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Concentrations

The department requires each major to complete one of four possible concentrations. Some courses satisfy more than one concentration. First-year initiative courses (e.g., GOVT110 and GOVT121) count toward the 32 credits you need to graduate, but may not be counted toward the Government major. For additional information on the concentrations, see Subfields of Political Science. 

American Politics: GOVT151, 201-259, 371-380. This concentration includes the introductory course, (GOVT151) and the following set of upper-division courses: sophomore-level survey courses (GOVT201-209); advanced upper-division courses (GOVT210-259); and seminars and tutorials (371-380, 401-412). The concentration requires GOVT151, and at least three upper-division courses in American politics. GOVT366 Statistics for Social Scientists may be credited toward the concentration. Ideally, prospective majors in American politics and public policy should take GOVT151 in their first year. One or more of the sophomore-level courses, GOVT201-209, should be taken next. The sophomore courses require either GOVT151 or sophomore standing. It is strongly recommended that concentrators take at least one course each in American history and in economics.

Comparative politics: The comparative politics concentration consists of an introductory course (GOVT157), survey courses (GOVT270, 271, 274, 278, 284, 296, 297, and 302), and seminars (GOVT301, 304, 305, 381, 382, 383, 384, and 385). A concentration in comparative politics requires GOVT157 and at least 3 upper-division courses in comparative politics (GOVT155 may be substituted for GOVT157 at the discretion of the advisor).

International politics: GOVT155, 311-333, and 386-390. A concentration in international politics requires three upper-division courses dealing with problems of international politics and foreign policy in addition to the introductory course, GOVT155. Students are encouraged to distribute other department courses required for the major among the other concentrations. They should also consider the Certificate in International Relations awarded by the Public Affairs Center.

Political theory: GOVT159, 337-359, and 391-398. A concentration in political theory requires either: four upper division courses in political theory, or the introductory political theory course, Govt 159, and three upper division courses.  Two of the upper level courses should be drawn from the GOVT337, 338, 339 sequence, which provides a survey of major political theorists in the Western tradition.

Subfields in Political Science

Political science is a mature social science. The structure of its disciplinary subfields is reasonably uniform in the United States and most OECD nations. In the United States American politics developed as a field of its own in the early years of the profession.  By World War II, three additional fields specialties had evolved: comparative politics, international politics, and (normative) political theory.

American Politics The American concentration offers an array of courses dealing with politics and government in the United States and the ways in which a large nation-state, committed to the principles of constitutional democracy, attempts to govern itself. Among other things, the concentration is concerned with the way constitutional and democratic values help shape government institutions and how these institutions influence, and are in turn are influence by, policy choices.  Though the principal focus is the United States today, the courses also provide historical and comparative perspectives, without which the nation’s current political system cannot be fully understood.  As at many Universities the concentration is divided into several subfields: national institutions (the presidency, Congress, Courts and the executive branch) political mobilization (parties, elections, interest groups, social and political movements), state and local government (state politics, urban politics and intergovernmental relations), public law (constitutional law, civil rights and civil liberties), and public policy (policy analysis, substantive policies).  Although the American Political Science Association recognize public law and public policy as separate fields, they are commonly incorporated into the American politics concentration, particularly at smaller institutions such as Wesleyan.

Comparative politics is the systematic analysis of political regimes and of the cultural, social, economic, and historical features that influence political regimes to develop distinctive institutions, ideologies, and public policies. Most comparativists focus on nations within geographical regions that share important elements of language, culture, or history, with special attention to political institutions, political culture, and political economy among other topic areas. Comparativists are the primary contributors among political scientists to interdisciplinary programs with a regional basis, such as, at Wesleyan, Latin American Studies, East Asian Studies, and Russian and East European Studies.

International politics is the analysis of the relations among nations and the structure of the international order that has preconditioned these relations to conclude in competition and conflict. International politics specialists tend not to focus on particular regions or times, but rather on the types of interaction among nations. International political economists, for example, examine the national, regional, and global economic relations among nations. International security specialists study the causes and consequences of war, including the foreign policies and weapons systems that promote or deter conflict. Specialists in international law and organization examine institutions and norms that moderate the tendency of international relationships to spiral into conflict and war in an anarchic world.

Political theory is engaged with current political issues and is self-reflective about political life. It has a strong ethical component and develops alternative conceptualizations of how we might organize social and political relations. Theory thus understood is an aspect of the whole discipline, interwoven with each concentration; it also has its own tradition of discourse, from ancient to contemporary theorists. The tradition focuses on the ethical bases for relationships of authority among individuals, those invested with legitimate and illegitimate power. It studies the forces that expand and limit human potential. In Western political theory, theorists tend to have research specialties in one or more of three historical periods: ancient (the Golden Age of Greece and Rome); modern (from Machiavelli and Hobbes through Marx and Nietzsche); and contemporary. Theorists also read and teach broadly across these historical periods.

Although the concentrations are fairly standard across the political science discipline, questions about government and politics often cut across fields and even disciplines.  Many research topics in comparative politics, for example, are relevant to political theory, international relations and American politics.  Moreover, individual political scientists also tend to rely upon theories of motivation and behavior that are distinctively grounded in economics, sociology, and psychology, with research and curricular specialties devoted to each. These presuppositions about action and agency create competing approaches to each field and commonalities across them. Moreover, political methodology, including statistics, has now become so specialized a topic that it tends to occupy a field of its own, particularly in the graduate programs of research universities.