Political Science

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OFFICE: Social Science Building
http://polisci.ucsd.edu

The Ph.D. Program

The Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego offers a program of graduate studies leading to the Ph.D. degree. Instruction is provided in the major fields of the discipline. For purposes of comprehensive examinations, the discipline is broken into four fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory. The department also offers a variety of courses that are of a methodological or epistemological nature, spanning the various fields.

Program Overview

Course Work

Students must complete eighteen quarter courses before the end of the second year with an overall grade point average of 3.3 or better. All students must complete the six-course core curriculum, Political Science 200A-C and 204A-C. No other UCSD courses may be substituted to fulfill this requirement. Fifteen of these courses must be offered by the department, with a number between Political Science 200 and 279. (Political Science 200A-C and 204A-C count toward this requirement). No more than three courses, offered within or outside the department, may be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. In some individual fields the faculty normally recommends that students take more graded courses in political science than the minimum.

Additional requirements, such as course work or research skills including proficiency in a foreign language, may be set by the faculty in any examination area as a prerequisite for taking the General Examination in that area.

A student who has completed work toward a graduate degree in political science at another institution prior to enrollment at UCSD is subject to all requirements of the UCSD program. The only exception is as follows: With permission of the department's director of graduate studies a student that has received a graduate degree in political science at another institution may count up to four quarter-course equivalents (taken at other institutions) toward the eighteen-course requirement, including the core curriculum.

Good progress toward the Ph.D. requires that a student complete nine courses by the end of the first year. In addition to the six-course core curriculum, students are advised to complete two or three field core courses during their first year. At the end of the second year good progress requires completion of eighteen courses, of which at least fifteen must be numbered between Political Science 200 and 279.

A student who has not made good progress in course work may receive no more than a 33 percent teaching or research assistantship from the department for the following year. Students on a UCSD fellowship may receive no more than two-thirds of their stipend for the following year.

General Examination

By the end of the second year, a student must stand for the General Examination. The General Examination consists of written examinations in each of two fields and in a focus area, and an oral examination. The department offers examinations in four fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory. Each field also offers examinations in a number of focus areas that represent a specialized sub-field within a major research literature. By the first day of spring quarter of the second year each student must submit to the graduate coordinator a General Examination plan identifying the two fields within which exams will be taken, and the topic of the focus-field. The General Examination will normally take place during the seventh week of spring quarter. Normally, each written examination will be taken on a separate day within a one-week period, and the oral examination will be given within two weeks of the completion of the written examinations.

Written Examinations

Written field examinations last four hours. These examinations cover major theoretical approaches in a field. They are structured so that passing requires general knowledge and understanding of important work in the field as a whole. Written focus-area examinations last four hours. These examinations cover in greater depth one subfield within a major research literature. Written examinations are open-note and open-book. Students are expected to do their own work, and to compose their answers on the day of the examination. Text from computer files may not be downloaded into these answers.

Oral Examinations

The oral examination normally lasts between one and two hours, and covers all three written examinations. It may also include discussion of the student's seminar paper. A student must take the oral examination, even if one or more of the written examinations is such that it is deemed impossible to pass the entire examination.

Each field has a designated field coordinator, appointed by the department chair in consultation with the director of graduate studies. The field coordinator, in consultation with the faculty in the field, prepares the written examinations. Each General Examination is graded by a committee of four faculty members, with two from each of the student's examination fields. These examiners are nominated by the field coordinator and appointed by the department chair. Students are normally informed of the composition of General Examination boards during the fourth week of the spring quarter.

Each General Examination is graded in its entirety. A student passes or fails the entire examination, not simply parts of it. The examination committee may assign a grade of fail, pass, or distinction. A student passes the General Examination if at least three examiners vote to assign a grade of pass or better. A student receives a grade of distinction by vote of at least three examiners. The student will receive written notification of the examination committee's decision. A student who fails the General Examination must retake it at least one week prior to the start of the fall quarter of the third year. A student who fails the General Examination twice will not be permitted to continue in the graduate program in political science.

Good progress toward the Ph.D. requires that a student complete the General Examination by the end of the second year. A student who has not attempted all parts of the General Examination by the end of the second year may not continue in the program.

Seminar Papers

A student must complete one seminar paper in one of his or her examination fields. This paper may be written as part of the requirements for a regularly scheduled seminar course or in an independent research course.

Certification that a paper fulfills the seminar paper requirement is at the sole discretion of the faculty member supervising the work (i.e., the instructor of the course for which the paper was written).

A student may not take the General Examination before fulfilling the seminar paper requirement. A final draft of the paper, along with the appropriate form certifying that the paper meets the seminar paper requirement, must be submitted to the graduate coordinator before the written portion of the General Examination may be taken. Copies of the seminar paper will be distributed to the General Examination committee.

Departmental Workshops

Masters in Political Science

Doctoral students in the Department of Political Science who do not already hold an M.A. may apply for an M.A. after successfully completing fifteen quarter courses, nine of which must be numbered between Political Science 200 and 279, and one seminar paper approved by a member of the department.

Advancement to Candidacy

Dissertation

By the end of the sixth year good progress requires completion of the dissertation. A student who fails to complete the dissertation by the end of the sixth year may be denied all departmental financial assistance.

Advising and Evaluation

Each incoming student is assigned a temporary faculty advisor by the director of graduate studies. At the end of the first year students are given the opportunity to confirm that advisor or select a new one. At the beginning of the third year each student must select a faculty member from the department to serve as prospectus advisor. The prospectus advisor will help guide the student in writing the prospectus and selecting a dissertation committee. It is not assumed that the prospectus advisor will subsequently chair the dissertation committee, or even be a member of it. Those roles should be determined as the prospectus develops.

During the spring quarter each student is evaluated by his or her advisor in consultation with the departmental faculty. The student will receive a written evaluation from the advisor each year. The student must sign this evaluation for it to become an official part of the student's departmental file. As part of the first-year review each student must complete a plan of study that identifies a faculty seminar paper supervisor, two examination fields, a focus area, and intended preparation in each. This plan must be signed by the student's faculty advisor and submitted to the graduate coordinator by the end of spring quarter of the first year.

Student Petitions

To contest an evaluation or any departmental action a student must do so in writing. A petition should be submitted to the director of graduate studies no later than the end of the quarter following the evaluation (or other action) contested by the student.

General Catalog 2010-2011

UC San Diego