Political Science
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Social Science Building
http://polisci.ucsd.edu
All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates to curricular sections may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/Curriculum/Updates.htm.
The PhD Program
The Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego offers a program of graduate studies leading to the PhD degree. Instruction is provided in the major fields of the discipline. For purposes of comprehensive examinations, the discipline is broken into five fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and methodology. 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 UC San Diego 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 UC San Diego is subject to all requirements of the UC San Diego 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 PhD 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 UC San Diego fellowship may receive no more than two-thirds of their stipend for the following year.
Field Requirements
For students entering the program fall 2012 and later.
Core Course Requirements | Other Required Courses | Focus Areas | |
American Politics |
251. American Political Institutions AND 252. American Politics: Behavior OR 257. Voting and Elections |
1. Two graduate seminars numbered POLI 252–258 and 261–265 POLI 259s or other courses may be used by petition to the American field coordinator. 2. Methods Requirement POLI 204B POLI 271B AND One additional approved methods or analytical theory course to be completed before advancement to candidacy |
American Institutions American Political Development Analytical Theory and Methods Congress Courts and Public Law Elections, Voting, and the Media Parties and Political Organizations Presidency and Executive Branch Urban Politics |
Comparative Politics |
220B. Comparative Politics: Institutions AND 220A. Comparative Politics: State and Society |
1. At least one seminar in political development, democratization, or regime change 2. One additional seminar in comparative politics |
East and Southeast Asia Europe Latin America Soviet Union and Eastern Europe Africa Comparative Political Economy Regimes and Regime Transitions Political Development Comparative Political Institutions Civil Conflict Comparative Political Behavior Comparative Public Policy |
International Relations |
240. International Relations Theory | Three graduate seminars numbered POLI 241–249 IRPS IP/Gen 200–220 (except 209) To be taken for at least one year 283A-C. Workshop in Int’l Relations |
Comparative Foreign Policy International Political Economy International Security |
Political Methodology |
270. Mathematical and Statistical Foundations 271B. Quantitative Methods II |
Two graduate seminars from the POLI 270–279 range, such as 277. Measurement Theory 279. T/Social Network Analysis 279. T/Graphical Models and Statistical Learning |
Student must prepare a substantive focus field in her/his other field (this cannot include Analytic Theory and Methods in American Politics). |
Political Theory |
Two of the following courses: 210AA. Thucydides to Rousseau 210AB. Kant to Rawls |
Either TWO seminar courses numbered 211–219 OR One of the above and one POLI 298 approved by the political theory field coordinator |
A subject (e.g., social contract, authority, power, obligation) A genre (e.g., liberalism, Marxism, feminist political thought) A period with/without regional specialization (e.g., contemporary continental thought, 17th century English thought) |
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 five fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and methodology. Each field also offers examinations in a number of focus areas that represent a specialized sub-field within a major research literature. It is expected that students complete their field requirements prior to sitting for the general examination. 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 PhD 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
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.
Master’s Degree in Political Science
Doctoral students in the Department of Political Science may apply for an MA 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. Any current PhD student who holds an MA or MS and has completed or will complete the requirements for a second master’s degree during his or her course of progress to the doctorate may apply to receive the MA with the consent of the department. However, the second degree must be in a different field.
Advancement to Candidacy
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.
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 adviser by the director of graduate studies. At the end of the first year students are given the opportunity to confirm that adviser 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 adviser. The prospectus adviser will help guide the student in writing the prospectus and selecting a dissertation committee. It is not assumed that the prospectus adviser 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 adviser in consultation with the departmental faculty. The
student will receive a written evaluation from the adviser
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
adviser 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.