Political Science, Ph.D.
Admission is based on an evaluation of the applicant’s potential for successful graduate work. It is expected that applicants to the political science doctoral program will demonstrate a strong potential for advanced scholarly study. Admission will be based on a holistic evaluation of the candidate’s complete academic background, including grades, test scores, past research accomplishments, and the evaluations contained in letters of reference. The admission decision depends in part on the qualifications of the total pool of applicants. There are no formal minimums since strength in one area may offset relative weakness in another area. However, the admissions committee uses the following indicators as rough benchmarks of the probability of success in our graduate program: scores of at least 600 verbal, 600 quantitative, and 4.5 analytical on the three sections of the GRE, an undergraduate GPA of 3.50 or above, and a TOEFL score of 620 (if applicable) or a comparable score on the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam.
The admission deadlines for political science are:
December 15: fall admission with departmental financial support (applications received after this date will be considered for financial support depending on availability of aid);
April 1: fall admission.
Degree Requirements (63 Post-Baccalaureate Hours)
Distribution of Hours
| Requirements | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| Core Courses | 12 |
| First Field (including Gateway Proseminar) | 15 |
| Second Field (including Gateway Proseminar) | 9 |
| Electives | 9 |
| Coursework Minimum | 45 |
| Dissertation | 18 |
| Minimum Total | 63 |
Distribution of Fields
Students will choose a first field and a second field from the following list:
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Political Theory (second field only)
- Public Administration and Public Policy
- Public Law
- Research Methodology (second field only)
Field Requirements
Students are required to take the “Gateway Proseminar” in each of their fields. The majority of courses taken to satisfy a field requirement must be taken within the Department of Political Science. For the methods second field, students are required to take 9 hours of course work beyond the core POLI 502 and POLI 701 courses. Students taking political theory as a first (or second) field must take 15 (or 9) hours of course work beyond the POLI 703 or POLI 707 course taken in the core. Students taking POLI 707 as a core course can count POLI 707 as satisfying one of the Gateway Proseminar course requirements (since POLI 707 is the Gateway Proseminar for the field of political theory). Counting POLI 707 twice in this way does not decrease the number of courses or credit requirements students need to meet the Ph.D. requirements.
Degree Requirements (Minimum of 30 Post-Master's Hours)
Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. program who have a Master’s degree in Political Science or a closely related field will be required to complete a minimum of 30 hours. The distribution of these courses across fields will depend upon the coursework completed as part of the Master’s program, but will at a minimum consist of POLI 701, POLI 706, one additional core course and three courses in the student’s first field. An individual’s specific requirements will be determined by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with faculty from the student’s first field; this will be done before the student’s first semester of coursework.
Core Curriculum (4 courses/12 hours)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| POLI 502 | Methods of Political Analysis | 3 |
| POLI 701 | Theories of Political Inquiry | 3 |
| POLI 706 | Advanced Methods of Political Analysis | 3 |
| Select one additional research methodology course from the following two: | ||
| Qualitative Methods of Political Analysis | ||
| Research Methods in Political Science | ||
| First Field (5 courses) | 15 | |
Select from any fields of Political Science except Research Methods | ||
| Second Field (3 courses) | 9 | |
Select from any fields of Political Science | ||
| Electives (3 courses) | 9 | |
Electives
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| American Politics | ||
| POLI 554 | Law and Society | 3 |
| POLI 567 | American Local Government | 3 |
| POLI/WGST 708 | Women in American Politics | 3 |
| POLI 720 | Political Communication | 3 |
| POLI 721 | Race and Public Policy| | 3 |
| POLI 736 | Public Opinion and Political Attitudes | 3 |
| POLI 760 | American Government and Politics ((gateway proseminar)) | 3 |
| POLI 761 | American National Government for Professionals | 3 |
| POLI 762 | Politics of the Budgetary Process | 3 |
| POLI 763 | Legislative Process and Behavior | 3 |
| POLI 764 | Problems of the Presidency | 3 |
| POLI 765 | Political Parties and Interest Groups | 3 |
| POLI 766 | Electoral Behavior | 3 |
| POLI 767 | State Government | 3 |
| POLI 768 | Local Government Administration | 3 |
| POLI 791 | Selected Topics in American Politics | 3 |
| POLI 798 | Selected Topics in Public Law | 3 |
| POLI 850 | Seminar in Public Law | 3 |
| POLI 865 | Seminar in Urban Politics | 3 |
| Comparative Politics | ||
| POLI 703 | Democratic Theory | 3 |
| POLI 718 | Revolution and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 719 | Political and Social Change | 3 |
| POLI 720 | Political Communication | 3 |
| POLI 724 | Religion and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 737 | Nationalism and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 758 | The State and Economic Life | 3 |
| POLI 780 | Theories of Comparative Politics ((gateway proseminar)) | 3 |
| POLI 781 | Government and Politics of Japan | 3 |
| POLI 782 | Problems in Chinese Government and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 783 | Dynamics of Middle East Politics | 3 |
| POLI 784 | Government and Politics of Europe | 3 |
| POLI 785 | Contemporary Russian Politics | 3 |
| POLI 792 | Selected Topics in Comparative Politics | 3 |
| POLI 798 | Selected Topics in Public Law | 3 |
| POLI 802 | Seminar in Comparative Administration | 3 |
| POLI 831 | Seminar on Europe | 3 |
| POLI 880 | Seminar in Comparative Politics | 3 |
| International Relations | ||
| POLI 715 | International Relations Theory ((gateway proseminar)) | 3 |
| POLI 717 | Comparative Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI/RELG 724 | Religion and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 725 | International Conflict | 3 |
| POLI 732 | International Law | 3 |
| POLI 733 | International Organization | 3 |
| POLI 734 | Economics of International Politics | 3 |
| POLI 735 | International Cooperation | 3 |
| POLI 740 | Formulation and Conduct of United States Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 741 | Contemporary United States Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 742 | Problems in National Security | 3 |
| POLI 745 | Russian Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 746 | Chinese Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 747 | Japanese Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 749 | International Relations of the Middle East | 3 |
| POLI 794 | Selected Topics in International Relations | 3 |
| POLI 795 | Selected Topics in International Law and Organization | 3 |
| POLI 815 | Seminar in Advanced International Relations Theory | 3 |
| POLI 816 | Seminar in Comparative Study of Foreign Policy | 3 |
| POLI 817 | Seminar in International Organization and Cooperation | 3 |
| Political Theory | ||
| POLI 504 | Politics and Ethics | 3 |
| POLI 505 | Utopian Political Thought | 3 |
| POLI 703 | Democratic Theory | 3 |
| POLI/WGST 704 | Political Theory and Feminism | 3 |
| POLI 705 | Theory of Marxism | 3 |
| POLI 707 | Classics of Political Theory | 3 |
| POLI 800 | Selected Topics in Political Theory | 3 |
| POLI 801 | Selected Thinkers in Political Theory | 3 |
| Public Administration/Public Policy | ||
| POLI 721 | Race and Public Policy| | 3 |
| POLI 754 | Public Accountability and Ethics | 3 |
| POLI 755 | Grants Administration | 3 |
| POLI 757 | Health Politics | 3 |
| POLI 759 | Information Systems and Public Administration | 3 |
| POLI 762 | Politics of the Budgetary Process | 3 |
| POLI 768 | Local Government Administration | 3 |
| POLI 770 | Perspectives on Public Administration ((gateway proseminar)) | 3 |
| POLI 771 | Public Data Analysis | 3 |
| POLI 772 | Contemporary Administrative Organization | 3 |
| POLI 773 | Human Resources Administration in Government | 3 |
| POLI 774 | The Public Policy Process ((gateway proseminar)) | 3 |
| POLI 775 | Financial Administration | 3 |
| POLI 776 | Policy Formation and Program Planning | 3 |
| POLI 777 | Policy Evaluation | 3 |
| POLI 778 | Practicum in Public Administration | 3 |
| POLI 779 | Public Administration Internship | 3 |
| POLI 797 | Selected Topics in Public Administration | 3 |
| POLI 802 | Seminar in Comparative Administration | 3 |
| Public Law | ||
| POLI 726 | Seminar in Judicial Politics | 3 |
| POLI 727 | Models for Understanding Political Institutions | 3 |
| POLI 728 | Judicial Politics in Europe and the Common Law World | 3 |
| POLI 729 | Courts in Developing Countries | 3 |
| POLI 732 | International Law | 3 |
| POLI 760 | American Government and Politics | 3 |
| POLI 780 | Theories of Comparative Politics | 3 |
| POLI 798 | Selected Topics in Public Law | 3 |
| POLI 850 | Seminar in Public Law | 3 |
| LAWS 525 | Constitutional Law I | 3 |
| LAWS 526 | Constitutional Law II | 3 |
| LAWS 812 | International Human Rights Seminar | 2 |
| LAWS 660 | ||
| LAWS 803 | Women and the Law | 3 |
| Research Methodology | ||
| POLI 709 | Qualitative Methods of Political Analysis | 3 |
| POLI 771 | Public Data Analysis | 3 |
| POLI 777 | Policy Evaluation | 3 |
| POLI 803 | Research Methods in Political Science | 3 |
| POLI 806 | Seminar in Advanced Methods of Political Analysis | 3 |