Political Science

The Academic Program

General Introduction

Course Major

1. To graduate with a major in Political Science, a student must complete 8.5 credits in the Department, including the senior comprehensive exercise.

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2. At least five of the 8.5 credits must be taken at Swarthmore with faculty from the Department. Please see the Political Department website for an up-to-date list of course offerings and their distributions.

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3. Majors must take courses in all 4 of the aforementioned sub-fields. The Department recommends that in addition to any Intro level courses, students take their first theory course before the end of their sophomore year. Only the following courses satisfy the Political Theory distribution requirement: POLS 011, POLS 012 , POLS 100, POLS 101, with the latter two being honors seminars, where honors students get priority admission (see Section II).

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4. One introductory level course (POLS 002, 003, 004) and one additional course in the Department must be completed at Swarthmore before acceptance as a major. Majors will be deferred from acceptance into the Department until these two courses are completed.

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5. Introductory level courses will count toward the distribution requirements, but students can only count two Intro courses toward their major (i.e. toward the 8.5 credits).

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6. None of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC freshman year will be used for GPA purposes.

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7. Grade requirements. We consider student applications to join the Department individually, considering each student’s background and College performance to date. Normally, we apply the following rule: For acceptance as a course major or a double major, the Department expects performance at the 2.33 level in all College courses and at the 2.67 level in courses in Political Science (including courses graded Credit/No Credit).

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8. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with approval from the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.

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9. Students should note that certain courses and seminars have specific prerequisites. As one example, POLS 066 requires POLS 004 as well as an introductory Econ course.

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10. The senior comprehensive requirement. To graduate from Swarthmore, all majors must fulfill the senior comprehensive requirement in the Political Science Department. This can be done in one of two ways. The first option is a comprehensive exam, which will be taken in the spring semester of your senior year. The exam will be CR/NC (it will not count toward your CR/NC allowance). Option two, POLS 095 is a one-credit graded written thesis, which may be chosen by students who meet the GPA eligibility requirements (3.67) and get the approval of a faculty adviser and the Chair.

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11. Recommended courses in other Departments. Supporting courses strongly recommended for all majors are Statistical Thinking or Statistical Methods (STAT 001 or 011) and Introduction to Economics (ECON 001).

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Honors Major

1. Political Science honors majors must have a minimum of 10 credits inside the Political Science Department.

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2. Political Science honors majors must meet all requirements for majors (see Section I), preferably with the honors versions of Ancient or Modern Political Theory (POLS 100, POLS 101).

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3. Six of these credits will be met with three (3) two-unit honors preparations which will help prepare honors majors for outside examinations, both written and oral. These two-unit preparations will normally be either a two-credit honors seminar or a “course-plus” option.

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4. Of these three (3) two-unit preparations, no more than two may be in a single sub-field in the Department, and no more than one may be a course-plus option.

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5. The “course-plus” option will normally consist of two one-unit courses that have been designated to count as an honors preparation, or in some cases a one-unit course and a one-unit seminar that have been so designated. It is up to the student to arrange a course-plus option with a specific faculty member and to have this approved by the Chair. We strongly advise the students to follow the seminar path.

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6. To be accepted into the Honors Program students should normally have at least an average of 3.67 inside and 3.5 outside the Department, and should have given evidence to the Departmental faculty of their ability to work independently and constructively in a seminar setting. Seminars will normally be limited to eight-ten students and admission priority will go to honors majors, first seniors and then juniors, including special majors.

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7. To fulfill the senior honors study requirement for honors majors, students will revise a paper written for each of their Department seminars (3 papers total). These papers will be submitted to the appropriate external examiners as part of the honors evaluation process.

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8. Honors majors are strongly encouraged to attend the Department senior comprehensive exercise conference, typically held in March.

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9. None of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC freshman year will be used for GPA calculations.

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10. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with approval from the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.

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Honors Minor

1. All applicants must have completed one introductory level course (POLS 002, 003, 004) and one additional course in the Department before applying for the Honors Minor.

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2. To be accepted into the Honors Program students should normally have at least an average of 3.67 inside and 3.5 outside the Department, and should have given evidence to the Departmental faculty of their ability to work independently and constructively in a seminar setting. Seminars will normally be limited to eight-ten students and admission priority will go to honors majors, first seniors and then juniors, including special majors.

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3. To fulfill the Senior Honors Study requirement for honors minors, students will revise a paper for their Department seminar. This paper will be submitted to the appropriate external examiner as part of the honors evaluation process.

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4. None of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC freshman year will be used for GPA calculations.

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5. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with approval from the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.

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Individualized Major

1. All applicants must have completed one introductory course (see Section I) and one other course in the Department before applying for the Individualized Major.

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2. None of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC freshman year will be used for GPA purposes.

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3. For acceptance as an individualized major, the Department expects performance at the 3.00 level in all College courses and at the 3.33 level in courses in Political Science (including courses graded Credit/No Credit).

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4. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with the approval from the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.

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Honors Individualized Major

1. All applicants must have completed one introductory course (see Section I) and one other course in the Department. before applying for the Honors Individualized Major.

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2. To be accepted into the Honors Program students should normally have at least an average of 3.67 inside and 3.5 outside the Department, and should have given evidence to the Departmental faculty of their ability to work independently and constructively in a seminar setting. Seminars will normally be limited to eight-ten students and admission priority will go to honors majors, first seniors and then juniors, including honors special majors.

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3. None of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC freshman year will be used for GPA purposes.

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4. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with approval of the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.

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Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Credit

Transfer Credit

Study Abroad

The Engaging Democracy Project

Political Science Courses

1. POLS 002

   American Politics (AP)
   1
2. POLS 003

   Politics Across the World (CP)
   1
3. POLS 004

   Introduction to International Relations (IR)
   1
4. POLS 005

   Thinking Like A Political Scientist
   1
5. POLS 006

   Great Issues in Public Policy (IR)
   1
6. POLS 011

   Ancient Political Thought (TH)
   1
7. POLS 012

   Modern Political Thought (TH)
   1
8. POLS 013

   Constitutional Law & Politics: Institutional Powers (AP)
   1
9. POLS 014

   Constitutional Law & Politics: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (AP)
   1
10. POLS 015

    Democratic Theory: Everyday Debates in Democratic Politics (TH)
    1
11. POLS 016

    Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Politics (TH)
    1
12. POLS 017

    Civil Rights and the Courts (AP)
13. POLS 018

    Politics in Dark Times (TH)
    1
14. POLS 019

    Gender and Political Thought (TH)
    1
15. POLS 020

    Constitutional Controversies (AP)
    1
16. POLS 020E

    Special Topics: History & Politics of Punishment: The School to Prison Pipeline (AP)
    1
17. POLS 021

    Who Votes? Political Participation in the US (AP)
    1
18. POLS 023

    Slavery and Its Legacy for U.S. Politics (AP)
    1
19. POLS 024

    Judicial Politics (AP)
    1
20. POLS 025

    Ballots & Barriers: Voting Rights in America (AP)
    1
21. POLS 026

    Politics of The Wire (AP)
    1
22. POLS 027

    Gender and American Politics (AP)
    1
23. POLS 028

    The Urban Underclass and Public Policy (AP)
    1
24. POLS 029

    Polling, Public Opinion, and Public Policy (AP)
    1
25. POLS 030

    Nietzsche (TH)
    1
26. POLS 031

    Borders and Migration (CP)
    1
27. POLS 032

    Contemporary Social Philosophy (TH)
    1
28. POLS 033

    Democracy and Technology
    1
29. POLS 034

    Capitalism and Socialism (TH)
    1
30. POLS 035

    Democracy and Dictatorship (CP)
    1
31. POLS 036

    Parties, Elections, and Power (CP)
    1
32. POLS 037

    Contemporary Political Philosophy (TH)

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33. POLS 038

    Designing and Doing Political Science Research (IR) (CP) (AP)
    1
34. POLS 039

    The Courts and American Democracy
35. POLS 040

    Hegel and Marx (TH)
    1
36. POLS 041

    Politics of Religion and Radicalism (CP)
    1
37. POLS 043

    Congressional Lawmaking & Public Policy (AP)
    1
38. POLS 044

    Markets and Morality (TH)

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39. POLS 045

    Disaster Politics and Policies (CP)
    1
40. POLS 046

    Politics, Markets, and Policy (CP)
    1
41. POLS 047

    Ethics and Economics (TH)
    1
42. POLS 048

    The Politics of Population (CP)
    1
43. POLS 049

    The American Presidency (AP)
    1
44. POLS 050A

    Peacebuilding
    1
45. POLS 051

    Global Justice (TH)
    1
46. POLS 052

    China and the World: Foreign Policy and US Relations (CP)
    1
47. POLS 053

    Conservatives and Reactionaries (TH)
    1
48. POLS 054

    Identity Politics (CP)
    1
49. POLS 055

    Ethics and International Relations (IR)

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50. POLS 056

    Patterns of Asian Development (CP)

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51. POLS 057

    Latin American Politics (CP)

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52. POLS 058

    Contemporary Chinese Politics (CP)

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53. POLS 059

    Middle East Politics (CP)

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54. POLS 061

    American Foreign Policy (IR)

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55. POLS 062

    The Politics and Practice of Humanitarianism (IR)

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56. POLS 063

    African Politics (CP)

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57. POLS 064

    African American Political Thought (TH)

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58. POLS 065

    War Games and Simulations (IR)

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59. POLS 066

    International Political Economy (IR)

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60. POLS 068

    Politics of Public Health
    1
61. POLS 070B

    Politics of Punishment (AP)

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62. POLS 070C

    Philosophy and Politics of Punishment

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63. POLS 070D

    The History and Politics of Punishment (AP)

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64. POLS 070E

    Public Health, Politics, and the Incarcerated Space (AP)

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65. POLS 072

    Policymaking in America (AP)

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66. POLS 073

    Disinformation, Propaganda, and Election Interference (IR)

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67. POLS 078

    Order, Empire, and Domination (IR)

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68. POLS 079

    Islam, Race, and Empire (CP)

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69. POLS 080

    Civil Wars (IR)

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70. POLS 081

    Global Environmental Governance (IR)
    1
71. POLS 082

    Surveillance and Repression (CP)
    1
72. POLS 083

    Great Power Competition (IR)

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73. POLS 084

    State Formation & State Building (CP)

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74. POLS 085

    U.S. National Security (IR)

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75. POLS 086

    The United States and Latin America (CP)

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76. POLS 087

    Water Policies, Water Issues: China/Taiwan and the U.S.
    1
77. POLS 088

    Special Topics: Post-Communism in Russia and China (CP)

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78. POLS 090

    Directed Readings in Political Science

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79. POLS 092

    Senior Comprehensive Exam

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80. POLS 095

    Thesis

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Seminars

1. POLS 100

   Ancient Political Thought

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2. POLS 101

   Modern Political Theory (TH)

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3. POLS 102

   Comparative Politics: China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (CP)

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4. POLS 103

   Judicial Politics (AP)

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5. POLS 105

   Constitutional Law in the American Polity (AP)

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6. POLS 107

   Hegel and Marx (TH)

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7. POLS 108

   Comparative Politics: East Asia (CP)

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8. POLS 109

   Comparative Politics: Latin America (CP)

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9. POLS 110

   Ethics and International Relations (IR)

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10. POLS 113

    International Politics: War, Peace, and Security (IR)

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11. POLS 115

    The Politics and Practice of Wartime Humanitarian Action (IR)

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12. POLS 116

    International Political Economy (IR)

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13. POLS 117

    Aristotle: Ethics and Politics (TH)
    2
14. POLS 118

    The South in American Political Development (AP)

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15. POLS 180

    Thesis

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