Program: Political Science, B.A. - University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2024)

Jun 08, 2024
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

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Offered by Political Science.

Students who major or minor in political science receive excellent instruction and training from the Political Science faculty, both on the main campus and at Shady Grove. Students excel in the classroom and are involved in many different extracurricular activities, such as internships, research, study abroad, and participation in clubs. Upon graduating, alumni have worked for local and state governments, the federal government, legal offices, and in the civil service. Others have gone on to law school or graduate school for some aspect of political science or public policy. Some alumni become teachers, with several beginning their teaching careers with the Teach for America program. The Political Science Department also has an excellent record in statewide and national competitions. For example, political science students from UMBC have served as the University of Maryland student regent, have received Fulbright grants for teaching and research around the world, and have won the highly selective Truman Scholarship for outstanding public service leadership. Furthermore, Political Science students have led UMBC’s Mock Trial team to national prominence and have placed exceptionally well at Model United Nations conferences. Students have opportunities to interact with each other in the department through the Council of Majors, politically-oriented clubs, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the national honor society for political science. Beyond regular coursework, there is a lot to do in the department and Political Science faculty and staff are proud that students are leaving their mark in various ways both while at UMBC and after graduation.

University Requirements

Completion of Minimum University Requirements for an Undergraduate Baccalaureate Degree.

  • Minimum 120 credits and minimum GPA of 2.0
  • Completion of 45 upper-level credits, residence requirement, Writing Intensive requirement, and General Education requirement

Major Requirements

  • Minimum 36 credits
  • Minimum grade of ‘C’ in courses applied to the major
  • Minimum 15 credits completed in residence at UMBC

Course Requirements

Lower-Level Course (3 credits)

Complete the following:

  • POLI 100 - American Government and Politics (3)

Courses at the 200 Level (12 credits)

Complete 12 credits from the following or other 200-level courses as approved:

  • POLI 200 - Introduction to Political Science (3)
  • POLI 210 - Political Theory (3)
  • POLI 220 - The Constitution and American Democracy (3)
  • POLI 230 - Introduction to Constitutional Law (3)
  • POLI 233 - Common Law and Legal Analysis (3)
  • POLI 240 - State and Local Politics (3)
  • POLI 250 - Introduction to Public Administration and Policy (3)
  • POLI 260 - Comparative Politics (3)
  • POLI 270 - Culture and Politics (3)
  • POLI 280 - International Relations (3)
  • POLI 281 - International Relations (w/ writing focus) (3)

Political Science Research (3-4 credits)

Complete one of the following:

  • POLI 300 - Quantitative Analysis in Political Science (4)
  • POLI 301 - Research Methods in Political Science (3)

Upper-Level Electives (18 credits)

Complete 18 credits in Political Science at the 300 or 400 level, including a minimum of two courses at the 400 level.

Students have many course options from which to select for completing the upper level course requirements for the major. Political Science courses are organized by disciplinary subfields and through specific number sequences. Students can also complete their upper-level course requirements for the major through independent study course options (e.g., POLI 401and POLI 402) and through selected topics options offered every semester invarious subfields.

A partial list of upper-level course options is provided below.

Political Theory

  • POLI 310 - Political Theories of Democracy (3)
  • POLI 315 - Political Theories of Justice (3)
  • POLI 412 - Ethics and Public Policy (3)
  • POLI 419 - Advanced Selected Topics in Political Theory (3)

American Politics

  • POLI 321 - Public Opinions (3)
  • POLI 323 - The Presidency (3)
  • POLI 324 - The Congress (3)
  • POLI 421 - Baseball, American Politics, and the Law (3)
  • POLI 423 - Presidential Elections (3)
  • POLI 425 - U.S. Campaigns and Elections (3)
  • POLI 427 - African American Politics (3)

Public Law

  • POLI 334 - Judicial Process (3)
  • POLI 337 - Comparative Justice (3)
  • POLI 338 - Women, Gender, and Law (3)
  • POLI 430 - The Law of War (3)
  • POLI 432 - Civil Rights (3)
  • POLI 433 - First Amendment Freedoms (3)
  • POLI 437 - International Human Rights Law (3)

State and Local Politics

  • POLI 340 - Problem-Solving in the Urban Black Community (3)
  • POLI 440 - Urban Politics (3)
  • POLI 446 - The Politics of Poverty and Social Welfare Policy (3)

Public Administration and Policy

  • POLI 350 - The Policy-Making Process (3)
  • POLI 353 - Governmental Budgeting and Financial Administration (3)
  • POLI 450 - Seminar in Public Administration and Policy (3)

Comparative Politics

  • POLI 361 - Comparative Political Analysis (3)
  • POLI 460 - Comparative Institutional Development (3)
  • POLI 467 - Comparative Foreign Policy (3)
  • POLI 468 - Disaster Politics (3)

Area Studies

  • POLI 374 - European Politics (3)
  • POLI 377 - Latin American Politics (3)
  • POLI 470 - Politics of Human Rights (3)
  • POLI 471 - Globalization and Transitional Justice (3)
  • POLI 475 - Russian Politics (3)

International Relations

  • POLI 380 - International Relations Theory (3)
  • POLI 383 - Global Citizenship (3)
  • POLI 384 - International Organizations (3)
  • POLI 385 - International Security (3)
  • POLI 387 - The Basics of Political Economy (3)
  • POLI 480 - World Order (3)
  • POLI 481 - Nuclear Weapons in World Politics (3)
  • POLI 482 - International Law (3)
  • POLI 483 - International Negotiation (3)
  • POLI 486 - Middle East International Relations. (3)
  • POLI 487 - International Political Economy (3)

Foreign Policy

  • POLI 390 - American Foreign Policy (3)
  • POLI 395 - National Security Policy of the United States (3)

Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs

Qualified students may apply to an accelerated program, which allows them to share courses between a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. Students take graduate courses as undergraduate students and later apply those courses to master’s degrees. An undergraduate may apply to participate in an accelerated program even if the desired graduate program is in a department other than the one in which the student is majoring. More information is available from the Accelerated Program page of the Graduate School website.


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Program: Political Science, B.A. - University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2024)

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