• Architecture
   
• Business
   
• Education
   
• Engineering
   
• Honors
   
• Hotel & Restaurant
  Management
   
• Law
   
• Liberal Arts
  & Social Sciences
   
• Natural Sciences
  & Mathematics
   
• Optometry
   
• Pharmacy
   
• Social Work
   
• Technology
   

  University Studies Division
   

Who's Who in the Department of Political Science

Chair:
Harrell R. Rodgers, Jr

Professors:
Robert A. Carp, Raymond Duch, Robert L. Lineberry, Donald S. Lutz, Richard E. Matland, Richard Murray, Hossein Razi (Emeritus), Harrell R. Rodgers, Jr., John W. Sloan, Arthur K. Smith, Kent Tedin, Robert D. Thomas

Associate Professors:
George Antunes, Victor L. Mote, Gholam Susan E. Scarrow, Gregory Weiher

Assistant Professors:
Eduardo Aleman, Ernesto Calvo, Susan Collins, Timothy Hellwig, Noah Kaplan, Christine LeVeaux, Jeanette Mendez, Timothy Nokken

Overview

The political science program focuses on the study of theories of government, government processes, and political forces that contribute to the formation, evolution, and operation of government. Students are offered a wide range of courses in several areas including political theory, comparative politics, international politics, American government, public law, public administration, and methodology. These areas draw on the related disciplines of economics, history, and sociology.

The study of political science assists students in developing reasoning and analytical skills and in building competence in oral and written expression. Students are also given the opportunity to learn research and methodology procedures, and are encouraged to become familiar with statistical analysis and use of the computer. All of this training will be useful to students, regardless of their career choices.

The Department of Political Science has designed its program not only to develop informed and active citizens, but also to be useful for those who plan careers in higher education, the legal profession, state and local government, urban planning, the federal bureaucracy, journalism, or any other field that requires critical thinking and analysis. Political science also provides an excellent background for those who wish to pursue advanced studies in business, law, or public administration.

State-Mandated Courses in American Government

Senate Bill 254, passed by the 54th Legislature and amended by House Bill 935 of the 60th Legislature, provides that no person may receive an undergraduate degree without having credit for six semester hours, or its equivalent, in the constitutions of the United States and Texas.

The requirement may be satisfied:

1. By successfully completing POLS 1336 AND 1337
   
   
2. By successfully completing either POLS 1336 or POLS 1337 and three hours of advanced political science credit from the following:
   Substitutes for POLS 1336: POLS 3349, 3365, 3366, 3367
   Substitutes for POLS 1337: POLS 3355, 3364, 3369
   
   
3. By receiving three hours of credit in American government by examination (AP or CLEP) and three additional hours of advanced political science credit from the subfields of public administration, public law, and American politics, or from POLS 3331, 3349, 4361, and 4366.
   
   
4. By successfully completing POLS 1336H and three additional hours of advanced political science credit from the subfields of public administration, public law, and American politics, or from POLS 3331, 3349, 4361, and 4366.
   

   Note:  All members of the Honors College must complete the American government requirement by means of option 3 or 4.

Political Science Major

Students must earn a minimum 2.00 grade point average in all courses in the major (required or elective) attempted at this university.

Students who choose to major in Political Science must also meet the university core requirements and the college core requirements for a CLASS Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree:

POLS 1336 and 1337 or equivalents may not be applied toward the major. Students must complete at least 15 of the required 30 semester hours in political science in residence at the University of Houston. Twelve of these 15 hours must be advanced. Transferred credit to be counted toward the Political Science major requirements must have a grade of C- or better. No more than six total semester hours of grades of D in political science will be applied toward degree requirements in the major. No more than six semester hours of special problems courses and/or internships may be used to satisfy any major requirements in political science.

Students are encouraged to distribute course work in political science over several of the following areas: American politics, comparative politics, international politics, public administration, public law, political theory, and methodology .

For additional information, write call or visit our website:

University of Houston
Attn: Undergraduate Advisor
Department of Political Science
447 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Houston, Texas 77204-3011

713-743-3890

www.politicalscience.uh.edu

Minor in Political Science

POLS 1336 and 1337 or equivalents may not be applied toward the political science minor. Students must take nine semester hours, at least six of them advanced, in residence and earn a 2.00 minimum cumulative grade point average in all minor courses attempted at this university. No more than six semester hours of special problems courses and/or internships may be used to satisfy any minor requirements in political science. The proposed minor program must be approved by the undergraduate advisor in political science.

Minor in Values, Law and Policy

Values, Law, and Policy is an interdisciplinary minor involving the Departments of Economics, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and others.

Participation in modern society requires an interdisciplinary grasp of issues. Ordinary party politics, structural changes to either state or federal government, changes in health care and insurance, alterations in property law or increased or decreased protections for racial, gender, or sexual orientation categories implicate issues of values, economics, and social interaction as well as law.

The minor in Values, Law, and Policy will provide students with an overview of the theories and analytical techniques of moral philosophy as well as the insights of economics, political science, history, and sociology on the desirability and consequences of different legal regimes, our current legal structures, and legal change.

The utility of the minor in Values, Law, and Policy (VLP) is not just the liberal arts objective of a broad education enabling full and knowledgeable participation in society, but also a sound foundation for a professional career.

The VLP minor provides a breadth of perspectives that would serve well for those students who intend to enter the legal profession or any of the professions that have a substantial interface with legal regulation. It would also provide a good background in the social sciences to enable graduate study in economics, political science, sociology, philosophy, or history.

Each student is required to take microeconomics, one course in moral or political philosophy, one course in social theory, and a choice of courses on law, ethics, or public policy.

Total Hours for Values, Law and Policy Minor, 18
( A course can satisfy both a requirement of the student's major and a requirement for the minor. However, the student must have enough courses in his or her major to satisfy the minimum number of required hours in the major in addition to the courses whose hours count toward the 18 hour requirement of the minor.)

I. Basic courses (2 required)
ECON 3332: Microeconomic Theory
and one of the following:
PHIL 3350: Ethics
PHIL 3355: Political Philosophy
PHIL 3351: Contemporary Moral Issues

II. Social Science Theory (1 required)
SOC 3300: Introduction to Sociological Theory
POLS 3310: Introduction to Political Theory
POLS 3343: Democratic Theory
POLS 3349: American Political Thought

III. Law and Policy
(3 required, no two from the same discipline: 1 from law section, 2 additional from any of these 3 categories)

LAW
POLS 3350: Public Law and Political Theory
POLS 3354: Law and Society
POLS 3356: Introduction to Constitutional Law
POLS 4366: Constitutional Design
SOC 3311: Sociology of Law
SOC 3313: Criminology
PHIL 3375: Law, Society, and Morality
HIST XXXX: English Legal History, American Legal History
ECON 4321: Economic Analysis of the U.S. Legal System

PUBLIC POLICY
ECON 3377: Economics of Public Finance
ECON 3386: Economics of Project Evaluation
ECON 4391: Economics and the Real World
POLS 3318: Introduction to Public Policy
POLS 3319: Politics of Social Policy

NORMATIVE COURSES
PHIL 3350: Ethics
PHIL 3351: Contemporary Moral Issues
PHIL 3354: Medical Ethics
PHIL 3355: Political Philosophy
PHIL 3358: Classics in the History of Ethics

Other courses accepted by petition and approval of program advisor.

Pre-Law Training in Political Science

The Political Science Department recommends that students interested in a pre-law curriculum seek advising in the department for courses stressing analytic reading, writing, and critical thinking.

Address inquiries about pre-law counseling and training to:

University of Houston
Attn: Undergraduate Advisor
Department of Political Science
447 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Houston, Texas 77204-3011

or

University of Houston
Attn: Pre-Law Advisor
Department of Political Science
447 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Houston, Texas 77204-3011

- return to top -

Last updated:
Friday, August 18, 2006 - 06:00 PM