BA in Political Science

Program Description

The Political Science major complements a student's liberal arts education with an emphasis on understanding the theoretical and practical aspects of government and politics. The department offers a BA in Political Science, a BA in Political Science-Journalism, and the minor in Political Science. The Political Science major is structured to provide students with a comprehensive background in the basic fields of political science, as well as to permit them a range of choice in completing the program. The Political Science Department offers several courses integral to interdisciplinary programs such as California Studies, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies, and Women’s Studies.

The department emphasizes its expectation that students seek faculty advice when planning their program. Students may ask any faculty member's assistance initially. As specific interests are developed, students may wish to seek the advice of faculty sharing their interests.

Note: Although it is not a requirement of the major, the department strongly recommends that students take an introductory statistics course as part of their undergraduate work. A course in statistics may be used to satisfy the GE requirement in mathematics.

Minimum GPA Requirement

Students are required to maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA in the Major.

Program Requirements

¹

POLS 150 or a score of 3 or higher on the AP American Government Exam may be used in place of POLS 1 to satisfy the requirement.

²

Course also satisfies General Education (GE)/Graduation Requirement.

³

The Department recommends students take no more than two of these required courses a semester.

⁴

POLS 170 should be taken in the final year of a student's undergraduate work.

⁵

18 of the 21 elective units must be upper division even though all 21 required elective units may be satisfied with upper division courses. POLS 10 and POLS 35 may be taken to fulfill 3 lower division units of the elective requirement.

Select courses from the following Fields below. A seminar and/or internship is strongly recommended.

• Political Theory
• Public Law and Judicial Studies
• International and Comparative Politics
• American Governments, Politics and Policy

These courses must be selected in consultation with an advisor from the Political Science Department.

Notes:

• POLS 150 may not be counted as an elective toward the major, but may be used in place of POLS 1 or as its equivalent as a prerequisite;
• Students may take a maximum of 6 units of a POLS 195 (Internship) within the major, but may use no more than 3 of those units to complete the 36 units of required upper division work.
• Students should be aware that the Department offers a concentration in International Relations that is distinct from a field emphasis within the major. See complete International Relations Concentration description.

General Education Requirements¹

¹

To help you complete your degree in a timely manner and not take more units than absolutely necessary, there are ways to use single courses to meet more than one requirement (overlap). For further information, please visit the General Education page.

Note: There is no way to list all possible overlaps so please consult with a professional advisor. The Academic Advising Center can be visited online, by phone (916) 278-1000, or email.

²

Required in Major; also satisfies GE.

Graduation Requirements¹

¹

To help you complete your degree in a timely manner and not take more units than absolutely necessary, there are ways to use single courses to meet more than one requirement (overlap). For further information, please visit the General Education page.

Note: There is no way to list all possible overlaps so please consult with a professional advisor. The Academic Advising Center can be visited online, by phone (916) 278-1000, or email.

²

Required in Major; also satisfies Graduation Requirement.

³

If not satisfied before entering Sacramento State, it may be satisfied in General Education Area C2 (Humanities). "C- or better required." The alternative methods for satisfying the Foreign Language Proficiency Requirement are described here: https://www.csus.edu/college/arts-letters/world-languages-literatures/foreign-language-requirement.html 

The following roadmaps are sample planning resources. Please consult your academic advisor and Academic Catalog for graduation requirements as you develop your individualized academic plan.

Political Science, BA: 4-Year Roadmap

Political Science, BA: 2-Year Roadmap

^1.

Any course not completed in the first semester should be taken in the second or a later semester.

^2.

Please see General Education/Graduation Requirement course options.

^3.

Please see an academic advisor for elective options.