees determine which among those research tools are appropriate for students in their fields of study.

Comprehensive Examinations. The student is required to take three examinations from the fields and subfields of American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory. In the major field, the student takes a written general examination. Additionally, the student takes a written field or subfield examination in one of the remaining fields of political science. An oral examination over the dissertation proposal follows the written examinations.

Dissertation Requirements. The dissertation must be an original contribution to knowledge and demonstrate the student’s proficiency as an independent investigator. The dissertation proposal is approved by the chair of the department upon the recommendation of the student’s dissertation committee. The department chair also approves the dissertation committee. This committee must have a minimum of three members from the department of political science, including a chair from the student’s major field.

Final Examination. A final oral examination is required. This examination is the occasion for the student to defend the dissertation, both as to methods and conclusions, and to demonstrate general competence in the area of concentration.

Political science faculty and the department’s curriculum are organized into four areas of concentration. The faculty offer courses and conduct research from a variety of methodological orientations, all with a common thread of theoretically oriented scholarship.

American Politics. Faculty emphasize political behavior and use survey research, experimental designs, and content analysis to collect data and conduct statistical analyses of mass voting patterns, campaign strategies, party politics, the role of the media in political communication, agenda setting and policy development in Congress, and elite-mass linkages. Other faculty emphasize public law and policy with a focus primarily at the state and local levels of government.

International Relations. One group focuses on foreign policy theory and international security, using event chronologies, institutional differences, archival materials, and public records to guide comparative analyses of foreign policy decision-making by different types of regimes, case studies of leaders and their decision-making strategies, state and nation building, nationalism, and policy analyses of issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Another cluster of faculty emphasize critical theory and the international political economy, employing archival sources, statistical data, and texts of legal norms and state practices to conduct analyses of global inequalities in wealth and income, the evolution of statecraft, and the impact of hierarchically-ordered gender and race categories in North-South relations.

Political Theory. Faculty research interests in the area of political theory cover a range of topics in the history of political thought and contemporary political theory. Historical topics include Rousseau, conceptual history, and positive liberalisms of the 19th and 20th centuries. Research in contemporary political theory focuses on such themes as autonomy and freedom, rights and obligations, civic virtues, and the idea of the common good; various issues in democratic theory (with particular attention to education), aspects of political and legal theory regarding corporate personality, conceptions of self in various cultures, analysis of myths in aboriginal societies and politics, social ecology, and peace and nonviolence.

Comparative Politics. Faculty in the area of comparative politics investigate a variety of topics in several regions of the globe. Research interests include the political economy of uneven development in Africa, democratization processes within formerly authoritarian regimes in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, church and state relations in the Philippines, ethnic minority problems in Brazil, problems of federalism in India, and party leadership in France and Italy.