Ph.D. in Political Science: Core Courses

The second level of our Ph.D. program in political science is designed to give students a grounding in some of the major sub-fields of political science. The discipline today is large and expanding, and the number of recognized sub-fields is growing. Just as one example, the American Political Science Association (the largest association of political scientists in the world), is divided into organized sections that group people who share similar interests and the association now boasts over 40 of them. Job listings in the APSA newsletter are grouped into eight fields of specialization – American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Methodology, Political Theory, Public Administration, Public Law, and Public Policy – each of which has certain sub-fields within it. In short, the discipline is relatively diverse.

The faculty of the Department of Political Science at Washington State University cover all of these fields and indeed have other areas of expertise in addition. However, in keeping with the generalist orientation of our Ph.D. program, the core course requirement is constituted to enable students to have basic training in the dominant theoretical and methodological debates that characterize these fields. We provide the opportunity for students to engage in these debates in at least five of the principle fields of our discipline, by requiring that they complete at least three of the five following courses:

• Pol S 510 (Introduction to American Institutions and Processes)
• Pol S 530 (International Relations Theory)
• Pol S 534 (Comparative Theory)
• Pol S 514 (Seminar in Public Policy) or Pol S 540 (Seminar in Public Administration)
• Crim J 530 (Criminal Justice: Processes and Institutions)

Coupled with the theory and methods requirements listed under the Research Core, we ensure that graduates of our program will be conversant with developments in a relatively broad range of fields integral to political science and will be in a position to utilize this knowledge in their subsequent careers.