Political Science Major

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The political science major consists of seventeen courses (51 credit hours), mostly within the department but including as well a mix of humanities and social science courses (with the exact mix depending on the concentration the student selects). In addition, it provides for eight elective courses which students may take as they choose.

Students pursuing a degree in Political Science will take up to nine hours of language instruction that may or may not build on high school study:

Students who wish to study the same language at The Citadel that they studied in high school will take a placement test in that language. There are three possible results of that test. If the student places into the elementary level of the language, he/she will be required to take 102, 201, and 202. If the student places into the intermediate level of the language, he/she will be required to take 201 & 202. The third class in the requirement may be an upper-level language class, or it may be a general elective. Students who place beyond the intermediate level will have satisfied the language requirement. They will simply take nine hours of general elective classes; these classes may be upper-level language classes.
Students who wish to study a different language than what they studied in high school will be required to take 101, 102, and 201.

Capstone for the Major in Political Science – PSCI 393

The Capstone course will be a semester-long course in which the major puts into practice the research skills he or she has gained in the first three years of study to complete a work of original research. Qualitiative and quantitative analysis are emphasized in this course.

Courses of Study

Core Courses

First, each student is required to complete a specified core of six courses:

LDRS 202 - Principled Leadership in American Government and Society Credit Hours: 3
PSCI 231 - International Politics Credit Hours: 3
PSCI 232 - Comparative Politics Credit Hours: 3
PSCI 304 - American Political Thought Credit Hours: 3
OR
PSCI 391 - Foundations of Political Theory Credit Hours: 3
OR
PSCI 392 - Modern Political Theory Credit Hours: 3
OR
PSCI 492 - Topics in Political Philosophy and Theory Credit Hours: 3
PSCI 462 - Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties Credit Hours: 3
PSCI 393 - Research Methods in Political Science Credit Hours: 3 (Capstone Seminar)

Concentrations

Second, no later than the beginning of the fall semester of the junior year, each political science major must select one of the concentrations for course concentration during the junior and senior years. The three concentrations are Concentration A: American Government and Politics, Concentration B: International Politics and Military Affairs, and Concentration C: Pre-Law and Legal Studies. Majors must complete selected courses within one concentration of their choice. As detailed below, three of these courses are specifically required; the remaining courses are a combination of concentration electives selected from a list for each concentration, American Politics electives (see the electives list for Concentration A), political science electives, a non-PSCI humanities/social science upper level elective, history electives, and macroeconomics (for Concentrations A and C only). Inasmuch as concentrations requirements vary, students are encouraged to pay careful attention to the distribution of courses in the concentration selected.

All undergraduate courses taken at The Citadel with a subject prefix of PSCI will count towards the major GPA.

All courses within a concentration are open both to majors in other departments and to political science majors who are concentrating in one of the other two concentrations. Concentration requirements and electives are presented below.