Political Science
Timothy Peterson, Director of Graduate Studies
The department offers advanced programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science and international studies. In addition, the Master of Public Administration is also offered.
Admissions
The general regulations of The Graduate School of the University of South Carolina regarding admission, residency, and degree requirements are applicable to all graduate students in the Department of Political Science. In addition to The Graduate School’s application (available online at http://www.gradschool.sc.edu), the department requires that applicants submit materials that will provide evidence of their ability to successfully pursue and complete graduate work.
Admission is open to students with baccalaureate degrees in any field, but it is recommended that students take undergraduate course work in such areas as international studies, political science, history, economics, geography, or public administration. All applicants to the international studies, political science, and public administration degree programs must submit official transcripts of their undergraduate (and graduate) degree programs; scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the GRE; three letters of recommendation; a personal statement; and a resume or curriculum vitae. Applicants whose native language is not English must also submit a TOEFL or IELTS score. Detailed guidelines for all programs can be found at http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/graduate.html.
Courses
Quantitative techniques in political science; levels of measurement; problems of description, causation, and inference.
Themes and thinkers in American political history.
The nature of, and relationship between, politics and ethics.
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences
A critical examination of utopian and dystopian political ideas.
Research into the parameters governing linguistic conflicts and language rights issues, involving a close examination of the nexes of language and individual and ethnic identify, culture, dialects, bilingualism. Examination of regional, national, and international case studies, with particular attention to nationalism, language revitalization, and language planning.
Cross-listed course: LING 542
The American judicial system, including the decision to resolve disputes by legal means, political influence on the legal system, the social impact of legal rulings, the relationship of the courts to other branches of government, and the applicability of higher law concepts in judicial decision making.
An introduction to the institutions, functions, policy-making processes, and politics of American local government.
This course will examine the purpose, structure, and functions of state governments and their local subdivisions. Requires special permission of department. Restricted to social studies teachers.
South Carolina state and local government in the context of South Carolina history and U.S. state and local government.
Intensive study of special topics in Political Science. May be repeated as content varies by title.
Examines political science as a profession and discipline, reviews teaching techniques and issues, and develops dissertation and original research proposals.
A brief overview of the growth of the social sciences and of the history of the American discipline of political science in the 20th century, including an examination of the rise of behavioralism. Study of the principles of neo-positivist political inquiry, including problems of empirical research and research design.
Introduction to the institutional and behavioral theories used to explain political phenomena.
Critical study of theories of democracy.
How contemporary feminist theory has responded to and reformulated traditional theories about the role and nature of women.
Cross-listed course: WGST 704
Critical study of the development of Marxist theory.
Advanced techniques and approaches to multivariate analysis of empirical data in the context of political problems and events.
Introduction to the nature and tradition of political theory; readings from selected political theorists.
Impact of gender in American politics; elections, representation, rights, social movements, legal institutions, and public policy. Explores class, race, and sexuality issues within gender.
Cross-listed course: WGST 708
Techniques and approaches to qualitative analysis of political problems and events. Topics include field research, interviewing, case studies, content analysis, archival research, and presentation of data.
An introduction to the field of international relations, including causes of war, world order, international distribution of wealth, durability of state system, and the individual in the world system.
Political science Ph.D. students will work with a faculty mentor in their primary field to produce an original paper suitable for presentation at a national or regional professional conference.
Systematic survey, analysis, and comparison of major contemporary theoretical works in international relations.
A seminar treating the development, interests, formulation, and conduct of the modern foreign policies of selected states, with special reference to their interactions with other states' policies.
An analytical investigation of political violence in the international arena, its sources, internal and external bases, and consequences for political behavior within and among states in the contemporary international system.
Systematic survey, analysis, and comparison of major contemporary theoretical works on political and social change.
The role of communication in creating collective political reality, with particular attention to how governmental, economic, professional, and cultural factors influence media organizations.
A survey of the most recent and state-of-the-art scholarship on race and American policy.
Religion as a factor in the comparative politics and international relations of states and societies.
Cross-listed course: RELG 724
Survey, analysis, and comparison of theory and research findings on the nature, conditions, and causes of international conflict and violence.
An introduction to the academic literature on American courts and judicial politics.
A comparative study of courts of Europe and the and the common law courts of modern democracies (especially Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom). US state courts will also be examined from a comparative perspective.
A comparative study of courts, judicial process, and judicial behavior, and the role of courts in politics focusing on the common law and civil law courts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
This course examines the nature of democracy and democratic transitions, the relationship between economic and political development, and the causes and effects of different economic development strategies in Latin America.
Study of the role of law in international relations, emphasizing both substantive and theoretical problems relating to development of systems of law in such areas as war, protection of human rights, outer space and oceans, and international commerce.
Examination of theoretical and substantive problems relating to the development and functioning of international intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations.
Study of the international political significance of economic issues relating to monetary reform, trade, aid, and economic development.
Approaches to the study of international cooperation, including international integration, community formation, regime formation, interdependence, international institutionalization, and global governance.
Examines the determinants, content, and consequences of citizens' political beliefs and attitudes with attention to political culture, ideology, issue dynamics, and popular support for democratic principles.
Proseminar on the politics of nationalism from both the political sociology and international relations perspectives.
Study of the constitutional bases, institutions, instruments, and decision-making processes of U.S. foreign policy.
Analysis and interpretation of the substantive problems of contemporary U.S. foreign policy.
Continuing problems and competing strategies involved in formulating a national security strategy for the U.S. Issues include the defense structure and budget; the National Security Council and the decision-making process; the volunteer Army and the role of the military in society; nuclear weapons and arms control.
Study of the foreign policy of Russia and the other states of the former Soviet Union, including consideration of historical developments, institutions, capabilities, and strategic objectives.
A seminar on the Chinese tradition in foreign policy and the foreign policies of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China, emphasizing the impact of domestic Chinese affairs on their foreign relations in the post-World War II period.
A seminar on the foreign policy of Japan with emphasis on the post-World War II period and on the analysis of Japanese objectives and capabilities in international relations.
Foreign policies and international relations of the Middle East, focusing on relations within the region and with the West and Soviet bloc.
Introduction to the theory and practice of policy analysis.
Overview of methods used to evaluate public policies.
Critical issues in public administration; term project integrating the material from other courses in the analysis of a contemporary problem. Field work and applied project required.
An examination of the legal, political, professional, and organizational accountability demands made on administrators; the interplay of these demands with the needs for ethical decision making and integrity.
Analysis of grant and contract functions in government agencies; proposal writing; legal and fiscal requirements of grants administration.
Cross-listed course: EDRM 800
Overview of contemporary planning in the United States at local, state, and national levels, with emphasis on the politics of planning at the local level of government. Includes theory of planning, history, problems in the planning process, and implementation of planning.
Analysis of issues and forces affecting health delivery through the public sector; major models of political decision making; and current health legislation.
A study of the relation of government to the economy in the modern world, including theories of the economic functions of the state.
The development and uses of information systems in local, state, and federal administrative agencies with emphasis on the management of information systems in the public agency environment; the problems of interagency and intergovernmental relations; the politics of technological innovation; privacy, confidentiality, and security and information policy; and the role of information technology in democratic government.
Advanced survey of the institutions and processes of the American political system.
Fundamental institutions, processes, values, and policies of the U.S. political system. Designed for master's and non-degree students in education, public administration, and business administration.
Analysis of the political, economic, and social influences on the budgetary process.
The structure, organization, powers, functions, and problems of legislative bodies in America; the behavior of members of those bodies, with emphasis on the United States Congress.
A seminar on the problems of the contemporary presidency. Various approaches to the study of the presidency will be used as a means to uncovering and examining some of the major problems connected with the role of the president in the American system of government. Leading exponents of various approaches will be read and discussed.
Intensive examination of contemporary development of political organizations in the United States.
Examination of electoral behavior, including historical patterns in electoral history and forces affecting individual voting behavior such as partisan and class loyalties, political socialization, political attitudes, and candidate appeals. The role played by elections in the larger political system.
State government problems and policy issues. Emphasis on the modernization of government institutions and comparative state politics.
Administration of local government from the perspective of the professional administrator. Emphasis on the growth of the manager form of local government and the role of local government administrators with regard to policy making, management, and the delivery of services.
An examination of issues related to environmental policy making, implementation and management.
Cross-listed course: ENVR 802
The study and practice of public administration in the United States.
Problems of gathering and using public data for public administrators and policy analysts. Includes problems of research design and data gathering, interpretation, and use in the analysis of public problems.
An examination of the problems, processes and theories of communication, decision making, agency planning, and control in administrative agencies.
Organization, techniques, and theories of personnel management; interpersonal relations in organizations; personnel change and development; changing conditions in the public service.
An examination of the public policy process, including the role of public officials in the process and constraints on its outcomes.
Organization and techniques of governmental financial management; budgetary theories, intergovernmental financial relations.
Conceptual and analytic issues in formation and planning of public policies and programs, including problem identification, goal setting and criteria formulation, forecasting, prospective evaluation research, and modeling of programmatic cost and outcomes.
Conceptual and analytic issues in policy and program evaluation, including problem definition, goal setting and criteria formulation, design of evaluation research, indicator design, treatments of uncertainty, and special problems raised by constraints of the political context.
Selected problems in public administration. May be repeated or taken simultaneously as topics vary. Variations will be announced in the schedule of classes by title.
CL: 2020.
Survey, analysis, and comparison of major contemporary theoretical works in comparative politics.
Explores the key institutions, actors, and processes of contemporary Japanese domestic politics.
The Chinese political tradition as it has merged with Communist theory and practice with special attention to problems of regionalism, localism, and central planning.
The comparative politics of the Arab countries and inter-Arab relations. Comparative analysis is used to study common political problems (authority, participation, integration) and political structures. Aspects of inter-Arab relations analyzed include: Arab unity, the Israeli conflicts, and East-West competition.
Proseminar in European politics. Themes include party systems and voting behavior, parliamentary politics, public policy, democratization and privatization in Central and Eastern Europe, and research on the European Union.
An examination of current domestic issues in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union, focusing on the institutions, processes, and results of policy decisions.
Survey of theoretical and empirical work on democratic political institutions.
Internships in various public, non-profit, and private organizations and agencies under joint supervision of agency personnel and departmental internship program director. Master of International Studies students only.
CL: 2020.
CL: 2020.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by course title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by title.
Topics selected for any semester will be identified by title.
For candidates for the Master of Arts degree in Political Science.
For candidates for the Master of Arts degree in International Studies.
Analysis of particular topic or topics as chosen by instructor. May be repeated as topics vary. Variations will be announced in the schedule of classes by title.
Analysis of particular theorist or theorists as chosen by the instructor. May be repeated as topics vary. Variations will be announced in the schedule of classes by title.
Consideration of advanced methods in statistics and research design and their application and use in the writing of a major research paper.
Advanced methodological strategies for empirical analysis. The course will focus primarily on causal models, data theory, dimensional analysis, and scaling techniques.
A critical examination of contemporary efforts to analyze international relations through the use of empirical methodologies, including: social-psychological studies, simulation, game theory, decision theory, quantitative analyses.
Research seminar stressing systematic research procedures in the investigation of the determinants of foreign policy, including the employment of empirical data for testing theoretical propositions.
Advanced research seminar in selected topics related to international organization, international law, world order, ethics of international affairs.
Advanced study of the European interstate system and Europe's role in world affairs. Emphasis on post-World War II Western and Central Europe, major powers, the European Union, and intra-European relations after the Cold War.
Advanced study of the politics and international relations of Africa, regional development, foreign policy patterns, security problems, and questions of governance.
Advanced study of the politics and governmental problems of urban areas.
Overview of public sector unions, labor-management relations, negotiating strategies, and the unique dynamics of management/employee interactions within public agencies.
Intensive study of selected problems in comparative politics, with emphasis on individual research.
For candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in political science.
For candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in international studies.