2019-2020 Bulletin 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2019-2020 Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

Political Science, PhD


The doctoral program in Political Science provides students with the in-depth knowledge of domestic and international politics and the analytical skills required for careers in academia, the public sector, or private enterprise.  Rigorous training and the applied nature of the courses and fields instill analytical expertise and practical experience for both academic and research-based positions. Students are prepared for academic careers, teaching, research, government and public service, and positions in the private sector where an in-depth knowledge of domestic and international politics, economics, and business is of vital importance.

Six fields are offered by the department of Politics and Government : American Politics, Comparative PoliticsPolitical Philosophy, Public Law, Public Policy, and Research Methodology.

Admission requirements are detailed in the Admissions  section of the Bulletin.

See the Addendum  to this Bulletin for updated degree requirements.

Degree Requirements

Coursework.  A minimum of 72 units are required for the doctorate degree.  In addition to the tools requirements, students are required to complete six-course sequences in two of the program’s field offerings.

Research Tools.  Satisfactory completion of research tool requirements through our core methods courses.

Transdisciplinary Requirement. Doctoral students are required to complete a Transdisciplinary course (T-Course) within the first two years of their program or by the completion of 48 units in their program. The course will count as 4 units towards the doctoral degree requirement. It will not add any additional units to the student’s degree requirements nor count against the total number of transfer units from previous graduate coursework.

Qualifying Examinations.  Successful completion of the written qualifying examinations in each of two major concentrations. Qualifying examinations are offered once in each of the fall and the spring semesters. An oral examination, if required, is administered within two weeks of the written examination.

Dissertation.  Campus policies and procedures are detailed in the Doctoral Degree Regulations section of the Bulletin and on the registrar’s Completion of Degree webpage.

University Policies.  University policies detailed in the Academic Policies section of the Bulletin apply.

Coursework

Research Tools (16 units)

Take the following three classes (12 units):

  • PP 480 - The Nature of Inquiry
  • PP 481 - Introduction to Statistical Analysis
  • PP 482 - Multivariate Regression Analysis

Take a qualitative course (4 units) such as:

  • PP 483 - Legal Research Methods
  • SP&E 485 - Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research (offered every 2 years)
  • Another qualitative course approved by your advisor such as: Oral History, Archival Analysis, Text and/or Content Analysis, Field Research and Ethnographic Methods, Corpus Linguistics, a foreign language, etc.

Transdisciplinary Requirement

One class (4 units).

Doctoral students are required to complete a Transdisciplinary (TNDY) course (T-Course) within the first two years of their program or by the completion of 48 units in their program. The course will count as 4 units towards the doctoral degree requirement. It will not add any additional units to the student’s degree requirements nor count against the total number of transfer units from previous graduate coursework. See the class schedule for TNDY classes.

FIELDS


American Politics (24 units)


Core Course Requirement (4 units)

  • PP 300 - American Politics & Institutions 

American Political Thought & Development (4 units)

  • PP 301 - American Political Development
  • PP 310 - The Presidency and the Constitution
  • PP 315 - Deliberative Democracy
  • PP 319B - Perspectives on Judicial Powers
  • PP 319E - Judicial Review, Democracy, and the Constitution
  • PP 451 - The Federalist

Governmental Institutions (8 units)

  • PP 326 - American Constitutional Law I: Civil Liberties or PP 327 - American Constitutional Law II: National Powers
  • PP 305 - Executive-Congressional Relations
  • PP 306 - Legislative Process & Public Policy
  • PP 307 - The Modern Presidency
  • PP 311 - American Presidency
  • PP 316 - The Administrative State
  • PP 318 - American Politics, Courts, and Public Policy

Individual & Collective Behavior (8 units)

  • PP 301 - American Political Development
  • PP 302 - Political Behavior
  • PP 308 - Political Psychology
  • PP 309 - Women, Politics, and Policy
  • PP 313 - Representation and Elections
  • PP 314 - Political Parties in the U.S.
  • PP 323 - Racial & Ethnic Political Behavior
  • PP 329 - Public Opinion
  • PP 341 - US Immigration Policy

Political Philosophy (24 units)


 Core Course Requirement (4 units)

  • PP 450 - Major Works in Political Philosophy

Subfields (12 units)

Choose one course from each of the following subfields listed below:

Ancient & Medieval Political Philosophy (4 units)

  • PP 304 - Ethics and Politics
  • PP 456 - Topics in Ancient Political Philosophy: Plato’s Laws
  • PP 461a - Classical Political Philosophy: Aristotle
  • PP 461b - Classical Political Philosophy: Cicero
  • PP 465 - The Philosophic Arts of Reading and Writing
  • PP 466 - Basic Concepts in Political Philosophy: Plato’s Republic

Modern Political Philosophy (4 units)

  • PP 451 - The Federalist
  • PP 453 - Idealism and Nihilism
  • PP 457 - The Political Philosophy of John Locke
  • PP 457a - The Political Philosophy of Rousseau
  • PP 457b - The Political Philosophy of Machiavelli
  • PP 457c - Political Philosophy of Montesquieu
  • PP 458 - Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy
  • PP 459 - Individualism and Communitarianism

Contemporary Political Philosophy (4 units)

  • PP 454 - Contemporary Figures in Political Philosophy: Ortega y Gasset and Arendt
  • PP 455 - Feminist Theory and Epistemology
  • PP 462 - Contemporary Political Philosophy
  • PP 463 - The Political Philosophy of Heidegger 
  • PP 464 - Comparative Political Philosophy

Expertise in Depth (8 units)

Complete two courses in one of the subfield areas.  One course should be a thematic or issues course.  The second course should focus on the work of one theorist.

Public Policy (28 units)


Core Courses (24 units)

  • PP 330 - Public Policy Process
  • PP 331 - Policy Evaluation
  • PP 338 - Policy Design and Implementation
  • SP&E 313 - Microeconomics and Public Policy
    • Note: If students have an equivalent college-level course in Microeconomics, this requirement may be met, but units may only transfer if the Microeconomics course is a graduate-level course that meets the institutional transfer standards. See your advisor for details.
  • SP&E 318 - Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • SP&E 410 - Foundations of Political Economy

Substantive Track (4 units) 

Policy Emphasis 1: Diversity Policy

  • PP309 - Women, Politics, and Policy
  • PP323 - Racial & Ethnic Politial Behavior
  • PP341 - US Immigration Policy
  • PP366 - Political and Economic Development in Latin America
  • SPE371 - Globalization
  • REL472 - Race and Religion in America
  • ED699 - Educating Minority Students in Urban Schools: Policy & Practice
  • EA86 - Environmental Justice (this Pitzer course requires instructor agreement to add
  • additional work for graduate students)
  • Or other courses approved by your faculty advisor

 

Policy Emphasis 2: Evaluation with Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences

  • PSY326 - Foundations of Evaluation (2-unit course)^
  • PSY315z - Comparative Evaluation Theory
  • PSY315ee - Evaluation Procedures*
  • SPE348 - Regulatory Policy OR another course approved by your faculty advisor

^ Note that a 2-unit elective is usually offered to complement PSY 326

* 326 and 315z should be taken before 315ee

 Policy Emphasis 3: Education with School of Educational Studies

  • EDUC 407 - Educational Policy
  • EDUC 630 - Policy, Practice and High Performing Schools
  • EDUC 635 - Special Education Trends, Issues, and Policy Development
  • EDUC 650 - Federal Higher Education Policy
  • EDUC 654 - Higher Education and the Law
  • EDUC 676 - The Politics of Urban School reform
  • EDUC 699 - Educating Minority Students in Urban Schools: Policy and Practice
  • Or another course approved by your faculty advisor

Policy Emphasis 4: Health Policy  with School of Community and Global Health

  • CGH 300 - Theoretical Foundations in Health Promotion and Education
  • CGH 302 - Epidemiology

Student-Designed Emphasis - Consult with advisor

Research Methodology (28 units)


Core Course (4 units)

  • PP 487 - Applied Data Analysis
    • ​Note: The substantive focus of the course varies from semester to semester (e.g. categorical data analysis, machine learning methods, methods for causal identification, etc.)

Professional and Applied Courses (12 units) 

  • PP 331 - Policy Evaluation
  • SP&E 318 - Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • IST 370 - GIS Essential Concepts OR IST 371 - Introduction to Solution Development AND IST 372 - GIS Analytics and Solution Development
  • IST 344 - Data Analytics an dInformation Visualization
  • IST 340 - Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
  • IST 302 - Databases and Big Data
  • ONT105 - Research Methods for Community Change
  • Other applied methods courses as approved by your advisor

Foundational Courses for Social Science Research (12 units) 

  • Econ 381 - Probability and Statistics
  • Econ 382 - Econometrics I (prerequisite: Econ 381)
  • Econ 317 - Game Theory and Asymmetric Information
  • SP&E 485 - Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research
  • PP 483 - Legal Studies
  • HIST 304 - Introduction to Oral History, Methodology, and Theory
  • CLST 415 - Ethnographic Field Research Methods in Cultural Studies
  • Psych 315J - Survey Research Methods (students must commit to both semesters of this course; 2 units per each semester)
  • Other foundational methods as approved by your advisor
    • Note: In conferral with an advisor and as appropriate, students can take courses related to research methodology from any department at CGU.

Comparative Politics (24 units)


Core Courses (12 units)

  • SP&E 350 - Theories and Issues in Comparative Politics
  • SP&E 351 - Comparative Institutional Analysis
  • SP&E 352 - Comparative Political Economy

Complete at least 3 additional classes with Faculty Advisor approval from the following (12 units):

  • SP&E 485 - Qualitative and Mixed Methods (recommended)
  • PP 353 - Comparative Parties & Elections
  • PP 354 - Politics of Developing Countries
  • PP 356 - Politics of Non-Democratic States
  • PP 364 - Democracy & Development
  • PP 366 - Latin American Politics
  • POST 225 - Politics of Africa
  • TNDY 405C - Wealth, Poverty and Inequality
  • Other courses can be taken with the approval of the field chair
    • Note: Consult with Faculty Advisor to select best courses for your goals. Pre-approval of electives is required.

Public Law (24 units)

Core Courses (12 units)

Choose three courses from the following. Students may choose to take additional courses from this section to count towards their electives. PP483 cannot count towards the field if used to satisfy other graduation requirements:
  • PP 318 - American Politics, Courts, and Public Policy
  • PP 326 - American Constitutional Law I: Introduction to the Law of the Constitution
  • PP 327 - American Constitutional Law II: Major Constitutional Developments since the Civil War
  • PP 328 - Rise & Operations of the Administrative State
  • PP 483 - Legal Research Methods

Electives (12 units)

Choose three courses as electives from the following. Substitutions require Field Chair approval:

  • PP 303 - Religion, Law, and American Politics
  • PP 305 - Executive-Congressional Relations
  • PP 306 - Legislative Process and Public Policy
  • PP 307 - The Modern Presidency
  • PP 310 - The American Presidency
  • PP 312 - The Supreme Court as a Political Institution
  • PP 316 - State and Local Institutions
  • PP 319 - Special Topics (including Perspectives on Judicial Power, National Security and Decision-Making, and Judicial Review)
  • PP 321 - Representative Democracy in the US
  • PP 325 - Judicial Power & the Growth of Government
  • PP 456 - Plato’s Laws