Political Science BA Requirements

Department majors must complete nine courses (36 units) in Political Science. The basic requirements are as follows:

For descriptions of the courses listed below, please refer to the Political Science section of the USC Course Catalogue.

Basic Requirements:

Lower Division Requirement (8 units)
Choose two courses

POSC: 100, 110, 120, 130
With departmental permission, AP Government courses may be substituted for lower division credit.

Field Requirement (16 units)
Choose one course from each category

American Politics
POSC: 300, 311, 315, 320, 321, 323, 325, 328, 334, 335, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424m, 425, 427, 428, 437, 439

Comparative Politics
POSC: 350, 351, 352, 354, 355, 356, 358, 360, 363, 365, 366, 430, 431, 450, 451, 453, 456, 463, 464, 469

Law and Public Policy
POSC: 333, 340, 343, 345, 347, 426, 432, 435, 436, 440, 441m, 442m, 443, 444, 448a, 448b, 452

Political Thought
POSC: 370, 371, 374, 375, 377, 380, 381, 476, 479

Elective Requirement (12 units)

Upper Division Electives

• Students must take two additional 300 or 400 level courses in any of the 4 fields
  

Additional Elective Requirement

Students may take any political science course (upper or lower division)

With prior departmental approval, students may substitute an upper division course from another field within the social sciences to fulfill this requirement

4 units of POSC 395, 398, or POSC 490 may be counted towards the elective requirement

Download Political Science Major Information.

NOTE FOR DOUBLE MAJORS: Students who have a double major in political science and in another department in the social sciences may, with prior permission of the department undergraduate advisor, substitute one upper division course from the second major to fulfill the additional political science elective requirement. In the development of an undergraduate program, students should consult periodically with the political science undergraduate advisor and/or with departmental faculty.