Majoring in Government

Contents

All students wishing to declare the Government Major must download and complete the Major Declaration Form.

Click on the link below to go to the indicated section of this page.

Deciding to Major in Government

Choosing a Concentration

Declaring the Government Major

Your Faculty Advisor in Government

Completing the Government Major 

Deciding to Major in Government

If you major in Government you will learn about "who gets what, when, and how" and get better at critical thinking, clear writing, and effective speaking. The substance of what you learn, together with the skills that you will acquire in the learning process, will prepare you for a life of contribution in public service, education, law, business, journalism, and other fields. Many Government majors have entered Ph.D. programs in political science, and many have prepared themselves for doctoral study by writing a Government Honors Thesis.

A Government major will give you the opportunity to acquire broad knowledge of political science and to undertake in-depth study in a particular concentration, either American politics, comparative politics, international relations, or political theory. Each concentration has its own introductory course, survey courses, and advanced seminars. Concentrators are usually required to take the introductory course and three of the upper-division elective courses in the chosen subfield. In addition to taking these four courses within the concentration, majors are required to take at least one course in at least two of the three subfields outside the concentration. This requirement assures that majors acquire breadth across the discipline as well as depth in at least one subfield.

Many Government majors have entered Ph.D. programs in political science, and many have prepared themselves for doctoral study by writing a Government Honors Thesis. Several who have gone on to become academic political scientists are listed here.

First year students and sophomores are welcome to attend the Government Department open house, which is held each year in late October or early November. At the open house Department faculty and current majors provide an overview of the major, go over the major requirements, review how to apply for the major, and answer your questions. A few weeks before the open house is scheduled to happen, the Office of Student Affairs will send you a memo listing the time and place of each department/program open house, including that of the Government Department.

Double-majoring is an option for Government majors, but is not always a good idea.

Choosing a Concentration

Each Government major at Wesleyan is required to develop expertise in a particular subfield by choosing one of four concentrations: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, or political theory. The concentrations, and the courses required for students concentrating in each of the four subfields, are described on our concentrations page. In most cases, completing the concentration means taking the concentration's introductory course as well as three of its upper-division courses. Some courses may count toward alternative concentrations (your choice, but each may count only once toward the major).

Are you interested in the politics of countries that are not the United States? If so, you don't necessarily want to take courses in the "international relations" concentration (intro course: GOVT155). Instead, you may well want to take courses in the "comparative politics" concentration (intro course: GOVT157). In international relations, you study how countries interact with one another. In comparative politics, you study politics inside individual countries. How countries interact with one another influences their domestic politics, and domestic politics influences a country's international relations. For curricular purposes, however, the subfield of international relations is distinct from the subfield of comparative politics. Many students who are actually more interested in comparative politics sign up unknowingly as concentrators in international relations. This error is understandable: whereas the term "international relations" refers to the subject-matter of the concentration, the term "comparative politics" refers (confusingly) to a methodology that comparative politics specialists use to study some mysteriously unspecified subject matter -- which actually turns out to be nothing more than the domestic politics of countries that are not the United States. If you want to study the domestic politics of countries that are not the United States, concentrate in comparative politics, not international relations. Indeed, if you concentrate in comparative politics, you may well find yourself comparing the political systems of other countries to the political system of the United States.

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Declaring the Government Major

1. Review Completing the Government Major at the bottom of this webpage.

2. Go to the Major Declaration webpage of the Office of Student Affairs (Deans' Office) and explore the resources and regulations there.

3. Submit an electronic major declaration through your student portfolio. In February of your sophomore year, your Class Dean will send you a memo telling you how to go into your electronic portfolio and submit an online request to declare a major. Please begin the application process by submitting an online declaration of the Government major. The deadline is usually before spring break; see the Major Declaration webpage of the Office of Student Affairs for this year's deadline. Please follow steps 4-5 even if you are applying to declare the major during your junior or senior year. All the requirements stipulated below apply regardless of the year in which you apply to declare the major.

4. Please send as email attachments to the department administrative assistant, Susan Lundgren-Regan (slundgrenreg@wesleyan.edu), (1) the Government Major Application Form, filled in by you electronically; and (2) a .pdf version of your academic history, "printed" from your electronic portfolio.

5. We'll review your application and see if you meet the requirements for becoming a Government major. To be admitted, your academic history must show that you have completed at least one Government course with a grade of B- or better. If you meet the requirements we'll admit you, assign you a Government Department faculty member as your faculty advisor, set up electronic and paper files for you, and add you to the Department mailing list.

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Your Faculty Advisor in Government

On the major application form list two or three names, in order of preference, to be your advisor. Each advisor you propose must be a tenure-track or tenured member of the Government Department, and at least one should be in your intended concentration. You do not need to ask a faculty member if he or she would be willing to be your advisor prior to filling out the form. We shall try to accommodate your preference but we cannot guarantee it. Once assigned, the name of your Government faculty advisor will appear in your electronic portfolio.

In consultation with your advisor, you should construct a comprehensive plan to complete your major. Ideally, you will develop this plan in the spring of your sophomore year and discuss it with your advisor when you pre-register for junior year, fall semester courses. If your initial advisor goes on sabbatical or leave, the department will assign you a new advisor (You can usually stay in touch with your initial advisor if you want).

Your advisor also approves Transfer of Credits from U.S. Academic Institutions and Credit from Study Abroad Programs toward the major and concentration. Your advisor also confirms that you have satisfied the requirements for the Government major by approving the electronic Major Certification Form that you are required to complete in your portfolio.

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Completing the Government Major

To complete the Government major requires a minimum of nine approved Government credits, of which at least eight must be upper-division (numbered 201 or higher). In other words, only one introductory course (GOVT151, 155, 157, or 159) may count toward the Government major. If there's a chance you might become a Government major, it might be wise, looking ahead a year or two toward your completion of the Government major, to take only one introductory Government course, and then explore other concentrations through upper-division courses numbered GOVT201 and higher, each of which may count toward the major. On the other hand, if you want to take two Government introductory courses out of interest and never mind the major requirements, feel free to do so.

Courses that may not count toward the Government major include student forum courses, service as a teaching apprentice, first-year initiative (FYI) courses, and first-year seminar (FYS) courses. FYI and FYS courses are usually numbered in the low 100s, e.g., GOVT108, GOVT110, GOVT120, GOVT121. Only when the FYI or FYS is a section of an introductory course (GOVT151, 155, 157, or 159) may such a course count toward the major, as well as toward the concentration for which the particular course counts as an introductory course (e.g., an FYI version of GOVT 151 may count as the introductory course for the major as a whole, and also as the introductory course for the American concentration).

The Department does not grant credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or courses taken on ad-hoc programs (e.g., summer study abroad) prior to matriculation at Wesleyan. The only pre-matriculation credits that the Department will accept are the Government (political science, politics, etc.) credits that the University has authorized from a transfer student's previous full-time institution.

The Department may authorize credit toward graduation for a political science-related internship undertaken for education-in-the-field credit, but it will not give major credit for such an internship.

At least five of the eight upper-division credits required to complete the major must be taken in the Government Department at Wesleyan, in courses numbered from GOVT201 to GOVT399. Up to three of the eight upper-division credits required to complete the major may consist of a combination of:

  1. Tutorials in the Department of Government. At most one non-thesis tutorial and at most one thesis tutorial may count toward the major.
  2. A course at Wesleyan in a "cognate" discipline (e.g., history, economics). You may count at most one cognate course toward the major. You may designate a course as a cognate course only if you have already declared the major and have acquired a Government advisor. To designate a course as a cognate course, you need to get the approval of your Government advisor. An email from your Government advisor to you is the easiest way to do this. A cognate course may count toward your concentration as well as toward the major if your advisor believes this to be appropriate.
  3. Political science courses taken at other institutions. No more than two such courses may count toward the Government major, and they may not be introductory courses, except in the case of a student who transfers from another institution to Wesleyan. Note that the limit of two actually applies to a combination of semester courses taken while on study abroad or at other institutions in the United States -- except in the case of a full year of study abroad, during which you may, with your faculty advisor's approval, count three study-abroad courses toward the Government major. In that case, however, you still have to take five Government courses at Wesleyan numbered between 201 and 399. Government Department regulations governing transfer of credit to Wesleyan from courses taken at other institutions in the United States are here. Government Department regulations governing study abroad courses are here.
  4. Additional Wesleyan Government courses in the range 201-399.

In addition to counting courses as listed above, Government majors must meet the following requirements:

Depth in and breadth across the Concentrations. Four courses are required to complete a concentration. A concentration requires either the introductory concentration course (GOVT 15X) and three upper division courses in the concentration, or four upper division courses in the concentration. No fewer than three of the four concentration courses must be taken at Wesleyan. Majors must take at least one upper-division course in at least two of the three subfields outside the concentration.

General Education Expectations. To receive Honors in Government, you need to satisfy Stage 2 of Wesleyan's General Education Expectations.

Pacing of Courses in the Major. You must drop the Government major at the end of your junior year if, by the end of that year, you have completed fewer than four Government courses.

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Majoring in Government