Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science

Political Science seeks to understand, to explain, and - sometimes - to evaluate how humans live and work together in public ways. To do so, political scientists focus on what happens in and around government and politics, how humans cooperate with and how they fight against one another, why some nations succeed and others fail. They study voting and revolutions, the Supreme Court and the United Nations, the idea of justice and the nature of power, India and San Francisco, environmental policy, criminal law and gender roles - all in the pursuit of clearer knowledge about the characteristic ways humans interact in the public sphere. Students majoring in Political Science gain from it a well-grounded liberal education that focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the public realities of their world. They look in depth at the fundamental concepts and values that underlie human decision-making, examine the social and political structures and processes through which such decisions are shaped and carried out, learn to analyze complex organizational and legal phenomena, and survey the inventiveness of cultures in devising a variety of ways to provide government. They also become familiar with the contributions to their understanding that they can gain from closely-related social sciences, such as economics, history, anthropology, psychology and the like. In acquiring this knowledge, Political Science majors are challenged to extend their analytical and research skills, to polish their talents for written and oral communication, and to sharpen their abilities for rigorous and independent judgment. Career Opportunities The skills and experiences developed through a Political Science program are central to a great variety of career fields, and our majors go on to work as journalists and lawyers, managers and teachers, politicians and administrators. One out of every six Americans now works for one level of public government or another, and Political Science majors can have a head start in such fields because of their understanding of how these systems work. Many of our graduates go on to law school, and Political Science serves as an ideal major for that training, as well as essential preparation for graduate study. Conceptual and Analytical Students should be able to use key concepts and analytical approaches from Political Theory, U.S. Government and Politics, Comparative Politics, and International Relations to explain and understand government, politics, and public affairs. Inquiry and Research Students should be able to construct a summative project or paper that draws on current, research, scholarship, and techniques in a political science subfield. Communication Students should be able to make clear and effective presentations of their work in writing and in public presentations. Professionalism and Citizenship Students should know, understand, and be able to meet the expectations of professionalism and citizenship. Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science Students must complete a minimum of 124 units with a Pacific cumulative and major/program grade point average of 2.0 in order to earn the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in political science.