The faculty in the Department of Political Science offer graduate programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science. Concentrations are available in American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory.
Students admitted to the Master of Education degree with a major in Secondary Education may also elect political science as the subject matter field.
MASTER OF ARTS
See “Master’s Degrees” for information on the M.A. degree.
Admission. The M.A. degree provides advanced education for those students preparing for teaching, research, or applied careers in political science. It may be taken as a terminal program or as a step toward eventual fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D.
In addition to the materials sent to the Graduate College, the following items should be submitted to the director of graduate studies of the Department of Political Science by April 15 in order to ensure recommendations for admission to the M.A. program beginning the following fall:
Applicants for financial aid should submit these items and complete the application form for graduate assistantships by February 15.
Undergraduate course work in political science is not a prerequisite for admission.
It is assumed, however, that M.A. students have a basic understanding of elementary statistics and the undergraduate content of the political science fields of concentration that they wish to study. Students without such a background should allow sufficient time to acquire it.
Program of Study. A minimum of 30 semester hours is required for the M.A. degree. All candidates must take POS 501 and POS 503. The program must include a combination of at least six semester hours of research (POS 592) and thesis (POS 599) credit. An additional 18 hours must be taken in graduate-level courses and seminars. A maximum of six semester hours in approved courses taken outside the department and six hours of independent study courses may count toward the 30-hour requirement. Grades of “A,” “B,” or “Y” must be obtained in all course work counted for the M.A. degree.
Foreign Language Requirements. None.
Thesis Requirements. A thesis is required.
Final Examinations. An oral examination in defense of the thesis is required.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
See “Doctor of Philosophy” for general requirements.
Admission. In addition to meeting Graduate College requirements, an applicant for the Ph.D. program must take the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the GRE; supply a career overview statement that describes the applicant’s educational objectives; submit three letters of recommendation from persons who can evaluate the applicant’s undergraduate and graduate work; and provide a sample of writing. These items should be submitted to the director of graduate studies of the Department of Political Science by April 15. Applicants for financial aid should also complete and submit the application form for graduate assistantships by February 15.
It is assumed that Ph.D. students have a basic understanding of elementary statistics and the content of the areas of concentration that they wish to study. Students without such a background should allow sufficient time to acquire it.
Program of Study. A minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate courses beyond the baccalaureate degree and approved by the student’s supervisory committee shall constitute the formal course preparation, followed by a minimum of 24 semester hours of research and dissertation work. The supervisory committee has three members, including the committee chair from the student’s major field, and two members from a minor field. As part of the 60 semester hours, the student must take POS 501, POS 503, and POS 603. A maximum of 12 semester hours of approved course work outside the department and 12 semester hours of approved independent study courses (POS 590, 690, and 790) may count toward the 60 semester hours. Grades of “A,” “B,” or “Y,” must be obtained in all course work counted for the Ph.D. degree.
Foreign Language and Research Requirements. Each Ph.D. student must show proficiency in a foreign language. The supervisory committee may also require up to six additional semester hours to build the student’s research skills.
Comprehensive Examinations. The student is required to take three examinations from the fields and subfields of American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory. In the major field, the student takes a written general examination. Additionally, the student takes a written field or subfield examination in one of the remaining fields of political science. An oral examination over the dissertation proposal follows the written examinations.
Dissertation Requirements. The dissertation must be an original ontribution to knowledge and demonstrate the student’s proficiency as an independent investigator. The dissertation proposal is approved by the chair of the department upon the recommendation of the student’s dissertation committee. The department chair also approves the dissertation committee. This committee must have a minimum of three members from the department of political science, including a chair from the student’s major field.
Final Examinations. A final oral examination is required. This examination is the occasion for the student to defend the dissertation, both as to methods and conclusions, and to demonstrate general competence in the area of concentration.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
The political science faculty and curriculum are organized into four areas of concentration. The faculty in each area offer courses and conduct research from a variety of methodological orientations, all with a common thread of theoretically-oriented scholarship.
American Politics. Faculty emphasize political behavior and use survey research, experimental designs, and content analysis to collect data and conduct statistical analyses of mass voting patterns, campaign strategies, party politics, the role of the media in political communication, and elite-mass linkages. Other faculty emphasize public law and policy with a focus primarily at the state and local levels of government. They analyze aggregate and interview data, archival materials and legal texts with a focus on campaign finance regulations, intergovernmental relations, gender issues, electoral reform, third parties, and interest groups.
International Relations. One group of faculty focus upon foreign policy theory and international security, using event chronologies, institutional differences, archival materials, and public records to guide comparative analyses of foreign policy decision-making by different types of regimes, case studies of leaders and their decision-making strategies, and policy analyses of issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Another cluster of faculty emphasize critical theory and international political economy, employing archival sources, statistical data, and texts of legal norms and state practices to conduct analyses of global inequalities in wealth and income, the evolution of statecraft, and the impact of hierarchically-ordered gender and race categories in North-South relations.
Political Theory. Faculty research interests in the area of political theory cover a range of topics in the history of political thought and contemporary political theory. Historical topics include Rousseau, conceptual history, and positive idealisms of the 19th and 20th centuries. Research in contemporary political theory includes autonomy and freedom; rights and obligations; citizenship, civic virtues, and the idea of the common good; various issues in democratic political theory (with particular attention to education); aspects of political and legal theory regarding corporate personality; conceptions of self in various cultures; analysis of myths in aboriginal societies (particularly Native Americans); punishment; justice; community; language and politics; social ecology; and peace and nonviolence.
Comparative Politics. Faculty in the area of comparative politics investigate a variety of topics in several regions of the globe. Research interests include the political economy of uneven development in Africa, democratization processes within formerly authoritarian regimes in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, church and state relations in the Philippines, ethnic minority problems in Brazil, problems of federalism in India, party leadership in France and Italy, and mass-elite responses to natural disasters in Central and South America.
Many of these research interests have recently been the basis for graduate seminars (POS 691) and for special topics courses (POS 598). Moreover, students have the opportunity to do advanced work in these areas through reading and conference courses (POS 590 and 790) and independent research (POS 592 and 792).
Research Facilities. The department has its own political data laboratory for research and teaching purposes. Both faculty and students have access to data processing equipment and machine-readable data collections. The ASU Library collection has extensive holdings in all of the fields of political science. The facilities of the ASU School of Public Affairs, School of Justice Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, and the Center for Asian Studies are accessible to graduate students in political science.
Omnibus Graduate Courses: See omnibus graduate courses that may be offered.
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