Academics

The Major

As a political science major, you’ll focus on one of four political science subfields: American politics, international relations, political theory, or comparative politics. Each of them will help you develop lifelong habits of clear thought, rigorous analysis, and effective argumentation in writing and speech. These powerful skills will equip you to understand how power is exercised in human society, and to what end.

Why Study Political Science?

Political science draws its subject matter from—and makes major contributions to—the world beyond a college campus. Our department offers many opportunities to deepen your knowledge outside of the classroom. You can learn and write about a topic that matters to you through a senior honors thesis, join a summer immersion in international affairs, intern with a local non-profit, take a summer job in Washington, D.C., and so much more.

Understanding how human beings organize themselves prepares you to flourish in a wide range of career paths. Our alumni include legislators, diplomats, lawyers, judges, policy makers, international relations experts, journalists, pollsters, nonprofit directors, entrepreneurs, and labor leaders.

Featured Courses

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Introduction to American Politics: Power, Politics, and Democracy in America

Begun as an experiment over 200 years ago, the United States has grown into a polity that is simultaneously praised and condemned, critiqued and mythologized, modeled by others and remodeled itself.

The world of wealth and work: An introduction to the politics of capitalism

From the Googleplex to derelict factories in Ohio, from our personal lives to the halls of high politics, from the sugar fields of Brazil to the corner offices of Wall Street, we are all navigating the same system: capitalism.

Visionaries, Pragmatists, and Demagogues: An Introduction to Leadership Studies

This course introduces students to the major issues in the study of leadership, a central concept in the study of politics.

Learning Objectives

The major in political science is designed to help students obtain the following learning objectives:

Understand the central importance of power in all facets of politics and government as well as the roles of problem-solving, citizen action, and world-building
Apply theoretical perspectives from political science to current domestic and international issues
Develop the ability to carry out original research projects on a variety of political topics
Enhance the habits and skills of clear thought, rigorous analysis, and effective argumentation in writing and speech

Galen Jackson leading a Political Science tutorial

Summer Institute in Foreign Policy

Taught by Williams professors and outside experts, the Summer Institute is an on-campus, three-week immersion in American foreign policy and grand strategy. You’ll gain an intellectual foundation in American foreign policy and grand strategy, as well as a practical understanding of the unique challenges faced by policymakers.

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Required Courses

Students complete the Political Science major by concentrating in one of four traditional subfields: American politics, international relations, political theory or comparative politics. Each requires nine courses (plus another two if you write an honors thesis).

Requirements for the Major

You’ll take nine courses to major in political science.

Introductory course and capstone senior seminar in chosen subfield
At least two electives in that subfield, preferably one at the 300 level in preparation for the senior seminar, for depth
Two classes—one in each of two separate subfields—outside of your chosen concentration, for breadth
Three classes of your choice in the department: more concentration classes for the especially keen, more breadth classes for the wide-ranging or more of both

At least one of the seven electives (that is, excluding the 100-level intro and 400-level capstone) must be at the 300 level and no more than two non-core 100-level courses can count toward the major. Students must also take a research course, designated as such in the catalog.

Requirements for the Honors Degree

Students whose political science course work has been excellent (typically at or above a departmental 3.7 GPA) may apply to write a senior thesis, making them eligible for honors in the major. This is in addition to the nine required courses.

To pursue an honors degree, you’d take three additional courses and write a thesis in your senior year: PSCI 493 (Senior Thesis Research Design) in the Fall, W31 over Winter Study, and PSCI 494 (Senior Thesis Research and Writing) in the Spring.

Majors who are interested in writing a thesis must attend the thesis meeting held early in the Spring semester of your junior year. This meeting will be advertised on the main page of the website and in daily messages early in the semester, and majors will receive email notification from the department about the meeting early in the spring semester of junior year.

Majors with a record of excellence in the department, a clear and thoughtful topic of interest, and demonstrated coursework preparation (including prior research experience) are encouraged to apply for PSCI 493 by submitting a “statement of interest and qualifications” to the Department. Students accepted will use the summer to engage in exploratory reading about their area of interest in advance of spending the Fall semester learning about research design and developing a thesis proposal.

Students who successfully complete these tasks by the end of the Fall semester will be invited to continue in the thesis honors program and will write their article length thesis over Winter Study and Spring semester.

The Department as a whole meets in the late spring to decide on admissions to the fall thesis seminar. In December, following the fall thesis seminar, a committee of the department approves student proposals to move forward with their thesis in the senior year Winter and Spring. We will contact you in writing, letting you know of our decision.

Students who are not invited to continue with the thesis honors program after the Fall semester will be given the opportunity to continue to investigate their topic of interest through PSCI 99, an Independent Winter Study class. Importantly, these students will receive major credit for the completed PSCI 493 (Thesis Research Design) course in the Fall; in other words, that Fall course can count toward the nine total courses needed for the major.
Taught by a member of the department, the Fall Thesis Research Design course focuses on research design and proposal writing. Students receive instruction in identifying a researchable question (based on the interests expressed in their Spring application), performing a literature review, constructing an appropriate research design, understanding methodology, evaluating data sources, and ultimately drafting a rigorous research proposal for a 35 page (“article length”) thesis by the end of the Fall semester. This course will equip students with the tools to write a roughly 10-page research proposal on their topic of choice which will be due at the end of the semester.
The thesis proposals, the final product of the fall semester, will be evaluated by a committee of department faculty, including the Fall semester instructor, in December. Students who have written successful proposals—where the question, research design, and data availability are clear, as is the student’s capacity to execute the research and writing necessary to produce an article length thesis—will be approved to begin researching and writing their 35 page thesis in the winter study honors class, continuing on into the honors thesis spring course, under the guidance of an appointed advisor.

Students in the winter study and spring courses will work primarily with their advisors but will also receive input on their thesis draft from department faculty readers. Theses should be substantial and original works of scholarship on the model of an academic journal article (roughly 35 pages). The final work will be submitted for evaluation by a committee of faculty chosen by the department.
Students interested in doing independent research outside of the honors thesis program can consider doing an individual project instead of a thesis. Students must identify a faculty member willing to supervise their research, and the work is graded by just your faculty supervisor rather than a committee of three.