Undergraduate Program

The department offers students majoring in political science a senior honors program, by successful completion of which a participant achieves Graduation with Distinction in political science. The central requirement of the program is an honors thesis which the student prepares under faculty supervision. The honors program consists of two courses (Political Science 200H.02 and 200H.03). Seniors entering their seventh semester who have attained at least a 3.3 grade point average overall and a 3.5 average in political science courses are eligible for admission to Political Science 200H.02. Upon request, the program director may recommend admission to the honors seminar of a student who lacks one or both requisite grade point averages. The program director must approve any recommended student's admission.

Political Science 200H.02, a seminar taken in the fall of the senior year, is devoted to developing an honors thesis. The work of the seminar includes close supervision of the proposal, research and writing stages of the project by a primary and secondary advisor selected by the student. The primary advisor must be selected from among the faculty of the Department of Political Science. The secondary advisor may be selected from among the same faculty or from among faculty of a related department or, in exceptional circumstances with the explicit approval of the director of the program and with the consent of the director of graduate studies, from among advanced graduate students in the Department of Political Science.

Continued close faculty supervision of the project by means of seminar meetings and individual conferences occurs in Political Science 200H.03. Completion of the thesis, its evaluation, and its defense before a three-member committee composed of the director of the program together with the primary and secondary advisors warrants Graduation with Distinction in political science if a grade of A- or better is assigned to the student's thesis and performance in Political Science 200H.02 and 200H.03. The intradepartmental concentration option is partially satisfied by successful completion of the two-course senior honors thesis seminar. Further information may be obtained from the honors program director or from the director of undergraduate studies.

2003 Graduation with Distinction Theses

Baldwin, Matthew. In Search of U.S. Grand Strategy: National Security Strategy since Goldwater-Nichols.

Condra, Luke Nayef. United States Behavior and International Law: Determining Its Influence on the Use of Force Against Terrorist States.

Csik, Jennifer. Seeking Change in a Change-Adverse Federalist System: The Strategy of the Mental Health Parity Advocates.

Gorman, Colleen. Support of Presidents in Argentina: A Function of Outcomes versus Outputs.

Hatfield, William. Campaign Finance Reform: Why Now? An Analysis of the U.S. Senate Debate on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

Im, Jiyoon. Dostoevsky and Nietzsche as Political Psychologists: Unbelief and Political Violence in the 19th Century.

Jennings, Kyra. Legitimizing Democracy: A Walzerian Examination of Economic Convertibility and Political Separation.

Lagunes, Paul F. The Pemex Lock: Explaining Policy in the Mexican Oil Industry During the Salinas Administration. [Title Page]

Martin, Candace. Diversity or Change? The Emergence of Generational Differences Among Black Elected Officials.

Mehta, Parul. Anticipatory Self-Defense: "What Is" and "What Should Be": An Ethical and Legal Analysis of Preemptive and Preventive Uses of Force. [Title Page]

Niedermayer, Aaron. The Third Temple's Doomsday Weapons: Analyzing Israel's Nuclear Program in the Context of the Nuclear Proliferation Debate.

Pao, Roger Chung-Ming. The Politics of Chinese-American Poetry: Democracy and the American Political Imagination. [Title Page]

Raja, Sadaf. Whose Homeland? Homelands, Focal Principles, and the Kashmir Dispute.

Weksberg, Rebecca. The Holocaust and the Israelis: The Role of Memory in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. [Title Page]

2002 Graduation with Distinction Theses

Djuranovic, Marko. Re-examining Kosovo: The Role of Authority in Legitimating Armed Humanitarian Intervention.

Laginess, Courtney. "Mere Exposure," "Tolerance," and "Establishment": The Politics of Religious Accomodation in the Public Schools.
Part I
Part II

McKoy, Michael. Realism vs. Liberalism in the Early Democratic Community: Analysis of American Neutrality and Decision-Making Strategy as a Democratic Power During World War I.

Nach, Elizabeth. India's Dalits and Reservations: The Oldest Affirmative Action Program.
Part I
Part II

Ramirez, Jaime Emilio. Voting Patterns in Columbia after the Constitutional Reform of 1991: More of the same or legitimate change?

Reinders, Erika. Discriminatory Institutions and Systematic Inadequacies: The Lack of Protection for Women Under International Human Rights Law.
Part I
Part II

Roland, Kirkwood R. The Origins of Regional Integration: Convergence of Threat Perception and Great Power Participation.

Turner, Robert C. Unitary States and Study Unity: A Comparative Study of Ethnic Conflict in East Africa.
Part I
Part II
Part III

Wischow, Katy. The Angry World and the Net of Gentle Words: South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Creation of Democratic Public Space.