Undergraduate Program Requirements

Declaring a Major or Minor

Students wishing to declare a major in Political Science or Environmental Policy, or a minor in Political Science, may do so on Workday. At the time the major is declared, students will be assigned a faculty advisor. Further information can be obtained from Professor Dan Butler.

Advising Procedures

Students beginning their undergraduate work in political science may plan their programs in consultation with their assigned Undergraduate Advisor. It is important that students keep their Undergraduate Advisor fully informed of their progress so that misunderstandings or disagreements can be kept to a minimum.

Political Science Major Requirements

Students who major in political science are required to complete 30 graded units (10 courses) in political science with a C or better. Please note that students scoring a 4 or 5 on the AP US Government and Politics exam and/or the AP Comparative Government and Politics exam may place out of the associated introductory course and replace it with a 3000- or 4000-level course in a related subfield. See below for more specific course requirements.

6 graded units must come from two of the following 1000-level introductory courses:

  • 1000: Intro to American Politics
  • 1100: Intro to Comparative Politics
  • 1200: Intro to International Politics
  • 1300: Intro to Political Theory

If you scored a 4 or 5 in AP credit, you may place out of the associated introductory course and replace it with an upper-level (3000- or 4000-level) course in a related subfield.

3 graded units from a required methods course:

  • 3630: Political Methodology OR
  • 2400: Data Science for Politics

All majors are urged to complete this requirement during their sophomore year. Note: Some statistics courses offered in other departments will allow students to opt out of this class, but those credits will not count toward their political science major. If you take an alternate course, you must replace the credits with a Political Science course of any level.

Pre-approved alternate courses include:

  • POLSCI 323 Intro to Quantitative Methods (subject to the limit of six "outside" credit units; do not need replacement course)
  • DAT 1201 Managerial Statistics II (QBA II)
  • MATH 3200 Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis
  • ESE 3260 Probability and Statistics for Engineering
  • SOC 3040 Statistics for Sociology
  • ECON 3150 Introduction to Econometrics

18 graded units must come from any six 3000- or 4000-level courses, including at least one 4000-level capstone course.

Students must complete at least one 3-unit course at the 2000-, 3000-, or 4000-level in three of the following subfields:

  • American politics             
  • Comparative politics
  • International politics
  • Political Theory
  • Political methodology

Click here to view the subfield designations for your courses

Students must complete one additional 3-unit course at the 2000-, 3000-, or 4000-level, in any subfield.

All majors must complete at least one 4000-level class, home-based in political science, as a capstone experience. Students writing a senior thesis satisfy this requirement by completing POLSCI 4905 Research Design and Methods.

*This became a requirement for students who first declared a major or minor in Political Science after July 1st, 2021. Students who declared prior to this do not have this requirement.

Courses cross-listed with Political Science change on a semester-by-semester basis. A cross-listed course includes the designation L32; this is the designation you should choose if you want to count credit from cross-listed courses toward your Political Science major/minor. Please note:

  • If you are using a course for another major or minor, you may not count it as an advanced credit for your Political Science major.
  • The department does not consider petitions to count non-cross-listed courses for credit in Political Science.
  • If you have questions about the status of any course, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Political Science.

  • No more than 6 units from the following may count toward the major: internship, directed reading, directed research, or teaching practicum.
  • No more than 6 units from the following may count toward the major: study abroad, summer school, the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, or transfer credit.
  • You cannot double-count any upper-level credits (3000 and above) for both a political science major and a second major or minor.

Environmental Policy Major Requirements

To view the requirements for the Environmental Policy major, please visit the Environmental Policy page.

Minor Requirements

Students choosing Political Science as a minor field must take a minimum of 15 graded units of course work with a C or better, including at least 9 advanced units. No more than 3 units may be counted from among the following: POLSCI 3199 Teaching Practicum in Political Science POLSCI 4912 Directed Readings, POLSCI 4913 Directed Research, summer school, courses in the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, or credits from another institution (including study abroad).

Subfield Concentrations

All political science majors have the option of "concentrating" their six course distribution requirements by successfully completing three upper-level courses in one of six subfields: 

  • American Politics
  • Comparative Politics
  • International Relations
  • Political Methodology
  • Political Theory

Subfield concentrations signal that students have depth in a particular subfield of the discipline. They also prepare students for writing their senior theses in that subfield. Because of this, students may count classes as part of their subfield concentration whether or not they are using that class to fulfill the 30 credits required for their major. For example, students may complete L32 3255 and count it towards a legal studies minor, but use it as part of their subfield concentration in American politics. 

  • Consistent with its aim of encouraging subject mastery, to count for a subfield concentration students must complete the class for a quality grade.
  • A course that counts for two different subfields may only be used towards one subfield concentration.

To declare a subfield concentration, complete a subfield concentration form and submit it to Professor Dan Butler. Concentrations will appear on the student's transcript after graduation and may be particularly helpful for students interested in graduate or professional school. 

Subfield Concentration Form

Senior Thesis Program

The department encourages students to pursue independent research by working toward a senior thesis. Students admitted to this program work closely with a faculty advisor for a full calendar year, beginning at the end of their junior year. Students writing a senior thesis receive 6 units of credit for two semesters of work by enrolling in POLSCI 4900 Senior Thesis Research. However, this credit does not count toward the completion of the political science major. Although there is no grade point average requirement for writing a senior thesis, an application is required. For more information, contact the department office. All majors may apply.

To qualify to write a senior thesis, students must do the following:

  • Complete the methodology course requirement by the fall of their junior year (all majors are strongly urged to complete this requirement during their sophomore year).
  • Complete POLSCI 4905 Research Design and Methods prior to their senior year.
  • Complete a subfield concentration (detailed in the Subfield Concentrations section above) by the end of the fall of their senior year in the subfield appropriate for their senior thesis. At least two thirds of the specialization must be completed by the end of their junior year.
  • Apply during their junior year for admission into the program.
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