College Level Requirements

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State Mandated Common Course Prerequisites

Prerequisites (State Mandated Common Prerequisites) for Students Transferring from a Florida College System Institution

Students wishing to transfer to USF should complete the A.A. degree at a Florida College System institution. Some courses required for the major may also meet General Education Requirements thereby transferring maximum hours to the university. If students transfer with fewer than 60 semester hours of acceptable credit, the students must meet the university’s entering freshman requirements including ACT or SAT test scores, GPA, and course requirements.

In addition, all Political Science majors are required to take at least three (3) credit hours of Economics coursework. (Please see an advisor for recommendations).

Students should complete any two introductory courses with a

• POS, INR or CPO prefix lower-level course 6 credit hours
• (ideally POS 1041 or POS 2041, and POS 1112 or POS 2112)
• A grade of C- is the minimum acceptable grade.

Total Major Hours: 36 Hours

Major Core

A minimum of 36 credit hours is required to satisfy the requirements of the major. Students must take the 12 credit hours of required core courses in Political Science coursework. No more than six (6) credit hours can be taken from POS 4905, POS 4910 and POS 4941. Students enrolled in the Washington, D.C. semester program may have this rule altered by their advisor. (A GPA of 3.0 is required to enroll in these courses; the Chair may grant special exception for students with a GPA between 2.70 and 2.99).

Major Core Courses - 12 Hours

• CPO 2002 Introduction Comparative Politics or INR 2002 Introduction to International Relations
• Note that either CPO 2002 or INR 2002 must be taken as a core course. However, the other course not taken as a core course may be taken as an elective.
• POS 2041 American National Government
• POT 3003 Introduction to Political Theory
• POS 3713 Empirical Political Analysis

Students should complete POT 3003 and POS 3713 by the end of their junior year; students transferring with 45 credit hours or more are encouraged to complete these courses within their first two semesters in residence at USF.

Students are further advised to not take POS 3713 and POT 3003 in the same semester. Please consult with the Political Science advisor with any questions regarding these recommendations.

Major Elective Courses - 24 Hours

Students must choose electives from the seven fields listed below with at least one course from Field I, one course from Field II or III, and one course from any of Fields IV, V, VI, or VII. Core required courses must be completed before a course from a given field or field grouping may be taken.

Field I: Political Theory

• POT 3013 Classical Political Theory
• POT 4064 Contemporary Political Thought
• POT 4054 Modern Political Theory
• POT 4936 Selected Topics in Political Theory

Field II: Comparative Government and Politics

• CPO 4034 Politics of the Development Areas
• CPO 4930 Comparative Government and Politics of Select Areas
• ASN 3012 Japan Today
• ASN 3014 China Today
• ASN 3030 The Middle East
• EUS 3000 Europe
• EUS 3022 Russia
• LAS 3002 Latin America

Field III: International Relations

• INR 3102 International Human Rights
• INR 4403 International Law
• INR 4035 International Political Economy
• INR 4502 International Organizations
• INR 3336 Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy
• INR 4254 Africa in World Affairs
• INR 3011 Globalization
• INR 3018 World Ideologies
• INR 3033 International Political Cultures
• INR 3038 International Wealth and Power
• INR 3084 International Terrorism
• INR 3141 Global Security Policy
• INR 3202 International Human Rights
• INR 4083 Conflict in the World

Field IV: American National and State Governments

• POS 2080 The American Political Tradition
• POS 3182 Florida Politics and Government
• POS 4413 The American Presidency
• POS 2112 State and Local Government and Politics
• POS 3453 Political Parties and Interest Groups
• POS 4424 The American Congress
• POS 3173 Southern Politics
• POS 4204 Political Behavior, Public Opinion and Elections

Field V: Urban Government and Politics

• POS 3142 Introduction to Urban Politics and Government
• URP 4050 City Planning and Community Development

Field VI: Public Policy

• INR 3102 American Foreign Policy
• PUP 4203 Environmental Politics and Policy
• PUP 4002 Public Policy
• URP 4050 City Planning and Community Development

Field VII: Law and Politics

• INR 4403 International Law
• POS 3691 Introduction to Law and Politics
• POS 4614 Constitutional Law I
• POS 4624 Constitutional Law II
• POS 3283 Judicial Process and Politics

The following courses are not included within any of the seven fields, but may still be used as elective hours:

• PAD 3003 Introduction to Public Administration
• POS 4936 Senior Seminar
• PAD 4204 Political Behavior, Public Opinion and Elections
• POS 4941 Field Work
• POS 4905 Independent Study
• POS 4970 Honor Thesis
• POS 4910 Individual Research
• POS 3931 Selected Topics
• POT 4109 Politics and Literature
• POT 4936 Selected Topics in Political Theory

Optional Honors Program

Honors in Political Science

The Honors Program in Political Science is designed for the outstanding undergraduate who seeks an intensive learning experience plus academic recognition during the senior year.

Eligibility:

Political Science majors with a 3.5 GPA in Political Science courses and an overall 3.0 average will be invited to participate in the honors program.

Requirements:

Students who participate must complete the Honors seminar with a grade of “B” or better and must write an Honors Thesis, POS 4970. The Honors Thesis must meet the following criteria:

• a thesis proposal must be approved by the student’s major professor before s/he begins writing;
• students need two thesis advisors who must approve the final version of the thesis;
• students will publicly present their thesis and provide a copy of it to the department after the final draft has been approved;
• the thesis must be at least 50 pages long, contain an abstract, table of contents, bibliography and footnotes/endnotes;
• all thesis are due during the last week of classes for the semester in which the student is currently enrolled.