Undergraduate Degrees
Advisement
The department has faculty and staff advisors who provide academic advisement, career counseling and advisement to pre-law students and those wishing to go on to graduate studies. All majors are encouraged to see their advisor.
Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts
Department majors are required to take nine courses (36 units) in political science. At least two of the nine courses must be selected from the four 100-level core courses: POSC 100 Theory and Practice of American Democracy, 110 Ideology and Political Conflict, 120 Comparative Politics, 130 Law, Politics, and Public Policy.
In addition, at least six of the nine courses must be at the 300-level or above, including at least one course in each of the following four fields: American politics, political thought, comparative politics, and law and public policy. No more than one course (or four units) of POSC 395 or 490x may be counted toward the 36 unit departmental requirements.
Students who have a double major in political science and in another department in the social sciences and communication, may, with prior permission of the department undergraduate advisor, substitute one upper division course from the second major for one upper division political science course. In the development of an undergraduate program, students should consult periodically with the political science undergraduate advisor and/or with departmental faculty.
Department Minor Requirements
A department minor is required to take six courses (24 units) in political science. At least two of these must be among the core courses: POSC 100, 110, 120 and 130. In addition, four upper division political science courses must be selected from at least three of the following fields: American politics, political thought, comparative politics, and law and public policy.
Law and Society Minor
This program involves the study of law and legal systems as they relate to the larger societies of which they are a part. While the program is of special interest to students who pursue careers in government service or law, many may simply share a desire to understand the role of law in society. As the Law and Society Minor is an interdisciplinary program, students take courses offered by diverse departments. An internship program coordinated by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics provides students with an opportunity to be participant-observers in important legal/public agencies and to learn first hand how the law is created, applied and enforced. The minor is open to political science majors as well as all other university majors. No more than two upper-division courses may overlap the required course work in the student's major.
The requirements for the minor include eight courses (32 units). All students are required to take POSC 130 Law, Politics, and Public Policy. A second core course must be taken from POSC 100, 110 or 120. Three component political science upper division courses are required:
One from each category:
A. Constitutional Law (POSC 340 or 444)
B. International Law (POSC 345 or 448a)
C. Policy Analysis (POSC 333, 395, 432, 435, 436, 440, 441, 442, 448b or 452)
Three elective courses are required, one from each category. Students not majoring in political science must take at least one upper-division elective course; all three elective courses must be upper-division for political science majors.
A. Humanistic/Historical (HIST 353, PHIL 240, PHIL 430 or REL 367)
B. Sociology (SOCI 351 or 353)
C. Other (ANTH 345, CAAS 421, ECON 434, LAW 200x or PSYC 355)
Interdisciplinary Russian Area Studies Minor
See Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Studies Minor
See Peace and Conflict Studies Program.
Area Specialization
While majoring in political science and fulfilling the department requirements, a student may elect to emphasize a particular regional area in the fields of comparative government, diplomacy and international politics. Regional specializations are offered in six areas: East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and the Soviet sphere. With the approval of the faculty, a student may organize an academic program in such a way as to fulfill the general education language requirements with the language or languages of the regional area specialization. In addition, it is assumed the student will fulfill other social sciences and humanities requirements and electives with courses focusing on the history and culture of the particular area of specialization. Such a pattern of courses at the undergraduate level will strengthen a student's qualifications for graduate-level area programs, as well as for various forms of foreign service.
Teaching Major
The department offers a program for students who wish to teach in the public school system. By completing a combination of courses in political science, history, geography and other social sciences, a student may receive a teaching credential to teach social science. For further information, contact the department's undergraduate advisor.
Political Science Honors Program
The department offers an honors program for outstanding undergraduate students in the junior and senior years. The two semester program emphasizes a specialized topic (a different area each year) in political science. The organization of the course during the first semester follows the seminar model, emphasizing independent research, discussion, and oral and written reports. In the second semester, the student is required to write a thesis under the direction of a faculty member. Students are admitted to the program after careful screening on the basis of their academic record and a personal interview. Classes are limited to about 10 students.
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Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
Joye Day
day@mizar.usc.edu