Sampling various areas and professors is a perfectly reasonable approach and is encouraged, but you can also benefit by selecting courses that address your interests and goals. Political science is typically divided up into 4 or 5 subfields and you can find our main offerings in these subfields in the course catalog. 

• American Politics
• Comparative Politics (all the other countries and regions in the world)
• International Relations
• Political Theory

You may also pursue your own concentrations that cross these subfields or follow the concentrations we've identified. 

• Law and Politics
• Peace and Conflict Studies
• Political Economy
• Public Policy
• Quantitative Analytics
• Political Representation
• Sovereignty and Anarchy 

To develop the major/minor that best suits your interests, consult with designated advisors or professors you know well. In particular, if you are interested in pursuing graduate training in political science or certain careers related to political science (e.g., development aid, survey research), advisors can help point you to strong course choices.

Students typically start out with 200-level courses, three of which are needed to complete the major. They may move on to many 300-level courses fairly quickly, though a few do have prerequisites.

Students typically take the methods course during their sophomore or junior year. They usually take 395 during their junior or senior year. It is advisable but not necessarily required to take the methods course before 395.

Students should plan to complete the departmental methods requirement early. There are several options:

Political Science 210, Introduction to Empirical Methods in Political Science, and Political Science 211, Introduction to Interpretative Methods in Political Science, provide an introduction to how political scientists construct arguments using empirical evidence. They are designed for students who lack a strong background in research methods and may be used as a stepping stone to further training in the 300-level courses. Political Science 210  and 211 both fulfill the methodology requirement for the political science major and are also open to non-majors.

Students with a stronger background in methods should skip 210 and 211 and go straight to the 300-level methodology classes. Political Science 310, Methods of Political Inference, focuses on conceptual elaboration, research design, and qualitative methods; Political Science 312, Statistical Research Methods, features more statistical analysis. Political Science 311, Logics of Political Inquiry, covers non-statistical analytical strategies and methodological approaches.  For more information about the specific topics covered in each course, please consult the instructor directly.

Note that not all methods courses are offered every quarter, and most are only offered once a year. Keep this in mind if you have a strong preference among these options so that you don’t miss the course you prefer.

Each spring the department publishes a list of courses to be offered the following academic year. As revisions occur—and there usually are several revisions—the web site is continually updated, so it is the best source of current information.

More generally, the main 200-level courses are typically offered twice per year. Other courses are usually offered once a year and only occasionally twice, though this depends on the availability of faculty. We can’t guarantee that any particular 300-level course will be offered in any given year. We try to offer at least 4-5 395 courses each quarter.

If you received a 5 on an AP exam in either American Government or Comparative Politics, you have the option to place out of the equivalent 200-level course: either POLI_SCI 220 or POLI_SCI 250. This does not reduce the total number of courses required to complete the major or minor. Thus, instead of taking POLI_SCI 220 or POLI_SCI 250, you must take an additional 300-level course. Students receiving 5’s on the AP exams in both American Government and Comparative Politics may place out of both equivalent 200-level courses and thus need to take two additional 300-level courses. 

If you would like to use your AP credit in this fashion, you must place this request by emailing the Director of Undergraduate Studies after you have taken a 300-level class. In that email, please include your student ID number, expected graduation term/year, and specify which 300-level class you have already taken that you would like to substitute for the 200-level gateway course.

Majors and minors can receive a maximum of one (1) political science credit from CFS. The following classes are eligible:

• CFS 391 – Field Studies in Social Justice
• CFS 394 – Legal Field Studies
• CFS 396 – Field Studies in Community Research
• CFS 397 – Field Studies in Civic Engagement

We do not give political science credit for CFS: Business Field Studies or CFS: Field Studies in the Modern Workplace.

Undergraduate students with an excellent academic record in political science are encouraged to explore enrolling in 400-level graduate seminars. These courses offer exposure to advanced debates, as well as a unique chance to get to know a professor in a small-class setting. 400-level courses are especially great learning experiences for students who are considering pursuing graduate school. Undergraduates interested in a 400-level course should reach out to the instructor, as registration requires the instructor’s permission.

Most classes do not have prerequisites. The courses with prerequisites are listed on CAESAR.

If you don't have the necessary prerequisite, but want to take the class, consult with the instructor of the course in question about whether you are qualified for admission.

The Political Science Department does not have any restrictions that go above and beyond the standard Weinberg College double-counting rules. These rules generally prohibit one course from being counted simultaneously towards two majors or minors. Related courses and distribution courses, however, can be double-counted. Weinberg College's website describes these rules in more depth.

Some adjunct majors, such as African Studies and International Studies, have exceptions to these double-counting rules. You can find the double-counting rules for adjunct majors on their websites.

Many Political Science courses can be used to satisfy Weinberg College distribution requirements, as long as they are on the list of Weinberg-approved courses to meet distribution requirements.

No. Although we encourage our majors to take courses in other departments that complement or supplement their political science courses, they do not count towards the major. Only courses listed as Political Science courses count toward major requirements (for students entering 2014 and after).

Independent study classes are arranged by finding a faculty member in political science willing to supervise the student’s project. Before approaching a faculty member to request an independent study, you should prepare a proposal that outlines the topic, describes your preparation for pursuing the topic, lists tentative readings that you expect to cover, and describes the nature of written work you plan to complete. With regard to preparation, you should have taken all of the courses that provide background for the topic you have chosen. For example, if you want to do research on Congress, you should have taken POL 325 – Congress and the Legislative Process. The better prepared you are and the more carefully worked out is your proposal, the more likely you are to find a sponsoring faculty member.

The Political Science Department has no internship program and does not typically give credit for internships. Internships on political campaigns or in politicians’ offices are increasingly popular with students, because they provide valuable work experience and useful knowledge about professional opportunities. However, they seldom entail the acquisition of new knowledge of political science equivalent to a 300-level course in the department.

The standing exception to this rule is the Chicago Field Studies program. Students can receive one credit towards the major for Field Studies in Social Justice, Civic Engagement, and Community Research, and for Legal Field Studies. We do not award credit for Business Field Studies or Field Studies in the Modern Workplace.

In some instances, a student might arrange an independent study in conjunction with an internship in which a research project is undertaken that draws on the internship experience. In such a case, credit would be awarded for the work completed in the 399, not merely for the practical experience of the internship. Each case must be weighed individually, however. If you have an internship opportunity for which you would like to receive major credit, you should consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies well in advance of the start of the program. A final decision about political science credit cannot be made until you have completed the internship.