U-POLI-AB - Political Science (AB)

Electives. At least two additional Political Science courses from outside the student’s chosen concentration (except for DSDT concentrators, in “D”, where no electives are required), for a minimum of 10 courses to constitute the major. 

Gateway Courses and Concentrations. POLSCI 175 and STA 198/199. Concentrations. Choose a concentration, and satisfy the following course requirements

• A. American politics: Take POLSCI 114, plus four courses with an “A” designation. 

• B. International relations: Take POLSCI 160, plus four courses with a “B” designation. 

• C. Political theory and law: Take either POLSCI 211 or POLSCI 384, plus four courses with a “C” designation. 

• D. Data science and decision theory: Take all of the following:

  • DECSCI 101/POLSCI 128

  • Three co-requisite courses (MATH 112, COMPSCI 101L or COMPSCI 201, and NEUROSCI 101)

  • One game theory or decision theory course (selected from this list: POLSCI 217, ECON 201, or POLSCI 631L)

Also, take one data analysis course (selected from this list: ECON 204, POLSCI 189FS, STA 210, or COMPSCI 216), and take two electives from the following list (COMPSCI 270, COMPSCI 290, DECSCI 213, ECON 462, NEUROSCI 257, NEUROSCI 258, POLSCI 240, POLSCI 333, or POLSCI 342). Political economy: Take POLSCI 145, plus either ECON 101 or ECON 201. Take four additional courses with an “E” designation

ALL CONCENTRATIONS: Take at least one additional "capstone" course listed at the 400 level or higher, with the designation (A, B, C, D, E) relevant for that concentration. 

FOR ALL CONCENTRATIONS EXCEPT D, take two additional elective courses outside the primary concentration.

Course levels are:

• Political Science 100-199: Introductory courses in subfields and foundation courses. Students must take any one (1) subfield introduction listed at the 100 level before taking 300 or higher listings. They may, however, take 200-level courses without any prerequisite.

• Political Science 200-299: Nonintroductory courses with no prerequisite.

• Political Science 300-399: Intermediate courses that require any one subfield introduction course taken at the 100 level.

• Political Science 400-499: Advanced undergraduate and capstone courses that require an intermediate subfield course taken at the 300 level in addition to meeting all of the general requirements of the major.

• Political Science 500-699: Advanced undergraduate and introductory graduate courses.

Of the political science courses required for each subfield, at least six must be Duke courses taught by a member of the Duke instructional staff. However, this requirement may be reduced to five courses if the student: 1) is engaged in political science courses in a year-long study abroad through either a Duke-administered or Duke-approved program, or 2) transferred to Duke after completing two undergraduate years at another institution.

In satisfying the requirements of the major, students in the Robertson Scholars Program may count, exclusive of transfer courses, as many as two University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill courses offered at a level below the 400 level at Duke.

Advanced Placement Credit. Advanced placement credits in political science (score of 4 or 5). These course credits are designated as Political Science 20 (American Government and Politics) and Political Science 21 (Comparative Government and Politics). Such credits are applied toward the 34.0 course credits needed for Trinity graduation. Advanced placement course credits (20, 21) do not satisfy course requirements for the political science major. 

Suggested Work in Related Disciplines. Selected courses in such disciplines as anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, psychology, public policy, religion, sociology, and statistics are desirable.

Courses with Primary Listing in Political Science (POLSCI)

Courses are designated as follows, in terms of counting toward concentrations:

• G: General (elective only)

• A: American politics

• B: International relations

• C: Political theory and law

• D: Decision theory and data science

• E: Political economy 

102. The Science of Politics. (G)

110. Comparative Approaches to Global Issues. (E) 

114. From Voting to Protests: Intro to Political Attitudes, Groups and Behaviors. (A)

115. Rules of Power: How Institutions Shape What Politics Deliver. (B, E)

116D. The American Political System. (A)

120D. The Challenges of Living an Ethical Life. (C) 

125D. Introduction to Global Development: Politics, Policy and Practice. (E)

145D. Introduction to Political Economy. (E)

146. Politics and Economics. (E)

160D. Introduction to Security, Peace and Conflict. (B)

175D. Introduction to Political Philosophy. (C)

201. Public Opinion. (A)

203. Women and the Political Process. (A)

205. Introduction to Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics. (A)

206. American Values, Institutions, and Culture. (A) 

208. How to Think in an Age of Political Polarization. (A, C)

210. Conservatism. (A, C)

211D. Democracy: Ancient and Modern. (C)

212. American Presidency. (A)

217. Discovering Game Theory: Social Complexity and Strategic Interdependence. (D, E)

219. Comparative Government and Politics: Selected Countries. (B, E)

221. South Africa: Past and Present. (B)

222. The Arab Youths Revolution. (B)

224. Inequality and Politics. (E)

227. Ethnic Conflict. (B)

228. Politics of Authoritarian Regimes. (B)

229. Institutions and Self Governance. (B, E)

230. Networks in a Globalizing World. (B)

231D. Introduction to Tools of Political Risk Analysis. (B, E)

232. Introduction to Terrorism. (B)

233. Nuclear Weapons: US Foreign Policy and the Challenges of Global Proliferation. (B)

234D. Are Things Getting Better? The Question of Progress in World Affairs. (B, E)

235S. Comparative Urban Politics and Policymaking. (A)

238. Racial Attitudes, Racial Prejudice, and Racial Politics. (A)

239S. Political Communication in a Changing Media Environment. (A)

240D. Political Psychology. (A)

242D. Campaigns and Elections. (A) 

245. American Constitutional Development / Interpretation I: Constitutional Structure. (A)

246. American Constitutional Development / Interpretation II: Individual Rights. (A)

250. The Politics of International Economic Relations: America in the World Economy. (B)

255. America in World Economy: Law, Politics, & Economics of Antitrust, 1890-2015. (A, E)

257. Latin American Wars of Independence. (B)

258D. From Machine Learning to Ethnography. (D, E)

264S. Democratic Erosion. (A) 

265S. Introduction to American Political Thought. (C)

268. Politics and Literature. (C)

270. Ambition and Politics. (C)

272. Human Rights in Theory and Practice. (B, C)

273. The Middle East Through Film. (B)

274S. Race and Society: South Africa and the US, 1890-present. (A, B)

275S. Left, Right, and Center: Competing Political Ideals. (C)

277D. The Ethics of War: Self-Defense, Humanitarian Intervention, Terrorism and Law. (B, C) 

278. Roman Political Thought and Its Modern Legacy. (C)

301S. Illiberal Nondemocracies: Focus on Eastern Europe and Asia. (B, E)

305S. Black Politics. (A)

308. Islam and the State: Political Economy of Governance in the Middle East. (E)

310. Political Analysis for Public Policy-Making. (A, E)

316. American Political Parties. (A)

317. Global Corruption. (B)

318. Congress and the President. (A)

319S. US Comparative State Politics. (A)

321. International Law and International Institutions. (B)

322. Introduction to Middle East Politics. (B)

324S. Chinese Politics. (B)

326S. Reason and Passion in Politics. (A)

329S. Politics in Violence. (B, E)

330. Quantitative Political Inquiry and Evaluation. (G)

331D. Prisoner's Dilemma and Distributive Justice. (E)

332. Games and Politics. (D, E)

333S. Democracy and Social Choice. (D, E)

335S. Economic, Political, and Social Institutions. (E)

338. Political Economy of Southeast Asia. (B, E)

342. Strategy and Politics. (D, E)

345. Experimental Political Science. (A, E)

346. Business, Politics, and Economic Growth. (B, E)

349. Political Economy of Latin America. (B, E)

350. International Political Economy. (B, E)

351. Economic History and Modernization in the Middle East. (C, E)

352S. U.S. Policy in the Middle East. (B)

353. Globalization of Democracy. (B)

354. Politics in the Developing World. (B, E)

361. Political and Criminal Armed Groups. (B)

362. International Security. (B)

363. International Human Rights in World Politics. (B, C)

364. Political Violence, Repression, and Organized Crime. (B) 

365D. Foreign Policy of the United States. (A, B)

372S. Sex, Politics and Feminist Philosophy. (C)

373. Law and Politics. (A, C)

402S. Origins of WWI and WWII in Europe. (B, Capstone)

406S. South African Life Histories. (B)

421. Constitutionalism and Crisis: From Catalina's Conspiracy to Covid. (C, E, Capstone)

427S. World in Your Hand. (B, Capstone)

428S. International Conflict Resolution. (B, Capstone)

449. Politics, Philosophy, and Economics Capstone. (E, Capstone)

468S. Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Prosperity and Distribution in the Long Run. (B, E, Capstone)

497S. American Foreign Policy and the Presidential Campaign. (A, B, Capstone)

503S. Crisis, Choice, and Change in Advanced Democratic States. (B, Capstone)

504S. Comparative Ethnic Politics. (B, Capstone)

505S. Race in Comparative Perspective. (A, B, Capstone)

506. Theorists of Modern Politics: Marx, Durkheim, Weber. (C)

507S. Religion and Comparative Politics. (B, E)

508S. Public Opinion and Behavior. (A)

509S. Political Participation: Comparative Perspectives. (A, B)

515S. Post War Europe, 1945-1968: Politics, Society, and Culture. (B)

516S. Rule of Law. (C)

517S. Democratic Institutions. (B, C)

519. The American Party System. (A)

522S. Comparative Party Politics. (B)

525S. Race and American Politics. (A)

526S. Markets and Democracy in Latin America. (B, E)

528S. Peace and Conflict Processes. (B, Capstone)

536S. Choosing in Groups: Social Choice and Collective Action. (D, E, Capstone) 

550S. Predicting Politics: Counter Insurgency, Elections, and Stability. (B, D) 

551S. Voting Behavior. (A)

554. Privacy, Technology and National Security. (B, E)

555S. The Politics of Market Competition in a Global Economy. (B, E)

561S. Problems in International Security. (B)

562S. American Grand Strategy. (B, Capstone)

574S. Dissent, Disobedience and Revolution. (B, C)

575S. Ancient Political Philosophy. (C, Capstone)

576. Politics and Philosophy of Self and Other. (C)

577S. Nietzsche's Political Philosophy. (C)

578S. Contemporary Theories of Democracy. (B, C, Capstone)

581S. Heidegger. (C)

584S. Modern Political Theory. (C)

586S. Political Thought in the United States. (C, Capstone)

587S. Free Speech, Hate Speech, and Civil Disobedience. (A, C)