Political Science

Mission

Political Science seeks to explain the world of politics and government. The study of government and politics is a crucial element of a liberal arts education. As the world becomes more interdependent, the importance of the discipline of political science grows. The Political Science program strives to embody the University’s goal of shaping lives and building futures through excellent teaching, open and robust debate, active scholarship, and personal mentoring. Our goal is to prepare students for careers in government and politics, law, humanitarian work, teaching, research, and peacemaking, and for work in related fields such as business, education, or missions.

The department is committed to providing students with political knowledge and skills that will enable them to assume leadership responsibility from the local level to the global community. Through the study of political ideas and institutions, research methods and law, the analysis of a variety of political systems, internships, and rigorous research projects, the program challenges students to develop both the tools and the vision for understanding, nurturing, and transforming the society in which they live.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Political Science will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of Supreme Court cases from social, political, philosophical, psychological, normative, and legal perspectives.
  2. Demonstrate competencies by producing written work indicating knowledge of scientific and professional writing.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of professional ethics.

Special Features and Activities

  • Join Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society.

Degrees and Certificates

Courses

POL 101: AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Credits 3
This course is an introductory survey of the essential principles of American government, including the organization and functions of the institutions of the American political system at the national, state and local levels, with special emphasis on Georgia’s government. Particular attention is given to constitutional evolution, the nature of power, federalism, civil rights and civil liberties, the roles of compromise and persuasion and the democratization of the system.

POL 298: SPECIAL TOPICS IN POL SCIENCE

Credits 3
This course, which explores a topic of contemporary interest to the study of political science and/or government, is offered to students with sophomore standing.

POL 299: INDEPENDENT STUDY IN POL SCIENCE

Credits 3
This course, which involves supervised research on a selected topic, is offered as needed to students with sophomore standing. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

POL 301: INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Credits 3
This course introduces some of the major concepts, issues and trends in modern international relations. Specific topics include interdependence, international law and organizations, foreign policy and foreign aid, diplomacy, development and international security. The examination of post-Cold War international politics enables students to better comprehend the forces of conflict and cooperation that characterize their world.

POL 306: CLASSICAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

Credits 3
This course surveys the political thought of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Thomas and Machiavelli. Prerequisites: ENG 101 with a grade of C or better

POL 308: MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Credits 3
A survey of the political thought of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke, Hume, Hegel, Mill, Marx and Rawls, this course emphasizes the aspects of their ideas most relevant to the development of Western political institutions. Prerequisites: ENG 101 with a grade of C or better

POL 311: COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Credits 3
This course is an introduction to the comparative study of government and politics. Students examine a sampling of nations from the world’s major regions, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. They learn to identify common problems that governments face and to analyze the various institutions and methods developed to cope with these problems. To promote a deeper understanding of political and economic development, discussion topics to include historical background, political culture, geography, economics, ideology and leadership.

POL 368: INTEREST GROUPS & PUBLIC POLICY

Credits 3
The major purpose of this course is to assist the student in obtaining an understanding of the impact of interest groups on American politics and public policy and vice versa. This course will thus focus on the historical events and institutional developments of organized interest groups; their role and functions in politics - including the policy making process, interpretation, socialization, communication, persuasion and agenda setting; the assessment of the process of information dissemination for the American public; the impact of interest groups on the modern presidency, the bureaucracy, the courts and the Congress and why. We shall also explore many of the social, political and economic controversies that dominate the local, national and international scenes today. Prerequisite: POL 101 with a grade of C or better or Permission of Instructor

POL 380: JUDICIAL PROCESS & BEHAVIOR

Credits 3
This course covers the organization of the American court system (both state and federal), the function of courts in our society and democracy, and the role of various players (such as judges, litigants, and lawyers) in the legal process. It also examines theories of judicial decision making, explores the ways judges make public policy, and evaluates the efficacy and/or desirability of judicial policy making. In addition to the overview of the American legal system and judicial policy making, it covers the processes surrounding civil and criminal litigation.

POL 381: CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE

Credits 3
This course is an introduction to U.S. criminal law and procedure. The course will cover the following topics: Provide a working knowledge of constitutional rights in the context of crimiinal law. Focus on the concept of reasonableness of restraints on those rights. Gain an understanding of the public policy considerations underlying the substantive criminal law and the manner in which such policies are effectuated through criminal procedural requirements. Study the specific procedural law issues and requirements, including right to counsel, exclusionary rule, search warrant, permissible warrantless searches, stop and frisk, entrapment, wiretapping, confessions, lineups, jury selestion, voir dire, negotiated pleas, and post-conviction relief.

POL 385: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Credits 3
This course examines the U.S. Constitution and what it means. It covers some broad categories including the Bill of Rights, the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and how those decisions have shaped civil rights and liberties over the past 200. Specifically, the course will focus on: the interrelationships of national governmental institutions with particular reference to the operation of the Supreme Court; the circumstances giving rise to civil liberties cases and political and social environment in which the Court decides them; the principal modes of legal interpretation the Court has used to structure its analysis of the issues which come before it; the principles and values which underlie the Court’s decisions in the area of civil liberties; the importance of non- and extra-legal influences on Supreme Court decision making; and the impact of the Court’s civil liberties decisions on the other institutions of government and on the society as a whole. Prerequisites: ENG 101 and POL 101 with a grade of C or better

POL 420: SENIOR SEMINAR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Credits 3
This seminar is the capstone course in the major. Students will be responsible for individual presentations and discussion leading in seminar setting that will cover the most seminal and most recent important scholarship in the discipline of political science. Students will also write an original paper answering an emergent question in political science, using methods of analysis appropriate for the question under study. Prerequisite: POL 101, SCI 103, SSC 320, SSC 330 with a grade of C or better or Permission of Instructor

POL 472: MEDIA & POLITICS

Credits 3
The major purpose of this course is to assist the student in obtaining an understanding of the impact of mass media on American politics. This course will focus on the historical events and institutional developments of the media; the functions of the mass media in politics news making, interpretation, socialization, persuasion and agenda setting; and assess the process of information dissemination. The impact of the media on legislation and the modern presidency will be examined as well as how individual presidents do their job and why. We shall also explore many of the social, political and economic controversies that dominate the local, national and international scenes today. Prerequisite: POL 101 with a grade of C or better or Permission of Instructor

POL 498: SPECIAL TOPICS IN POL SCIENCE

Credits 3
This course, which explores a topic of contemporary interest to the study of political science, is offered as needed to students with junior-senior standing.

POL 499: INDEPENDENT STUDY IN POL SCIENCE

Credits 3
This course, which involves supervised research on a selected topic, is offered as needed to students with junior-senior standing. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor