DEGREE/PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Important Note! Be advised that students are primarily responsible for completing the requirements of the MA degree in Political Science. Neither the MA advisor nor the department staff have the responsibility of making sure you take all the required courses or units and complete all requirements for the degree.

Course Requirements for the MA Degree in Political Science (45 units)
A minimum of 45 units is required, with at least 24.0 units in 500-level courses. Specifically, the department requires all students to complete six (6) graduate seminars in the department, a minimum of four (4) "elective"* courses, and 5.0 units of independent study coursework. In addition, all students must successfully pass the department’s comprehensive examination OR thesis (NOTE: students who elect to write a thesis are not required to complete the 5.0 unit independent study/graduate research).

The six graduate seminars (24 units) are as follows:

• POLS 505 American Politics*
• POLS 505 American Politics*
• POLS 509 Foundations of Empirical Political Theory
• POLS 510 Political Theory
• POLS 527 International Relations (OR POLS 526 International Political Economy)†
• POLS 550 Comparative Politics

Notes:
* POLS 505 is offered twice a year, each covering different topics in American Politics. Students are required to complete 8.0 units of POLS 505.
† POLS 526 is offered only on an occasional basis, usually in response to specific request from students.

In addition to the six 500-level seminars listed above, all students are required to complete four "elective" courses. Typically, these course will come from the undergraduate curriculum in political science (400-level courses only), and will be decided in consultation with the MA advisor, who must also approve the courses. In certain cases, and only with prior approval from the MA advisor, courses in other departments (either at the 400- or 500-level) may be substituted for political science courses.

There is no strict requirement that 400-level courses be completed prior to enrolling in 500-level seminars. However, the department strongly recommends that students complete their 400-level coursework first. This is particularly important for students who have little or no background in one or more the required fields.

Recommended Courses
To help you determine the most appropriate courses for each of the three required fields, refer to the following list (Important Note: some of the course listed below—those with an asterisk (*) or dagger (†)—may not or cannot count as elective courses for your MA degree; instead, they are strictly optional courses, which are strongly recommended for students with no related coursework.)

Recommended courses for American Political Studies
POLS 281* Quantitative Methods in Political Science
POLS 371† Foundations of American Politics
POLS 408 Political Socialization
POLS 414 Politics and the Media
POLS 418 U.S. Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections

Recommended courses for International Relations/Comparative Politics
POLS 374† Foundations of Global Politics
POLS 373† Foundations of Comparative Politics
POLS 425 U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changing World
POLS 426 International Political Economy
POLS 427 International Relations

Recommended courses for Political Theory
POLS 372 † Foundations of Political Theory
POLS 431 Classical Political Theory
POLS 433 Modern Political Theory
POLS 435 American Political Thought

Notes:
* 200-level courses cannot count toward the 45.0 unit requirement
† 300-level courses may count toward the 45.0 unit requirement, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, students must register for the course as a 499 Undergraduate Directed Study, which requires the permission of the instructor. See the MA advisor more information.

Independent Study/Graduate Research (5.0 units)
Students not writing an MA thesis are required to complete 5.0 units of independent study/graduate research. Ideally, this should be done after completing all other coursework. To enroll in an independent study (designated as POLS 597 and POLS 598), you must first consult with one of the department’s full-time faculty, and preferably one of the "core" MA faculty members—i.e., Drs. Bowman, Emrey, Koch, Lim, McLendon, or Siler. In your consultation with the faculty member, you will need to discuss and agree upon a topic and specify the requirements (e.g., a research paper, literature review) for the independent study. To register, you must complete an independent study form (available from the department office), which requires the signature of the supervising faculty member and the department chair.

Comprehensive Examination
The comprehensive examination is held over three (non-consecutive) days, and is generally scheduled to begin the fifth week of fall and spring quarters (the comprehensive exam is not given in winter quarter). You must register for the examination—which is designated as POLS 596—in the quarter you plan to take it. Failure to register means you will not be allowed to sit for the exam. Conversely, if you register but later decide to postpone taking the exam, you must remember to officially drop the course, otherwise it will count as an "attempt."

Each day of the exam is devoted to one of the three required fields according to the following schedule: Political Theory (Monday), American Politics (Wednesday), and IR/Comparative Politics (Monday of the following week). Each section or required field contains three or four questions covering different topics. You must pass all three sections (fields) of the exam in order to receive credit. If you fail one or more of the sections (fields), you will have one additional opportunity to pass the exam. You are only required to retake the section(s) of the exam you failed (e.g., if you passed Political Theory and American Politics, but failed IR/Comparative Politics, you will only have to retake the IR/Comparative Politics).

You must pass all three sections of the exam on your second attempt. If you do not, you will not receive your degree.

Preparing for the comprehensive examination. Once you decide to take the examination, there are several steps you should take. First, review questions from past examinations, which are on reserve in the library. Second, schedule an appointment with ALL the faculty members in the MA program. In your appointment, discuss the general and specific requirements for which you will be held responsible. Third, give yourself adequate time to prepare. Most students take an entire quarter, during which they have no other academic responsibilities, to prepare for the exam.

Be advised, too, that it is your responsibility to make sure you are adequately prepared for the exam. Faculty members, including the MA advisor, are not responsible for ensuring you take the necessary steps. It is also important to understand that most faculty members are off-duty during the summer months, which means that students intending to take the exam in fall must make sure to meet with the appropriate faculty members before the end of spring quarter.

Format of the MA comprehensive examination. The department is currently experimenting with the format of the comprehensive exam. In fall 2003 and spring 2004, we implemented a "take-home" format, in which the questions are distributed via e-mail on the day of the exam. Students then have the full day to work on their responses, but are required to turn in a hard-copy to the department office the following day. It is likely that we will retain this format, but we reserve the right to make changes at any time.

Thesis
A thesis, in lieu of the written comprehensive examination (and POLS 597/598), may be authorized for exceptional students who present a proposal the department deems worthy of study. POLS 599 is required of all students authorized to submit a thesis. Students who have made one attempt on the comprehensive examinations may not change to the thesis option, and students who have taken POLS 599 units may not change to the comprehensive examination option.

If you are interested in writing a thesis, please talk to the MA advisor and/or relevant member(s) of the MA faculty before you begin writing a proposal. Remember, there is no guarantee you will be authorized to write a thesis.