Politics

25 Merrill College
(831) 459-2855
politics@ucsc.edu
http://politics.ucsc.edu

Program Description

In describing the department and major at UCSC, the term politics (rather than political science or government) is used because the study of political life requires a far more inclusive approach than that which is associated with conventional political science methods, and because politics happens in places other than governments. Courses address issues central to public life, such as democracy, power, freedom, political economy, social movements, institutional reforms, and how public life, as distinct from private life, is constituted. Materials and approaches that seem fruitful for illuminating the issues are applied. Thus, the program is problem oriented, less concerned with observing the boundaries of subfields or academic disciplines than with making sense of our lives as citizens.

More specifically, the study of politics is the study of the way human communities shape and share a common life through their institutional practices, ideas, interests, and expectations. It looks at the way collective decisions are made and at the obstacles citizens meet as they try to forge a shared and just life. It is concerned with maintaining the integrity of diverse points of view about how we ought to live and with the need for defining a shared language in order with which to discuss the question. Politics faculty at UCSC emphasize the need for larger perspectives, whether they be drawn from studying the politics and cultures of other societies or of earlier periods. They also link the study of domestic politics to international politics and bring theoretical concerns to bear on the current and recurrent issues that mark the modern polity.

The study of politics is a critical part of a liberal arts education. Since political issues and practices are embedded in and reflective of the whole experience of a community, the study of politics can constitute the center of a broad-based course of study drawing on history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, economics, literature, and law.

The programs offered by the UCSC Politics Department are designed to acquaint students with a broad range of issues studied by those in the field. The department offers an undergraduate major, a minor, a combined Latin American and Latino studies/politics major, and a doctoral degree. The Politics Department also houses a program in legal studies; see the Legal Studies, for details.

A major in politics is appropriate background for students interested in careers in law, journalism, or teaching; in political and governmental work from local to international settings; and in corporations dealing with global issues. Many UCSC politics graduates have also gone on to do advanced work in distinguished graduate and professional schools. Others have found active and challenging careers in business and community organizing. Still others have turned to scholarship and writing. But regardless of career direction, the most significant purpose of the politics major is to help educate a reflective and activist citizenry capable of sharing power and responsibility in a contemporary democracy.

UCSC politics students have many opportunities for field work and for internship placements. Students are encouraged to develop their own extensive independent research projects.
Politics faculty members give students individual attention to help them in their studies. Faculty members are firmly committed to the value of a liberal arts education, but they are also actively engaged in programs of research and writing. The research interests of the faculty range from the theory of justice to the problem of war, from campaign strategy to relations between the rich and the poor countries of the world.

Many upper-division politics courses can serve as supplements to the work of students majoring in other disciplines of the social sciences and humanities.

No specific courses at the high school level are required for admission to the major in politics at UCSC. Courses in history, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences, whether taken at the high school or college level, are appropriate background and preparation for the politics major.

Major Requirements as Follows

Two lower-division politics courses. All students are required to take two courses from those numbered 1 through 79, as a prerequisite to upper-division courses in politics. (These have an IS general education code.) These courses are normally taken during the first year.

Four upper-division politics core courses. The following four groups of courses constitute the core of the politics major. Four courses are required: two courses from one group, one course from a second group, and one course from a third group. In general, upper-division courses are not recommended for freshmen.

Theory

105A   Ancient Political Thought
105B   Early Modern Political Thought
105C   Modern Political Thought
105D Late 20th Century Political Thought

U.S. Politics

120A   Congress, President, and the Court in American Politics
120B   Society and Democracy in American Political Development
120C   State and Capitalism in American Political Development

Comparative

140A   Politics of Advanced Industrialized Societies
140B   Comparative Post-Communist Politics
140C   Latin American Politics
140D   Politics of East Asia
140E   Postcolonial States and Societies

International

160A   International Politics
160B   Global Organization
160C   Security, Conflict, Violence, War

Course 160A, normally offered fall quarter, is very strongly recommended prior to taking the other international core courses.

Five upper-division politics electives. Five additional politics courses are to be selected from courses numbered 101–199. One of these courses may satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement.

Comprehensive Requirements

The comprehensive requirement in the Politics Department can be satisfied in any of the following methods:

• successful completion of a politics senior seminar (190-series) that includes the writing of an extensive paper (no less than 15 pages) with a substantial research content. To enroll in a specific 190 seminar, students must have successfully completed the prerequisite courses listed in the seminar’s catalog course description;
• successful completion of a politics graduate core seminar (enrollment in which is contingent on the written recommendation of two politics faculty) that includes the writing of an extensive paper (no less than 15 pages) with a substantial research content;
• successful completion of a senior thesis (courses 195A-B-C) of approximately 50 pages with a substantial research content, supervised by a politics faculty member with a second reader;
• successful completion of one additional politics upper-division course. In addition to the existing requirements of this course the student must receive faculty approval for and enroll in a two-credit independent study, Politics 199F, which requires completion of a substantial writing component (e.g., a term paper of no less than 15 pages in length).

Minor Requirements

To complete a minor in politics, a student must take five upper-division politics courses. Of these, four are to be selected from the core courses: two from one subfield and two from another subfield. The fifth course is to be selected from courses numbered 101–199 (the groups listed above). The lower-division prerequisite and the senior comprehensive seminar are not required for the minor.

General Undergraduate Information

Law in the politics major. Students interested in the law and legal issues may pursue the pathway in law and government as part of a politics major. The law and government pathway offers courses in both U.S. and international law, providing students a solid foundation in such areas as constitutional law, family law, civil rights, and human rights. Students who hope to attend law school or pursue law-related careers can best prepare themselves for their future academic and professional work in a liberal arts major such as politics, which strongly emphasizes the development of analytic and writing skills.

Combined major. The Politics Department offers a combined major with the Latin American and Latino Studies Department. Requirements may be reviewed in the Latin American and Latino Studies section of the catalog.

Double majors. The department accepts proposals for double majors. A student pursuing a double major meets the full requirements of the politics major as well as the full requirements of the other major subject.

Advising. Declaring the major in politics is a three-step process: (1) attend a declaration orientation workshop, (2) meet with your faculty adviser, and (3) meet with the politics undergraduate adviser. Each student meets with an assigned faculty adviser to discuss an intended program of study, including its breadth and purpose. The faculty adviser may suggest additional courses so that the student can achieve greater breadth or concentration. Students are encouraged to select related courses from other departments which complement their interests in politics.

Pathways. The following pathways are suggested to help students choose courses in their area(s) of interest. The pathways do not constitute tracks within the politics major.

Conflict and security: courses 70, 107, 129, 160, 173, 190B, 190C, 190G. 190W
Markets and politics: courses 43, 70, 105A,105C. 111, 120C, 122, 124, 141, 142, 160, 174, 176, 178, 190K, 190S
Race, class, and gender: courses 5, 10, 25, 101, 105C, 110, 111, 112, 120B, 120C, 122, 124, 127, 140C, 146, 150, 190K, 190L, 190Q, 190T, 190V
Culture and power: courses 5, 43, 101, 105A, 105B, 105C, 107, 109, 110, 114, 120B, 140B, 141, 142, 146, 150, 190A, 190V, 190W
Citizenship and democracy: courses 5, 10, 20, 25, 101, 105A, 105B, 105C, 107, 110, 111, 112, 114, 120A, 120B, 140B, 141, 142, 146, 150, 190N, 190Q, 190W
Law and government: courses 20, 25, 105A, 105C, 107, 110, 111, 112, 120A, 120C, 122, 127, 129, 141, 146, 163, 173, 174, 179, 190G, 190L, 190N, 190Q, 190W
States and regions: courses 43, 70, 107, 140B, 140C, 140D, 140E, 141, 142, 146, 150, 160, 175, 190V, 190W
Global governance: courses 70, 107, 111, 140E, 160, 173, 174, 175, 179, 190B, 190G, 190S, 190W

Course credit from other institutions. Courses from another institution may be considered only if they appear on the student’s Transfer Credit Summary. Students who wish to substitute courses taken elsewhere for the Politics Department’s requirements should discuss the procedure with the department adviser.

Senior thesis. Students interested in working on original research and writing under the supervision of a faculty member may pursue an independent study, Politics 195A-B-C. Completion of the senior thesis satisfies the comprehensive requirement.

Graduate Program

The Faculty

The UCSC Politics Department’s faculty provides a distinctive mix of senior scholars whose work has led the field toward interdisciplinary and engaged research, and junior scholars whose work represents the diverse cutting edge of U.S. and international political research. The small size of the program encourages close interaction among faculty and students.

The department enjoys several areas of special strength, including American political development and a focus on the social foundations of democratic politics and democratization. Clusters of faculty also specialize in the study of varieties of capitalism and post-communist politics and economy; the politics of Southeast Asia and Latin America; the study of race and politics; the politics of language; post-colonial theory and nationalist discourse; early modern political thought; and informal and translocal political organization.

The Curriculum

The Politics Department is impressed by the fact that many of the best studies of politics today disregard the conventional boundaries of the political science’s disciplinary subfields. Therefore, the core graduate curriculum and qualifying examination process are structured around four interrelated themes central to political inquiry. Each of these areas of emphasis focuses, in a different way, on the relations among material life, institutional authority, collective mobilization, and political vision at all levels of politics.

Social and Political Thought. Brings together the history of political thought; contemporary social and critical theory;’ and the contributions of legal and institutional analysis of various kinds. This area of inquiry emphasizes the critical study of political practices that are experienced or understood as in some way limiting, oppressive, or wrong. The work of political and social theory as we see it is to transform our understanding of these practices; to see their contingent conditions; and to articulate the possibilities of governing ourselves differently.

Political Institutions. Emphasizes the comparative and international study of political institutions as instruments of collective decision-making and action. This area of inquiry focuses on the state and on transnational, subnational, and regional political institutions. In this area, we emphasize historical patterns of institutional development in relation to domestic political conflict and the changing contours of international political economy and patterns of conflict and cooperation among states.

Political Economy. Focuses on the relationship between states, markets, and societies. This area of inquiry addresses the history of the liberal state in the context of the origins and development of markets and capitalisms and the historical evolution of national and supranational economies. This area considers the relationships among labor, capital, production, and consumption; political contexts for economic regulation and management; and the global and national problems of social welfare, resources, and the environment.

Social and Political Forces. Concerns the interaction of social forces and political forces, drawing upon the work of scholars focused on social mobilizations and histories. Accordingly, this area of inquiry focuses on the articulation and organization of political interest and identities. This area studies the mutual interaction of these interests and identities with structure (states, discourses, public policy, and the law) uniting substantive and theoretical concerns across regional, national, and global politics.

The politics graduate curriculum works critically upon and within conventional social science research and also ranges beyond its methods, drawing upon cultural studies, historical sociology, and history as they inform the study of politics. Students in the politics graduate program also work with faculty in other distinguished departments at UCSC, including literature, history of consciousness, history, Latin American and Latino studies, environmental studies, philosophy, international economics, and feminist studies.

Scholars and students in the program emphasize the articulation of important questions prior to the development of methods for grappling with them, while recognizing the importance of appropriate methodological tools for doing meaningful political research.

Teaching

Throughout its history, the department has been strongly committed to undergraduate teaching. The graduate program offers graduate students the opportunity to work closely with faculty and undergraduates as teaching assistants. The Politics Department’s faculty is committed to “the teaching of teaching”: its training of college educators emphasizes the importance of civic education in undergraduate instruction.

See our web site, http://politics.ucsc.edu, for details about the policies for admission tot graduate standing as well as the program brochure, application, and information about financial-support opportunities.  For more information, refer to the Graduate Division web site.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

The graduate curriculum in politics includes six stages: (1) four core seminars; (2) eight other graduate-level courses, three of which must be Politics Department courses, along with further training as appropriate in language and methodology; (3) teaching assistant seminars and graduate colloquia; (4) a qualifying examination consisting of written and oral parts; (5) the research and writing of the dissertation; and (6) its oral defense.

Note: Please check with the department office for updated listings of course offerings and the appropriate year in which to undertake specific electives.

M.A. Degree

Our program is intended to lead to a Ph.D. in politics; there is no separate M.A. program. All curricular requirements are aimed at preparing students for timely and successful completion of a doctoral dissertation. However, all students will be eligible to receive an M.A. upon successfully passing the course work requirements and completing an acceptable 30-page journal-quality paper, either within the context of a course or independently, although not the written qualifying exam. Students will be advanced to candidacy only upon successful completion of the qualifying examination.