Program Requirements

Program of Study

Political scientists study a diverse range of phenomena: governments and constitutions; public policies; political processes and behavior broadly construed; and theories of government and politics and their history. Political scientists use both empirical, social-scientific and humanistic methods to examine the political dynamics of all countries and regions of the world, both ancient and modern. Political science contributes to a liberal education by introducing students to concepts, methods, and knowledge that help them understand and judge politics within and among nations. A BA degree in political science can lead to a career in business, government, journalism, education, or nonprofit organizations; or it can lead to graduate study in the social sciences or to professional school in law, business, public policy, or international relations. Our graduates have gone into all those areas in recent years.

Becoming a Political Science Major

Most students declare a major at the end of the second year or beginning of the third. The department encourages students to try out the major even before declaring. To receive announcements about the registration, course offerings, events, and opportunities for majors, students should sign up for the undergraduate email list at the Undergraduate Political Science subscription page. 

Program Requirements

Course Requirements

The Political Science major requires twelve political science courses and a substantial paper. All students must take three out of the four courses that introduce the fields of political science. All students must also take the required research methods course. Students may meet the writing requirement by completing a BA Thesis, Long Paper, or MA thesis. The BA Thesis and Long Paper options are explained below.

Introductory Course Requirement

To gain a broad understanding of political science, the department's faculty requires that students take at least three of the following four courses:

PLSC 28701 Introduction to Political Theory
PLSC 28801 Introduction to American Politics
PLSC 28901 Introduction to Comparative Politics
PLSC 29000 Introduction to International Relations

Each course will be offered every year, introducing students to the four principal areas of study in political science. The introductory courses must be taken for quality grades.

Research Methods Requirement

To prepare students to evaluate the materials in their classes and to write research papers, students are also required to take the department's research methods course, which will be offered every quarter:

PLSC 22913 Political Science Research Methods

The department strongly recommends, but does not require, a course in statistics.

Research Methods Requirement

In addition to the above requirements, students are required to take six to eight Political Science courses of their choosing to develop their interests in and knowledge of the field. Those following the Long Paper path, described below, must complete eight elective courses while those on the BA Thesis path must complete at least six. It may be appropriate for advanced students to pursue an independent study credit (see below).

We strongly recommend that students take courses within the political science department to fulfill the requirements of the major. However, courses outside Political Science may be approved for the major by petition to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. To receive political science credit for courses outside the department, students must fill out the College Advising General Petition Form as well as a Political Science Department Supplementary Petition Form. Both petition forms and the course syllabus should be sent to the Director of Undergraduate studies for approval at dus-polsci@uchicago.edu. A maximum of three non-departmental courses may be petitioned to count for the major.

Writing Requirements: Two Options

Students majoring in political science who are not participating in a BA/MA program must write at least one substantial paper. There are two ways to meet this requirement, by writing a BA Thesis or by submitting a Long Paper.

Option 1: Long Paper

The Long Paper is typically a course paper. It may be written for either a professor in Political Science or a professor in another department whose course is accepted for political science credit. Students who write a Long Paper are not required to write a BA Thesis. Students writing a Long Paper must submit an approval form to the department, signed by an instructor who verifies that the paper meets two requirements: (a) the paper is twenty pages or longer, double spaced (that is, approximately 5,000 words or longer); and (b) the paper received a grade of B or better (that is, a grade of B- or below does not meet the requirement).

The Long Paper might be:

• A class paper for any Political Science course.
• An extended version of a shorter paper written for a Political Science course. If a course requires a shorter paper, students may ask the instructor for permission to write a 20-page paper instead.
• Written for a Political Science course that did not require any papers. Students may ask the instructor for permission to write a 20-page paper, either in place of another assignment, as an extra assignment, or as an ungraded assignment.
• Written for a Political Science instructor after a course is completed. The student could either produce an entirely new paper or, with the instructor's permission, take a shorter assignment and turn it into a longer paper.

If the paper is not a graded assignment for class, it still meets the department's requirement if the instructor attests that it merits a grade of B or better. Unless the paper is written for a graded class assignment, students must ask the instructor's permission to submit any such paper.

Students are responsible for obtaining the approval form to verify the successful completion of the Long Paper and giving it to the relevant instructor. Please ask the instructor to sign the approval form and return it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies via email at dus-polsci@uchicago.edu. The deadline for submitting the approval form is 4 p.m. on Friday of the second week of the quarter in which the student expects to graduate. Students should complete their paper before their final quarter; the approval form should be submitted to the department as soon as the writing requirement is completed.

Option 2: The BA Thesis

Writing a BA Thesis will meet the writing requirement in Political Science and may also qualify a student for consideration for honors; see sections below for more information. In either case, the paper is typically from 35 to 50 pages in length (the length of most scholarly articles in professional journals). It must receive a grade of B or higher. Students choose a faculty member with expertise related to their thesis topic to supervise the research and writing. The deadline for submitting the BA Thesis to the department is 4 p.m. on Monday of the fifth week of the quarter in which the student expects to graduate.

Students who choose to write a thesis apply to the honors program by the posted deadline, usually by the end of the third week of Spring Quarter of their third year. The department website has information about the honors program and links to the on-line application and faculty advisor form. Students will be asked to list prior coursework and methodological training in their proposed area of interest. The application will include a proposed topic, a plan of study, and the signature of a faculty advisor. We recommend that students work with faculty in the political science department, though advisors outside the department are allowed if their area of expertise is directly related to the student’s research topic. Students will need to have the endorsement of a faculty member prior to submitting this application.

BA Colloquium

Students who choose to write a BA Thesis are required to enroll in PLSC 29800 BA Colloquium in the Autumn Quarter of the fourth year. Students may not study abroad while they are enrolled in the BA Colloquium. The colloquium is designed to help students carry out their BA Thesis research and to offer feedback on their progress.

BA Thesis Supervision

During their fourth year, students who choose to write a BA Thesis must register with their BA Thesis faculty adviser for one quarter of PLSC 29900 BA Thesis Supervision, normally Winter Quarter of fourth year (although enrollment may be in any quarter). To enroll, students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. The final grade for the course will be based on the grade given the BA Thesis by the faculty adviser.

BA/MA Programs and the PLSC Major

BA/MA Programs and the PLSC Major. Students accepted into BA/MA programs complete their writing requirement with their MA thesis. They do not need to write a separate long paper or BA thesis. BA/MA students must still fulfill the course requirements of the major—three of the four introductory courses, the research methods course (PLSC 22913 Political Science Research Methods), and eight political science electives. Three of the eight electives may include courses outside of the major (by petition to the Director of Undergraduate Studies) or graduate-level MA courses. BA/MA programs may have additional requirements regarding how many courses may be double counted for the undergraduate major.

Summary of Requirements for Students Meeting the Writing Requirement with a Long Paper

*At least five courses must be courses in Political Science. Up to three may be outside of Political Science, subject to petition and approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Send the College's general petition form, supplementary petition form, and syllabus to dus-polsci@uchicago.edu. PLSC 29800 BA Colloquium and PLSC 29900 BA Thesis Supervision may not be used to meet this requirement.

Summary of Requirements for Students Meeting the Writing Requirement with a BA Thesis

*At least three must be courses in Political Science. Up to three may be outside of Political Science, subject to petition and approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. 

Pass/Fail Courses

Courses that meet requirements for the major are normally taken for quality grades. The three required introductory courses must be taken for quality grades. However, students may take up to two courses in the major on a Pass/Fail basis.

Independent Study

Students with extensive course work in Political Science who wish to pursue more specialized topics that are not covered by regular courses have the option of registering for PLSC 29700 Independent Study, to be taken individually and supervised by a member of the Political Science faculty. Students must obtain the prior consent of the program director and the instructor, as well as submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. The substance of the independent study may not be related to the BA Thesis or BA research, which is covered by PLSC 29900 BA Thesis Supervision. Only one PLSC 29700 Independent Study course may count toward requirements for the major.

Honors in the Major

Students who do exceptionally well in their course work and who write an outstanding BA Thesis are recommended for honors in the major. A student is eligible for honors if the GPA in the major is 3.6 or higher and the overall GPA is 3.0 or higher at the beginning of the quarter in which the student intends to graduate. Students who wish to be considered for honors are required to register for PLSC 29800 BA Colloquium and PLSC 29900 BA Thesis Supervision and to submit a BA Thesis. To graduate with department honors, then, a student must have both honors-level grades and a BA Thesis that receives honors. Students who are accepted into BA/MA programs who wish to have their MA thesis evaluated for undergraduate honors must apply to the undergraduate honors program and enroll in both PLSC 29800 and PLSC 29900.

Double Majors

Students who plan to double major may complete the Political Science requirements by either the BA Thesis option or the Long Paper option. Students who write the BA Thesis must attend the Political Science BA Colloquium even if the other major also requires attendance at its colloquium. A request to use a single BA Thesis for two majors requires the approval of both program directors on the Petition to Use a Single Bachelor's Paper for Two Majors form.

Courses Taken at Other Universities by Students Who Transfer to the University of Chicago

Students who transfer into the University of Chicago and wish to transfer courses into the major should see the Director of Undergraduate Studies soon after receiving their final transfer credit evaluation in mid-summer. The introductory course requirement and the research methods requirement cannot be satisfied by courses taken elsewhere, but courses may be counted toward the major by following the petition procedure outlined in the political science course requirement section above.

Contacts

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Director of Undergraduate Studies 

James Lindley Wilson 

Pick Hall 521 

Email

Administrative Contact

Student Affairs Administrator

Marcy Krause

Pick Hall 403

Email

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