Major Program:  Semester System (1998-99 Catalogue)

Major in Political Science

Bachelor of Science Degree

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Political Science is the study of the formal institutions of government and the actual behavior of people in public life. It examines both the institutions and processes of government using both empirical and normative research methodologies. A degree in Political Science is of value to all persons who take the responsibilities and opportunities of membership in a democratic society seriously. Specifically, Political Science is the undergraduate major of a majority of persons who attend law school; serves as prerequisite for graduate study in a number of social science disciplines; and is an ideal liberal arts major for careers in business, journalism, public and international affairs, the federal government, state and local government, teaching, interest groups, campaign management, communications, and many others.

Political Science has a number of subfields. There are six intra-disciplinary subfield perspectives identified in the KSU program: 1) American Government; 2) Law and Government; 3) Political Theory; 4) Comparative Government; 5) International Relations; 6) Public Administration. Majors are required to take at least one course in all six of the subfields in order to acquire an understanding of the breadth of the field and the career opportunities that are enhanced by study in the discipline. A three-hour Senior Seminar is also required of all majors.

Supervised internships and cooperative study programs at sites in business, industry and government are available and students are strongly urged to participate.

Semester Program of Study

Major Program:  Semester System Conversion

Substantive Changes

I.  Area F

Under the Quarter System the Department of Political Science and International Affairs offered a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree. The essential difference between the two degrees were requirements in Area IV, Math/Statistics/Computer Science courses required for the B.S. degree and a foreign language for the B.A. The degree designed for semester conversion is a Bachelor of Science degree with students having a choice of 6 hours (2 courses) in either a foreign language or in Math/Statistics/Computer Science.

Additional required courses - POLS 2260 Current Political Issues

This course is designed to expose students to critical contemporary and government related issues, provide some context and background, and tie issues to the various subfields of Political Science. Domestic-international linkages will be emphasized. It is part of the introduction to the major or sequence of courses.

II.  Major Requirements

1. Major Subfields (27 hours)

Expands the number of subfields from five to six and requires majors to take one course in each subfield. This approach guarantees that all majors will take at least one course in each of the subfields, which is not presently required for the quarter program. Students will also select nine hours or three additional courses from among the subfields.

2. Non-Political Science Courses (6 hours)

• PHIL 3301 (Ethics) or PHIL 3305 (Logic) (3 hours)
• GEOG 3320 (Geography of the Nation-State) or GEOG 3330 (Geography of the World Economy) (3 hours)

These courses strengthen the geographic and philosophic base of the major.

III.  Related Studies

• Internships, Coops, Service Learning, Mock Trial. These hours facilitate the student's introduction to the applied aspects of the major.
• Elective courses in the humanities and the social sciences.

IV.  New Courses

• POLS 2260 (See information under Area F)
• POLS 4405 Comparative Legal Systems

(This course is an additional effort to globalize the curriculum. Comparative Law is relevant in historical and philosophical legal research; it is important to a better understanding of one's own national law and it assists in the promotion of the understanding of foreign people and public policy of other nation-states.)