Political Science at Truman State University

Political Science

at
Truman State University
Kirksville, MO 63501
660.785.4636

I Curriculum
II. The Value of Studying Political Science
III. Political Science Resources

The Research Design Hand Book
The PreLaw Handbook

IV. The Political Science Faculty
V. The Political Science Honorary Fraternity, Pi Sigma Alpha

I. Curriculum

Truman State University confers bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees in the discipline of political science. The political science graduate has completed a minimum of 33 hours of course work in the discipline designed to foster a liberally educated person, who possesses competence in this field, and who is able and willing to be competitive at graduate and professional schools nationwide.

The Major Degree Worksheet identifies requirements in and out of political science. Below we give a brief overview of the major:

Major Requirements (BA/BS)

Pol 161 American National Government
Pol 250 Introduction to Foreign Relations
Pol 300 Political Science Methodology
Pol 315 Principles of Comparative Politics
Pol 345 Public Policy Making
Pol 460 Senior Seminar in Political Science
Pol 468 Political Thought
Pol 344 Public Administration (required for BS, elective for BA)

The Bachelor of Art candidate thus may select four electives, while the Bachelor of Science candidate selects three electives to complete the necessary 33 hours.

The following is a list of courses that are commonly offered as electives. Which specific courses are to be offered as electives in a given year depend upon faculty availability and interest. Students may also choose to participate in an internship for credit toward their major and graduation requirements.

Pol 171 Introduction to Political Science

Pol 262 State and Local Government

Pol 275 Topics in Political Science

Pol 355 Politics of SubSaharan Africa

Pol 356 Politics in East Asia

Pol 357 American Foreign Relations

Pol 361 Law and the Judicial Process

Pol 362 Public Opinion

Pol 363 Political Parties and Interest Groups

Pol 364 The Presidency

Pol 365 Congress and the Legislative Process

Pol 370 Topics in Political Science (Advanced)

Pol 371 Constitutional Law

Pol 454 Policy Analysis and Budgeting

Pol 461 European Politics

Pol 464 Pol of Change in the Developing World

Minoring In Political Science

The Political Science minor requires the successful completion of 15 semester hours, including at least one of the following two courses

Pol 161 American National Government
Pol 171 Introduction to Political Science

At least two of the following four courses:

Pol 300 Political Science Methodology
Pol 315 Comparative Politics
Pol 345 Public Policy Making
Pol 468 Political Thought

Plus any 2 other Political Science Courses, at least one of which is at the 300-level or above.

Political Science Students may also be interested in a related interdisciplinary minor. Presently Truman offers such minors in

African/African American Studies
International Studies, and
Public Administration.

Additional interdisciplinary minors which do not include political science courses are

the Medieval Studies Minor and
the Women Studies Minor.

For information on any of these minors, see pp 127-133 of the 2005-07 General Bulletin (in .pdf format here).

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II. The Value of Studying Political Science

Political Science is one of a number of liberal arts majors offered at Truman State University. The General Bulletin contains the following paragraph which nicely summarizes goals and expectations that we have set as a faculty:

The goals and priorities of Political Science reflect the liberal arts and sciences thrust. Each student seeking a bachelor's degree in Political Science is expected to demonstrate a breadth and depth of knowledge to be nationally competitive with others in the discipline. He or she is also expected to be superior in his or her ability to synthesize and analyze material, conduct research, speak, advocate, write, and make decisions. The Political Science major at Truman should also be prepared to enter graduate school in political science, public administration, public policy, and business administration. In addition, the program should prepare the student for law school as well as other graduate and professional programs requiring a liberal arts undergraduate major. Generally speaking, Political Science graduates should be competent and confident of their abilities to compete nationally for positions of leadership, scholarship, and service.

So, why study Political Science? Hopefully you have an interest in the material. Many students are simply political junkies -- although we caution that we are much more than "current events".

Another reason to study political science at Truman is to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills that you will carry with you for a life-time. Again, virtually all liberal arts majors should be able to say that, so we are back to the interest that you might have in politics, as opposed to history, or sociology

If these are not selling points, then perhaps the real question is a little different: What can I do with a political science degree? Reading the want-ads in the paper, it would be nice to see the following: "Wanted: Bright, energetic person with BA/BS in Political Science, to Run a Country". Doubtful. And in fact, I have never seen an ad in the general want-ads that asks specifically for a political science degree. So what do our graduates do? Several career paths are common.

Get a Job.	Many companies want to hire that bright and energetic person with solid writing and problem solving skills. That's back to the liberal arts spiel, above.
Continue Schooling in Political Science.	A fair number of our majors continue on in political science programs at the masters and the doctorate levels. Most frequently, students pursue a Masters in Public Policy or Public Administration. These two year programs often include internship components that help these students land jobs with governmental or private agencies, whether its running a city government, or helping to run the Red Cross.
Continue schooling in Law	Many students who want to go to law school begin their undergraduate years in political science. And we are one of the liberal arts majors that can help to prepare well-spoken and written graduates with the necessary critical thinking skills to succeed in law school. We are happy to have you; we would like you to know that many majors prepare people well for law school, so please don't force yourself on this major if you would rather be doing something else. For more information on this, please see Truman's prelaw handbook.

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III. Resources for Political Science Students at Truman

We have prepared the following on-line documents to aid students in their course work and in their career decision making.

The Political Science Research Design Hand Book was written collaboratively by faculty at Truman to try to standardize expectations for the Research designs that you will complete in Pol 300, Political Science Methodology; Pol 315, Principles of Comparative Politics; and Pol 468, Senior Seminar in Political Science. It is also used in other upper-level elective courses as faculty see fit.

The Pre-Law Advising Handbook was written by Truman students with an interest in law. Set out are common issues pre-law students will want to consider. It has recently been linked to numerous other web resources, as well.